Siren's Kiss
by JaneAus10
Summary: AU story of what might have happened when humans and their Cylon creations clashed in another of the cycles of time. COMPLETE Image Credit: Gustav Klimt - The Kiss Detail
1. Coming of Age

Title: **Siren's Kiss**

Rating: M

Genre: Adventure/Angst/Romance

Warnings: Mild profanity (all chapters); Occasional sexual situations

Spoilers: None. Story is AU

Characters: Lee/Kara, BSG ensemble, others of author's invention

Disclaimers: Ronald D Moore and others own all BSG characters; I have just borrowed them. The author-created characters are mine.

Image Credit: Detail of _The Kiss _by Gustav Klimt

Dedication: For sci-fi fans everywhere who also like a bit of romance.

Summary: AU story of what might have happened when humans and their Cylon creations clashed in another of the cycles of time.

**Author's Note:** I have chosen to tell the story of the battle between the humans and their Cylon creations as another of the cycles of time. I am beginning the story when Kara is barely thirteen (a very young and innocent thirteen) and Lee is seventeen (not quite as innocent but still unprepared for what life is going to throw at him). I have taken liberties with the time line and altered or eliminated many of the events of the television show such as the mysticism, vague "destinies" and the "love/lust" quadrangle. I have shortened the time span between the first and second wars from forty years to twenty. The major difference, however, is that much of the story takes place on Caprica. This story has a science fiction setting, but at its core, it is a love story on many levels, not only the love of man and woman, but the love of parent and child and the love between friends.

With some very minor differences I have left the essence of the BSG characters we have come to know and care for mostly unchanged. The story is gritty at times because it is set against a war and its aftermath. For those of you who have read my Academy fic, _Every Time My Heart Beats_, you will recognize a few of the author-created characters from that story, most notably Hugh Connelly, who is not in the military this time around (but still develops feelings for Kara). There are a few other new characters I hope you will like as well. It will take a while for Lee and Kara to meet, but once they do, I think you will be pleased. I hope you will enjoy the story until they get together since there is much other character interaction and a few surprises.

Kara's mother, Socrata Thrace, is not physically abusive in this cycle of time, but rather she is emotionally distant, more focused on her career in the Marines than on raising Kara. Socrata is a very tough but very attractive woman.

There are no _Final Five_. The characters are present but are humans.

.

Chapter 1

Coming of Age

_When the Cylons left the Colonies twenty years prior to their return and the beginning of the short-lived Second Cylon War, they took with them one thing they had not had before, nor has it yet been discovered where they obtained, the knowledge of how to produce a working nuclear weapon._

_-Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War_

_._

Kara Thrace was just a few weeks past her thirteenth birthday when the first bombs fell on the colonies of Helios Delta.

What almost everyone noticed about her, even before they noticed her clear skin or blond hair, which she always wore in a ponytail, were her eyes. They were a smoky green, darker at the edge of the iris where they were flecked with brown, lighter green and flecked with blue-gray toward the pupil.

Everyone noticed her unusual eyes because from the time she was small, Kara never shied from looking directly at anyone. She had learned that people are able to lie very convincingly with words, but rarely with their eyes. Maybe her mother was at least partly responsible for that lesson.

How many times had she said to Kara, "Look me right in the eye and tell me that again"?

On the cusp of becoming a young woman, she was still unable to think of herself as anything more than a tomboy who could fight and play ball better than most of the boys she knew. She was already five feet five inches tall, taller than her mother by nearly three inches. Her father had left them when she was eight years old, but she remembered him as being taller than her mother so she knew she got her height from him. Her figure at the beginning of that summer was still boyish but that was beginning to change, too.

Kara was completely surprised, completely unprepared when her best friend Karl Agathon took her aside late in June and told her she needed to wear something under her t-shirt when they all went swimming in the big creek behind the Marine base where she lived with her mother.

"You're getting boobs, Kara. The boys are looking at you and talking about it."

The other boys might have been looking, but he sure wasn't. His cheeks were ruddy and he was staring at something in the distance over her left shoulder as he told her. "So just go, uh…go talk to your mother or something…or go talk to my mother. She'll tell you what to do."

What to do meant starting to wear a bra. Karl's mother helped her pick out a sports bra and although it took a while to get used to wearing it, it was better than the boys looking at her. It seemed to pacify Karl, too. He was a year and two months older than she was, and from the time they had met when she was eight, he had been both the brother and best friend that she had always wanted.

Later that summer she took the next step toward womanhood. The sum of her maternal education on that subject was her mother pointing out a box in the bathroom cabinet and saying, "You know what to do with those. And don't let any of the boys mess with you. You can get pregnant now."

Her mother's warning was completely unnecessary. Thanks to the required health class, she understood what was happening to her. As for letting a boy _mess with her_ as Socrata had put it, her mother had no worries there. Sex was totally gross. You had to do it to make a baby, but yuck. No girl could really _want _to do that with a boy? Double yuck. Triple yuck.

She never told Karl about her mother's three-sentence coming-of-age speech. He was her best friend, but some things were just too personal. Besides, that summer he was having growing-up issues of his own. His voice was changing. One minute he still sounded like a boy and the next minute he sounded like a man. He'd grown taller, too. She had to look up at him now and that was a funny feeling since they had stood almost eye-to-eye since she was eight and he was nine.

She could still beat him and all the rest of the boys in video games, though. The one involving Vipers was her favorite, and she regularly shot electronic Cylons out of an electronic sky better than anyone else. Every time she won a game, she would tell her opponent, "One of these days I'm going to do this for real. I'm going to fly a real Viper and shoot real Cylons."

That was her dream, to go to the Academy and be a Viper pilot.

Her mother laughed and said she'd have to do better in school if she wanted to go to the Academy. Sometimes she did try, but it wasn't like she was ever going to be on the honor roll anyway. Mostly Bs, sometimes an A, and the rest Cs were just fine with her. Straight As meant actually studying and Kara usually had something better to do. There was camping with Karl and his family and playing ball and skateboarding and swinging on the long rope, way out over the creek to where the water was deep and letting go. It was the closest to flying that she could come, better even than going fast on her skateboard, and she loved it, that moment when she let go of the rope and for a split second defied gravity.

She might be looking more like a girl now, but she didn't have to act like one.

Over the summer, though, she grew another inch and a half. Her hips broadened slightly and her center of gravity underwent a subtle shift. She had to adjust her stance when she rode her skateboard. It took her a while and a nasty spill to get used to the change.

She decided that there were times during the summer she turned thirteen when being a girl just really sucked.

...

News about the bombings was sketchy at first because the destruction of the Colonies in the systems of Helios Beta, Helios Gamma and Helios Delta was so complete. The Cylons still had the huge basestar that was the nuclear repository from which they armed all their Raiders and other basestars with nukes, both missiles and bombs. When the Cylons and their nightmare of a killing machine reached the Helios Alpha system, they visisted Tauron and Gemenon before they made their way to Picon where six battlestars took it out in what amounted to a suicide mission, the last option left to them. With only the Colony of Caprica remaining, it was their last chance to save the human race.

The basestar and its remaining nukes disintegrated in an explosion that filled the sky with nuclear fire, took the battlestars and several of the Cylon's own basestars with it, and put a massive ring of radioactive debris into orbit around the planet, debris and radiation that would gradually come down, raining death for years to come, rendering the once beautiful planet a sterile wasteland.

Kara was at Karl's house the night after the destruction of the basestar when her mother drove up in a jeep and came running inside. Kara was surprised to see her because all the Marines including her mother were supposed to be on duty. Her mother grabbed Karl's mother's arm and dragged her outside. When they came back in ten minutes later, Tricia Agathon's eyes were red and she hustled Karl and his sister Marie toward their rooms.

Socrata Thrace grabbed Kara and they drove three streets over and four blocks down to their own small house.

"Pack a few things," her mother ordered.

Kara was completely confused by now. "Are we going somewhere?"

"Yeah, just pack, a couple of sweaters, a jacket, some pants, underwear, socks, spare shoes. Put it all in your backpack. Do it now."

"My school backpack won't hold all that."

"Here. Take this one." Her mother grabbed one of her own packs from where it sat propped against the kitchen wall and dumped everything out. "Put it in this."

"Where are we going?"

"Caprica. It's the only place left to go. The only place those metal bastards haven't gotten to yet. What's left of our air fleet, battlestars and all, is massing above Caprica to protect it. They stand a good chance now that those nukes are gone."

"Do you mean the Cylons? Is that who you're calling metal bastards?"

Her mother grabbed her upper arms and shook her hard. "There'll be plenty of time for questions later. Just pack. Do it! Now! We don't have much time."

Twenty minutes later they were on their way back to Karl's house. Karl, his mother and sister Marie managed to squeeze themselves and some similar packs into the jeep and they were off again, heading out of their neighborhood toward the base's airfield several miles away.

All the fighters were gone as were the transports. The field was completely deserted. There wasn't even a guard at the gate. The red and white striped wooden arms were standing upright keeping no one in or out. Her mother drove past several empty hangars and finally turned quickly between two of them. There was one ship on the tarmac near the last hangar, a private craft slightly bigger than a Raptor, but cylindrical in shape with the stubby swept-back wings of a Viper. Her mother stopped the jeep and got out.

"Get those packs and come on."

Kara grabbed hers and her mother got the one she had packed. They started toward the ship with Karl, his mother and Marie following.

The front hatch stood open. The pilot was silhouetted in the light from the interior. As they approached he flipped a cigarette out of the door onto the tarmac. Kara watched it arc through the night and land in a small shower of sparks. She also noticed he had a pistol in his left hand that had disappeared by the time they got on board.

The pilot stepped back and her mother pushed her up the three steps. "You and Karl and Marie, get on, get a seat and buckle yourselves in. Now!"

Kara experienced her first moment of fear. "You're coming, too, aren't you?"

"Just do as I said. Here, take my pack."

Kara's heart was pounding as she pulled the two packs into the ship.

She glanced at the pilot and saw he was wearing a uniform like the commercial pilots she had seen at the Picon Space Terminal, a long-sleeved white shirt and navy blue trousers with a darker stripe down the side. The shirt had navy epaulets with gold stripes at the shoulders and knotted around his neck was a navy blue tie. The standard silver wings were pinned above the button-down pocket over his heart.

His dark brown hair was cut short, but not too short and stuck up in a couple of places. He was so good-looking that Kara knew he would have made some of the boy-crazy girls she knew just drool, even though he was way too old for them. He was at least as old as her mother.

Her main reaction, though, was _oh, great_ _not a military pilot, a commercial pilot_. Karl had already told her about the debris they were going to have to go through above the planet before they made it into space. And they were going to trust their lives to this starched-shirt commercial pilot who looked like he'd forgotten to shave that morning. This was _not_ looking good.

The pilot jerked his head in the direction of the back of the ship. "Stow the packs in those compartments. Make sure nothing's left loose. And shut the doors tight."

She liked his voice, though. It was deeper than her father's voice, but better than that he spoke with an air of authority, like a man used to giving orders…and having them obeyed.

On her way to the back she passed three rows of nice wide leather seats, two abreast on either side of the aisle, twelve seats in all. This was a classy, private ship. Kara wondered where it had come from.

Karl was behind her, bringing his and Marie's packs. His mother put hers down. "Take this one, too," she called to him.

Karl went back and got it. He put each one in a compartment as Kara handed them up to him and slammed the doors hard, shaking them to make sure the latches caught.

Marie, two years younger than Kara was crying and clinging to her mother. In fact, she was crying so hard that she started having one of her asthma attacks. Tricia Agathon had to get the inhaler out of her pocket and hold it for her. Marie started breathing better, but she wouldn't let go of her mother.

At the front the pilot was talking to Socrata. Kara started toward them, but her mother held up her hand and shook her head. Kara stopped. She could tell her mother and the pilot were arguing, but they were doing it in such hushed tones that she couldn't hear what they were saying over Marie's sobbing and begging to stay and her mother trying to comfort her.

Finally her mother came over to where Kara stood. "I'm coming on the next ship. You've got to go ahead."

"No! There's plenty of seats. There's only five of us.

"I'll be along on the next ship. I've got to kill some toasters before I join you." Her mother took the dog tags from around her own neck and put them on Kara. "Keep these. You will survive this. You will. I promise you will. You're my daughter. You will survive."

And then she did something she hadn't done in years. She hugged Kara, pulled her close and hugged her before she pushed her toward the seats.

Karl had gone over to his mother and Marie and was trying unsuccessfully to coax Marie away from their mother.

By the time Kara looked back at Socrata and the pilot, her mother had reached up and put her arms around his neck. Kara hadn't seen her mother touch a man since her father had left five years earlier. And those were just shoves and occasionally punches from her mother, usually done in retaliation for something her father had started.

The pilot's arms encircled her mother like he couldn't pull her close enough to him and then they kissed…and not just a peck on the lips the way Karl's mom and dad were always doing. The pilot and her mother kissed in a way Kara had never seen two people kiss before except in the movies. She simply stared at them, her mouth slightly open, not quite believing what she was seeing.

When her mother finally pushed herself away and turned her back to them, the pilot looked at Kara and spoke, his voice rough with emotion. "Get buckled in, you and the boy. Back row. Those seats are attached to the bulkhead. They're the strongest."

He turned to Tricia Agathon. "We've got to go. It's not the Cylons I'm worried about right now. The man that I, uh, borrowed this ship from is not a nice man. His private security force is on its way as we speak. I couldn't disable the transponder without taking out the whole emergency system so they're able to track it. If they catch us here, one of them will put a gun to my head and tell me I've got to take it back to the guy who owns it. I'm not sure what they'll do with the rest of you, and I sure as hell don't want to find out. Is the girl coming or not?"

Karl's mother looked at him at the same time she struggled with her daughter whose arms were now locked around her. Marie's breathing was getting labored again.

"Go ahead, Karl. We'll be on the next ship. Go." She put her arms around her daughter. "It's okay, honey. You're staying with me."

Karl shook his head. "I'll wait, too."

"Suit yourself," the pilot said. "We're leaving. Now!"

"No!" Kara went over to Karl. "No, please. Don't make me go by myself. Please." She took his hand. "Please."

She could tell Karl was torn. He looked at her and then back at his mother.

"Go," she said. "Go with Kara. She's going to need you…until we get there." Karl hugged his mother and Marie. His mother kissed his cheek, her eyes bright with tears. "I love you. Always remember that. Your dad and I love you." Karl turned without a word and went to the back of the ship.

Kara's mother looked at the pilot. The last thing she said before she started down the steps was, "You keep her safe, Flyboy."

"You know I will," he answered.

Kara looked up at the pilot, the tall, handsome stranger her mother had just kissed the way people in the movies kissed. Across the few feet of space between them his eyes met hers. She knew it must be a trick of the light in the cabin, but it looked like he had green eyes.

He smiled at her. "Go buckle yourself in, Kara. We've got to go."

Tricia Agathon, with Marie still clinging to her, followed her mother down the steps. The pilot went to the door, activated the mechanism that retracted the steps and closed it. She heard the pressure seal engage. She also saw where he had put the pistol. It was tucked into the waistband at the back of his trousers. Maybe it was her imagination, but it looked like he limped slightly.

He looked at her again before he went into the cockpit. He must have misinterpreted the way she was looking at him because most of the smile was gone now. "Don't let the uniform fool you. I used to fly a Viper before I lost the leg. I'll get us through. Now go get buckled in, you and the boy both. Tight! Until we get into space, this is going to be a rough ride."

She did as he said.

Karl was crying, trying to do it quietly, his face turned away from her, trying not to let her see. She slipped her hand into his and squeezed. "They're coming on the next ship. We'll get there and we'll wait for them. We'll wait as long as we have to."

Karl didn't say anything as the ship taxied out to one of the runways. He looked out the window and strained to see the taillights of the jeep disappearing through the gate the way they had come in. The pilot revved the engines while holding the brakes. Kara felt the sudden acceleration as they lifted off and and began climbing skyward at a steep angle.

Finally Karl said, "There won't be any more ships. Didn't your mother tell you? This is it. She told my mother that this is the last ship left that can make it without everybody inside getting fried. It's shielded against the radiation we're going to have to go through. It belongs to a drug lord. Didn't you hear the pilot? He stole the guy's frakking ship to get us off Picon."

"Why would he do that?"

Karl looked away. "He's your mother's…your mother and him…they're good friends."

"What are you talking about?"

"Look, all I know is that the air fleet has abandoned Picon, left it to the Cylons. Didn't you notice the airfield was deserted? Yesterday before the basestar was destroyed, they were ordered to go protect Caprica because that's where the Colonial Government is. My mother won't leave my dad behind and your mother won't leave because she's a Marine just like my father. They'll fight to the last man. They'll fight those metal motherfrakkers to the last man. Don't you understand? If we make it to Caprica, we're on our own."

"No," Kara said stubbornly. "They'll be on the next ship. My mother wouldn't lie to me."

"And you think I would? We've always been straight with each other. Picon's a dead planet, Kara. It was the minute that basestar loaded with nukes blew up over it."

Slowly Kara sank back against the seat and found that her breath was coming in short gasps. This couldn't be real. This was really just a bad dream and she would wake up any minute safe in her bed. She'd see her skateboard in the corner and the stack of video games on her desk. She'd see her Viper pedal car sitting against the opposite wall, the one she'd had as a little girl and still couldn't part with. She'd see all the things that made her room so special to her. But that didn't happen.

Instead she was still staring at Karl's tear-streaked face. The hope that this was just a bad dream faded. She realized that anything remaining of the life she had known on Picon, of ball games and skate boarding, of playing video games and swimming in the creek on lazy summer afternoons, had all been left behind her.

Ahead of her was nothing but the unknown.

The only good thing was that she had Karl with her. She had her best friend with her. And the pilot, too. He'd told her mother he would keep her safe.

That was the _one_ tiny bright spot in this nightmare.

She wasn't alone.

TBC…


	2. Rough Ride

Chapter 2

Rough Ride

_Mythological Sirens are sometimes said to be the daughters of the Muse Porchus and the river god Achelous. Given wings by the goddess Demeter to search for her daughter Persephone after Persephone was taken to the underworld by the god Hades, Sirens later came to be seen as enchantresses who lured men to their doom by their sweet song. In modern times the term Siren is often used to indicate any form of temptation._

_- Norton, Colonial Gods and Myths_

The pilot wasn't kidding about a rough ride. The first ten minutes were smooth, but then for twenty-five minutes it was like being on a violent roller coaster that went not just up and down but side to side as well. Kara and Karl both tightened their seat harnesses and then tightened them again. Once they were slung sideways against the restraints so violently that Kara marveled they even held.

When she could get her breath again, she managed to say, "Ow!"

Karl's face was twisted in pain as he rubbed his shoulder where it had hit the side of the ship. "Are you okay?"

"I think so. You?"

"Yeah. The debris from those basestars and…and our battlestars must be really bad out there. This guy's got to be a hell of a pilot to have made it this far."

She was sorry now for what she had thought about him earlier.

"He was a Viper pilot. They're the best there is."

Just when she thought she couldn't take it anymore, however, everything smoothed out, as smooth as when they had started.

She looked at Karl. "What happened?"

"We must have cleared all the debris. We made it." He leaned his head back and closed his eyes. "We made it this far. Maybe we'll make it all the way to Caprica."

The pilot came out of the cockpit. "Sorry, that was a lot worse than I thought it would be. You both okay?" As soon as they nodded he went back inside.

"I'm going up front," Kara said. "He'll probably send me back, but I just want to see what it looks like up there."

"Yeah, go ahead. I'm going to try to sleep."

As she unbuckled her harness, he turned his face to the window again. She didn't know if he wanted to sleep or just to be alone.

There was no door on the cockpit, just a narrow opening. She approached it and saw the pilot's arm on the armrest of the left-hand seat.

"Can I come in?"

Without turning around to look at her he pointed to the co-pilot's seat. "Don't touch anything. And fasten the harness. When you're sitting in that seat and we're in flight, you need to be buckled in."

The cockpit was a lot smaller than she thought it would be. The opening between the two seats was really narrow. There were gauges and small computer screens and switches everywhere, even on the ceiling. She thought of her Viper pedal car again and its three painted gauges. For the first time she realized what kind of knowledge and skill it took to fly a ship like this one.

She turned sideways and carefully slid past the armrest. As she settled into the seat, she got a funny feeling in the pit of her stomach. It felt good…like she belonged there. She pulled the straps over her shoulders, buckled herself in and made adjustments until everything was tight. Outside the glass the deep black of space stretched, punctuated by the twinkle of stars.

"Cool," she said. "This is totally cool."

"You wouldn't have said that twenty minutes ago."

"I wish I'd been up here then."

He looked and sounded tired, but still managed just the ghost of a smile. "No you don't."

"Why didn't you go around it?"

"Not nearly enough fuel. We're going to be cutting it close as it is. If Picon and Caprica weren't both in the Helios Alpha system, we would have been screwed."

"Oh. So why didn't you just jump past all that radioactive junk?"

"This ship doesn't have an FTL drive. They're really limited on smaller ships outside the military. We can't have every private craft out there jumping around the Colonies like a bunch of grasshoppers. There's a lot that goes into plotting an FTL jump. If you're off even a fraction of a degree you could wind up inside a skyscraper instead of a mile above it. Even a lot of the larger ships don't have FTL drives. I was just lucky to find one that had enough radiation shielding."

"Did you really steal it from a drug lord?"

"Yeah, I really stole it from a drug lord."

"Wow," Kara said. "That is so radically cool."

"I'm glad you approve."

"Have you ever been to Caprica before?"

"Quite a few times."

"What's it like?"

"A beautiful planet. Coming in from space you see the blue oceans first. The area around Caprica City has a nice climate."

The pilot leaned back and closed his eyes for a few minutes. She was afraid he was going to go to sleep. "So don't you need to be flying the ship right now?"

"We're still over three hours out from Caprica so I've got it on autopilot. Right now I'm letting the computer handle everything. It's been resting for the last half-hour."

His shirtsleeves were rolled up several turns, the navy tie knot was loosened and his top shirt button undone. Kara saw the deep sweat stain under the arm and down the right side of his shirt as he leaned over the left side of his seat and fumbled around. He came up with a silver flask.

He unscrewed the cap attached to the flask by a short chain that he deftly pinned against the neck with his index finger. "Cheers," he said before he turned it up and drank. Then he leaned his head back against the seat's headrest and closed his eyes. He sat that way for so long that she thought he had gone to sleep. Carefully she grasped the flask. He opened his eyes.

"My turn," she said.

He grinned. The color was back in his face now. "I don't think so."

"Come on. Quit acting like my mother. I've tasted it before."

Still grinning he handed the flask to her. "I doubt you've tasted this before. Go ahead, but make it a _little _sip. After what you've been through tonight, you deserve it."

She took the flask, grasping it like he had with her index finger against the chain. She turned it up and thought she had just swallowed liquid fire. She coughed and shuddered, the feeling going all the way through her.

When she got her breath she asked, "What is this?"

"My own special blend."

"You made it?"

"Not made, mixed. Part ambrosia, part smooth aged whiskey, part 80-proof peach brandy. I call it a Siren's Kiss. Bet you don't know what a Siren is, do you?"

"Beautiful women who sit on rocks near the ocean and sing and cause sailors to crash their ships. Some famous general made his men put beeswax in their ears so they couldn't hear the Sirens' songs, but he wanted to hear them so he had his men tie him to the mast of his ship so he couldn't steer them into the rocks."

"I'm impressed. I heard you weren't much of a scholar."

"I may not study a lot but I do listen in class…most of the time."

The pilot smiled. "The general's name was Odysseus by the way."

"You know it's nothing but a myth. A stupid one if you ask me. Why would a sailor crash his ship just because some woman was singing? Duh. That is so totally lame."

"Not every myth should have such a literal interpretation. Sometimes a Siren's song…or kiss…might be a way of looking at temptation…something that can kick your butt if you're not careful. Cards….drink…a woman."

"Yeah, whatever." The drink's aftertaste was getting sweeter. She thought she could taste peaches. She started to turn it up again. "This is pretty good."

"No you don't." He grabbed the flask. "I said one sip. This stuff is near-lethal, especially on an empty stomach."

"I ate over at Karl's house tonight. His mom is a super good cook. So my stomach's not empty."

"Mine is. I somehow managed to miss dinner tonight. I probably shouldn't be doing this."

"Why didn't you eat? Was the hot-shot Viper pilot afraid he would hurl in the cockpit?"

He looked at her and gave a short laugh. "I was busy stealing this ship about that time."

"Yeah, right. That sounds good, anyway."

"Damn, you've got a smart mouth. Does your mother let you talk to her like that?"

"No."

"I didn't think so."

"How do you know so much about my mom?"

"I've known her for fifteen years. I learned a couple of things about her during that time."

He turned up the flask again looking at her the whole time before screwing the top back on and slipping it into the seat pocket.

The cockpit lights were dim, but she got a better look at his eyes. They were green just like her own. A crazy thought formed in her mind that she immediately dismissed. No way. So he'd known her mom for fifteen years and they'd kissed but that didn't mean…no way.

He was still looking at her in a way that Kara couldn't interpret. "What?"

"It's just weird. That's all. It's the end of the frakking world and I've got a thirteen-year-old girl sitting in my copilot's seat drinking and trading insults with me. It's not exactly like I imagined I'd leave Picon for the last time."

"How do you know I'm thirteen?"

"Your mother told me."

"So you really were a Viper pilot?"

"I was."

"During the First War?"

"The last three years of it."

"Radically cool. How old are you now?"

"How old do you think I am?"

Kara rolled her eyes. "I don't know. Do I look like an _Oracle_ or something?"

"Thirty-eight. Ancient, huh?"

"My mom's thirty-eight. She's not ancient. So why can't you fly a Viper anymore?"

"It takes two good arms and two really good legs. After the accident the docs told me right away I'd never fly a Viper again."

"But you are flying. I know that's a pilot's uniform. I've seen them before when we were at the Picon spaceport."

"I was flying for a private charter service…taking corporate types around the Colonies, movies stars, anybody who had the money and didn't want to fly commercial. Thanks to the Cylons I guess I'm unemployed."

"So how'd you lose your leg? Fighting Cylons in the First War?"

"Not afraid to ask the tough questions, are you? _How old are you? How'd you lose your leg?_" He was smiling when he said it, though.

She shrugged. "If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine with me. You're the one who mentioned it earlier."

"No, it's okay. I came out of the First Cylon War in one piece. I started flying off a battlestar when I was nineteen. I was twenty-two when the war ended. I should have died a hundred times over out there, but I always pulled it out of the fire somehow. Maybe that's why I was such a cocky bastard and thought nothing could happen to me. To tell a really long story in a couple of sentences, I had a motorcycle. I like speed. I was stupid. Goodbye leg."

"I like speed, too. Karl and I take our skateboards down to the Skate Park a few blocks off base. There are some good ramps there. I like to go up to the high one. When you hit the bottom you're going so fast. It's awesome."

"You wear your helmet and knee and elbow pads every time, don't you?"

"I'm not _stupid_."

"That's good."

The sweet liquid fire from the Siren's Kiss was spreading though her veins. She grinned sheepishly. "Sometimes me and Karl hitch behind a car to get to the Base Exchange. We go even faster then."

"Holy Hera! Do you want to get run over? Look at me and see the result of being stupid. Don't ever do that again."

"Not much chance of that, is there? I left my skateboard back on Picon." They sat in silence for a few minutes. She was sure that he knew she would get around to the next question sooner or later. "So where did you meet my mother?"

"In a rehab hospital. She was learning to use her left arm again. I was getting a new left leg, a nice shiny metal one. The military probably took it off some junked Cylon over twenty years ago. Sorry, all things considered that was a really bad joke. It used to be funnier. I've got another leg now. Looks real. Feels a lot better and works a lot better, too."

"My mother didn't have to go to rehab after she was wounded on Tauron. She was in the hospital a few weeks and then she came home. So how about telling me the _truth_ this time."

"I am telling you the truth. Tauron was the second time she was wounded. I'm talking about the first time. She was already married then, but you hadn't come along yet. Don't tell me you never saw the scar on her left shoulder? From here to about here."

Using his right index finger he traced a line on his shirt arching from the round part of his left shoulder diagonally across the front and halfway down his chest.

"Duh. I lived in the same house with her. What do you think?"

She wasn't about to tell this stranger that she'd never seen her mother in anything less than a t-shirt.

"Your mom talked me off the ledge a couple of times, figuratively speaking. I didn't think there was anything left for me. Before the accident there was only one thing I loved more than drinking good whiskey or making love to a beautiful woman and that was flying a Viper. I lived for flying a Viper. After the accident I was a twenty-four-year-old washed-up ex-Viper pilot who didn't much care whether he lived or died. Sassy convinced me I had something to live for."

"Who's Sassy?"

"That's my nickname for your mother. She calls me Flyboy. She was the only one in that rehab hospital who wasn't afraid of what I was going to do next. She's the only one who didn't feel sorry for me. Didn't care that I was an officer and she was enlisted. When I was being a jerk to the staff at the hospital, which was a lot of the time, she'd get right up in my face and dress me down like I was a raw recruit."

He leaned back, shut his eyes for a minute and smiled. "Of course getting in my face is a figure of speech, too, since she's about a foot shorter than I am."

Kara frowned and tried to imagine her mother talking anyone off a ledge. She couldn't imagine her mother saying that many words at one time, but she could easily imagine her mother dressing somebody down. Yeah, she could picture that just fine, even somebody a foot taller.

The pilot was talking slower and softer now like Karl's dad after he'd had a couple of beers.

"The night before she was discharged from rehab she came into my room. I'd been a total jerk that day. Chewed out the guy who was helping me with the new leg. Told everybody _again_ how I wished I had died in the accident. I knew your mom and everybody else was really tired of putting up with me and my attitude. I was lying there in the dark trying to decide how I was going to do it, whether I was going to wait until I was discharged or try to do it right there in the hospital."

"Do what?"

He pointed his index finger at his temple and made a motion with his thumb like he was pulling a trigger.

"Oh."

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking about. Anyway, Sassy comes in and gets right up on the bed, kind of straddles my chest, and says since I want to die so bad she's going to do me one last favor and help me out. She jerks the pillow out from under my head and pushes it down hard over my face. She isn't very big, but damn, she's strong. And it was already hard to breath with her sitting on my chest like that. Anyway, it took me about three seconds to realize I didn't really want to die _that_ bad."

Kara tried and failed to picture her mother trying to smother somebody with a pillow. Shoot somebody, yeah maybe, but not smother somebody. She was still trying to assimilate that information when the pilot went on.

"I started fighting and she says, _'Damn it, Flyboy, I'm trying to do you a favor. You keep fighting and I'm going to think you want to live_.' Well I kept fighting and the next thing you know the pillow's on the floor and we're kissing and then we were…damn, I shouldn't be telling you this. I'm sorry. Blame it on the Siren's Kiss and two days without sleep. Damn, I'm sorry. I start talking sometime and don't know when to shut up."

"Don't sweat it," Kara said smugly. "I'm not dumb. I know _exactly_ what you're talking about."

He got a funny expression on his face. "Not from personal experience, I hope."

"Sex-ed class. I know _all_ about it. But it's pretty _gross_ if you want my opinion. I can understand what you said earlier about liking whiskey and flying a Viper, but this other thing, why would you and my mom want to do that? Yuck."

He leaned his head back against the seat and started laughing.

"Are you laughing at me?"

"No, Kara. I'm not laughing at _you_. I'm sorry. Don't pay any attention to me. I shouldn't have had that second drink."

"So how did my mom get wounded the first time?"

He sounded genuinely surprised. "She never told you?"

Kara shook her head.

"A new recruit was fooling around with what he though was an unloaded assault rifle. He pulled the trigger. The round hit her shoulder and shattered the joint. She spent nearly three months after it was replaced learning to use her left arm again. It took a couple of surgeries, too. Military wanted to give her a medical discharge, but she wouldn't give up. It didn't matter how much it hurt. I can still see her face as white as chalk from the pain while she did the exercises. She's a tough lady, your mom, tough and beautiful, a lethal combination for a guy like me."

"What does that mean?"

"It means…it means I'm really attracted to her."

"Oh."

"She was discharged the morning after she came into my room. She didn't even come tell me goodbye. I realized that night that I was in love with her and probably had been for months. I'd just been so wrapped up in feeling sorry for myself I couldn't see it. All I could think about after that was getting to the point I could be discharged, too, so I could see her. I knew she wouldn't come back to see me. I knew if I wanted to see her again, it was all up to me. She knew it, too."

"So I guess you did see her again."

"Oh, yeah. She'd been married to Dreilide Thrace maybe four, five years at the time. I know what we were doing bothered her. It bothered me sometime, but we just couldn't seem to stay away from each other. I tried to get her to leave him. She wouldn't. They'd been together since tenth grade. I'd get mad at her and see other women. She'd get mad at me and say she was going to work on her marriage. It never lasted."

"So do you have a lot of girlfriends?"

He hesitated for a few moments. "There have been others, yeah, but your mom's the only one I've ever loved. The only one I ever wanted to marry. She just wouldn't have me. Besides being tough and beautiful, she's smart, too. Even after her husband left, she still wouldn't. She told me that once was enough for her."

"They fought a lot. Were they fighting about you? Were you the reason he left?"

"I don't know. Sassy and I never talked about it. We should have, but we didn't. Hell, I think he'd been gone a couple of months before she even told me. Most of the time we didn't do a lot of talking. She didn't do a lot of talking. I talk too much sometimes. Did you miss him after he left?"

"Not really. He was gone most nights playing with his band or doing concerts and stuff. He slept during the day so I had to be quiet. He'd come out of the bedroom and yell at me if I woke him up. Other than that I didn't see him much. He never came to my ball games or anything like that. We weren't close, not like Karl and his dad are close."

"This Karl's a good kid? You trust him?"

"He's my best friend."

"You don't have any girlfriends so you can talk and giggle about clothes and boys and wearing makeup and stuff like that?"

"Are you kidding me?" The disdain in her voice was clear. "Boys. Yuck. Except Karl. He's like my brother."

"You'll change your mind about boys one day."

"Ha. You just keep thinking that."

Again there was a minute or two of silence. Finally she blurted, "This thing you and my mom were doing, did you ever, you know…did you ever make a baby?"

The pilot sat for a long time before he answered her. "Your mom told me I should just go ahead and tell you. She said if I didn't that you'd figure it out. She was right. So to answer your question, Kara, your mom and I made a beautiful baby. We made you, and you're the only person who owns a bigger piece of my heart than she does. You have from the first minute I saw you."

At least it made sense to her now why this pilot had risked his life to steal a drug lord's ship and take her across the stars to safety. He was her father, her real father. She had a funny feeling in her chest, thinking that someone cared that much about her. It made her feel like she was going to cry. And she hardly ever cried.

She turned and looked directly in his eyes. It was almost like looking into a mirror. "Ever since I was a little girl I've wanted to be a Viper pilot. Now I know why."

He reached over, took her hand and squeezed it. She wasn't going to cry, but when she saw him struggle with what she had just said, and then saw the tears in his eyes, she couldn't help it. She wanted to be tough and strong like her mother, but when she saw she'd made her father cry, her face crumpled and she started crying too.

He used his shirtsleeve to wipe his eyes. "Damn, I'm sorry I made you cry. I wouldn't make you cry for anything. I should have handled this better. I was so busy getting this ship that I didn't have any time to think about what I was going to say to you."

She made herself stop crying and dried her eyes on the bottom of her t-shirt. "No, it's okay. I'm okay. I'm just not as tough as my mom. She never cries."

"You're every bit as tough as your mom and just as beautiful, too."

He reached for the flask again and this time he handed it to her first. It went down easier this time. She passed it back to him.

"The first time I saw you, Sassy brought you to my apartment. You were maybe four or five months old. I hadn't seen her in a year. It was one of those times she was trying to make things work with Dreilide, and there was no way that was going to happen with me in the picture. It damn near killed me, but I left her alone."

He turned up the flask and drank. "I opened the door and there she stood holding a baby. I must have looked as surprised as I felt because she held you out to me and said, _'Before you say anything, Flyboy, look at her eyes_.' You reached your chubby little arms out to me and gave me a great big smile. You had my heart even before I saw your green eyes."

"But you…you stayed away. Even after my…he left."

"I stayed away because that's the way you mom wanted it. She wouldn't marry me and she wouldn't live with me. For some reason she wanted to raise you all by herself. We still saw each other, but yeah, I stayed away. It…was complicated. I don't want to go into any detail, but legally I had no right to even see you without her permission…and she always said no."

"I don't know why she would have cared. After we moved onto the base when I was eight…after…after Dreilide left, I was on my own most of the time. That's when I met Karl."

He put the flask away. "I did see you though when I thought I could get away with it. She couldn't stop me from going to a public place. I was the guy you never noticed in the bleachers when you played ball. I've been there at the Skate Park too, watching you do things that made me hold my breath. I saw you take a bad spill a month or so ago and it was all I could do to stay right where I was. I saw your friend help you up, saw you laugh and brush yourself off, and go right back up and try it again. All I was thinking was, _damn, she's not afraid of a frakking thing._ I know it doesn't count for much, but I _was_ there, Kara. You just never saw me."

Kara closed her hand over the dog tags that her mother had put around her neck. "Mom's going to die back there on Picon, isn't she? All of them are."

It took him a while to answer, like he was trying to decide whether or not to lie to her. He opted for the truth. She saw it in his eyes. "Probably. I hope not, but yeah, probably."

"Why wouldn't she come with us?"

"She's a Marine, Kara. I hope someday you'll understand what that meant to her. And I hope you'll understand, too, that she would never have trusted you to just anyone. I may not have been there for you earlier, but I'm here now."

"Yeah, you're here now," Kara said quietly. "That's all that counts."

His face softened and he smiled. "And I'm here from now on, too."

TBC…


	3. Choosing a Career

Chapter 3

Choosing a Career

_Prior to the beginning of the Second Cylon War the Colonies prided themselves on their military and its readiness to handle anything that might happen. After the surrender, the military came under criticism by the public for the very thing it had been commended for earlier. Wartime acts of sacrifice and heroism were forgotten in the rush to place blame for the loss of eleven of the twelve colonies._

_- Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War_

Lee Adama was seventeen years old when the Cylons returned with a rain of death for their human creators.

The beginning of the summer before his senior year of high school found him seriously thinking about what he wanted to do with the rest of his life. When he graduated he would either go to the Academy and pursue a career as a pilot or go to Caprica University and then on to law school.

If he chose the former career, he would follow in the footsteps of his father who had been a Viper pilot in the First Cylon War, a hero who didn't wear all the medals he had earned and who was now commanding a battlestar. If he chose the latter career, he would follow his paternal grandfather into the courtroom.

At the moment both careers held an attraction for him. He had not even considered the possibility yet that he could do both. His father had failed to mention to him that on the law staff of the Admiralty Judge Advocate there were several pilots, on both active and inactive duty status. His grandfather had failed to mention it for a similar but opposite reason.

His father was naturally pushing him toward a career in the military. His grandfather wanted him to choose a law career. His mother had so far remained neutral although Lee thought he could tell she favored the law if only because it would earn him a better living and keep him at home when he chose to marry and start a family. The only reason she would not come out directly with her choice is that she despised her father-in-law.

At various times in his life Lee had heard her refer to Joseph Adama as a snake, a fox, a weasel and an unscrupulous whore. After spending some time with his grandfather that summer watching some of his courtroom tactics, he understood the first three. He finally decided that what his mother meant by the last one had something to do with selling of one's soul instead of one's body.

He eventually understood, too, why neither one of his father's parents cared very much for his mother.

His parents were officially separated now, but Lee couldn't tell the difference. His father had been for the most part absent for his entire seventeen years, certainly during the years of his life that Lee could remember.

His mother was doing fine now. During his formative years however, there were dark times, times when she sank into depression and the bottle. For the most part her abuse had taken the form of emotional and physical neglect. Sometimes it became verbal. Rarely did it involve hitting. That took too much energy.

What he remembered most about her dark bouts were the seemingly endless days when he got himself and his younger brother Zak ready for school, packed their lunches, and walked to the school transport stop while his mother slept off the night before. Often when they got home in the afternoon she was still in her pajamas, hair not combed, staring mindlessly at the television. There was usually an open bottle on the table beside her.

When his father was home, however, she managed to pull it all together. It was like living in two different worlds. As he got older Lee thought about telling his father what life was like when he was gone, but finally decided that if his father really cared, he would be there more often. If his father really cared, he would do something to make their lives better.

Yet he still respected Bill Adama for what he had achieved with his career.

Lee escaped into the world of his schoolbooks, pushing himself hard to achieve on an academic level, on the ball field, by running for student council. He was liked by almost everyone, but was unable to form close friendships. He shared almost nothing of himself with anyone, of who he truly was.

He was a precocious toddler, a cute young boy who grew into a better-looking teenager with the promise already there of the incredibly handsome man he would become. From the eighth grade onward he always had a girlfriend. That same year his grandmother Evelyn told her husband, "_That boy is going to break more hearts than should be allowed_." His grandfather repeated the remark to him with a wink, which Lee took to mean that he agreed. He felt it was another way of his grandfather telling him to be a good boy, just not too good.

His grandmother's prediction would no doubt have come true to a much greater extent had Lee been a different type person. He never chose a girlfriend based on looks alone or the fact that she was pursuing him. He valued brains in a girl, if not above beauty, then definitely on an equal footing. Later he would come to value other traits as well, like courage and loyalty to friends and the strength to make a tough decision and stand by it.

He tended to have one girlfriend at a time, never starting to date another until he had officially broken up with the current one, or she had broken up with him, which was more often the case. When he broke up with someone it was because he discovered they didn't have enough in common. When one broke up with him he usually heard something about lack of commitment and putting too many other things first…other things meaning schoolwork or sports or one of his many extracurricular activities. What none of them ever knew about were the Friday nights he spent helping his mother and Zak clean the house because his father was coming home the next day.

He listened to some of the other guys talk about _hooking up_ and _scoring_ and a variety of other, often cruder, ways in which they bragged about having various forms of sex. Lee never bragged about having any kind of sex because he wasn't having it. Sex to him was something you shared with someone you really cared about. And you sure as hell wouldn't broadcast it to the entire student body or even to the guys in the locker room.

With his current girlfriend he felt he like he had finally gotten everything right. She was on the swim team and his co-captain on the debate team. She had already been accepted on a full scholarship to a prestigious private university with plans to eventually become a doctor in biomedical engineering. And she was like him in that schoolwork came first for her.

Her hair was cut fairly short and she rarely wore makeup. She was not what most of the other guys considered hot, but she had a natural, athletic blond beauty that Lee found irresistible. Smart and competitive yet independent, she was the type of girl who appealed to him most.

He actually wanted them to take the next step in their relationship and have sex but she held back. At the end of their junior year, she told him that she was _seriously thinking about it_. The reason she gave for her hesitation was the summer study program in which she was participating on Gemenon. She said she wanted to stay focused. Lee accepted her decision and looked forward to the beginning of their senior year in the fall. With the conceit of youth he was sure he already knew what her decision would be.

He sometimes felt his brother Zak, younger by two years, was mixed-up with his real brother at the hospital. From the time he was a toddler, Zak was a fun-loving, happy-go-lucky kid. The word _serious_ was not in his vocabulary. He studied only when he had to in order to pass a test. Nothing seemed to bother him. He was athletic and had a lot of friends. He was always upbeat and never got down about anything. It was like all of life's troubles just bounced right off him.

Zak wasn't exactly irresponsible, but he was much less responsible than Lee. Then again why should Zak take any responsibility? He had Lee to do it for him.

Zak was also the one who was close to their mother, who always made allowances and excuses for her behavior, who always hugged her and spent time with her, who was the only one of them who could tell her that he loved her.

Zak was the one who found her the evening that she either intentionally or accidentally, depending on who he believed, overdosed on sleeping pills and booze. She couldn't remember any of it, or claimed she couldn't, and their father later vowed to her doctor that it was an accident. Fourteen-year-old Zak was the one however who realized that there was something wrong with the way she was breathing and got Lee who had the presence of mind to call an emergency medical transport before he called his grandfather.

Fortunately his mother's doctor realized that you don't accidentally wash down that many pills with that much booze. He arranged for a stay in a rehab facility. For six weeks Lee and Zak stayed with their grandparents. At the age of sixteen Lee finally had his first taste of a stable home environment, of good meals always put on the table at the same time each evening, of someone who asked him questions about what he was doing in school and of a married couple who actually talked to one another every day because they lived in the same house.

It was there that he learned the truth about his parent's marriage. He had gone to the kitchen to get some milk one evening and was quietly going back down the hall when he heard Joseph and Evelyn talking in the den.

"I told Bill it was a mistake to marry her," his grandmother said. "Carolanne was having problems even then and now just look at her. I wish…oh how I wish he hadn't been such a pig-headed fool. You and I both know the other one would have been so much better for him."

Lee heard his grandfather sigh in exasperation. "We've talked this issue to death in the last few days. What's done is done. Hashing over the past isn't going to solve anything."

But Evelyn was persistent and continued. "Bill never loved Carolanne the way he loved the other one and she loved him. She never married. What more proof do you need?"

"Yes, Bill loved her, but you're forgetting who her father was. He put a stop to it. Our son wasn't the one he had envisioned for his daughter. Taking her to her debutante dance was one thing, marrying her was quite another. And she did marry. She just never took her husband's name. It didn't last very long…barely over a year. Besides, what choice did Bill have with Carolanne? Lee was already on the way. Our son is an honorable man. He always has been. He was never the sort of man who could walk away from a mistake even if he was drunk the night he made it. He finally admitted that to me...being drunk."

"Drunk and missing Laura," his grandmother said. "Poor Bill. If only he hadn't been so proud when she kept calling him. If only he'd just talked to her. She came to see me after she went back to the university. Did I ever tell you that?"

"You said she wanted to know why Bill wouldn't answer her letters or talk to her."

"Poor thing. If Bill hadn't already…made the mistake with Carolanne, I'd have insisted he at least talk to Laura. She deserved that much from him. I don't care how her father felt about what happened."

His grandfather sighed again. "After that incident with her father, I tried to tell Bill to be patient and give the situation some time. Laura was only nineteen at the time. He expected far too much of her. He's just so damned stubborn and impatient. And you're right, way too much pride and in too much of a hurry to prove himself. I sometimes wonder if his career wasn't as much an effort to show her and her father what he could do. To show them he would have made her a worthy husband."

"I know he would never have married like he did if he hadn't made the mistake with Carolanne. I honestly think he would have gotten over his stubborn pride and waited for Laura to finish her education."

"You're probably right. But what's done is done. We can't change the past. And we do have two fine grandsons."

"Yes, sometimes the gods will give us a blessing despite everything…the proverbial silver lining to an otherwise bad marriage."

Lee didn't wait to hear any more. He turned around and took the milk back to the kitchen and poured it down the sink. He felt too sick to drink it. It was weeks before he could look in a mirror and not think of the word _mistake_.

Is that why his father was never home? Was it because he viewed his marriage and his children, especially _him_, as a mistake? And who was Laura? He couldn't ask his grandparents without revealing that he'd been eavesdropping. And he definitely couldn't ask his father. He could imagine several ways his father might react, and none of them were worth it.

Even as he internalized the pain of his beginnings, Lee tucked away the other bits of information as well. For the first time in his life, much of his parents' behavior made some sense to him.

He began to wish that Joseph Adama has been his father. He could sit and listen to his grandfather tell stories about the law and some of his more interesting clients for hours. The only thing that bothered Lee was the fact that many of the those his grandfather successfully defended were guilty of the crimes of which they had been accused and should have been found so by a jury and punished. Most of the time, though, his grandfather got a _not guilty_ verdict and another criminal walked free.

Lee had strong ideals and the belief that the law should be applied equally to everyone. He felt that there should be one system for all, rich or poor, Caprican or Sagittaron or Tauron. His grandfather told him that in theory he was right, but that he would never be a successful attorney if he practiced that way. Lee later decided that maybe the key to what his grandfather meant by _successful_ was measured in winning cases, not in true justice.

Six weeks after her overdose, Carolanne Adama came home from rehab with some medication for her depression and the counselor's suggestion that she either get a job or find some type of volunteer work to occupy some of her time. She chose the latter and within several months of starting to volunteer at the Caprica Museum of Natural History, she had a new friend, the curator who was a widower only a few years older than his father. She asked Bill for a formal separation and he reluctantly agreed. Lee refused to think about the fact that her new friend might also be her lover.

Mothers just didn't do something like that.

…

Lee spent the first four weeks of his seventeenth summer at his grandparent's house, going every day to court or to his grandfather's law office with him. He ran errands and fetched coffee, but more importantly he watched and listened to everything going on around him. His grandfather let him sit in as he and his legal assistants discussed strategy and other aspects of his clients' defense. At the end of the month Lee was fairly certain that he was going to choose the law as a career.

His father asked only for equal time. Due to his rank as a commander, he was able to get permission from Fleet Headquarters on Picon to allow Lee to spend several weeks on his battlestar, the _Galactica_. Although Lee didn't think he was going to change his mind, he was nevertheless excited about the prospect of spending time on the ship.

When he was younger, maybe ten or eleven, his father had several times taken him to the Caprica Airbase and let him sit in a Viper. Even at that young age, Lee felt the excitement of the cockpit, felt a yearning to fly, but it was a yearning that gradually submerged in him as other pursuits and other goals came to occupy his dreams.

He found though that as the weekly personnel transport took him farther from Caprica and closer to the _Galactica _his former yearning was coming back. Pursuing a career in the law began to diminish in importance to him. The result was that by the time he was actually on board, he was as confused as he had been at the start of the summer.

His father put him up in a small two-bunk guest quarters close to his own. Lee had wanted to stay with the pilots, but the commander simply said _no_, without an explanation, obviously expecting Lee to understand why.

He gave Lee assignments every day because he wanted his son to get a good feeling for what life was like on a battlestar at all levels. Lee knew that he was supposed to do whatever the person he was observing asked him to do. Thus during the first week he mopped floors, helped stock shelves in the ship's store and helped load the massive dishwashers that somehow cleaned their plates and utensils with steam and only a small amount of recycled water.

At the end of the week his father had him to dinner in his quarters instead of the officer's mess where he usually ate, and they talked privately for the first time that week. Lee naturally wanted to spend more time with the pilots, but his father was saving that for his last week. The second week, he told Lee, was going to be spent with his communication officers, in the CIC and with Colonel Saul Tigh, his XO. Lee finally understood his father's plan. The commander was showing him every single level that made the _Galactica_ a smoothly functioning Battlestar.

"So what do you think so far?" Bill asked his son.

"Pretty amazing," Lee admitted. "I never had any idea how much work it takes to keep a ship like this functioning. Or how many people."

His father smiled and nodded. "I want you to see, son, that a battlestar is more than its pilots. It's a small city. And don't worry. You're going to get to spend your last week on board with the pilots. You'll probably be sick of pilots by the time you leave."

"I doubt it. Is there any chance I can…fly with one of them?"

"I'll see to it that you get to go out in a Raptor, but we don't have any two-seater Vipers on board. Those are the trainers you start with in flight school…if that's the decision you make."

The phone in his father's quarters suddenly began buzzing, a series of short repeating bursts.

"Excuse me." Bill got up and went over to it. He listened intently, the expression on his face rapidly changing from one of relaxed amusement to frowning concern. "I'm on my way."

"Is something wrong?" Lee asked.

"Several strange reports are coming into Fleet Headquarters on Picon, a loss of communications with one of the outer Colonies. Also scheduled flights not arriving. More messages are coming in all the time. I'm on my way to the Command Information Center where I spend a lot of my time. We call it the CIC."

"Can I come, too?"

"Come on. Just remember to watch silently and don't get in the way."

By the time they got there more messages had come in, a steady stream now. Lee found a spot where he was out of the way and watched his father do what he did best, command a battlestar.

Two hours later they knew the worst had happened. The Colonies were under attack by a force that had not been positively identified as Cylon, but assumed to be. Finally a message was relayed to Picon from the Battlestar _Solaria _just before her destruction. Definitely Cylons, nine basestars, one of them massive, its Raiders equipped with nukes.

Over the next few days the Colonies fell one by one to the Cylon war machine until there were only two left, Picon and Caprica. It was by listening carefully to his father and Colonel Tigh and several of the other officers that Lee realized Gemenon had been destroyed. His girlfriend was still on Gemenon. He managed to make it to a bathroom before he threw up. He couldn't make himself go back to the CIC until the next day.

If his father guessed by Lee's puffy eyes that he had been crying, the commander never said anything or asked why and Lee never told him. He wasn't sure his father would care, and besides, the commander had enough on his mind right now.

The _Galactica_ was preparing to go to Picon when new orders came. The twelve battlestars already over Picon were going to stop the massive nuclear killing machine. When the commander relayed the message to his officers in the CIC, he sadly said the last words of the message…_at all cost._

Lee waited until his father stood alone for a few moments before he asked him if that meant what he thought it did.

Bill nodded. He was as close to tears as Lee had ever seen him.

"Son, if I could get you back to Caprica now with your mother and Zak, I would. But I can't. All air traffic on and off Caprica is limited to strictly necessary now, mostly refugee ships from the other colonies, and I can't spare a ship to take you. We've just been ordered there to protect it."

"At all cost?" Lee asked.

His father nodded again. "Depending on the outcome of what happens above Picon, we'll either stand a chance or we won't. If our battlestars succeed in destroying their nuclear basestar, hopefully we'll know before the end of tonight. But we'll know for certain if they fail because we'll be facing the Cylon's killing machine. And then I don't guess it really matters where any of us are. It will be the end of the human race."

Lee stood there, too choked up to speak as he thought of his girlfriend dead already on Gemenon and of his mother and Zak on Caprica.

Bill put his hand on Lee's shoulder and squeezed. He seemed to understand exactly what his son was thinking. "I love them, too, Lee. I love my family, my wife and both of my sons."

The wait for news about the destruction of the nuclear basestar began. Finally late that night the _Atlantia_ managed to transmit a one-word message before she and all of Picon went silent.

_Success._

TBC…


	4. The Diplomat's Daughter and the Pilot

Chapter 4

The Diplomat's Daughter and the Pilot

_The responsibility of the current government in failing to foresee the Cylon attack has been a matter of much debate. Each side of the argument has authorities who are able to quote statistical evidence to support their point of view-of who knew what and at what point in time and who failed to listen to whom. There is even debate about who is ultimately responsible for the Second War, the humans who created the Cylons generations earlier, the Cylons themselves, or the government twenty years prior who had allowed them to leave ostensibly to found their own homeworld. Most accept now that the blame should be shared equally._

_- Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War_

On the night that the first bombs fell on the outer Colonies, Laura Roslin sat in her office in the Dressler Government Building where all members of President Adar's Cabinet had their headquarters.

It was eleven thirty in the evening and she had been hard at work since seven that morning. Her education budget proposal for the Twelve Colonies was due in the President's hands the next day. Not literally in his hands, of course, but in the hands of his Director of Budget and Management.

At the age of thirty-six and Adar's Secretary of Education for less than a year, Laura felt the weight of her responsibilities much more than had her predecessor…or that was her opinion. Other than a year spent as a teacher twelve years earlier, she had worked in the government her entire career and had never known anything else.

She was finally in a position where she felt like she could make a difference in the often-slighted education budget of the Twelve Colonies. "Look at the children and you see our future," she had told Adar. "They deserve at much of our resources as we spend on finding new and evermore efficient ways to eliminate each other." In theory, at least, she thought he believed it, too, or he wouldn't have appointed her.

Laura knew the government well because she was the only daughter of a man who had started his career in the diplomatic corps and who had risen to become a Colonial Ambassador. She had moved in governmental circles her entire life. Her mother had been a gentle woman, the aristocratic daughter of a former member of the Quorum of Twelve who had been groomed from her youth to be a diplomat's wife. She had done it very well.

She tried to raise her daughter as she had been raised, but somewhere along the way Laura Roslin rebelled. It was not a noisy rebellion or one that involved boys or drugs or failure in school. It was more a rebellion of the spirit, the decision that she wanted to do something different with her life than host teas, plan receptions, stand quietly by her husband's side and raise daughters to do the same. Laura wanted a career like her father's, not necessarily a diplomatic career, but some sort of career.

There were some ways, though, in which she was like her mother. She had her mother's quiet beauty, the oval face, the smoky hazel eyes and brown hair that glowed with hints of auburn in the sunlight, as well as her creamy skin and cultured speech. She rarely raised her voice, rarely resorted to using even one curse word, and she _never_ treated anyone discourteously.

From her father she inherited her quick intelligence and her ability to almost instantly access any situation she found herself in and act on it. She also inherited or maybe learned from him how to use a gentle tone of voice yet edge it with just enough authority not to be ignored. From a young age she possessed an intuition for reading other people as she interacted with them, for separating lie from truth and flattery from sincerity.

…

Sitting in her office she now removed her glasses and pinched the bridge of her nose. Her headache was getting worse. She would be able to go home soon, take a painkiller and sleep.

Putting her glasses back on she finished scanning the last dozen paragraphs of the budget proposal and then clicked the icon on her computer to save and then to print it. It was so quiet that she actually heard the printer in the adjoining room switch on and begin warming up. She gave the proposal time to print before she went into the next room and ran it through the machine that put it into a binder. It was now ready for the morning.

She walked back into the outer office and over to the couch. Her new assistant, Billy Keikeya, was asleep with his head back on the cushions, his mouth slightly open. He had stuck with her through the whole day, running errands, doing research, and helping her secretary make innumerable phone calls. Even when she had sent her secretary home, he had refused to go. He had been with her until she had started the final proof of her proposal. He had to be exhausted now. She knew she was. This was the third day in a row they had put in twelve hours.

He was twenty years old. If she had married young, she could have a son just a few years younger than him. Gently she touched his shoulder. "Time to go home, Billy. We're finished for tonight."

He opened his eyes and she saw the momentary confusion, as if he didn't know where he was. The confusion cleared. "What time is it?"

"Nearly midnight. We're going."

"I'll walk you to your car."

"You know I don't drive. I always use a staff car and driver. Can we take you home?"

He stood up and stretched before he reached for his jacket. "Sorry, I forgot. Thanks, but I'll be fine. I drove in today. Tomorrow morning, then."

Together they walked past her secretary's desk toward the door. Laura had just told him to come in late the next day when they heard swiftly moving footsteps in the corridor. They both looked at each other. The footsteps stopped. That was strange at this time of night. There was a knock on the door. She opened it.

A Marine stood at attention outside.

"Yes, Corporal?"

"President Adar has called an emergency meeting of his Cabinet, Ma'am. Your answering service informed us you were still here. I'm to drive you to Marble House immediately. Please come with me."

"What's going on?"

"I don't know, Ma'am. I just have my orders."

"You go home, Billy. I'll call you if I need you. Oh, before you go, please call down and tell the car service I've been delayed."

He turned back into her office. "Will do, and I'll be on the couch. Wake me up if you need me to do anything else."

She nodded and set off behind the Marine who was walking at a very fast pace. He drove her to the residence of the President of the Colonies.

"I know my way from here, Corporal. Thank you."

The President was casually dressed in gray slacks and a dark blue sweater that emphasized his eyes. There was a time when she had looked into those eyes in a much different way than she did now. That was, of course, years earlier when the man who was now President of the Twelve Colonies was just Richard Alexander Adar, long before he was Mayor of Delphi or later Colonial Governor of Caprica.

Ten years her senior, he was running for City Councilman in Delphi when they met. She was twenty-two and about to enter graduate school. Laura believed he would actually try to do something about education in the city. Early that summer she volunteered to work on his campaign.

She was on the rebound from her first failed romance, her only romance, if three years after it was over could still be called a rebound. Probably it could since she hadn't looked at a man during the intervening time. Her college years had been spent carefully avoiding all efforts by a number of young men who tried to begin a romantic relationship with her. Laura Roslin's heart was simply not on the market.

Adar was smart, polished and dynamic. He exuded charm the way the Libran moonflower exuded its intoxicating perfume. He finally breached her self-imposed isolation from men.

Their affair lasted through the summer, until she went to graduate school in the fall. She knew he was married. She ignored her conscience. They were both very careful. As far as she knew no one ever found out. He remembered her discretion and six years later after he was elected Mayor of Delphi, he appointed her to a committee he had formed that was studying why education was failing in the inner city. Other appointments followed, but by then she was so good at her job that no one ever suspected why the first one had come about.

They never resumed their affair and now were much more like old friends than the lovers they had once been. There were a few other lovers for her, none of them married and none that she had ever loved him the way she had loved Bill Adama. She never felt the depth of passion she had felt with Bill. She never thought of Adar or any of them the way she still thought of Bill, her first love and in so many ways her only love.

She was married briefly in her late twenties to a man who taught at Caprica University. He was sixteen years older than she was and had been married before. At one time he had been her student advisor, but their romance had not started until after she had gotten her graduate degree. She was twenty-eight and establishing her own career. She never took his name.

Before their first anniversary she knew she had made a mistake. He did, too. Their divorce saddened her as any failure would, but it was amicable. Two years later when he remarried she sent him and his new bride a nice gift.

…

There were only three people in the large conference room, the President, his closest aide and his top military advisor. Adar left them and came over to her.

"Good evening, Mr. President. What's going on?"

"Laura, I'm so glad you're here." He took her hand in both of his and she got the full power of those blue eyes. He was still a very charming man. He smiled but she could see the stress, feel the tension emanating from him. Something was horribly wrong. Something terrible had happened.

"We're waiting for a few more to get here. It's the worst news, Laura. It couldn't be worse. There's been…"

One of his aides appeared at the door of the room. "Mr. President, Admiral Nagala is on the line. It's urgent."

"Coming," Adar answered.

Dear gods, Laura thought. The word _attacked_ leapt into her mind. Was that what she had read from the President? Had one of the Colonies attacked another? Had one declared war on another as had happened in the past? Were they going to have to deal with an inter-Colonial war?

She went to her usual seat at the big table, sat down and massaged her temples. Her headache was getting worse. She finally got up and got a glass of water. From a small pocket in her briefcase she retrieved a painkiller and swallowed it. She shut her eyes and waited for it to work. With all the excitement she didn't think it would put her to sleep.

Perhaps it was the specter of a war looming in her thoughts, but a man she hadn't seen since she was nineteen years old came to mind, a pilot who was now commanding a battlestar, a man she could never remember without wishing she could change the past.

…

Laura Roslin was eighteen years old the year she met Bill Adama. They would never have met if her mother and father had not forced her that summer to participate in a ritual that was hundreds of years old, something that Laura viewed as a relic that had no place in a modern society…Caprica City's annual debutante dance. The dance harkened back to a time in Colonial history when the _only_ duty of a well-bred woman was to find a husband, marry and raise a family.

She considered it nothing but an archaic holdover from bygone times.

Young women of a certain social status were presented to society as a way of announcing that they were of marriageable age. Her mother had been a debutante as had both of her grandmothers. Participation was by select invitation only. Everyone who was invited considered it an honor…everyone but Laura. She did her best to break her family's traditional participation.

She begged, cried and threatened to run away, but nothing swayed her parents. They stood firm and tried to explain to her that _no one_ looked at the dance that way anymore. It was something that young women from certain families did. She should look at it as a good time, one night out of the late summer when she would wear a formal dress and dance with nice young men.

Both of her parents were smart enough not to call them _eligible_ young men.

And that, of course, presented another problem. She needed an escort. She didn't have a boyfriend and refused to ask any of the young men in her class to put on a tuxedo and spend the night enduring the torturous ritual, even if all that involved was drinking a cup or two of punch and dancing a number of dances together. She begged her parents to let her fourteen-year-old brother fill in.

"Absolutely not!" her mother said.

"He's as tall as me. No one will know."

"Don't be ridiculous, Laura. Even dressed in a tuxedo, he will still look like a fourteen-year-old boy. It's not acceptable."

Finally her father lost patience with her. _Find someone or I'll do it for you!_ Defiantly she told him to go ahead. At that point she didn't care. Better someone he would find than someone she liked. He asked around among his friends. One of them, Joseph Adama, a prominent defense attorney, volunteered his son Lieutenant Bill Adama, twenty-three years old, an Academy graduate and currently training to be a Viper pilot.

Her father thought Laura would be pleased. He was wrong.

"You picked a military man? A pilot? What could we possibly have in common? Pilots shoot things, kill things."

Her father angrily pointed his finger at her. "_You_ had your chance so I don't want to hear _another word_ from you! Lieutenant Adama has agreed to escort you. He's a fine young man, an officer and a gentleman. I expect you to treat him with respect and keep your radical opinions to yourself for one night."

The next morning as she stood for the final fitting of her dress, she thought of the escort her father had chosen and broke down in tears. "He did this just to punish me. I can't do it, Mother, I can't do it. I can't go to a dance with somebody I don't even know. Some military man! Some _pilot_!"

"Yes, you can. And you will! You should have thought about that before your father had to find someone for you. You could have asked any one of a dozen young men and they would have jumped at the opportunity to have you on their arm at a prestigious event like this dance. Sometimes your stubbornness amazes me. And Laura, dear, please be careful. Don't cry on the dress. Silk spots."

Laura had to admit that it was a beautiful dress, a gently scooped neck with spaghetti straps, fitted bodice embroidered with tiny pearls and long full skirt, all made of soft white silk. It made her creamy skin glow and set off her dark hair and smoky eyes.

But it looked like a wedding dress. All she needed was a veil. To be looked at and judged like Sagittaron slaves at the auction block five hundred years ago. How fair was that? Oh gods, would she survive the humiliation? As she emoted down the hall later, her younger brother laughed at her.

"Quit being such a drama queen, Laura. It's not _all_ about you."

She went into her room and in an uncharacteristic move, angrily slammed the door. No one understood her. No one. Least of all her family. Would September and college _never_ get here?

The next Saturday night, however, as she stood in the dress and pulled on her long white gloves, she changed her mind. She had never thought of herself as that attractive despite what others told her, but tonight as she looked in the mirror and saw her eyes sparkle, saw the way her hair tumbled in soft waves around her shoulders, she was actually pleased with herself. She saw something else in her reflection, too, something she had never seen before. She saw the woman she was becoming.

She could do this. She would smile and dance and then she would get on with her life. In three weeks she would go to the University. She would make this one last gesture and then put her childhood…and the beliefs of her parents…behind her. She had learned the first of a number of valuable lessons that would later enhance her career. She had learned when to stand firm on an issue and when to give in.

Her brother was right. It wasn't _all_ about her.

As if to emphasize that point, her mother looked at her with tears in her eyes. "You are _so_ beautiful tonight. Please try to have a good time. You just don't know how much this means to your father and me."

Her father and the young lieutenant were waiting for her. The car was ready and waiting to take them to the hotel ballroom where the dance was taking place. She smiled graciously as she descended the stairs, saw the pride in her father's eyes, and then she looked at _him_. She looked at Bill Adama and almost faltered. Standing straight and proud in his dress uniform, he was dark-haired and handsome though more in a rugged than a classical sense.

What gave her pause, though, was not just the look of surprise in his eyes when he looked up at her, but also the near-defiance as well. He managed a tight smile, courteously took her hand and greeted her. Her keen intuition read him, though, as clearly as if he had just spoken the words. He didn't want to be here anymore than she did. They had both been forced to do this. Oh, it was going to be an interesting evening.

The first dance was always with fathers and daughters and the second with the debutante and her escort. As Bill took her stiffly in his arms, she looked into his blue eyes and smiled. "So who made _you_ do this tonight?"

Her question must have taken him off-guard, because he hesitated before he answered. He told her the truth, though. "My father."

"It was both of my parents. And don't worry about insulting me. I don't want to be here either. My parents are so old-fashioned about everything. I can't wait to get to the University this fall. The only way I could have gotten out of this, though, was to throw myself off the roof and break a leg. This is _slightly_ less painful, don't you think?"

She made an effort and smiled at him again.

Suddenly he wasn't quite so stiff and proper any more. "I thought I was going to get stuck with some dog who couldn't even get a date. I never counted on you being so beautiful."

"Oh, that's a nice touch. Flatter me and you think I'll forget you had to be coerced."

"Not coerced." He smiled, his first genuine smile of the evening. "_Ordered_."

"That's right. You military types are big on orders, aren't you?"

"Orders are what the military runs on. What society runs on. Even religion. Orders. Laws. Commandments."

"Let's leave the law and religion out of our conversation tonight, Lieutenant. The same goes for politics. I can tell we have some major differences there. Why don't you start by telling me about yourself? I know your father is a lawyer. Do you plan to follow in his footsteps when your military obligation is over?"

"My name is Bill. I prefer that to my rank. I'm not comfortable talking about myself, but I'll try. I just graduated from the Academy. I'm training to be a Viper pilot. When I graduate Flight School in six weeks I'm going to kick some Cylon ass and help us win this war. It's gone on too long already. I'll never be a lawyer. One day I'm going to command a battlestar."

She pondered his answer a moment. "And that will better humanity in what way, Bill?"

"It will protect humanity. I'll leave the betterment of humanity to others such as yourself."

"How do you know I want to better humanity?"

"Just a hunch…and your father told mine you wanted to win _Teacher of the Year_ by the time you're twenty-five. Is that true?"

"My father wants me to follow him into the diplomatic corps. My mother just wants me to _marry well_."

"And what do _you_ want?"

"To make our worlds a better place to raise our children. I just haven't decided how I want to do that yet."

"I'm sure you'll accomplish anything you set your mind to."

He smiled again and Laura felt the first spark of something between them, something hot and primal that flared beneath the cool and virginal white silk. He felt it, too. She saw it in his eyes. Saw the hot spark dance behind the deep blue, and something else, too, near-disbelief that it was happening.

Neither one of them had counted on this. The military man and the budding humanitarian. The diplomat's daughter and the pilot, as different as night and day.

He hesitated and then gently pulled her closer. She willingly let him.

…

The President's voice brought her back to the present. She opened her eyes. The headache had dulled to the point she barely noticed it.

"Thank you all for coming out tonight on such short notice," President Adar began. "I'll get right to the point. The Colonies are under attack by a force presumed at the moment to be Cylon. We received word earlier today that we had lost touch with the Colony of Scorpia and are as yet unable to reestablish contact. Just a few minutes ago Admiral Nagala notified me that Libran has also gone silent. Our military is currently making all efforts to find out how large the force is. I don't think there is any doubt as to what the intention is. We will keep all of you updated as word comes in."

The low rush of sound that went through the group was like a wave.

Laura realized that she had put her clutched fist over her heart and murmured, "Oh, dear gods."

The Secretary of Transportation, Scott Michelson, asked the question that was on all their minds. "Mr. President, does this mean we're at war?"

"As you all know this month is summer vacation for the Quorum of Twelve. Half of them are on their home planets so they've not met and made it official, but yes, I think you could say we're at war. Our military is prepared to engage the enemy. In the next few hours we hope to have further news. That is all I can tell you at the moment. The media naturally already has word that something has happened. I will be addressing them on our position early in the morning. I would ask that none of you speak to the press until I have had the chance. I cannot answer any more of your questions now because I don't have any answers for you. I will keep you informed as word comes in. Expect called meetings at any time. Thank you again for coming on such short notice."

Michelson spoke again. "Will we be going to Condition Delta?" He was referring to the condition at which the President, his Cabinet and members of the Quorum who were currently on Caprica would retreat to a bunker deep under the capitol.

"Not yet, but it may be coming soon. It might be a good idea to start making some preparations."

He turned and left the room.

Laura remained quietly in her seat as questions and comments and speculation burst out around her. The louder everyone else became, the deeper into herself she sank, her thoughts with a certain commander of a battlestar. He had survived the First Cylon War. Her prayer to the gods was that he would survive this one.

That they all would.

TBC…


	5. Meeting Tom Zarek

Chapter 5

Meeting Tom Zarek

_In a tragic incident at the beginning of the war, the prison transport ship _Astral Queen_ was hit by Cylon fire as she left Tauron's atmosphere in an attempt to reach safety on Caprica. The ship crash-landed at Rendlesham Intercolonial Spaceport, far north of Caprica City. Due to the skill of both pilots, most of the ship's passengers and crew survived. The pilot, however, was subsequently shot and killed and his copilot seriously wounded by a prisoner, the reason apparently being the pilot's decision to save the ship at the expense of some of the prisoners who were in a compartment he sealed off to maintain the hull's integrity. The man who killed the pilot was later proved to be a follower of Tom Zarek, and escaped along with Zarek and six others after the crash._

_- Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War_

Kara Thrace opened her eyes. In front of her there was still the black of space, but where there had once been only the twinkle of distant stars, there was now a blue green planet, large enough that she could tell that it was Caprica, their destination.

She stretched as well as she could in the restraints of the seat harness and looked over at her father. At first she thought he was talking to her until she saw he was wearing a headset, the thin band around the back of his head with earpiece over his left ear and another piece curving in front of his mouth.

"Roger that. I am low on fuel and request intra-atmosphere entry." There was a long pause. She could tell he was listening. "Flight origination is Picon. Destination is Rendlesham Intercolonial Spaceport." And finally, "Copy, control. Glide path Delta eight three four over coordinates 33.1.4 by 84.5.3."

She got the destination part, but not much else of what he had just said made any sense to her.

He reached forward and pressed a key before he turned to her. "I've turned off transmission. We'll be entering the atmosphere in about ten minutes. You have a nice nap?"

"Um-hmm." She stretched again. "Are we really low on fuel?"

"We are. I burned a lot of fuel getting us through that debris. Normally I'd use the engines to slow us down coming through the atmosphere, but that will take a lot more fuel. We'd be on our reserve before we got down. So I'm going to let gravity bring us down. The shields will protect us, but it's going to be fast and we'll look like we're on fire. Glide path Delta eight three four is pretty much straight down. I just want you to be prepared."

"How long was I asleep?"

"Almost two hours. I went back and talked to your friend. I told him what's going on. He's a nice kid. Sensible. You did well picking him for a best friend."

"We picked each other. Did you tell him…you know…about…being my dad?"

"No, that's your call. I didn't know if you'd want to own up to me as your old man or not."

Kara frowned until she saw him wink at her.

"Now, let's see. I hope I remember how to do this. It's been a while since I've brought a ship down hot through the atmosphere."

"You mean…you don't remember how?"

He grinned and winked at her again. He really liked teasing her.

"Oh, frak you."

"Yeah, mouth just like your mother."

He held a finger to his lips for silence. She could tell he was listening to something in his headset. He switched his transmitter back on. "Go ahead, control." And ten seconds later. "We are cleared for RIS on glide path Delta eight three four over coordinates 33.1.4 by 84.5.3, intra-atmosphere approach."

Kara looked out again. Caprica was much larger now. She could see oceans and the main continent and the line where it was still in the dark and where it was in sunlight. Her father was moving the yoke. She saw the one in front of her move, too. He looked over at her and nodded as if to say, _here we go_. He pressed several buttons on the flight console, pulled the throttle back cutting most of the power to the engines, and they were descending, gaining speed, the outside beginning to glow faintly orange and then brighter orange. And finally she saw what he meant about thinking they were on fire.

She was aware that she was breathing rapidly, eyes reflecting the sparkling fire coming off the shields of the little craft, excitement mounting in her as they gained speed. Gods, this was the biggest rush, better than the skateboard park, better than swinging over the creek, better than anything she'd ever known. Her hands gripped the armrests of the seat. It was the best feeling she'd ever had. She had to do this someday. She had to be a pilot just like her father.

Her father was intently watching what she finally figured out was the altimeter, something that hadn't even registered until they'd started down. When it looked like it had run backwards to about fifteen thousand, she saw him push the throttle forward. She felt the engines take over power for the ship. They started slowing down and then it was over. The glittering fire was gone. He smoothly transitioned back into straight flight. He put something into the flight computer and saw what came back. He looked over at her and gave her a thumbs-up.

"Control, I am unable to make RIS due to low fuel. New destination, Singer Field."

She hoped everything was okay. He'd changed the place they were going.

He switched off the transmitter again. "We're not going to Rendlesham. I had to give them an interplanetary destination earlier that I knew would be approved. But we'll get too many questions about this ship at Rendlesham . It looks like a passenger ship, but basically it's a drug-runner's ship. Somebody will spot that real quick. We'd be held up for a long time and have to answer a lot of questions. We're actually north of RIS about thirty miles near a private field. I know the guy who owns it. He'll sell me fuel no questions asked. His son and I flew Vipers together for nearly seven years. We'll get a few hours sleep, something to eat, catch the news and decide what we're going to do. We're still a couple of hours from daylight. That all right with you?"

She nodded. She felt almost dazed by the feeling she'd had coming down through the atmosphere.

"You okay, Kara? You're too quiet."

"Yeah, I'm okay. That was just awesome. _You're_ just awesome."

He grinned. "I think I'm going to like this dad thing okay. Just remember, the _awesomes_ need to outnumber the _frak yous_."

When they reached the airfield, it appeared deserted. Her father's attempts to raise a response from anyone down below failed. He finally keyed some numbers into the console and the runway lights came on. Less than a minute later they were on the ground.

"That's strange. I guess Singer's not at home."

"Who's Singer?"

"The guy who owns this little patch of tarmac. He lives here. It's not like him to be gone. He might not appreciate me waking him up at this time of the night, but he would still have responded. I just hope he's okay. It's been about four months since I've been here." He unbuckled his seat harness and got out of his seat. "Come on. Let's get out. I need to stretch my legs."

"Don't you mean leg?" she asked. Yeah, she could tease him, too.

He laughed. "Now don't make me take back what I just said about liking the dad thing."

She scrambled out of her seat and impulsively hugged him. "No, please don't take it back. I was just kidding you."

For a few moments he held her tightly against him. "I know you were. And I was just kidding you, too. I've wanted to be a dad to you for thirteen years. Come on, let's go. We stand here much longer and you'll make your old man cry again."

Karl had already unbuckled his harness and was standing in the aisle when they exited the cockpit. Her father activated the door and Kara heard the seal disengage, watched the door glide up and the steps glide out and then down. He went down first. Kara and Karl followed him.

The air was warm and humid.

Kara turned to Karl. "Are you doing okay?"

"Yeah, I slept a couple of hours. The pilot is a nice guy."

"You don't know the half of it."

Her father lit a cigarette and drew the smoke deep into his lungs. "Don't ever start this. It's a damned nasty habit. I've been trying to quit for the last fifteen years. Your mother hates it."

"I hate it, too," Kara said.

He inhaled again, then threw the cigarette down and crushed it underfoot.

"Okay, here's what we're going to do. I'm going to look around. See if I can find Singer. Kara, I want you and Karl to wait here. If I can't find Singer, I'm going to try to find the key to the fuel pump. We're not quite bingo fuel yet, but we're close. It's not enough to take off and get us anywhere else. I'll leave Singer a note. He knows I'm good for the bill."

"I've got to go to the bathroom," Kara said. "Can I go into the terminal?"

"Yeah, come on. We'll all go. Then Karl and I will fuel the plane."

The door leading into the terminal was unlocked. Her father found the switch for the interior lights. The reception area had a desk on one side, a row of plastic chairs against another wall, a drink machine, a candy machine and restrooms. Kara headed straight for the women's room.

When she got inside, though, and finally found the light switch, it didn't work. There was a frosted-glass window on the far side of the room. The runway lights outside provided faint illumination. She stood in the semi-dark waiting for her eyes to adjust.

It was then that she noticed the funny smell, like firecrackers, and something else, too, something that smelled sweet and gross at the same time. At first it made her think someone had thrown up, but it didn't exactly smell like that either. When she could see well enough, she went into the first stall.

When she came out, she went to the sink and washed her hands. Her eyes had adjusted to the dim light. She washed her face because it was starting to feel oily and then pulled the elastic band off her ponytail, ran her fingers through her hair and put the elastic back on again. Some of her hair was still sticking out. She did it several times before she was satisfied.

Later she was never sure why she looked at the floor in the mirror, but she did. There was something dark on the floor of the third stall, the one next to the window. Knowing she should probably go get her father, she still walked over to it. Standing back she used her foot and pushed the door inward. It bumped against something. She pushed harder and realized that it was a leg. Someone was in there.

She jumped back but whoever it was didn't move or speak. Finally she found the courage to look around the edge of the door. There was just enough light from the window to see. A white-haired man was sprawled on the toilet, eyes half open, a dark round hole in the middle of his forehead and something dark on the wall behind him that had run down to the floor. She finally realized what the smells were, gunpowder and blood and probably his brains, too.

She gagged as she backed away and ran back to the first stall. She leaned over the toilet and waited to throw up, but her stomach settled. She stood there another minute to be sure and then went back over to the sink and put cold water on her face. She realized that she had probably found Singer, the man her father knew.

A second after that she had another thought. What if the person who shot Singer was still around? She had to tell her father. She ran to the bathroom door, jerked it open and rushed out.

"I found Singer. I found…"

What she found was that she had just walked into a worse nightmare than leaving Picon.

Her father and Karl were on their knees in the middle of the reception area, their hands clasped behind their heads, fingers laced. Her father hadn't gotten there without a fight, though. There was a cut high on his left cheek just under his eye. Blood had run down his face and dripped on the front of his shirt, almost down to the silver wings that were pinned over his heart. Karl was the whitest and most frightened-looking she had ever seen him, but he didn't look hurt.

Around them stood seven or eight men, some carrying weapons. Kara saw assault rifles and PK-45 handguns. The men were all dressed in bright orange jumpsuits, the universal garb of prisoners. Oh gods, oh gods, oh gods. What should she do?

All of them were looking at her. No one seemed to know exactly what to do. It couldn't have lasted but a few seconds. It just seemed like a lot longer before one of the men stepped away from the group. He was tall, not as tall as her father, but close to it. He had dark hair and eyes and under other circumstances she might have considered him good-looking.

"Well, what's this, captain? You failed to mention you had another member of your crew."

"Don't you touch her, Zarek."

Kara stood her ground and looked the man named Zarek in the eyes. "You'd better listen to him," she said.

"This one's got courage," Zarek said as he circled her. "No fear in her eyes."

He grasped her upper arm, his fingers biting hard into her flesh. He was probably trying to show her she should be afraid. She clenched her teeth to keep from crying out. Somehow she knew if she made a sound her father would do something stupid.

Zarek forced her over to where her father and Karl were kneeling.

"I found Singer," she said to her father. "They shot him in the head."

She saw the pain flash through his eyes and then the anger. He looked at Zarek. "You son of a bitch. He was a nice guy. A harmless old man who would have given you anything you wanted." Then he looked back at her. "I'm sorry you had to see something like that, Kara. Are you okay?"

She nodded at him. Maybe she was tougher than she thought. Maybe she was more like her mother than she thought. She wanted him to be proud of her.

"I thought I was going to barf…but I didn't."

"Mr. Singer was hiding in the ladies' room trying to make a call on his mobile phone." Zarek made the statement like it was a perfectly good reason to kill someone.

"I know you're a terrorist. I guess you can add cold-blooded murderer to your list of accomplishments now," her father said. "No, wait. You blew up a government building on Sagittaron and killed a lot of innocent people so you're already a cold-blooded murdering terrorist."

"I prefer revolutionary instead of terrorist. Maybe even evolutionary. Our government is corrupt, of the rich, by the rich and for the rich. Who runs the Colonies now? Special interest groups and lobbyists. They really care about you and me, don't they? The day of the common man is over. I'm a great believer in equality, just like the Articles that founded our Colonies spelled out. We've gotten too far from our Founders' ideals. Change can't be legislated when the legislators have no motive to do so. It has to be forced."

"Is that how you justify murdering an unarmed old man?"

"I can't always control what some of my men do."

"You're a damned poor leader if your men don't obey you. Ultimately you're responsible for what they do."

"Do I detect a military background, captain? Responsibility passes up the chain of command? Then who would _ultimately_ be responsible for allowing the Cylons to attack the Colonies? The Commander in Chief, Mr. President himself?" Zarek laughed. "Since we know that won't happen, let's blame it on Fate, then. Tell me, do you believe in the Fates, the three sisters who control our lives from the moment of birth?"

"I've never been a particularly religious man. I believe we make our own destiny."

"According to our priests the Fates or Moiras are the real deciders of our destiny. One sister spins the thread of each individual's life, another sister measures it…and a third cuts it. The third sister cut Mr. Singer's thread tonight. Not my men, Captain. Fate."

"Where are you going with this?"

"I'll let you decide." Zarek continued. "Here's my dilemma. I need a way off this rock and you say you won't take me. Do you really make your own destiny or have the Fates already decided what's going to happen here tonight? You see, I think Fate dropped you and your ship down here for a reason, that reason being our way off Caprica, but maybe I'm wrong."

"There's nowhere for you to go. Believe me. We just came from Picon. This is the only planet on the Twelve Colonies that the Cylons haven't destroyed."

"We got a ship waiting for at..." one of the men started to say.

Zarek turned on him. "Shut up. The captain doesn't get any information until he says he'll take us."

"There's still nowhere for you to go," her father said.

With his free hand Zarek pulled the elastic band off Kara's ponytail. Her hair tumbled down around her shoulders. He lifted a strand and leaned over. She couldn't tell if he kissed her hair or just smelled it.

"If my men and I have to remain here, I'm sure they'll want some kind of entertainment. They've been in prison a long time."

His action and his words had an immediate effect on her father.

"All right, Zarek. You've got yourself a ship and a pilot. But you let her go. You let both her and the boy go. I don't take off until I see you and all your men on board and the two of them here on the ground with their packs. _Untouched and unharmed_. That's all you'll get from me. Take it or leave it. Otherwise you might as well just shoot me right now."

"To show you what a real democracy is like, we'll take a vote. What do you say, men? Do we agree? Let the boy and girl go free in return for a ride off this rock?"

There seemed to be general agreement among the men, although Kara saw a couple of them look at her like they'd had to think about it.

"I'm getting on my feet now, Zarek," her father said. "I'm not going to say goodbye to my daughter on my knees."

Zarek nodded and her father got up. He turned to Karl. "Get up." Karl did the same.

"Let me go, you motherfrakker," Kara snarled at Zarek and jerked her arm from his grasp. He laughed and let her go.

"You've got yourself a real little spitfire, captain. I should have realized she was yours. A chip right off the old block."

Kara threw her arms around her father and looked up at his face. The cut was worse than she first thought. The skin around his eye and begun to swell and he had the beginnings of a black eye.

"They hurt you."

He smoothed her hair back and smiled at her. "I'm okay, Kara. Don't worry about me. I've had worse. Remind me to tell you sometime about a bar fight I got into on Gemenon, me and another pilot against half a dozen guys a lot tougher than these. No, on second thought, I'd better not. You might think your old man doesn't have good sense."

"You lost?"

"No, actually we won. I just looked a lot worse afterward."

"Take us with you, please. Don't leave us here."

He wrapped his arms around her, leaned down close to her ear. His voice went from light and teasing to serious.

"I can't do that. I wouldn't have you on that ship with them for any reason. But I'll be back for you. You'll be safe here. As soon as we're gone, you call the police. They'll keep you safe. I'll be back for both of you. I promise."

"That's enough," Zarek said. "My man tells me they've got the ship fueled. We're ready to go."

Her father kept his arms around her and said very softly against her ear. "My name's John Gallagher. Your remember that. You remember my name. And I love you, Kara. You remember that, too. Always remember how much your old man loves you."

She nodded. If she spoke she knew she was going to cry and there was no way she would let any of those men or that Zarek see her do that. She clenched her teeth as she looked up at her father. She nodded again and said _I love you_ with her eyes. He understood. She knew he understood because of the way he nodded back and winked at her.

"You're tough and beautiful," he whispered. "Just like your mother. Remember that, too."

Two of Zarek's men pulled him away from her. He looked at Karl. "Take care of each other. I'll be back for you."

She saw his eyes when he said it this time, though, and knew he didn't believe it. She knew he believed that whenever he got Zarek and his men to wherever they wanted to go, one of them would do to him what they had done to Singer.

Zarek looked at her. "Don't get any ideas about calling the police before we're gone. If I hear a siren or see a cop, your father is the first one to die."

She and Karl stayed in the terminal, looking out the door while Zarek's men dumped their packs onto the tarmac. When they were all inside the ship and the door was shut, Kara ran outside to where she could see the front of the ship. She saw her father inside, headset on. He saw her, gave her a thumbs-up and then motioned for her to get out of the way.

She knew he couldn't hear her over the sound of the engines revving, but she shouted anyway, words she had never said in her entire life but that felt so right to say now to a man she'd known for only a few hours, a man who had brought her from sure death on Picon and who had saved her again by promising to fly those men wherever they wanted to go. And he would probably pay for it with his life. The way he'd told her to remember his name. He didn't think he'd be coming back.

"I love you, Daddy. I love you."

The ship accelerated down the runway and lifted off. She watched it get smaller in the night sky. When she couldn't see it any more, she sat down on the tarmac and cried.

Karl came over and sat down beside her and put his arm around her. She turned her face into his shoulder and sobbed. "I just met him, and they took him away from me."

"I know. I know." He rubbed the upper part of her arm and just let her cry for a while. Finally he got to his feet and pulled her to hers.

"We've got to go through the packs, Kara. We can't carry all of them. We've got to put what we need into two packs and then go."

For the second time that night she dried her eyes on the bottom of her t-shirt. "We're not going anywhere. He said to wait here and we're going to wait right here."

"Look, we'll call the cops, but I don't think we should stay here. There's no telling what will happen to us. We don't have any identification, nothing. They might even think we did this...that we shot the old man. We don't have any proof that Zarek guy and the others were even here, or your father. How are we going to explain what we're doing here? The police will separate us and question us. We'll probably have to go to some juvenile facility. You don't want that to happen, do you? I know I sure don't. We've got to stay together. We can go into the woods and hide for a while. We won't go far. We'll go where we can still see the field in case your father comes back."

"What do you mean _in case he comes back_? He _will_ come back."

"That's what I meant."

It took them two trips to get all the packs into the terminal. Kara saw the blue elastic band from her ponytail on the floor where Zarek had dropped it earlier.

"Do the lights in the men's room work?"

"Yeah, why?"

She went behind the reception desk and started pulling open drawers. She found a pair of scissors in the third one. "Come on."

"What?"

"Just come on."

With a bewildered look on his face he followed her into the men's room. Remembering how Zarek had touched her hair, had smelled it or kissed it, she stood in front of the mirror, held up a shoulder-length strand and cut it a few inches out from her scalp.

"Kara, what the frak are you doing?"

"It's better if I don't look so much like a girl, don't you think? I'll cut the sides and top. I need you to cut the back."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure."

The haircut was as bad as she had expected, but she didn't look nearly as much like a girl now. With a ball cap and a baggy t-shirt she could maybe pass for a boy. She looked in the mirror and saw her green eyes reflected there, her father's eyes. His hair was dark brown and hers was blond like her mother's, but with hers short she looked even more like him. Yeah, she looked like her old man who was the best pilot in the Colonies.

She turned to Karl. "His name's John Gallagher. Did he tell you?"

"Yeah."

Her mother and father were John and Socrata or Sassy and Flyboy, which she liked better.

"I asked him about being a Viper pilot," Karl said. "I could tell he was proud of that. I asked him what his call sign was."

"And?"

"Starbuck. He said he was called Starbuck."

She liked her father's call sign even better. She repeated the word out loud and loved the sound of it.

She decided that when she got to be a Viper pilot it would be her call sign, too.

Her father's legacy to his daughter, a love for flying and his call sign.

_Starbuck._

TBC…


	6. Hijacked

Chapter 6

Hijacked

_Caprica became the final destination for most ships that were in transit when the Cylons attacked. All who arrived were immediately taken in as refugees. The pilots of seventeen ships refused to bring their cargo or passengers to Caprica, waiting to see what the outcome of the fighting would be. Most of these ships clustered near the Ragnar Anchorage. All were later determined to have been engaged in some type of criminal activity, smuggling and drug running being the most prevalent. All were destroyed by the Cylons._

_-Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War_

The destruction of their nuclear basestar apparently caused confusion or indecision on the part of the Cylons. For over twenty-four hours the last six basestars remained stationary in space between Picon and Caprica. Long range scanners picked up the motionless ships. Every hour recon Raptors jumped to within visual range and jumped away seconds later in order to confirm that their position had not changed.

Although the fleet had stood down from Condition One, everyone, pilots and crew, were still ready to launch all Vipers at a moment's notice. They were maintaining a large Combat Air Patrol around the ships. To say that the situation was creating tension all over the _Galactica_ was an understatement. Lee could see it in the faces of the officers and crew. Only his father seemed to keep his calm demeanor, moving around, setting an example for everyone.

Maybe he hadn't been there for Lee when he was growing up, but Lee now saw that commanding a battlestar was like being a father to several thousand. He began to feel a grudging sense of admiration for his old man.

There had been no communication with the Cylon ships. Both sides were at a stalemate, waiting for the gods knew what. Bill explained to Lee that down on Caprica the top military men and the President were trying to decide whether to attack the basestars where they were or wait for them to come to Caprica. Opinion was split as to whether to pull their battlestars away from the planet. The fear was that it was some kind of trick or trap and that if the battlestars left then other Cylon ships would jump in to destroy the last remaining Colony.

Everything stood that way during the night and was still unchanged when Lee and his father got back to the CIC early the next morning. It was starting to look like another day of waiting when one of the ensigns monitoring the screens said, "Dradis contact, sir."

Bill turned around. "Cylon?"

"No sir, it's a Colonial signal, Picon registry. Private. Outbound from Caprica."

"_Outbound_? You're sure?"

"Yes, sir."

"What heading?"

"Sir, he verbally requests permission to continue past us to a commercial freighter holding at the Ragnar Anchorage…he…wait, he just transmitted a code that the computer has unscrambled. It's a commercial code that indicates he's been hijacked."

The commander didn't hesitate. "Pull two Vipers off CAP. Have them escort that ship into the port landing bay. If he shows _any_ reluctance, tell them to put a round across his bow. That should convince any hijackers that we mean business. And have a squadron of Marines waiting for the ship."

The ensign spoke into her mouthpiece. "Colonial PCN89639 you are ordered to follow escort Vipers and land your ship on the _Galactica."_

A minute later they heard one of the Viper pilots confirm that the ship was landing.

Adama said, "I'm on my way to the hangar deck. I want to see for myself what kind of fish we've hooked this morning. Colonel Tigh, you have the helm. I'll be back shortly."

"I'm coming, too," Lee said.

Adama nodded. "But don't…"

"I know," Lee said, "Don't get in the way."

He always wondered what would have happened if the men on the ship had decided to fight, but they didn't. They surrendered peacefully. In fact, most of them looked tired and ragged and relieved.

There was only one small incident after they all got out when the pilot turned and slugged one of the guys in the orange jumpsuits, hit him hard enough to put him on the deck

But it wasn't for hijacking his ship.

"That's for touching my daughter," the pilot said. "And for Singer, too."

Two Marines trained their rifles on him, but he raised both hands in an _okay-I'm-done_ gesture and didn't try anything else. By that time the commander was in front of the group and Lee was right behind him.

"All right," Bill said. "Who's going to tell me what's going on? Captain?" He addressed the man who had piloted the ship.

Lee was surprised when the pilot identified his father correctly by his rank.

"Commander, sir. I'm John Gallagher. I'd like for you to meet Tom Zarek and his gang of murderers. I guess the nice orange fashion statement they're making tells you where they've come from. They killed a friend of mine back on Caprica before they hijacked my ship."

Lee looked from the pilot to his father and to the men in orange and the man who was holding his jaw. Tom Zarek. Why did that name sound so familiar to him?

"Captain Gallagher, I'm Bill Adama. So you're saying these men hijacked your ship after they killed someone?"

"Yes, sir, they did. I'd like to turn them over to you and get your permission to head back to Caprica immediately. I left my thirteen-year-daughter and a friend alone down there at a small landing strip. I really need to get back to them."

"I'm afraid I can't do that until I get some confirmation of what you've just told me. It looks obvious enough, but I still need to hear it officially. And I don't have time at the moment. There're six Cylon basestars sitting between Picon and Caprica. We don't know when they'll make their next move or what it will be. That's my priority. They could jump in on top of us at any minute."

"I need to get back down there, sir. Please."

"I'm sorry, Captain Gallagher." Adama turned to the Marine sergeant. "Take those men to the brig. See that any medical needs are taken care of and get some food sent to them." He turned back to the pilot. "I need to get back to the CIC. I don't want to have to put you in the brig, too, but I will. I'll grant you the courtesy of taking your word that you won't attempt anything foolish. Until we can sort this out and get some confirmation, you're our guest. Where you spend your time is up to you…the brig or a guest quarters. But you won't leave the _Galactica_ right now. Is that clear?"

Lee saw the captain take a deep breath and make a decision.

"Yes, sir. I understand the position you're in. I give you my word I won't do anything stupid. I'll wait on your decision. I told my daughter and her friend to call the police. They should be all right until I get back."

Bill looked at Lee. "Take the captain to Sick Bay, let Doc Cottle look at that cut under his eye. It needs attention. When you're done in Sick Bay bring him to my quarters and call me in the CIC."

His father left and Lee looked at Gallagher. He was embarrassed to admit that he didn't know how to get to Sick Bay.

Gallagher smiled as he started walking. "I probably do. I was on the _Solaria_ for almost seven years. It's the same class ship as the _Galactica_."

Lee noticed the slight limp as he caught up with Gallagher. "The _Solaria_ was lost a couple of nights ago."

"Damn," Gallagher said softly. "A lot of good men and women were aboard that ship. Damn."

"What did you do on the _Solaria_?"

"Viper pilot."

Lee already liked this man who would slug a criminal for touching his daughter. His respect now climbed another notch.

"Did they hurt your daughter?"

"Zarek grabbed her arm too hard. She might have a bruise, but she's tough. She'll be okay."

"What about your leg? Did they hurt that, too?"

"I limp because I have a prosthetic leg. It's good, but not quite like the real thing. I limp worse when I'm tired. And in answer to your next question…that's not how I lost my leg. I lost it when I had a wreck on my motorcycle."

"You fly commercial now?"

"Private charter. How old are you? You look young to be serving on a battlestar as a commander's aide. And what's your name? I like to know a man's name if I'm talking to him."

"I'm sorry. I should have introduced myself. My name is Lee. I'm seventeen, eighteen in four months. And in answer to _your_ next couple of questions...I'm not in the service. Commander Adama is my father. I'm here trying to decide whether to become a pilot or a lawyer after I graduate from high school next year."

"You're quick. I like that. As for becoming a pilot or a lawyer? Damn, Lee, that's a real no-brainer."

Gallagher was exactly right about the location of Sick Bay.

Doc Cottle had the captain sit on the edge of a gurney while he shined a penlight into the captain's eyes and asked him a series of questions. Knocked out? Headache? Dizziness? Loss of memory? All of which Gallagher answered with a _No_.

"I've had a concussion before. More than one if that's where you're going. I don't think I have one this time."

"I don't think so either. Just a cut and a shiner. What'd they hit you with?"

"Butt of a PK-45."

"You current on your tetanus."

"Yes, sir. Each year we have to undergo a very thorough physical to keep flying. I always feel like a pincushion when they're through with me."

"You don't have to _sir_ me," Cottle said.

"Old habit. You're a major. I left the service as a captain."

Cottle motioned for one of the medical technicians to come over. "Lay back, captain. I'm going to have Lissa clean that cut. It probably just needs a butterfly or two instead of stitches. She'll fix you right up."

The med tech was pretty, dark-eyed with pale skin and dark hair clipped up in the back so that it was off her neck and shoulders. She brought a small tray over to the gurney. Lee watched her pull on a pair of tight latex gloves.

Gallagher lay back with one arm behind his head. "Is this going to _hurt_?" he asked and then smiled at her.

"It will probably sting a little," she said as she tore open several packets of what looked like wet gauze. Lee smelled the antiseptic.

"Please be gentle with me," Gallagher said, still smiling.

"Pilots," Cottle said under his breath as he lit a cigarette. "The world can be coming to an end and some things never change."

Lee didn't understand what Cottle meant until he noticed the rosy flush creeping up the technician's neck into her pale cheeks.

It took her a long time to clean the cut over the captain's cheekbone and put two small butterfly bandages on it. The whole time Gallagher lay there with his eyes closed. Lee never saw him even flinch.

When Lissa finished she smiled and said, "Was that gentle enough for you?"

He opened his eyes. "I hardly felt it. You're very good, Lissa. Thank you."

Still smiling she nodded and began cleaning up the small tray.

"And I must be very tired to forget my manners like that. John Gallagher. I should have introduced myself first. A woman's that gentle with me, she usually knows my name first."

Lissa said something to Gallagher that Lee couldn't hear, something that caused Gallagher to smile and wink at her. Then she took the tray and went back to the desk.

Gallagher sat up. Cottle offered him a cigarette and stood while Gallagher sat on the edge of the gurney. They smoked and talked about his prosthetic leg, what kind it was, how it wasn't removable, how it was attached to the bone with stainless steel cap and screws, how synthetic skin was attached to his own, how the knee and ankle joints were still experimental.

Cottle asked more questions and Gallagher told him about the surgery that had attached it two years earlier, said the docs told him the limp should eventually go away, that it was probably more habit now than anything else.

"We'll probably need a lot of those if the Cylons don't wipe us out," Cottle said. "Arms and legs both."

Lissa had returned to the desk and whatever she was doing before they came in. Lee noticed her glance at Gallagher, though, more than once out of the corner of her eye.

Fifteen minutes later they were in the commander's quarters. Lee buzzed the CIC and told his father. Five minutes after that Bill walked in.

He poured two glasses of whiskey and handed one to the captain. "Now sit down and tell me why you're flying a ship that's registered to a man who was arrested for running drugs. You his pilot?"

"No, sir. It's a long story."

"I'm listening," Bill replied. "Did you think something like that wouldn't be in a database we could check? You'd better have a good explanation or you're going to join Zarek and his men in the brig."

"Maybe I'd better start by telling you I stole the ship to get my daughter and her mother off Picon."

Over the next thirty minutes Lee listened to one of the most extraordinary stories he had ever heard. His father interrupted from time to time with a question, the first time about the owner of the ship.

"He got his ship impounded when he was arrested by the Drug Enforcement Branch of the Colonial Bureau of Investigation. I found out about it because a friend of mine works undercover for the Bureau. It took me nearly two days to track him down and find out they had the ship in a small hangar forty-five miles outside of Picon City. He didn't ask me why I wanted to know and I didn't tell him. What he did tell me was that the drug dealer's lawyer was working on getting him out on bail and that his men were probably on their way there to get the ship. After the basestars got to Picon, everything was in chaos. I was lucky to get to the hangar before they did."

"And you were able to just walk in and take the ship?"

"I was wearing my uniform. I told the guard at the gate I was there to pick it up, that the paperwork was on its way. He let me in. Then I told the guy in the hangar the same thing. He towed it out and fueled it. I got on board, made like I was starting pre-flight and just took off. It was almost too easy. I'm sure it wouldn't have happened under normal circumstances. If the guy who owns it manages to make it off Picon, though, and ever finds me, my life isn't going to be worth two cubits."

"I don't think you need to worry about that. When did you leave Picon?"

Gallagher looked at his watch. "About ten hours ago."

"That ship doesn't have an FTL drive. How the hell did you get it through the radioactive debris field?"

"It has N-class radiation shielding. Most ships that carry drugs have it because it keeps them from being scanned. We were okay."

"That's not what I'm talking about," Bill said.

Lee spoke up. "Captain Gallagher was a Viper pilot on the _Solaria. _He fought in the First Cylon War."

Adama paused with the glass halfway to his mouth. "Is that so?"

"Yes, sir."

"How long?"

"I went in almost three years before the end of the war. I was an eighteen-year-old nugget. By the end I had made it through more than a hundred missions and I wasn't a nugget anymore."

Bill nodded. "The last years were bad ones. If you survived over a hundred missions I can understand how you got through that debris field."

Finally Gallagher went on with his story and told them how Tom Zarek and seven men had jumped him and his daughter's young friend as they started to fuel the ship on Caprica.

"I have no idea where they came from. I just looked up and there they were. We didn't stand a chance, but I tried." He pointed to his cheek. "That's how I got this. I would never have taken off with them, but Zarek made it plain what they were going to do to my daughter if I didn't. She's only thirteen, as innocent as a kid can be. I'd have taken them to Hades before I let them touch her."

Lee saw his father's jaw muscle tighten.

"She's all right?" There was fatherly concern in Bill's voice. In a way it didn't surprise Lee, but in a way it did.

"Yes, sir. At least Zarek kept his word on that. If he hadn't one of us would be dead right now."

"How did you know it was Tom Zarek?"

"I recognized him. I followed his trial for blowing up that government building on Sagittaron."

Adama had at least a partial explanation for where they had come from.

"I've had one of my resource specialists check it out. Two days ago Zarek was on a prison transport ship, the _Astral Queen_ that had just left Tauron on its way to Caprica when the Cylons attacked. It was one of the last ships to leave the planet. They took a hit as they left the atmosphere. It took out some of their systems including the FTL. The captain had to seal off one of the compartments to maintain the hull's integrity. They made it to Caprica, but crash-landed north of Rendlesham. In the confusion Zarek and a few others must have escaped detection and gotten away. It was chaos after the crash. Before they got away though, apparently Zarek or one of his men was so furious with the pilot for the decision he made to save the ship at the cost of some of the inmates that he shot both the pilot and co-pilot. The pilot is dead. The co-pilot was able to tell them part of what happened before they took him into surgery. He's critical but still alive."

"Son of a bitch," Gallagher said. "I'm sure that's what they had planned for me if we had gotten to that freighter. You were my last hope of stopping them before we got that far. I want to thank you and whoever it was who picked up the signal that I'd been hijacked."

Adama nodded and finished his drink. "One of my ensigns on comm duty." He gestured toward the bottle, but Gallagher shook his head.

"I've got to get back down to Caprica. My daughter and her friend are alone. They don't know where they are. They don't know anybody on the planet. I told them to call the police after we'd gone, but still…"

"What about your wife?"

"My daughter's mother and I weren't married. That's another long story and more personal than I'm willing to get into. I wanted her to come with us, but she's a Marine. I think that's explanation enough why she stayed with her unit on Picon. I promised her I'd get Kara to safety and take care of her."

Adama shook his head. "I wish I could let you go right now, but I can't. I'm still waiting on confirmation from the new Fleet Headquarters on Caprica that it's okay. We have notified the police at Rendlesham that we have you safe on board the _Galactica,_ and asked them to pass the word along to your daughter. They'll take care of her and her friend until we can get you back there. Now, captain, how long has it been since you've eaten or slept?"

"Nearly two days."

"I'm going to put you in with my son. There're two bunks in his quarters. I'm going to have some food sent up. I know you'll want a shower. I want you to eat and get some sleep. You're in no condition to fly right now anyway. We'll talk again later. Do you have a bag on board your ship?"

"Yes, sir. In a compartment in the back. I can go get it."

"No, Lee can do that." His father turned to him. "Show the captain to your quarters. Show him where the showers are and go get his bag."

Lee nodded. "Yes, sir."

"Oh, and captain, if your daughter is anything like you, I have a feeling she'll be fine for a couple of days."

For the first time that morning Lee saw what he thought was a genuine smile from Gallagher.

"She's tough and beautiful…just like her mother. And her friend has a good head on his shoulders. The authorities will take care of them for a couple of days. They'll be okay. Just please make sure they know I'm coming back for them."

Lee pointed out the showers before he left Gallagher in his quarters and headed down to the hangar to get the captain's bag. As he shut the door Gallagher said, "I'd appreciate you bringing me the flask that's in the side pocket of the pilot's seat. It was a gift from Kara's mother."

Lee said he would, but forgot. He got back to his quarters before he remembered. The captain was gone, to the showers he guessed. He put the bag on the empty bunk and returned to the hangar deck. He got on the ship, but the pockets on both the seats were empty. He looked everywhere he could think to look before he went back to the Marine sergeant he had gotten the captain's bag from earlier.

"No flask," the sergeant said gruffly looking down his desk.

Lee started to turn and go when gut feeling told him the man was lying. How would his Grandfather Adama approach this?

"Do you have any daughters, sergeant?"

"No. Why?" The sergeant at least looked up at him now.

"Captain Gallagher just flew his ship through all that radioactive debris above Picon to get his daughter off the planet. Keep your eyes open if you would, please. I'm sure he'd appreciate it if that flask showed up somewhere. His daughter is all he's got now. Her mother gave him that flask. She wouldn't come with them because she's a Marine. She stayed behind with her unit, even knowing Picon was lost."

He turned to go. Behind him he heard a drawer scrape open. He turned around. A silver flask was sitting on the desk. Lee didn't say a word as he picked it up. The sergeant was busy writing something in his log.

"Sign here," he said indicating a line on which he'd just written the words _Silver Flask_.

Lee signed his name under the line where he'd signed for the captain's bag, but this time he felt his grandfather Adama smile.

By the time Lee got back to his quarters, Gallagher had showered, and was already asleep on his back in the unmade bunk. His suitcase was unzipped and open on the floor. A tray with a mostly-eaten sandwich and an empty soup bowl was on the table. Lee put the flask down, got a blanket from the small locker beside the bunk and covered the captain. It made him think of the many times he'd done the same thing for Zak when they were younger…covered his sleeping brother because their mother was too drunk or depressed to remember.

Lee turned off all the lights except the dim one over the door, which stayed on all the time. If anyone deserved to sleep now, it was this man.

Lee didn't much believe in the gods. He'd had trouble with religion from the time he was small, but he offered a short prayer to Zeus for the captain's daughter and her friend, for their safety, and for her to be reunited with her father soon. He wondered briefly if his own father loved him enough to do the things for him that Gallagher had done for his daughter.

Then he went out and quietly closed the door behind him. He headed to the CIC to see if his father had another assignment for him. What had the captain called the daughter he had brought off Picon? The one he said was tough and beautiful? The one he already wanted to meet? Kara. That was it. He whispered her name, thought it was beautiful, too.

_Kara._

TBC…


	7. Surviving

Chapter 7

Surviving

_With the beginning of hostilities in the atmosphere over Caprica and the bombing of the major cities, many people were fearful of venturing outside of their homes or underground shelters in part due to debris from the fighting that was falling onto the planet below. Many people were reluctant to investigate the fallen debris for fear that it was Cylon._

_-Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War_

Karl insisted that they take everything out of the backpacks and go through all of it before they decided what to take and what to leave behind in the small airport terminal.

She wasn't surprised to see that her mother's backpack was filled with food, mostly RtEMs or Ready-to-Eat Meals. There were also some granola bars and packages of nuts and dried fruit. At the bottom was a good flashlight, extra batteries, three canteens, matches in a waterproof container and her mother's Mossinger-45 sidearm…loaded and with an extra clip. There was also a box of water purification tablets. They decided right away that this was a backpack they needed intact. Kara took the canteens over to the water fountain and filled them up.

They went through their clothes and put everything they could in Kara's backpack. Kara was going to carry whichever of the packs weighed less. She got an extra waterproof poncho out of Tricia Agathon's backpack as well as another flashlight, a pair of binoculars and some food.

Finally they were ready to go. Before they left, though, Karl showed his good judgment again when he went into Singer's little office. He took a big topographical map from the bulletin board while Kara went through the desk drawers and found a road map. Later they would have a chance to figure out where they actually were, almost nine hundred miles northwest of Caprica City and nearly two hundred miles southeast of Antioch, the largest city in the northern part of the continent.

The last thing they did before they left was to call the emergency number from the phone on Singer's desk. Karl told them there had been a shooting at the airport and then laid the receiver down without hanging up the phone. It wouldn't take the dispatcher long to find out the location.

The sun was rising when they left the little terminal building. They were barely across the field and into the woods on the other side of the runway when they heard the first siren. They waited there deep inside the tree line for twenty minutes until the terminal was swarming with police.

Karl had been studying the topographical map. "We've got to get further away, Kara, at least a mile. If we go up over here I think we can stay under cover and get high enough to see the field. They might find us if we stay here."

Reluctantly she agreed and followed him. It was a wise decision. During the next several hours the wooded area nearest the field was searched by the police.

They waited all that day. By late afternoon the police were gone. They decided to ration the meals. If they ate only twice a day, the meals would last five days longer. Karl found a small stream and they moved closer to it. It was good to be able to wash her face and get fresh water even though they still used the purification tablets. That night she watched the sky and slept the next day while Karl watched and then slept at night. They never saw another ship land. Singer's death must have shut down the small airport.

Still she knew that if her father were alive, he would come back there, but as each hour went by, she lost a little more hope. She and Karl didn't talk about it, but she knew those were his thoughts, too. They were both sure that after her father had flown those men wherever they wanted to go, Zarek or one of them would kill him. She tried not to think of him the way she had found Singer. She tried not to think of her father's green eyes half-open and dead.

On the second morning, the battle for Caprica began in the atmosphere far above them and then moved to the surface of the planet as Cylon Raiders began getting through. Two nights after that, a Viper, or what was left of a Viper fell near them.

At least Kara thought it was near them. They were both watching the sky early in the evening, just at twilight, and she and Karl both saw it, not yet knowing what it was, watched it coming down through the atmosphere, heat shield glowing. Even through the binoculars they couldn't tell what kind of ship it was. It was nearly down when it broke apart, the glowing object splitting into two pieces.

"Come on," she told Karl. "We've got to go to where it fell."

She had to know if it was her father's ship. It had come down through the night shedding sparkling fire like they had done four nights ago. She had to know.

"Kara, that's a lot further than you think. It's not just a few miles. It's probably between ten and fifteen, maybe more. If we go, we'll have to take the backpacks because I don't know if we'll be able to find our way back here. It's not like we're at one of the campgrounds on Picon where we know all the trails. You do know we'll be going away from the terminal."

"You're thinking the same thing I am. We're both thinking they probably killed him just like they killed Singer. But what if that was him falling out of the sky just now? What if he was trying to make it back here? I've got to know, Karl. I've got to know."

"All right. Let's go. We're going to run out of food soon. Maybe now's a good time to start thinking about what we're going to do next. We'll probably have to head for a town or something."

They walked all night, using the flashlight when they had to, navigating by moonlight when they could. Karl had marked the Viper's direction on his compass and kept them on course. They crossed mostly farmland and occasional patches of woods. They stayed away from the roads and houses…not that they saw many. One wheat field alone must have covered three or four straight miles.

As the sky started to lighten, they were able to follow the thin line of smoke.

Near dawn they came to the spot where the main part of the fuselage had fallen into a cornfield. The ground was scorched for nearly thirty feet in all directions, but the fire caused by the red-hot heat shield had burned out by the time they got there. Karl came out of the corn into the opening first and immediately turned around, trying to shield her.

"Oh, gods, Kara, don't look."

She pushed around him. The Viper, or what was left of it was partly on its side with one engine, one wing and most of the canopy missing. The pilot was still strapped in the cockpit. She knew that meant only one thing. He'd been dead before the Viper came down, otherwise he would have ejected before he hit the ground. His flight computer must have been trying to bring the ship down when they saw the sparkling fire.

For a long time Kara stood and stared at the gruesome scene and felt what was left of her childhood slowly ebb away. Karl had taken off his backpack and was standing behind her. She could hear his breathing coming in harsh rasps. She wondered if he was going to be sick. Finally she slipped her backpack off her shoulders and put it on the ground.

Almost like she was someone else, she walked over to the pilot. He hadn't really burned, but the fire had darkened the exterior of his suit and helmet. There was a fist-sized black hole in his chest. Everything was smoke-darkened except the lower part of one arm which looked untouched. His gloved hand was on the edge of the cockpit, where that side of the canopy would have been attached, like he was reaching for her.

She moved up to the side of the fuselage. His glove was right in front of her. She touched it, stroked the top of it gently. But it wasn't enough to touch his glove, she wanted to touch his hand. She found the release and pulled the glove off, slipped her hand into his and held it, then leaned over and put her cheek against it. It was still warm like her father's hand had been when he'd squeezed hers.

Karl came up behind her and said softly, "What are you doing, Kara? You're really freaking me out. This is…was a Viper. This is not your father."

"I know. But maybe he was somebody's father."

"Come on, Kara. Let's go. I know we're not the only ones who saw him fall. Somebody could show up here any time…maybe even Cylons."

She released the pilot's hand and noticed his wedding ring, a slim silver band. Very carefully she slipped the ring off his finger. She took her mother's dog tags from around her neck, snapped open the chain and put the ring on it with them before she closed it and put it back around her neck.

Her parents were together now. This pilot wasn't her father, but her father was dead, too. She knew that Zarek had killed him or he would have come back for her. Standing there in the dawn light she put her parents in a safe place in her heart and said goodbye to both of them. To Sassy and Flyboy who had loved each other so much they had made a baby together. They had made her.

She turned around and looked at Karl. "Let's go."

If he noticed a new hardness in her voice, he didn't say anything. She knew he understood. He'd lost everyone in his family, too. All they had left now was each other.

Later she could never remember much about that night. It was more like a dream to her that she could only recall in brief flashes. If it weren't for the ring on the chain with her mother's dog tags, she could easily have believed that it was all just a dream.

They crossed the cornfield and came to a small dirt road on the other side. They followed it northwest for what she guessed was five or more miles before it ended in a narrow driveway that wound out of sight into thick trees. At the end of that, maybe half a mile from the dirt road was a small stone house.

They needed water and hoped whoever lived there would give them some. Even though the doors were unlocked, there was no one there. They knocked and called out but got no answer. Finally they went inside. The dishes had been washed and left in the drainer by the sink. The television was on a channel that was nothing but static. Certainly whoever lived there had just gone out on an errand and would return.

Karl said they would ask if there was anywhere nearby that they could stay, if maybe they could do some chores and earn some money. He even told Kara they might have to work for their meals. That was okay with her. They had to eat.

They got some water, went back out and waited under a tree in the back. No one came. Finally at dusk they went inside and each ate one of the RtEMs. The television was so old that it didn't even have a remote control. Karl finally figured out how to change the channels. He could only find one that was still broadcasting. The news was not good.

Caprica City, the capital of the Colonial government, had taken some bomb hits from the Cylon Raiders that had gotten through the Colonial defenses. Delphi had suffered in a similar way. But the worst hit had been the three large northern cities of Antioch, Sovana and Kinsdale. There was much worse destruction where the defenses had been the weakest. The same was true of Caprica's three smaller continents. They had suffered much heavier damage than either the capital or Delphi.

Kara and Karl watched horrified as the images played out on the screen, as courageous newscasters and their camera crews kept broadcasting even as the bombs fell around them. Karl took out the map and marked the bombed cities as they were announced. If a city wasn't on the map, he wrote the name in the margin.

The cities were all to the north of their current location a hundred miles or more. In between based on the topographical map and the road map, it looked like mostly farmland, dotted with the occasional small town.

Finally he turned off the television. "That's enough for tonight."

"Are the Cylons going to destroy Caprica?"

"It looks that way. Not the way they nuked the other planets, but they're doing it…just slower unless our battlestars can stop them."

"Then what my father did to get us off Picon was useless," she said harshly, feeling like she was going to cry. "Zarek killed him and we're going to die, too."

"We're not dead, yet, Kara. We can't just give up. Why don't you go into the bedroom and get some sleep."

"I'm used to staying up all night now. You go sleep."

"You didn't sleep any today. Let's both try to sleep. What's the worst that can happen tonight? The people who live here will come back and find us." He gestured to the picture of a gray-haired couple that was sitting on the top of the television. "What can they do? Throw us out. I can handle that."

"Yeah, me, too."

"Even if they call the cops, we can be gone before anybody gets here. I mean we're in the middle of nowhere. Okay, I'll take the couch. You go to the bedroom."

"No, I don't want to be in there by myself. You come, too."

"Kara, we can't sleep together in the same bed."

"Why not? It's a big bed, and you're like a brother."

"But I'm not really your brother. We just can't. We're not…it's just not right."

"Karl, we're going to keep our clothes on. Duh. What did you think I meant?"

Karl thought about what she had just said. "Yeah, I guess it's not like we're…yeah…if we keep our clothes on it will be okay. Just like out there in the woods."

"Why are you making such a big deal out of this? You and me and Marie have slept in the same tent when we went camping with your parents back on Picon."

"It's just that…never mind, Kara. Let's just go to sleep. We must have walked twenty-five or more miles since yesterday. I'm really tired. I know you are, too."

"I want to take a shower." She said. "These clothes are rank."

"Okay. You go first."

Sleeping on a bed again felt good. Kara hadn't realized how tired she was. She didn't wake up until the sun was high the next day. She found Karl sitting in the kitchen. There was a dishtowel on the table and lying on it was an old revolver that he had started cleaning. It was so old she didn't even know what it was.

"Where'd you get that antique?"

"I found the old couple who was living here. They're in a shed out back. They're a lot older than that picture of them on the bookcase. It looks like he shot her and then shot himself. He even shot their dog. Like they were looking at the news on the television and then went out into the shed…and just…did it. I picked up the pistol. It might come in handy."

"Oh, gods." Kara sat down at the table.

"Yeah, we need to bury them. I wish I hadn't eaten before I went out there. I wasted a whole meal."

"I haven't eaten yet. Let's go do it."

"It's really bad. They've probably been dead at least since day before yesterday, probably since the day the fighting started, and with the heat and the smell and…and the flies and maggots…it's bad. I mean it, Kara. It's bad."

"I saw Singer after he'd been shot. I can handle it."

She thought she could, but when Karl opened the door of the shed and the smell hit her just as she saw the bodies, she gagged. There was nothing in her stomach except some water she had just drunk, but it came right back up. This was a lot worse than Singer. Even after Karl closed the door, she dry-heaved for a long time. The smell was everywhere.

Karl took her arm and pulled her to the far side of the yard where they sat down under a tree. She leaned back against the trunk and waited for her stomach to settle.

"Let's burn the shed," she finally said. "It's small and not too close to the house. It'll be like a funeral pyre. Like we learned about in history. What they used to do with heroes."

"These people weren't heroes."

"What difference does it make? Do you want to try to bury them?"

"Somebody will probably see the smoke."

"So we get our backpacks and go into the woods. If somebody comes we leave."

"Why don't we just call the cops and then leave? Like we did back there at the airport. Let them handle it?"

Kara thought about his suggestion. "Did you see a phone in the house anywhere?"

"No," Karl answered. "I don't think there is one. Man, this old couple was living like hermits. Yeah. Let's just burn it and take our chances."

They went back into the house and put everything in their backpacks and took them into the woods. After gathering dead sticks and limbs they piled them inside the door of the shed until they had a stack two feet tall. Karl lit it. The shed burned for over an hour, finally collapsing on itself in the late afternoon.

They stayed in the woods until well after dark, until the shed was a pile of glowing wood stumps and embers. No one ever came.

Finally near midnight they went back into the house, took turns showering and went to sleep.

The next morning Kara cooked some eggs that she found in the refrigerator. There was no toaster, but she toasted bread in the oven. There was home canned jelly in the fridge, too. They had a real breakfast for the first time in days. After they ate, they sat at the table and talked.

Kara was the one who finally asked the question. "What are we going to do now?"

"We can either stay here or we can go. I don't know where we'll go. I don't know that any place is safe now. The cities to the north are mostly destroyed. We're nearly nine hundred miles from Caprica City. Delphi is to the east of that. It's even further. Based on the map there's a couple of little towns maybe thirty, forty miles from here, but I don't know what we'll find if we go there. Maybe they've been bombed, too, and the news just didn't cover it."

"Did you look at television yet, today?"

"No. It'll just be about more cities being destroyed."

She got up and went into the living room and turned on the set. It was so ancient that it took forever to warm up and the picture to come into focus.

The news was of a truce while representatives of the Caprican government met with representatives of the Cylons to discuss the surrender…of the last remaining Colony.

"No! No! They can't do that! They just can't do it!" Kara didn't even realize that she was shouting. Karl came running in.

"What?"

"Look!" she wailed. "I can't believe it. They're giving up. They're surrendering to the Cylons."

They stayed with the television all that day and the next. The first evening there was a broadcast that the Cylons had sent a delegation of three humans to negotiate the surrender. They were immediately arrested and charged with treason.

They next day the Cylons sent three more…the same three. There was news footage of them getting off a Heavy Raider. The station played the footage taken a day earlier. It was clearly the same three people wearing the same clothes…a black man, an older white man and a blond woman.

Next the newscaster interviewed a famous scientist in Caprica City.

"I'm speaking with Dr. Gaius Baltar who has won numerous awards for his innovative scientific work in the area of Artificial Intelligence and genetics. His ideas have often sparked controversy but have generally been acknowledged as being on the leading edge of our technology's current limits. Dr. Baltar, I understand you've been asked to participate in the negotiations with the Cylons. Is that true?"

"Well, yes, it's true. Due to the extraordinary events of the last two days Rick felt it would be best to have a scientist on the team."

"By Rick you're referring to President Adar. I understand you and he are personal friends."

"Yes, of course."

"Dr. Baltar, what do you think this means? Have the Cylons found a way to clone humans?"

"I don't think so. After all _we_ can't clone humans yet. Cylon intelligence is not nearly as advanced as ours, so, no, I don't think they've found a way to clone humans."

"Then how do you explain what we've seen here these last two days? Identical twins?"

"We have no idea yet exactly what we're seeing. My hypothesis, and it is just that, a hypothesis, is that we're seeing some new type of Artificial Intelligence in a clever package, so to speak, in human form, not human, mind you, just human form."

"In other words, a robot? Is that what you think these human look-alikes are, Dr. Baltar? A new generation of Cylons, but still robots?"

"Well, yes, to use a term that is understandable by the layperson. Yes, a sort of robot. We have many of the components to manufacture a life-like looking robot, artificial skin and muscle being the main ones. I suppose with enough effort, and it would take a great deal of effort, a human-looking robot could be constructed over a strong lightweight skeleton. Add a computer processor for a brain, load software and…yes, of course…it could be done. It might look human, but it would still be a machine. That's not to say the Cylons have achieved anything that remarkable, yet it is possible, I suppose. I would think, though, that they certainly had to have a human or humans to do the design and engineering. It's all quite beyond Cylon skill, I'm sure."

"And what does this mean?"

"Mean?"

"We've seen two copies of three different robot models if you're correct. Could there be more? Could there be an unlimited number of copies?"

"I would hardly say unlimited, but I suppose there could be a great many copies just like our computer manufacturers turn out identical machine after identical machine. Given that they have enough of all the resources, of course."

"Do you think there are more than three models?"

"Well now that is a very good question, isn't it?"

"In other words, Dr. Baltar, you have no idea."

"I don't feel that it would be in the best interest of the negotiations for me to speculate further at this point."

Kara got up and turned down the sound on the television and looked at Karl. "He's saying the Cylons have made robots that look like humans. That sucks."

"Yeah, like that really makes a difference to us. When would either one of us ever meet a human-looking Cylon? So what do you want to do, Kara? Stay here or go?"

"For right now I think it's a no-brainer. There's a pantry full of canned food and a nearly-full freezer. There's even the garden if we can figure out what all that stuff is. We stay until the food runs out or somebody comes and makes us leave. We've got shelter at least, and a bathroom. Who knows what's going to happen next, especially if the government surrenders Caprica to the Cylons. What do you think?"

"Yeah, I think we stay. But we don't get too comfortable. We might have to move on at any time."

"You mean like if we get thrown out?"

"I mean like if _anybody_ shows up."

"Who's going to show up?"

Karl shrugged and wouldn't say anything else. He knew something he didn't want to talk to her about. She kept pestering him, though, until he said.

"We're at war now, Kara, and sometimes people do stuff they wouldn't do otherwise. They loot and they steal. Sometimes they even kill and…do other stuff as bad or worse."

"What's worse than killing?"

"Like back at the airport. What Zarek threatened to let his men do to you if your father didn't fly them off Caprica."

Finally she understood.

"War really sucks, Kara. Marines and soldiers and…and Viper pilots fight and die, but other people suffer, too."

"Yeah, people like you and me."

Karl had a far-away look, and she somehow knew he was thinking about his little sister Marie and probably his parents, too. "Yeah," he finally said. "People like you and me."

TBC…


	8. Boots Outside the Door

Chapter 8

Boots Outside the Door

_With the destruction of the Cylon nuclear basestar over Picon, the Cylons split into two groups, those who wanted to destroy the remaining humans and those who felt that humans could now serve them to advance their own knowledge, especially in the area of biomedical and genetic engineering. Those who prevailed and eventually won over the others were the ones who wanted not to destroy the human race, but to continue learning from it even as they dominated it. After three straight days of fighting and proving that they could destroy the remaining humans, the Cylons made the overture for a truce to offer the government on Caprica the chance to surrender. Their offer was accepted. _

_- Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War._

When Lee left John Gallagher asleep in his quarters, he went to the CIC and asked his father if he had an assignment for him. He was getting tired of hanging around the CIC all day. He wanted to do something, anything to get his mind off what was happening.

Fortunately his father had already figured that out. He sent him down to the Communications Center and Mail Room to see how everything worked there.

When he arrived at the Comm Center, the lieutenant in charge called a young ensign over and asked her to show Lee around.

She introduced herself as Ensign Merric. She was petite and had honey-blond wavy hair that she had tamed into a ponytail. Her eyes were blue-gray and there was a very light dusting of freckles over her nose and into her cheeks. She wasn't wearing any makeup. Lee thought she was one of the cutest girls he had ever seen. She reminded him in some ways of his girlfriend, and he suddenly felt guilty for even thinking that she was cute. What was wrong with him?

She kept calling him Mr. Adama. He kept telling her it was _Lee_. When the lieutenant left to go get coffee, she started calling him Lee and told him to call her Blaire. She took her time explaining how personnel could make ship-to-ship calls throughout the fleet and ship-to-shore calls back to the planets.

She struggled with her words several times during her explanation about the ship-to-shore calls. Even if such calls were being allowed now, how many of the ship's personnel had somewhere to call? Lee could tell this was personal for her. Finally he told her to stop, that he got it. She nodded and seemed grateful. They moved on then to the Mail Room and she showed him how everything worked there even though the mail runs weren't possible either. When she got through with her tour, it was time for lunch and she asked him if he wanted to go with her. Without any hesitation, he said _yes_.

They talked about where they had grown up, Libran for her and Caprica for him. About what they liked in school and the sports they had played. She told him about how she had gone to Officer's Candidate School when she finished high school, how she was nineteen and had been on the _Galactica_ only two months. She finally told him that she had a boyfriend back on Libran.

"I mean I used to have," she said quietly.

He told her about his girlfriend being on Gemenon and saw the sympathy in her eyes.

Finally he told her that he thought she had a lot of courage.

"I'm an ensign in the Colonial Fleet," was the way she answered him.

For just a few seconds he saw tears well in her eyes, but she fought them down. Yeah, she was brave. He'd never thought about courage in quite that way before. Courage wasn't just launching in a Viper to fight Cylon Raiders. Courage was everyone on the _Galactica_ who was doing his or her job just like Blaire was doing.

On his way back to the CIC after lunch, he realized that he wanted to see her and talk to her again. He liked her. He suddenly wondered what it would be like to kiss her. And that made him feel guilty. What was wrong with him? He'd just been talking about his girlfriend and now he was thinking about kissing Blaire and even... Man, he had to get thoughts like that out of his head.

He spent the afternoon in the CIC with his father, waiting like they had for the last several days. Word finally came that the battlestars were to remain in position above Caprica. The President wasn't willing to let enough of them go to meet the Cylons with an effective force. His military advisors felt like it would be a sure way to get the battlestars destroyed and would leave Caprica virtually unprotected.

"So we wait," Bill said.

Late in the afternoon Lee went back to his quarters. He planned to go in quietly and lie in his bunk and read until the evening meal. He didn't know how long Gallagher would sleep, but he didn't want to wake him up.

When he got back to his quarters, he saw that someone had left a pair of boots outside the door. Why would someone put a pair of boots outside his door? They were definitely too small for him.

Picking them up, he quietly opened the door and went inside. The light was on but dimmed and it took his eyes a few seconds to adjust from the brighter lights in the corridor.

"You frakking idiot," a female voice said, "Don't you know what boots outside a door means?"

He looked in the direction of the voice. Dr. Cottle's medical technician, the girl he had called Lissa was in John Gallagher's bunk. Her dark hair was down around her shoulders and he saw her naked back. Fortunately the blanket was draped over the rest of her. Her clothes were on the floor.

"Easy, Lissa," Gallagher said. "He probably _didn't_ know what boots outside a door meant before, but he's sharp. I'm sure he knows now."

"I'll go," Lee said starting to back up.

Lissa said, "No, I'm leaving. I got what I came for." She leaned over and kissed the captain. "Sorry I woke you up, John."

"I'm not," Gallagher said.

Lissa kissed him again before she glanced over her shoulder at Lee. "Don't open that door, just turn around."

His cheeks burning with embarrassment Lee did as she said, but as he turned, he saw her throw back the blanket. She was completely naked. He heard the rustle of clothes being picked up from the floor and the quiet sound of someone dressing. He stayed where he was with his back turned, staring at the door, until she reached around him and got her boots out of his hand. She sat down at the small table to put them on.

Lee turned around. Gallagher was dressed in sweatpants and a white t-shirt and was standing by the bunk. When Lissa stood up, she took her hair clip from the table, twisted her hair and clipped it up. Then she went over to Gallagher and put her arms around his neck and kissed him again. She seemed to want to continue the kiss longer than the captain did.

"Easy, sugar. You're about to get me going again and make me embarrass myself in front of the commander's son."

Gallagher's words had the desired effect on Lissa.

She let him go. "Later, then?"

Gallagher smiled at her and winked. "You can count on it."

When she was gone, he sat down at the table, yawned and rubbed the side of his face that wasn't hurt. "Damn, I want a cigarette."

"You want me to go get some from Doc Cottle?"

"I've got some in my bag. I'm just not going to smoke in here since I know you don't. But thanks for the offer."

"I don't mind," Lee said, even though he really did.

"I need to quit. Now's as good a time as any. My daughter doesn't like it."

Lee found he couldn't look at the captain. "I'm sorry about walking in on you and Lissa. My timing sucked."

"Not really. Actually you did me a favor. Lissa was already getting geared up for round two when you walked in. Hell, I'm pushing forty. It takes me longer than ten minutes between times now, especially when I'm this tired."

Lee found that thinking about what Lissa and the captain had just done coupled with the brief glimpse he had gotten of her naked body was having an effect on him. Talk about embarrassing yourself. He sat down quickly in the chair on the other side of the table.

Gallagher didn't appear to notice. "You're seventeen. You don't have a clue what I'm talking about. At your age I didn't either. And yeah, it's my own fault. She's very pretty and I was coming on to her down there in Sick Bay. Put me on a battlestar and I just slip right back into my old habits."

"You just met her this morning."

"Yeah, I guess that was this morning wasn't it?" He yawned again.

"How can you…I mean…so soon? You don't even know each other."

"Uh-oh." Gallagher sounded amused. "Do you have a problem with my morals, or are you just a romantic soul who believes you need to be _in love_ before you share a bunk with someone for a really nice half-hour?"

"I guess I feel like you need to care something about each other before you…do something like that."

"Lee, there's nothing in this universe better than sharing something like that with a woman you love. Absolutely nothing. But if you make being _in love_ a hard and fast rule at this point, considering we're at war, you may never experience it again. Believe me, even without love, sometimes it isn't half-bad."

"So she was okay with what you did?"

Gallagher sounded even more amused. "Most of the time a request for an encore means _yes_."

"So are you going to...?"

"Like I just said, we're at war. When you don't know if you're maybe five minutes away from being on the wrong end of a missile, you tend to do things you might otherwise not do. I was happy to help her out. Believe me. I got something out of it, too."

Lee suddenly decided to tell the captain what he hadn't been able to tell his father. "My girlfriend was on Gemenon when the Cylons attacked." He swallowed hard. "She's dead now."

"I'm sorry, Lee. I really am." To his surprise he heard genuine sympathy in Gallagher's voice.

"I hadn't seen her since the beginning of the summer. We never…she wasn't ready to do anything before she left for Gemenon. I wanted to but…we never…"

"It's okay. I know what you're saying."

Talking to Gallagher was getting easier. It seemed like he really understood. Lee had wanted to talk to someone for several days, especially now that he had met Blaire, and he didn't think his father would understand or even care.

He went on. "Today when I was down in the Comm Center, this really cute girl showed me around. I…I started thinking about…I shouldn't have, but I was thinking about…about…you know."

"There's nothing wrong with thinking about it. Hell, Lee, you're a guy. I'd probably worry more about you if you said you weren't thinking about it. But understand that thinking about it and acting on those thoughts are two entirely different things. You don't need to feel guilty for thinking about it."

"I don't?"

"No, you don't. You think she's interested in you?"

"Maybe. I'm not sure. She lost her boyfriend on Libran. I don't know what to do. I don't know how she feels about seeing me again. I think she might be interested, but I don't know."

"Are you asking me for my advice?"

Lee nodded.

"What did she say when you two parted company?"

"She said she was glad she had gotten to show me around the Comm Center and that she hoped she'd see me around soon."

"Remember what I just said about being at war. She's interested. Ball's in your court now."

"I couldn't."

Gallagher grinned. "Yeah, you could. That doesn't mean you should, but you could. Take my word on that. You're the only one who can make that decision, though. Didn't you and your dad ever have any kind of talk about this stuff? I don't want to go stepping on his area of responsibility. He and I might have some real differences of opinion. He'll most likely tell you to keep it in your pants until you get married. I'm not exactly a poster boy for chaste behavior when it comes to a pretty woman who's interested in my company…as you've just witnessed. You'd probably do better listening to your dad."

Lee frowned. "Are you kidding me? He's always been more interested in commanding a battlestar than being a father. And he'd be a real hypocrite if he told me to keep it in my pants until I got married. He sure didn't and you're looking at the result. I'm not supposed to know that, but I do. He and I…we aren't really that close. I didn't even feel like telling him about my girlfriend. Mostly he treats me like I'm still a kid. He doesn't have a frakking clue what my life's been like."

"That's too bad. Okay, since I'm old enough to be your father, and since it looks like you might be headed in a certain direction with a young woman on board ship, I'll go the rest of the way with the father-son talk. No, let's not call it father-son. I'm not comfortable with that since you've got a father. Let's say older brother talk. These are the rules I live by when it comes to women. The only time I've gotten into trouble is when I've ignored one of them. First and most important, don't _ever_ count on the girl…or a war…to take care of birth control for you. You need to learn early on to be responsible for that yourself."

"I didn't count on…when I came on board the _Galactica_ I never thought…I don't have anything with me. I mean nothing's going to happen anyway, but if it did…"

"Right over there on the shelf above my bunk. You get that far with this girl then feel free to help yourself. From now on, don't leave home without them. Rule number two. Always please your partner. If you don't think you can get there together, you take care of her first. If you can't figure out what she likes, don't be afraid to ask. Chances are she'll be glad to let you know."

"Really?"

"Oh, yeah. Rule three, never go after a friend's girlfriend or fiancé…or wife…ever. I don't care if you think she's the hottest woman in the universe. She's not worth losing your friend over. And if she comes after you, you don't want her anyway. She'll do the same thing to you someday. And the last rule I'll mention, never pick up a woman when you're drunk. It tends to make you forget rules one through three. So go to bars and drink with your buddies all you want, but if you plan to pick up a woman, stay reasonably sober."

"Did you, uh, did you learn all this from experience?"

"Mostly, yeah. You're a smart guy, Lee. You'll learn, too. And if you'll pay attention to the four things I just mentioned, you won't have to learn the hard way like I did. Basically what it comes down to is this. Never take advantage of a woman, especially one that's had too much to drink. Never lie to one just to get in her pants. Ever. It's not worth it. A nice looking guy like you is going to have a lot of opportunities. Don't let that go to your head. And one day, the gods willing, you'll meet a woman and lose your heart and if she loves you in return, then you'll know just how really good it can be."

"Did you ever meet anybody like that?"

"My daughter's mother. And before you judge me for what just happened with Lissa, that had nothing to do with what I feel for Kara's mother. Somebody as pretty as Lissa shows up wanting something like that from me, she's not going to have to ask twice considering we might die any time. But my heart wasn't involved in what Lissa and I just did."

"How long did it take you to figure all this out?"

He smiled. "Who said I have it _all_ figured out? I'm still learning. The four rules I just gave you are the only ones that are never subject to change. Now I'm going to go get another shower and shave. Then maybe you want to go with me to get something to eat. Damn, I'm hungry. After that I want to talk to your father again about letting me leave. My daughter's waiting for me."

After Gallagher left, Lee sat at the table and tried to imagine having that same conversation with his father. The more he thought about it, the funnier it got. He could not imagine Bill Adama talking openly about sex with him and also giving him advice about birth control and pleasing your partner…plus offering to share his condoms. His father was obviously not acquainted with the concept of taking responsibility for birth control…at least he hadn't been eighteen years ago.

Lee was glad he was through laughing before the captain got back from his shower. Since Gallagher didn't know his father, he really didn't want to explain what was so funny.

They were just getting ready to leave for the mess hall when the phone buzzed. It was the commander asking Lee to bring the captain to his quarters.

Gallagher was happy. "Maybe I'll be on my way back to Caprica soon."

Adama's news was not what he wanted to hear.

"The authorities on Caprica have asked us to hold Zarek and his men until such time as they can be turned over to the civilian authorities. No surprise there. And I've had you checked out. You have an impeccable commercial flight record and an impressive number of decorations from the First Cylon War."

Gallagher smiled and looked toward the display case in the Commander's quarters. "Not as many as you."

"I got lucky."

"Okay, I'll pretend I believe that. What about my daughter and her friend?"

"I've had somebody working on that. It took a while, but he finally got in touch with the detective who's in charge of your friend's murder investigation. The call to the emergency number was placed by what sounded like a young male. When the police got to the airport, though, there was no one there. There was evidence that they had been there. The police found some abandoned backpacks. He said it looked like someone had cut some blond hair in one of the restrooms. Also there was a map missing from the bulletin board in your friend's office. But no boy and girl. They searched the woods around the field and found nothing. We asked him to be on the lookout for them. Told him that the girl's father was safe on board the _Galactica _and to tell her when they were found. We just heard back from him. Nothing yet. They're going to keep looking, though."

"That's all the more reason I need to get down there."

"My news gets worse. We've intercepted some communications between the basestars. Something's going to happen, probably soon. All traffic on and off Caprica has been stopped. I'm sorry."

Gallagher thanked the commander for his efforts and turned around and left. Lee looked at his father.

"Go with him," Adama said.

For once Lee didn't need to ask why. Gallagher's disappointment was so evident even he could see it.

They went to the officer's mess. Lee watched the captain pick a table where four Viper pilots were sitting and ask if he could join them. He introduced himself and shook hands with all four of them. Then he introduced Lee. By now everyone had heard about Zarek and the hijacked ship and knew who Gallagher was.

Lee was so excited to be sitting with four, no make that five, Viper pilots that he could hardly eat.

In between bites Gallagher asked the pilots questions about the Mark V and VI Vipers. He told them he had flown the Mark II. Soon they were talking about the First Cylon War. By the time they had finished eating, Gallagher had taken the salt and pepper shakers from several tables and was using them as Raiders and Vipers, showing the pilots some of the basic Cylon moves since none of the current pilots had ever gone up against a Cylon Raider before outside of a simulator.

Within ten minutes there were a dozen pilots gathered around the table. Most of them were asking questions. Not long after that another pilot came up. "CAG would like to see you, sir, if you don't mind."

Gallagher nodded and looked at Lee as he got up. "Spend some time with your new friend. I may be late getting back to the room."

Lee finally found Ensign Merric's quarters. She was bunked in with a lot of other ensigns. He asked a woman on her way in if she would ask Blaire to come outside. A few minutes later Blaire opened the hatch door. She looked both surprised and happy.

They walked up to the observation deck but found that it was closed by the commander's orders. The hatch was sealed. They wandered down toward the hangar deck. Several times her hand bumped his as they walked. Finally he just took her hand and they continued walking. She had heard about the Cylon basestars, but they didn't talk about it. Instead they talked about high school and their various extra-curricular activities. She's had almost as many as he had.

He finally got up the nerve to ask her if she would like to go back to his quarters. She said _yes_.

They sat at the table and talked for a while. She was the one who finally made the move. She came around and sat on his lap and kissed him. It was awkward at first, but it got better.

She was the one, too, who took off her boots and put them outside the door. "I see you've got a bunkmate. We don't want him walking in on us."

"No, we don't want that," Lee answered, the memory of his blunder that afternoon still fresh in his mind.

He turned the lights down. At the last minute he remembered what the captain had offered and just grabbed the whole box from the shelf over Gallagher's bunk.

The first time was over too quickly and afterward she cried. She said she was sorry, that it had nothing to do with him and he believed her. He knew she was probably thinking about her boyfriend. The second time was better, especially for her. He was learning what she liked. The third time was really good for both of them, so good he could hardly believe he had just met her that morning.

When she got up and started getting dressed, he did too. He walked with her back to her quarters. Outside the door they kissed gently and it wasn't the least bit awkward any more. He told her she was beautiful. She told him she would never forget him or how nice he was to her. He finally understood that she thought they were all going to die.

When he got back to his quarters, Gallagher was in his bunk. Lee took the box of condoms from his shelf and put them back on Gallagher's shelf. Gallagher put the book he was reading down on his chest.

"I saw the boots," he said. "I walked down to the hangar deck and hung out with the crew."

"Yeah. Thanks…for everything."

"Sure."

Lee went to the showers and when he returned, he got into his bunk and switched off his light.

"What did the CAG want?"

"Your father had told him that I flew a Viper during the First War. Commander Adama either thought I could help or thought I needed something to do. Anyway, Major Spencer and I looked at the footage that the other battlestars relayed during the last week. The Cylons have learned a few new tricks, but most of the moves are still the ones they were using before. Then Spencer called the pilots into the ready room. I talked to them, pointed out a few things in the film footage for them to watch for and answered a lot of questions. Most of them just wanted to see that someone had survived going up against their Raiders…even if it was the old ones."

"I'm sure you helped."

"I hope so."

"You know you were right."

"About?"

"About everything you said earlier. About sharing a bunk with someone and not having to be in love. So thanks again."

"You okay with it?"

"I'm fine. She was, too. We may die tomorrow or the next day. We both know that. She's not my girlfriend and I'm not her boyfriend, but we were okay with it. I didn't think it could be like that, but it was…really good."

"Then it's mostly you who gets the credit. All I contributed were a few words of advice and a condom."

"Uh, well, actually you contributed three."

Gallagher started laughing. "Damn, you just made me feel old."

"Sorry."

Gallagher was still laughing. "Don't be. Three. Damn. Remind me to keep my daughter away from you."

"Captain Gallagher?"

"Call me John."

"John?"

"Yeah, Lee?

"What color is Kara's hair?"

"Blond like her mother's. Why?"

"Just curious. Does she like sports?"

"She's one of the best soccer players I've ever seen. Even when she was just a little thing if she ever got lined up on the goal, she'd nail it every time. And I'd put her up against almost anybody on a skateboard. She doesn't know the meaning of fear."

"She sounds like she's something special."

"She is. I might also mention here that anybody who touches her before she's eighteen is a dead man."

"Too bad. She sounds like my kind of girl."

"Lee, she's thirteen years old. Am I going to have to get out of this comfortable bunk and come over there and kick your ass?" He could tell Gallagher was trying hard not to laugh.

"I hope not. So when I meet your beautiful, blond, athletic daughter, you just keep reminding me of that."

"You can count on it." Gallagher waited a couple of moments. Then he said, "Three. Damn." This time he did laugh.

...

That was the last time either of them had the opportunity to talk for quite a while.

The Cylons jumped into space near them at 6:00 the next morning.

Based on intercepted communications they'd been at Condition One for over an hour.

They would stay at Condition One until a truce was declared seventy-two hours later to discuss the terms of the surrender of the last remaining Colony to the Cylons.

The _Galactica_ was one of only a few battlestar that hadn't lost most of her Vipers to the Cylons. They'd lost less than half.

By then, though, it didn't matter.

With six basestars in position to destroy the planet, the war was over.

They had lost.

TBC…


	9. Truce

Chapter 9

Truce

_Following cessation of hostilities, the President and other members of government were criticized by a vocal minority for waiting as long as they did to negotiate. Most of these critics were unwilling to concede that the Cylons had not made an offer of peace prior to that point. _

_-Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War_

What Laura Roslin hated the most about being underground was that she had to look at one of the twenty-four hour digital clocks to know whether it was night or day. Eighteen years earlier Bill Adama had told her that being on a battlestar in deep space was the same way…that you observed night and day by the clock only.

The President, his staff, his Cabinet and some of his advisors were sequestered in a multi-level bunker deep under Caprica City. The main entrance was disguised in an old hotel near the historic district of the city not far from her apartment.

Laura had a small three-bedroom suite on the fourteenth level down in the bunker. With her were Billy Keikeya and her secretary, Adele. The rest of the President's Cabinet had families who were occupying their suites. Their staffs were housed on higher levels of the bunker in dormitories. On the first and second levels were their Marine guards.

In the absence of a family, Laura saw no reason that her other two small but nice bedrooms should stand empty. Perhaps it was selfish on her part, but she wanted company as they all waited. They had been underground for four days since the first intercepted communication between the basestars.

There were update meetings every three hours from 7:00 each morning until 10:00 at night with the understanding that one could be called at any time of the day or night. The updates on the third day of fighting were progressively worse. The battlestars were taking heavy losses of their Vipers to Cylon Raiders. So far the basestars had not engaged any of them directly, but stood back waiting, launching wave after seemingly endless wave of Raiders.

The Colonial losses hadn't been limited to their Air Fleet either. The Cylons had launched Raiders that carried missiles with conventional warheads against all of the major cities. Vipers and other fighters had converged on the Raiders headed for Caprica City and Delphi, and very few had gotten through, but the large industrial cities to the north, Antioch, Sovana and Kinsdale, had suffered much worse damage.

It was almost too much to comprehend as news footage gradually became available showing the destruction.

Billy came out of his bedroom. Laura had finally convinced him he could stop dressing in a shirt and tie. Still, he had on a nice pair of charcoal gray slacks and a light blue sweater over his pin-stripe shirt. He looked causal, but very polished. She knew he was having a hard time, however. His parents had moved to Picon less than six months ago. Her secretary was struggling, too. Even though she was a widow, she had children and grandchildren on Gemenon and Aerilon.

"Good morning, Billy." Laura said as she noticed the dark circles under his eyes. "Did you sleep at all?"

"A few hours. What was the news in the 7:00 meeting this morning?"

"Not much change. The fighting continues. So far the government buildings in Caprica City are untouched, but more of the outlying precincts have been bombed. The Agios water desalination plant was damaged. The President plans to announce water restrictions later today as soon as plant managers can give him some better capacity figures." She looked at her notes. "The Verona shipyards suffered minor damage, which is not relevant right now since shipping is at a standstill. The worst is that our battlestars are reporting heavy losses of their Vipers. They're all that's keeping those Raiders off us…that and the Vipers and other fighters from the airbase."

"What does the President say about some kind of negotiations?"

Laura had told him that negotiating with the Cylons had been discussed for the first time in the 10:00 meeting the previous night.

"If they make a reasonable offer he's for it. The rest of the Cabinet and Quorum is split about fifty-fifty."

"Do you really think we should negotiate with them?"

"I feel that we should at least listen to what they have to say. Until I know their conditions, I'm not going to say whether we should surrender or keep fighting. They've given us twenty-four hours to make a decision to either listen to their demands or not. We're going to vote at the 10:00 meeting. The President has asked for some hard facts before we do. They're being prepared right now."

"You would negotiate with robots who have wiped out nine-tenths of the human race?"

"My concern right now is the one-tenth of us who are still alive. It may be that we choose extermination rather than capitulation, but until I know what they're offering, I'll keep some hope that I can live with their terms. Life is hope, Billy. We've come through some dark times before in our history. I can't bring myself to give up on us yet."

Billy was obviously thinking about what she said when he went over to the small table on one side of the sitting room and poured a cup of coffee. Finally he turned around. "Would you like a refill?"

"Yes, please." She knew that was his way of telling her he was considering her position even if he didn't agree with her.

He brought the pot over and filled her cup. "Where's Adele?"

"She went up to talk to a friend of hers in the dormitory. She's having a very difficult time."

"I know." Billy took the pot back over to the table and brought her a couple of the small plastic containers of cream. "Her youngest grandson on Gemenon was only six weeks old. She hadn't even seen him yet, just some digital pictures."

Laura sighed as she stirred the cream into her coffee. For the first time in her life she was glad that she didn't have any family to mourn or worry about. Both of her parents and her brother had been dead for ten years, killed by a suicide bomber on Tauron while her father was stationed there as Ambassador, killed so needlessly by a misguided man who objected to what the tylium mining consortiums were doing with their mining operations in the northern regions of the planet.

Her father had been attempting to broker a peace between the natives who felt they had been displaced from land they had occupied for centuries and the tylium miners. She had never been able to bring herself to read the official report of the incident, but she understood that they were very close to achieving a resolution when her father had been killed as he and her mother and brother were leaving a restaurant.

Marines had to be brought in to restore order in the wave of violence that had followed. The Marines had still been on Tauron ten years later when the Cylon attack began. The suicide bombings had never stopped despite the fact that the natives and the miners had eventually reached an agreement. _Violence begats violence. _Wasn't it her father who had once said that to her? _The avenged becomes father to the avenger and the violence spreads, the cycle repeats._ The Cylons had ended the violence forever now on Tauron. Is this what it took for humanity to learn? Near annihilation?

Laura had been twenty-six years old when her family had died, not much older than Billy was now, but she still remembered the mind-numbing grief she had experienced during those first weeks and months after their deaths. She had never felt as alone as she had when the reality of their loss had finally sunk in. Perhaps that was one of the reasons she had made such a misguided marriage two years after their deaths…because she was so tired of feeling alone.

Billy finished his cup of coffee. "I'm going up to the cafeteria and see if there's any breakfast left if that's all right with you."

"Of course. I'll be here until the 10:00 meeting."

After he left, she leaned her head back on the cushions of the couch and thought once again of the strange dream she had the previous night. She was dressed in an evening gown of iridescent blue and she was in Bill Adama's arms dancing to soft, slow music. The occasion was a mystery. That was the only part of the dream she could remember.

She hadn't seen Bill in person in eighteen years. She had kept up with his career, though. She seen the pictures and read the announcements as he was promoted through the ranks, finally two years ago at the age of forty to commander of the battlestar _Galactica_, one of the youngest commanders in history.

To Laura, however, Bill was still the young lieutenant who had taken her to the debutante dance and who later that autumn had been the first man to make love to her. Now she wondered as she had so many times before if she had ever really loved another man, wondered if she would ever be able to love anyone else the way she had loved him.

Was there a man out there anywhere who could take Bill's place in her heart when no one in eighteen years had been able to do so? Could the reason no one had supplanted Bill be that she just refused to let go of him? Could it be her own stubbornness that was keeping her from finding love again? Was it simply easier and safer to hold on to a long-dead dream than to take another chance with her heart?

She closed her eyes. How many times would she revisit the past before it lost its power over her?

...

The first time he kissed her was during the last dance on the night of her debut into society. The lights were low, her parents already gone to see about the car. The feeling she had earlier in the evening, the hot spark that had flared between them had gotten stronger.

Finally, as other couples around them danced tightly against one another, Bill did it. He pulled her to him and kissed her, gently at first, but as the kiss claimed them both, it got deeper. There was never any awkwardness between them. It was like they had been born knowing how to kiss each other. They stopped dancing as she felt the desire that had been a tight knot in the pit of her stomach all evening begin to spread, to quicken her pulse and her breathing.

He felt it, too, the same desire that was claiming her. She had no doubt about that whatsoever. Finally he pulled back from the kiss and whispered against her ear, "If I call you, will you go out with me?"

She nodded and breathed, "Yes."

They saw each other every weekend until he finished flight school six weeks later. The next week he would be stationed on a battlestar and would be fighting Cylons. She was already at Caprica University.

Could you fall in love that fast? Could you fall in love after only half a dozen dates and a dozen late night telephone conversations? Could you really? The answer had to be yes, since that's what had happened to her.

For their last Saturday together before he left, he took her to a park outside the city. They rented a small sailboat and sailed out to the island in the middle of the lake. She'd taken the leftover sandwiches from a tea her mother had that morning and he'd brought a bottle of wine. They'd docked the sailboat and wandered along the shore until they found a secluded spot.

He spread a blanket. They ate the sandwiches and drank the whole bottle of wine. Both of them knew what was going to happen. They took their time. She was ready when it finally happened, but it still hurt. She barely made a sound, but he realized right away.

He put his mouth against her ear and said softly, "You should have told me."

She just shook her because she didn't trust her voice at the moment.

Later when he was holding her, he apologized for hurting her. She told him it was all right. That she was okay.

Finally he said, "I can't believe I'm the one you chose to be the first."

She tried for something witty, but nothing came into her mind so she simply told him the truth. "I knew the night of the dance it was going to be you."

"We're so different. Do you think this thing with us stands a chance?"

"If we want it to. I do. Do you?"

"More than I can say. But I'm not going to ask you to wait for me. I want you to enjoy the University. Go out and have fun. There's still a war going on. I might not come back."

"You will. You will come back. And I'll wait for you."

She wrote to him at least once every week. He wrote to her, not quite as often, but she understood why. He never wrote about his missions or the friends he lost. Mostly he wrote about his childhood, sharing little slices of a life she knew he cherished. She wrote to him about campus life, about being elected to the Freshman Council, about being the Freshman Homecoming Representative and about the occasional Embassy party her parents still liked for her to attend. She tried to put some humor into her letters. She felt like he needed it.

They saw each other once during the late winter when he was back on a two-day leave. He was different. Combat and seeing death had affected him in ways she struggled to understand. He didn't want to talk, just wanted to spend the time in her arms. She did something she had never done before. She cut her classes to be with him. He didn't mention the future at all.

The next time she saw him the war was over. The Cylons had withdrawn after years of fighting, left to find a home world of their own, or so everyone thought at the time. She was home from the University for the summer. As soon as he got off the transport at the airbase, he came straight to her house. No one else was home and foolishly, she later realized, very foolishly, she took Bill upstairs to her room.

Their lovemaking was intense and incredible, as passionate as she knew it could be. For the first time he told her that he loved her and wanted her to marry him. She said yes an told him how much she loved him, too.

They began making love again. He finally pulled her down to him, kissed her mouth and moved to the spot on her neck that was so sensitive. It was the most amazingly wonderful feeling. To feel this with someone you loved the way she loved him. In retrospect she realized that they were probably both a lot noisier than they thought.

That's the only reason her mother, who had just come home and was on her way down the hall, would have opened the door.

She immediately called Laura's father. Nothing was wonderful after that.

Laura tried to get Bill to leave. She told him she could handle her parents, but he stayed and faced them with her.

The disappointment in her father's eyes was harder to take than her mother's tears. Laura had never told either of them that she had even seen Bill after the debutante dance. She was just stubborn enough that she didn't want her father to know she had fallen for his choice of an escort, the pilot she had initially scorned.

She stood up to her father, though, with what she imagined was a certain amount of defiance in her eyes, even when he turned on her in fury.

"Gods damn it, Laura, is this the way your mother and I raised you to behave? To disgrace us both in our own home? To behave like…like…" Apparently he couldn't think of a term that described exactly how he thought she had behaved. At least not one he could bring himself to say.

"I _love_ him," Laura said quietly yet with conviction.

"Love?" her father's voice was incredulous. "Is that what you call it? What you were doing up there in your room is not love. It's…copulating. Like animals."

"That's not true, sir." Bill said.

Her father turned on him. "You stay out of this. I'll deal with you in a minute."

"No, sir. You're blaming the wrong person. What happened up in her room was _my fault_, not hers."

"While it's admirable of you to try to take the blame, the fault is clearly hers. It was her room, her bed, she was…she was…" Again her father stopped. Laura dropped her gaze and tried to imagine what he was unable to say. _Naked? Noisy? _What had her mother told him?

Bill broke the silence. "I love her. I want to marry her."

"All things considered you might think that's the right thing to do, but it won't happen. You're a pilot. My daughter will _not_ marry someone who will drag her all over the Colonies from military base to military base, leaving her alone for long stretches to serve on battlestars. She deserves a better life."

"Shouldn't that be her decision?"

"She isn't mature enough yet to make a decision like that. Now leave. I don't want to find out you've come around my daughter again. She has a future. If I find out you've tried to see her, I'll cut her off without a cent…no more education, no benefit of the connections I can provide her in a career, nothing. You persist in this and _she_ pays the price. Do I make myself clear?"

For a terrible moment Laura thought Bill was going to hit her father. Finally he said, "So I was good enough to escort her to a dance, but I'm not good enough to marry her."

Her father's tone softened. "I'm sure you're a fine young man, Lieutenant Adama. You're just not the man for my daughter."

Laura put her hand on Bill's arm and whispered, "Please leave. Give me a chance to talk to him. He'll calm down. I know him. Don't push this now. It's not the right time. Please."

Bill looked at her. "Leave with me right now. We can make it together without him or his money or the future he has planned for you. We can make it. Come on. I love you. If you love me, let's just go." He took her hand.

"I'd advise you to think _very carefully_, Laura, before you make your next move," her father said.

She hesitated. To give up everything she had dreamed of, her education, her family, her future career because she loved Bill Adama. Could she do it? Could she be happy being dragged around the Colonies from base to base, being left alone for long stretches while he served on battlestars? And something her father hadn't mentioned, to raise their children by herself?

Bill read her hesitation for exactly what it was.

She saw the pain in his eyes as he pulled away from her. "Have a good life, Laura, a good _future_. I wish you the best."

Thirty seconds later the front door slammed. He was gone.

For nearly a month she called him numerous times and he hung up on her each time. She wrote him letters pouring out her heart to him, none of which he acknowledged.

It was only years later that she realized that might have been the only way he could be sure her father wouldn't carry through with his threat to stop supporting her education and her career. At the time the thought never crossed her mind. She saw only Bill's wounded pride in his silence, not his love for her.

Three months later her father made a point of telling her that Bill Adama had gotten married. "And you thought he loved you," he said as he opened the evening paper. "You're far too naïve, Laura. Love had nothing to do with what he was getting from you. One day you'll thank me."

For a few dark moments she hated her father, hated him because he was probably right. Three months. Three months was all it had taken Bill Adama to replace her, to fall in love and marry another woman.

She learned one thing in the months to come. Young hopes and dreams can die a very painful death.

She had her education now and her career. Her father probably never dreamed on the day that Bill Adama had forced her to choose which path she would follow that she would one day serve on the President's Cabinet, that she would stand on an equal footing with dignitaries throughout the Colonies and have a career every bit as illustrious as that of a Colonial Ambassador.

Had sacrificing her first and possibly her only love been worth it?

She still didn't know the answer.

...

"Madame Secretary, are you going to the 10:00 briefing?"

Laura opened her eyes. Billy was standing beside the couch. The clock on the wall read 9:55. "Oh, gods, I must have fallen asleep." She grabbed her notebook and left the room at a run.

The President had just walked in when she slipped into the back of the room and took a seat at the table.

"The Cylons want an answer," he said without preamble. "We either accept their flag of truce and listen to their terms or we tell them we aren't interested in talking. You all know my feelings on this, but I cannot ignore the wishes of the rest of you. Last night you were split almost fifty-fifty. We are going to need to make a decision before this meeting is over."

A low buzz started through the assembled group.

The President held up his hand for silence. "In a moment I'm going to ask you to let me know your position by a show of hands. Before I do that I'm going to have my top military advisor and good friend, General Nathan Vargas, explain exactly where we stand right now. I want this to be a very informed decision for all of you. General."

Vargas had a steel-gray crew-cut, was probably pushing fifty, and looked like he was in better shape than most twenty-year olds. He was wearing olive green regulation slacks, but instead of a jacket, he wore a military-issue sweater over his shirt with its collar pins indicating his rank of general. The epaulets at the shoulders of the sweater had five stars.

He stepped up to the podium and nodded to someone in the back of the room. The lights were dimmed and several successive images were displayed on the screen at the front. He told them they were looking at what was left of the city of Antioch. There were very few buildings left standing that hadn't suffered some kind of damage. Whole sections of the city were a smoking ruin.

Laura could see virtually no difference when the images of Sovana and then Kinsdale were displayed.

The next thirty or so images showed only destruction. More damage to quite a few sections of Caprica City outside the ring of government buildings. Delphi was essentially the same. The final screens were listings of the Air Fleet's status. Of the thirty-five battlestars that had begun the fight, sixteen had "Lost" beside them, half of the remaining fleet. The list was in alphabetical order. Quickly Laura scanned down until she came to the _Galactica._ There was nothing beside the name.

She closed her eyes and said a silent prayer of thanks to the gods. Bill was still alive.

The statistics on their Vipers and other fighter craft were much worse. Barely one-third left. The loss of pilots and ships was staggering.

Vargas continued. "The basestars haven't even gotten into the fight, yet. This is what they've done with their Raiders alone. What we're up against is not so much the skill of the Raiders but the sheer numbers. Our kill ratio is four to five of them for each of our losses, but for every one we destroy, they launch two more. We have no idea how many they're holding in reserve. As our fighters are destroyed there are more and more Raiders to go against fewer of our pilots. Every mission now is basically a suicide mission for a lot of them. As soon as a battlestar's Vipers are destroyed, a basestar takes on the battlestar. Ammunition is running low. We're running out of resources. Our best estimate is that in less than a week the fleet will be a total loss." He nodded at the back of the room again and the lights came up.

The President stepped up to the podium. "Thank you, General Vargas. The picture is grim. We can continue to fight until every battlestar, every fighter craft and pilot is lost and the basestars will still be out there, or we can see what they want. If they planned to annihilate us, I don't think they would have offered to talk. I'm going to ask for a show of hands of all those _opposed_ to at least listening to their terms.

Of the twenty-four Cabinet members and the twelve Quorum members who had been on Caprica when the attack started, only three raised their hands. Three opposed to negotiating when last night it had been nineteen. Such was the effect of the sobering images and statistics they had just seen.

"I'll notify them immediately that we will negotiate under a flag of truce. Over the next few hours I will be putting together a negotiating team. Thank you all for coming. I'm going to a press conference next in order to release our decision to the media. I don't know how it will be received, but the people deserve to know what we're going to do."

The President turned and left the room followed by Vargas.

Scott Michelson leaned over and said. "I hope we're doing the right thing in talking to them."

"At this point I don't see that we have much choice unless we all want to die," Laura answered.

She already knew that the President was going to ask her to be one of the negotiators. He'd told her during dinner the previous evening with several of his staff that if it came to negotiating he wanted her on his team. He had also already chosen the senior member of the Quorum of Twelve as well as Scott Michelson, his Secretary of Transportation. He was going to ask his friend Dr. Gaius Baltar the scientist. He had selected another friend, a Justice on the Colonial Supreme Court to be the legal representative. And he had asked a noted physician whose name escaped her at the moment to be the medical representative. He still needed a military man. His good friend and advisor General Vargas had refused the offer and Adar hadn't forced the issue with him.

"I want a man who has seen combat first hand," he had said. "Someone who fought them the first time, someone who's fighting them now. I've got a short list from Nate, but nothing is clicking with me yet."

Without stopping to think Laura had thrown out a name. Commander William Adama. The President had written it down.

"I'll have one of my aides get his dossier," was all he had said.

...

On the _Galactica_, Lee spent his time on the hangar deck doing anything he could to help during the three days and nights of fighting. He carried cups of coffee, towels and blankets, helped shaken pilots climb down ladders. John Gallagher was there, too, talking tactics with the pilots or down on one knee handing a tool to one of the deck crew or with his arm around the shoulders of a distraught pilot who had just lost his wingman and best friend, talking quietly to him. Neither of them had slept much in those three days.

Once during the second day of fighting or maybe that night Lee remembered sitting down on the floor outside the Tool Room, leaning back against the bulkhead and closing his eyes. He meant to rest for only a few minutes. When he woke up several hours later, he was lying on the floor. Someone had put a folded blanket under his head as a pillow. He knew who it probably was.

Then the inexplicable happened. The Cylon Raiders withdrew from the fight and returned to their basestars.

The basestars didn't withdraw, however, and word finally reached the hangar deck that there was a flag of truce. Negotiations were going to begin for the surrender of Caprica.

Lee was stunned. He couldn't believe it. None of them could.

He and Gallagher were back in his quarters, crashed in their bunks, almost asleep when his father called them to come to his quarters.

"Pack your bags, both of you. We're going to Caprica. I could take a Raptor, but I owe the captain. He's going to fly us there and then he can look for his daughter."

Gallagher immediately picked up on something that Lee had not. "Why have you been called to Caprica?"

Bill poured a drink but didn't offer either of them one. "The President himself called me about half an hour ago and asked me to serve on his negotiating team. I tried to refuse. He wouldn't take _no_ for an answer. He's my commander in chief. I can't disobey a direct order from him. I just hope someday I get my hands on whoever put my name in front of him. He wouldn't tell me."

"Being on the negotiating team is not necessarily a bad thing," Gallagher said.

"How's that?" Bill asked.

Lee could tell from his tone that his father was in a terrible mood.

"You won't give them some of the things another man might. I feel a hell of a lot better knowing you're on the team. You're not a kiss-ass politician. You've got the backbone to stand up to them."

Bill finished the drink in a single swallow and nodded. "Let's do it then. Go pack. I'm going to call down and have your ship fueled. We leave in half an hour. I'm expected first thing in the morning."

Half an hour later they entered Gallagher's ship. Lee asked him if he could sit in the copilot's seat. He said yes. Bill took one of the passenger seats. His mood had not improved. It was probably better if he didn't have to talk to anyone during the flight. Lee was glad he didn't have to sit back there with him.

"It's not going to be pretty out there," Gallagher said. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"It can't be as bad as being back there with him," Lee answered.

He watched as Gallagher slid the harness straps over his shoulders and buckled himself in, then told Lee to do the same. Whoever had worn the copilot's harness last was smaller than he was. Lee had to lengthen a couple of the straps.

Then Gallagher put on his headset and started through his preflight checklist. When he was done, the crew chief had the ship towed to an elevator and they were lifted to the port launch bay. Lee thought he felt the moment they left the _Galactica's_ artificial gravity field.

The LSO gave them clearance and Lee felt the ship lift and accelerate out of the launch bay. As Gallagher banked away from battlestar, Lee saw the remains of the fleet, the debris from some of the destroyed ships…and the bodies and body parts.

Gallagher made a wide circle to avoid as much of it as he could.

Finally he said, "Now that the fighting has stopped, they can start recovering them. That was the worst thing about leaving Picon. It wasn't just the debris. It was the bodies. There were so many of them. You'd think with that kind of nuclear blast they would all have been incinerated, but they weren't or they weren't entirely. That was rough. Damn, that was rough."

Once they were completely clear of the debris, Gallagher keyed in some coordinates and engaged the autopilot. Lee could feel him retreat then, pull back mentally into some place or time that only he could go, a place or time where the world wasn't at war, maybe a time when he was with Kara's mother, a time when he was with the woman he loved.

Lee started thinking about Blaire Merric and wondered if he would ever see her again. He wasn't surprised to find that as unlikely as it seemed, he hoped he would.

They were both so tired that he and Gallagher didn't talk much for the rest of the trip.

When they got to the Caprica Airbase there was a car waiting for his father. He told the driver they were going to have to take Lee home first. Then standing out on the tarmac Bill shook hands with Gallagher and pulled a small piece of paper out of his pocket.

"The name and address of a friend of mine who runs a cargo service. You need a job flying, you look him up and tell him I sent you. You'll have a job no questions asked."

"Thank you, sir. I've got to find my daughter and her friend first, but I'll need a job to take care of them. I'll definitely do it." He tucked the piece of paper into his shirt pocket, turned to Lee and held out his hand. "Good luck making that decision. I hope it's to be a pilot." He looked at Bill. "I'm counting on you to push the Cylons to let our pilot training continue. We lost too many."

Lee shook the captain's hand. "Good luck finding your daughter. I still want to meet her some day."

Gallagher grinned. "When she's eighteen." It was a joke between them now.

"I hope I see you before then," Lee said.

"You can count on it."

Lee got into the car with his father, looked out the window and watched Gallagher get back into the ship. He had disappeared into the night sky before they got to the gate.

TBC…


	10. Negotiating

Chapter 10

Negotiating

_In choosing his negotiating team, President Adar selected a wide range of talents both in negotiating skills and resourcefulness. Credit for the conditions they worked out with the Cylons can be attributed to no one particular person but to the group as a whole. Though not everyone agreed at the time, historically the treaty is regarded as a masterpiece of human negotiating skill. _

_-Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War_

In the rush to get back to Caprica, no one had remembered to call and tell Carolanne and Zak that Bill and Lee were coming home.

Zak was sitting in the den playing a video game when Lee and his father came in the kitchen door. Lee had never hugged his brother so long or so hard. Zak didn't seem to want to let go of him. He doubted that his father had ever hugged Zak like that either.

Where's your mother?" Bill asked.

Zak motioned toward the hall. "In her bedroom. She got word this afternoon that her friend from the museum was killed in Delphi. Henry was there when the fighting started and couldn't get back. After the bombing stopped some people went crazy and started looting the museum and some other places. I don't know, I guess Henry tried to stop it or something and somebody shot him. Anyway, he's dead. Mom's been in her room since then. I've tried to get her to come out, but no luck."

"Is she drinking?" Bill asked.

"I don't know," Zak answered. "I don't think so, but I don't know for sure. She was spending a lot of time wandering around the house crying even before Henry died. I think she's been worried about both of you. Yesterday morning I came down to breakfast and she was sitting at the table drinking coffee and crying over your wedding pictures and Lee's baby pictures. I told her you'd be okay, but…" he shrugged.

Bill told Lee to go out and tell the driver that he would be delayed. Then without another word, he went down the hall, knocked on Carolanne's door and went inside.

For the next hour Lee and Zak sat at the kitchen table while Lee drank milk and ate two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and told Zak everything he could remember about the time he had spent on the _Galactica_. Well, almost everything. He told Zak about meeting Blaire Merric but didn't mention sharing a bunk with her. Zak seemed like he was envious enough as it was.

Finally Zak looked down the hall and said, "Dad's been in there a long time. What do you think they're doing? Do you think…?"

"No way," Lee answered. "They're probably just talking."

When his father came into the kitchen later, though, his hair was damp. He'd obviously taken a shower, but that didn't mean…did it? Could his mother and father have been sharing a bunk, so to speak? His father did seem to be in a lot better mood, though.

Lee suddenly wished John was around to ask his opinion. Gallagher would probably just laugh, and tell Lee his father was entitled to some privacy. His parents might be separated now, but they weren't divorced. He guessed that was the same thing as still being married.

"I'll call you tomorrow," his father said to him before he left. Lee stood up. Bill came over and hugged him. "I can't tell you how proud I am of you, son. Any commander in the service would be privileged to have you serve on his battlestar. I was privileged to have you on mine."

Lee almost choked up. His father had never said anything that nice to him in his life.

A few minutes after his father left, his mother came into the kitchen. She was barefoot, wearing jeans and one of his father's old shirts. He noticed that her eyes were puffy but she was smiling as she came over and hugged him. Her hair was pulled back in a pony tail, but it was damp, too, and she smelled like soap, just like his father. They probably had shared a bunk. Maybe even a shower. Damn.

He caught Zak's eye. Behind his mother's back Zak shrugged and grinned.

He thought so, too.

War sure made people do crazy things.

...

Early the next morning Laura Roslin paced her bedroom down in the bunker. The confirmed roster of the President's negotiating team had just been delivered to her. It was alphabetical by last name. Adama, William, Cmdr battlestar _Galactica_, was the first one on the list with a brief biography by his name. She could hardly believe that in barely over an hour, she would sit down at the table with a man she hadn't seen in eighteen years, a man she had once loved, possibly still loved.

She went over to the small closet. She hadn't brought much, mostly casual clothes, but she did have a wine-red skirt suit and a dark green pantsuit. Which one? She finally decided on the wine-red suit. It was more feminine. Bill had liked her best when she looked feminine.

Could she really be doing this? Choosing her wardrobe for a man who might barely remember her? A man who had been married to another woman for eighteen years now, a woman who had borne him two sons? A man who had taken only three short months to forget his feelings for her all those years ago?

_Oh, Laura,_ _get a grip,_ she told herself. Still, she slipped her feet into a pair of black high heels instead of the more sensible lower-heeled wine-red pumps she had brought to wear with the suit.

Bill's face when he saw her registered almost nothing. He should have gotten the same list she had of the negotiating team so her presence shouldn't have come as a surprise. She was much more collected than she had thought she would be. She had purposely waited until she knew some of the team had gathered before she entered the room. She could not have handled seeing him alone.

Bill was wearing his duty blue regulation uniform, not his dress one, and was standing off to himself. She saw the pins on his collar, commander now instead of lieutenant, and over his heart he wore the wings of a senior pilot.

The others were gathered in a tight group. She recognized Dr. Baltar from his talk to them the previous evening. He was talking to Justice Evan Socorro and Dr. Phoebe Medwin, the medical member of the team. The President wasn't there yet.

Taking a deep breath, Laura crossed the room.

"Hello, Bill."

"Laura." She could read nothing in his eyes. "Do I have you to thank for this?" His tone was tight and controlled yet she could feel the fury just beneath the surface. Fury, she realized, that would soon be directed at her.

There was no way to avoid the confrontation. She knew he had guessed her involvement the moment he had seen her. At least she could give him her reason. "The President was looking for a _good_ military man, someone who had seen _combat_, someone who…"

"Damn you," Bill said softly. She heard the barely-controlled anger in his voice. "Don't you understand that when I see a Cylon, I want to _kill it_? Do you have any idea how many good men and women are _dead_ because of them? And now you expect me to sit down at a table and make nice with them? Negotiate with them?"

Facing Bill's anger now failed to rattle her any more than facing her father's had years before. She drew herself up and said coolly, "I suppose you'd rather see the human race exterminated?"

"What I want to see is those metal motherfrakkers put down."

"Well that wasn't happening, was it? You were losing. _We _were losing. Our fighters were being destroyed. Our pilots were dying by the score."

His eyes finally revealed his pain…very deep…very real.

She continued in a much gentler tone. "It's time to let the Cylons put their cards on the table and see what they're offering and what they want in return. We may still choose not to accept. We may still choose to fight to the death. We may still rather take annihilation instead of capitulation. And at this point, Bill, the extermination of the human race is our _only_ other choice. But at least we'll know we made that choice. And you obviously haven't heard. You won't be negotiating with something metal. Some of the Cylons look like us now."

"What?"

The shock in his voice seemed genuine and yet there was something she couldn't quite put her finger on. Shock in one sense but not in another? A memory stirred perhaps?

"I guess word never reached the battlestars. Two days ago the Cylons sent a delegation of what we thought were three humans to negotiate. They were arrested and charged with treason. Yesterday they sent three more…the same three. Dr. Baltar has a theory, which he explained to us last night. The Cylons have developed lifelike-looking robots that can pass for human in every way. I understand that doctors have taken blood and tissue samples from the three who were sent two days ago. They're more than synthetic robots. Even their medical tests look human, although Dr. Baltar is certain there is a way to tell the difference. We just haven't found it yet. So, no, you won't have to sit across the table from something metal."

Bill's anger seemed to abate slightly. He knew something about the human-looking Cylons. She picked up that much from him but could sense nothing more. Whatever it was he had buried it deeply in his thoughts.

She turned to go.

"Laura," he said softly.

She turned around.

"Sometimes I can stand too much on pride. It's a failing of mine."

"We all have our failings, Bill. For some of us it's a lack of faith in our own hearts."

She knew that neither of them was talking about the current situation and so did he. Again she saw something in his eyes. For a moment they were the pilot and the diplomat's daughter once again, and then he dropped his gaze, unable or unwilling to let her see any more of his heart.

The President entered the room. "Good morning," he said. "I want to thank all of you for agreeing to participate in this history-making event. We've got a lot to talk about before we meet the Cylon envoys. Let's not waste any time. We've placed some information on the table at your places. Please have a seat."

Laura made a point to sit on the same side of the table as Bill but with two people in between them. That way she didn't have to look across at him. It was easier on both of them that way. She could never have maintained her concentration on the negotiations otherwise.

When they were ready, Adar's aide let the Cylons enter the room. Laura was unimpressed by the men, but the tall blond female was extremely beautiful. Gaius Baltar immediately began to fidget with his tie as he stared at her. His interest wasn't lost on Laura.

It took them nearly four weeks to hammer out the conditions under which the Colonies would surrender.

First and foremost in a move which surprised everyone, the Cylon negotiators wanted the President and his Cabinet to remain in place. The older white man who introduce himself as John Cavil would join the President's staff. All decisions would be subject to his approval. The Cylons at least understood the chaos that would ensue on all levels if they completely dissolved the government. And chaos right now was not in their plan. In fact to avoid chaos and keep from having to expend a lot of effort keeping order, they were more willing to negotiate on some points than Laura would ever have dreamed.

Their motives became clearer as the negotiations progressed.

Keeping order had to have been on their agenda when they agreed that the military could remain intact. Cavil explained their reasoning. "When you disband a military, you put a lot of highly trained humans at loose ends. The way to handle that is to keep the military intact, keep the command structure in place, but take away their bullets."

It was flawlessly logical. The kind of thinking she would have expected from a machine, if you conceded that machines could reason.

All armaments would be removed from the battlestars, space stations and base stations. All armories, all missile silos and weapons manufacturing would be completely under Cylon control. They would indeed take away all the bullets. That was the hardest demand to get past Bill.

"We're letting them _neuter us_," he said bitterly to her late one evening as the two of them remained behind in the negotiating room.

"It could be worse, Bill. They could have demanded the _destruction_ of everything and disbanded the military completely."

He looked at her and she saw the pain in his eyes. "Sometimes I think we've made a mistake negotiating with them. Sometimes I think death would have been the more honorable alternative."

"I disagree, at least at this point. I'm sure there is a point at which I would agree with you, but not yet. That's one of the main differences between a diplomat and a soldier. We're slower to see death as an acceptable alternative."

"You still want to better humanity, to save it. We created these monsters years ago. We unleashed this plague on ourselves. Maybe we don't deserve to live. Maybe it should be our fate to die at the hands of our creations. What gave us the right to act like the gods, to create life albeit artificial life?"

"I'm sure at the time it seemed like the right thing to do. I'm glad all of us don't feel like death should be the consequences of a bad decision made generations ago. I've said this to Billy my young aide…life is hope. Life is always hope. As long as we're alive there is a chance for a better future, possibly even one _without_ Cylons in it. Don't give up on us yet, Bill. In spite of all our unwise decisions, in the past the human race has shown a resilience that can only be described as miraculous at times. Give us the chance to do that again."

She knew her faith in their future was not shared by everyone. After all, there were probably quite a few who shared Bill's opinion, that death was the more honorable alternative.

The only non-negotiable Cylon demand was the one that scared Laura the most. It was apparently the reason they wanted to negotiate in the first place instead of destroying the planet. The Cylons wanted full access to the Colonial biomedical labs and research facilities. They also wanted full access to fertility research and genetic engineering and cloning experiments as well as complete access to all research dealing with Artificial Intelligence.

They demanded to work with Dr. Gaius Baltar by name although Laura was never certain if that had been their original intent or not. There were times when she thought Gaius had prompted the beautiful blond who called herself Natasi to ask for him. She began to see what a self-serving man Baltar was.

In return the President's team demanded and was granted Cylon help in rebuilding the destroyed cities and repairing the damaged infrastructure even though it would mean bringing thousands of their centurions to the planet.

Laura made sure there was a provision in the treaty that allowed education to continue without interference. That seemed to be the least of the Cylons' concerns. It wasn't exactly a surprise to her. Education wasn't often very high on her government's list of priorities either.

Bill got them to agree to allow new pilots to be trained even though it meant in unarmed Vipers and Raptors. They would still be pilots. They could begin replacing some of their losses. The reason the Cylons didn't care about the training of pilots soon became obvious.

They refused to allow any more Vipers and Raptors or any other type of military ship, including battlestars, to be manufactured, and there were very few fighters left. Even using parts from partially destroyed ships, each battlestar could manage to field only about two dozen Vipers and half that many Raptors. There were about fifty Vipers left at the Caprica Airbase.

Bill later told Laura that the wording of that part of the treaty had only forbidden the manufacture of _new_ Vipers. It hadn't mentioned anything about refurbishing existing ones. He told her that in the big military salvage yard or boneyard as he called it that was north of Caprica City there were between two and three hundred old Mark II Vipers. The Mark III Viper had been a complete reengineering in Viper design, so most Mark IIs had not been stripped of their parts. They were still mostly intact. He obviously had plans for those ships.

Despite the President's request, the Cylons refused to reveal how many humanoids there were. So far Laura and the others had seen only three. The negotiating team had no idea how many copies there were or if there were any more that hadn't been revealed. The three Cylon negotiators, Cavil, Simon and Natasi, refused all attempts to get that information.

Opinion was divided about the answer. Some felt like they had seen all of the _skinjobs _as some had begun crudely calling them. Some felt there were more. Laura had not yet formed an opinion. She didn't have enough information.

At some point during the month-long negotiations, Laura woke up one night and sat up in bed with a horrified thought.

Giving the Cylons access to all their medical, genetic, fertility and cloning research had set off all kind of alarms with her. Did no one understand what the Cylon's ultimate goal might be? Had no one yet realized that the Cylons might be planning to conduct experiments to try some type of cross-breeding between the human-looking robots and real humans?

To Laura something like that would be an aberration, a mockery of everything she believed to be sacred to humans, a mockery of the very gods themselves.

The next day she pulled Dr. Baltar and Dr. Medwin aside and expressed her concerns to them. Both of them looked at her like they might a first grader. Dr. Baltar then looked at Dr. Medwin.

"Shall I explain it to her or do you want to?"

"Please," Dr. Medwin answered, "be my guest."

"Respectfully, Madame Secretary, your concern has no foundation. Have you ever heard of someone inter-breeding, oh, let's say a cat and a dog?"

Laura had to admit that she had not.

"Genetically they are completely incompatible. Just as we are genetically incompatible with these Cylons. Humans can't cross-breed with machines no matter how much those machines _look and act_ like humans. So lay your fears to rest. They can study our research all they want. It won't do them any good if that is their goal."

Everyone else on the negotiating team with the exception of Bill must have shared Baltar's opinion. Most of them just wanted the war to be over and their lives to return to some semblance of normality. If any such thoughts bothered them, they were able to push them aside.

In fact Dr. Baltar seemed almost eager to grant whatever they wanted in regards to his research. He appeared enthralled by what the Cylons had accomplished. He wanted to find out how they had done it and if it could help his research.

The last hurdle fell when the Colonials granted the Cylons access to all genetic and AI research. A peace treaty had been forged.

On a crisp late autumn day the historic document was signed by President Adar and the three Cylon representatives. The war was officially over. The next phase of their lives under Cylon control was beginning.

During the negotiations Laura had noticed the chemistry between Natasi and Dr. Baltar, but she kept telling herself that it was her imagination. There was no doubt that Natasi was beautiful, but how could Dr. Baltar be attracted to her knowing what she was? And how could a machine exhibit that kind of interest in a human male? Could she have been programmed that way? Programmed to feel? Could emotions be programmed? She could understand, perhaps, how a robot could be programmed so that its face _registered_ an emotional expression in response to some sort of stimuli, but to actually _feel_ it?

Laura couldn't begin to wrap her thoughts around that concept no matter how hard she tried.

On the afternoon after the treaty signing, however, she was sitting alone in a little tearoom inside the Capitol Building enjoying a cup of tea and a few moments of quiet. There she saw Dr. Baltar and Natasi come in and go to a booth in the back. They didn't see her. So there had been something to her observations after all.

Her next thought was even more perplexing. Was Natasi capable of having sex? Would it be pleasurable for her? How did they manage to program that?

That was another concept that she couldn't begin to fathom nor did she want to try.

...

Bill went back to the _Galactica_ with one of the Cavil Cylons and some centurions for a short time to oversee the removal of the remainder of her armaments and to talk to his crew. Then he was going to decide whether to stay on board the _Galactica_ as her commander or to take a position that President Adar had offered him as one of his advisors.

During the negotiations, as they had forged a peace agreement with the Cylons, she and Bill had also forged a peace with each other. There were still times when she looked at him, though, and felt the tug of something from the past.

Once, just once, she asked him to come in for a drink when he walked with her back to her quarters in the bunker. It was the only time he let his guard down.

He shook his head and said, "You know why I can't do that." The hot spark danced in his blue eyes just long enough for her to see it. He was feeling the tug of the past the same way she was. And he was just as certain as she was of what the outcome would be if he accepted her offer.

Bill Adama was an honorable man. Bill Adama was a married man. Bill Adama was not an adulterer, nor would he allow himself to make her one. His decision had been wise; her offer of drinks had been foolish, just as foolish as her decision to take him to her bedroom all those years ago.

As he turned to go to his own quarters, though, he looked back at her. "You're still as beautiful as you were that day at the lake."

Then he turned quickly away and walked off down the hall. She realized at that moment just how very difficult it had been for him to turn down her offer. She wouldn't put him in that position again. She still cared too much for him.

She knew he and his wife had been separated, but she also knew that after the treaty was signed he moved back into the house they had shared. He never mentioned the sleeping arrangements and she never asked. It was none of her business.

Life was easier for her when he left to go back to the _Galactica._

There was so much to be done. The President asked her to head a team to coordinate getting help to the refugees displaced by the destruction of the three major northern cities. Many of the people who had survived the bombing had set up makeshift tent cities in several locations. There were also the survivors who had come from the other Colonies, tens of thousands in all. Some had come to Caprica City, but Caprica's housing resources were already strained due to the bombing there. Many of the refugees had been shuttled north to the camps.

What Laura found was that the camps' inhabitants were in desperate need of food and clean water and medical supplies.

For a long time she and Billy worked ten and twelve-hour days six and often seven days a week. They worked with Scott Michelson and his team. They worked with the Secretary of the Interior and his team, the Secretary of Housing and Welfare and her team. There was no room in her thoughts for Bill Adama. She fell into bed at night so exhausted that she no longer even dreamed.

The needs of the refugees were far greater than any of her needs.

Three weeks after the treaty was signed she traveled for the first time to the largest of the refugee camps. As her ship circled and then touched down on the one runway left at the Antioch Airport and she saw the ruin of that once thriving city, she cried. That was nothing compared to the way she felt when she saw the camp.

Even though it was nearly ten o'clock at night when she got back to Caprica City, she called President Adar and told him that their first priority had to be the sick and injured and starving people in the camps. There were several humanitarian groups doing what they could, but it was not nearly enough. It took a week before Adar's Cavil advisor released the first shipments of food, several more weeks before Simon allowed the first meager shipment of medical supplies.

What the Cylons wouldn't do was release the resources necessary to deliver the needed supplies. Raiders weren't designed to carry cargo and their own cargo ships and transports in the city were being utilized to ferry supplies to repair the damaged infrastructure, the water and electric plants, the shipyards and subways. The Cylons didn't care about the people in the camps. They wanted the medical research facilities and other labs back up and running first.

Laura asked them to allow the use of military cargo ships to help deliver the supplies. The Cavil advisor said _no_. Bill Adama defied him and put three big transports at her disposal. When the ships were loaded and ready to takeoff, though, centurions blocked the runway and Raiders hovered nearby awaiting orders should any of the ships make it off the ground.

A reporter named D'Anna Biers showed up and interviewed both Laura and Bill at the airbase while the transports idled in the background. They were both careful to speak only of the humanitarian goal of what they were doing. As soon as D'Anna went public with the story, Cavil backed down. The ships were allowed to take off.

D'Anna's cameraman got a wonderful shot of the last big transport highlighted by the setting sun just as it left the ground. He used a telephoto lens and you could see the pilot in the cockpit, sunglasses and headset on, smiling with his thumb raised in the classic A-okay gesture. The flag of the Twelve Colonies, painted just below the cockpit's window, was clearly visible. Laura couldn't remember when she had seen anything more moving. The symbolism was completely lost on the Cylons.

The picture appeared everywhere with the caption of _Hope_ and later won a Rosenthal Prize.

Laura noticed several weeks later that her secretary Adele now had it as her screensaver on her computer. So did Billy. She knew that Billy had probably loaded it for Adele. She motioned for him to come into her office and load it for her, too. She was glad she did because it became a constant source of inspiration to her as she worked for the people in the camps.

_Hope._ They still had hope.

The newsworthiness of the refugee camps soon died down, but many who were involved remembered the reporter for her courage in standing up to Cavil. Other reporters had done the same thing and had not been as fortunate. Several of the media's most outspoken critics of Cylon policies had simply disappeared. Some of Laura's colleagues began feeding D'Anna information for her stories and passed her name along to their friends. D'Anna Biers was soon a fixture in their lives.

The standoff at the airport had reinforced Laura's resolve. She vowed to fight for the forgotten people of the camps, for their continued survival. She refused to give up the hope they had all fought for. To the Cylons, though, the refugees were expendable.

In exactly the kind of remark she should have expected from a machine, one of the Cavils said to her, "Humans can reproduce and make babies at will. Why are you making such an issue about a few refugees?"

"Because they deserve a chance to live."

Cavil didn't seem to understand her sentiment.

Laura became the refugee's advocate in every way.

Bill accepted the position that President Adar offered.

They saw each other often around the capitol buildings and always stopped long enough to chat about what their jobs involved at the current time. He was never entirely clear about exactly what he was doing, but she got the very distinct impression that it was more than simply serving as a liaison between the civilian government and the military, especially the battlestars.

Bill Adama now seemed like a man with a purpose, as driven as she was when it came to her own desire to help the refugees. He still hated the Cylons, that much she knew, and yet he appeared to be cooperating with them. She knew there was definitely something more involved to what he was now doing than he would admit.

Now that he was on Caprica, he and Carolanne had reconciled. In one of the few personal conversations they had, Bill told her that he wanted to try to be a better father to his sons. He worried that it was too late for him to have much influence with Lee, but he wanted to try anyway. He told her that Zak would still be at home for several more years. He told her that having Lee with him on the _Galactica_ made him realize how much of his son's life he had missed, how he realized for the first time that his older son was nearly grown. He said that despite his neglect, Lee had grown into a fine young man. She heard a great deal of pride in his voice.

She wondered later if that was his way of trying to explain to her why he had reconciled with Carolanne instead of going ahead with a divorce. How could she fault him for wanting to be a father to his sons when he had been mostly absent as they were growing up?

He also said something else to her that day, "Sometimes a man has to do what's right. He has to take responsibility. He can't always follow his heart no matter how much he might want to."

He left the interpretation of that remark up to her.

Late in the spring, she saw Bill and Carolanne with their sons at a restaurant in the city. She and Scott Michelson were having dinner one evening to discuss an issue in the government contracts for the transportation of aid workers to the refugee camps. There were no longer enough hours in the work day. Many of them now carried their work over into dinner. They would never eat if they didn't.

She got up and went over to Bill's table and he introduced her to his family. Carolanne was a very attractive woman and the younger son was nice looking, but the older one, Lee was one of the best-looking young men she had ever seen.

Lee and his father both stood up immediately when she walked up to their table. She saw Lee turn his head and hiss _stand up_ to Zak before Zak also stood. They all shook hands. Zak was not nearly as impressed as Lee was at meeting a member of the President's Cabinet. Lee asked about the refugee camps and her work. Bill must have mentioned it to him because very little of what she was doing now ever made the news. It had been many months since the dramatic standoff at the Caprica Airbase.

Lee blushed, but he told her that he wished there were more concerned people like her in the government. She detected nothing but sincerity in his remark. She liked him immediately.

She asked him what he was doing now. He told her that he was going to graduate from high school in six weeks and in the fall would attend the Academy for a year and become an officer. After that he would go to Flight School. He was going to be a Viper pilot.

Across the table her eyes met Bill's. The spark danced in his eyes, she felt the echoing tug at her own heart, and then she smiled, bid them good night, and returned to her table.

Sometimes it didn't pay to keep visiting the past. The past for her and Bill Adama was a very painful place. It would never lose its hold over her if she kept going there. Bill had made the choice this time, an honorable choice, the right choice, the choice to be a father to his sons. He had not followed his heart. She was not part of his choice.

She hoped his handsome, blue-eyed son had better luck when it came to love.

...

Lee watched his father's eyes as the Secretary of Education left their table, watched his eyes follow her as she rejoined her dinner companion, and finally saw something in Bill's gaze that he didn't think he had ever seen before, something so painful to watch that Lee looked away.

It was only later that night as he tried to go to sleep that he remembered his grandmother's remark from two years earlier and made the connection. He finally knew who _Laura_ was. She was Laura Roslin, the Secretary of Education.

He could understand why his father had felt that way about her. She was beautiful, but more than that, she cared. She cared about the people almost everyone else had forgotten and that meant she had a true capacity to love.

He shut his eyes and wondered if she still felt something for his father. He knew his father still felt something for her. He'd seen it in his father's eyes. Thinking about it now, he realized that he had even heard it in his father's voice as he'd often told Lee about her efforts for the refugees. Bill's voice changed when he spoke about Laura. It became softer and held more emotion.

Lee didn't have any idea what had happened all those years ago and he wouldn't dare to ask his father, but maybe there was a lesson to be learned from it. Maybe if he ever met someone he really loved, he should be careful about being proud and stubborn, traits he knew he possessed. Both had served him well when it came to taking pride in his schoolwork and his ability on the athletic field, and in having the stubbornness and tenacity to stick to a project until it was done.

But should they be applied to emotion?

Maybe his father should have swallowed his pride and given in years ago, no matter what it would have cost him. That had to have been better than losing the love of his life, better than having to watch her walk away from their table tonight with so much longing in his eyes that even his son could see it.

Of course, Lee realized as he drifted toward sleep, if his father had stayed with Laura Roslin, he wouldn't be here now thinking about it.

Maybe the lesson, then, was for him.

Maybe when it came to love, pride and stubbornness definitely had no place.

He just hoped that someday he felt about a woman the way his father felt about Laura.

He hoped he would be that lucky.

The last thought he had before he finally fell asleep was of John Gallagher's daughter who had a name as beautiful as _Laura,_ a girl he had often thought about, a girl he didn't even know, a girl who was tough and beautiful and blond and athletic, everything he wanted, a girl he still believed he would meet one day.

He said her name again to himself and liked the sound.

_Kara._

TBC…


	11. Rabbits and Princes

Chapter 11

Rabbits and Princes

_Fortunately for the inhabitants of Caprica the broad stretch of farmland in the central part of the continent was virtually untouched by the war. Farmers were able to continue producing crops to feed the population. Their big complaint was that spare parts for tractors, harvesters and other equipment were increasingly difficult to obtain since the destruction of the northern industrial cities and many of the factories._

_-Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War_

_._

"Damn rabbits," Kara said. "They're all over the garden again."

Karl's attitude toward the garden was that there was enough for all of them, including the rabbits. She disagreed. Each day she could see the rabbits making more inroads. They seemed to have multiplied in the six weeks she and Karl had been staying at the little stone house. And the rabbits that were small when they first got there were a lot bigger now.

There was no way to fence them out. The garden was too big. She wondered how the old man and woman had kept the rabbits out and finally remembered they'd had a dog, probably a good rabbit-chasing dog.

"What are you going to do about it?" Karl asked. "They've got a right to eat, too."

For some reason he didn't seem to care too much about anything right now. He didn't help her keep the little house cleaned up or do anything else to help. For six whole weeks she had done it all. And that was getting under her skin in a big way.

She tried to cut him some slack. After all he was a guy and his mother did all that stuff for him. She, on the other hand, had kept her mother's house cleaned up since she was eight years old. Chores, her mother had called them, and Kara had learned to do them fast and well. It was her ticket to getting outside and doing the things she loved to do.

But fair was fair. Karl should be helping her and he wasn't. He never complained. He ate whatever she fixed, but then he left her to clean everything up. She was going through what was in the freezer and the pantry too quickly, so the garden was starting to look more and more important to her.

Her mother wasn't all that great a cook, but she had taught Kara everything she knew. Her father, no, not her father, her mother's husband, Dreilide, the musician as she now thought of him, was really a better cook. He had moved out when she was eight, but she could still remember some of the meals he had cooked, especially the spaghetti. Just thinking about that spaghetti now made her mouth water.

She suddenly wondered if Dreilide had known he wasn't her real father. Thinking about her real father made her want to cry. One of her favorite dreams was to meet Zarek again when she had her mother's Mossinger-45 pistol in her hand. She'd put one right between his eyes just like she knew he or one of his men had done to her father. Like his men had done to Singer.

Every night before she went to sleep she remembered how her father had told her he loved her right before Zarek's men had pulled him away from her. Each night said it back to him, like a prayer, _I love you, too, Daddy._ She was surprised at how much her love for this almost unknown man had grown in her, for John Gallagher, the pilot who had saved her at the cost of his own life. And then she said a prayer for everyone else she had lost starting with her mother. Most of the time, though, she felt like the gods weren't listening to anything she said.

Kara knew that sooner or later, probably sooner, she and Karl were going to have it out. She could feel it coming, and she knew it was going to be ugly. He'd been her best friend for over five years now and maybe if they were back on Picon they could have found other best friends, but that wasn't possible now. They were stuck with each other.

"I'll tell you what I'm going to do," she said hotly as she stood looking at the garden. "I'm going to kill a few rabbits."

That, at least, got a laugh from Karl. She hadn't heard him laugh since they'd gotten to Caprica. He was sitting under a tree near the garden. "And how are you going to do that? Chase one and catch it? Go ahead. I want to watch. It'll be the most fun I've had since we landed here."

Until he said that she probably would have tried to chase one down and catch it. Now she went back into the house and got her mother's pistol from the bottom of her backpack.

That definitely got a reaction. He yelled at her. "No, Kara! No! Don't! Do you know how far that sound will carry? Frak, don't fire that thing. A damn cannon would be quieter."

"Who do you think is out there to hear it? We're in the middle of gods damned nowhere."

"You never can tell. We've got a good thing here so far. Don't do anything stupid and frak it up. Besides, you don't want to use up all your bullets on rabbits. We might need them later for…something else."

He was right. When it came to being sensible, Karl was always right.

She wasn't ready to let him know it, though. Her anger at his laziness finally boiled over.

"Yeah, you do have a good thing going here. I'm doing all the frakking work. You're about frakking worthless these days."

She stomped back into the house and just to have something to do, she got the kit her mother used to clean the Mossinger and sat down at the kitchen table and cleaned it. It didn't really need it, but she did it anyway, breaking it down just like her mother had taught her, cleaning it carefully with the solvent, and finally lightly oiling the slides before putting it back together. She always concentrated completely when she was doing that and for a while it took her mind off everything else.

It was while she was installing the slide lock on the pistol that she remembered her slingshot. How could she have been so stupid as to forget about her slingshot? She didn't rush, though. She completely finished with the pistol before she slid it into its holster and put it and the cleaning kit back in the bottom of her backpack before got the slingshot from a side pocket.

She was going rabbit hunting. No noise involved.

Karl was still sitting under a tree near the garden, staring into space and breaking small pieces of bark off a stick.

She had never shot at anything alive before with her slingshot. It was always cans or pinecones, but there was a first time for everything. She grabbed a handful of pebbles from under the gutter's downspout and marched down to the garden.

She got a rabbit in the head with her first shot. She realized later that it was a lucky shot, maybe because there were so many of them in the garden. It was a shot that would take her a week and hours of practice to perfect and achieve again, but she had to admit, the first one was impressive.

She was feeling extremely proud of herself as she marched down to the garden to claim her kill until Karl came up behind her and shoved her, almost pushed her down.

"What did you have to go and do that for? Kill a poor defenseless little rabbit?"

She recovered her balance and turned on him. "Son of a bitch! What'd you push me for? You want to fight? You want to fight over some gods damned stupid rabbit? Okay, go ahead. You get the first punch. Go ahead. Hit me." She flung the slingshot toward the house. "But you'd better make the first one count."

Her fists were clenched. She was ready. They might as well get this over. It had been coming for weeks. Karl was a good fighter and so was she. They were going to hurt each other that much she knew, but there was no stopping it now.

Karl's fists were clenched, too. They were staring at each other, both breathing hard, anger ricocheting between them. He drew back and she braced herself for the blow, but instead of hitting her, his face crumpled. Before she could say or do anything, he turned and ran toward the woods.

She stood there feeling bewildered. What was going on with him? What was going on with her? What was happening to both of them? Were they going crazy? They were best friends, as close as a brother and sister. She loved him just like a brother. She stood there for a few minutes feeling her anger ebb before she followed him.

She found him by the creek. He was sitting with his knees drawn up and his arms across them, face down in his arms crying. She went over and sat down beside him and put her arm around him like he had done to her that night at the airport. For the first time she realized that his shoulders had gotten broader over the last year.

"I miss them so much," he managed to choke out. "You're doing okay. I wish I could be more like you are. You're so tough. Nothing gets to you."

What he said made her want to cry. She swallowed hard. Just watching him cry was getting to her. She took a deep breath. It wouldn't help if she fell apart right now, too.

"I'm not as tough as you think. Do you wish you'd stayed behind with your mother and Marie and let me go by myself?"

"No. That's the worst part. I'm glad I'm here. I'm glad I'm not back there on Picon. I just miss them. I wish they were here with us especially Marie."

"Why wouldn't your mom make her come with us?"

"Because of her asthma."

"She had her inhaler."

"Yeah, but it would have run out sooner or later, and then she might have died. Don't you remember last year when they had to take her to the emergency treatment center? Where would we take her? My mother didn't want either one of us to have to deal with that. What if we'd had to watch Marie die?"

Kara hadn't thought of that. How bad would that have been?

She leaned her head against Karl's shoulder. She swallowed hard again and felt tears sting her eyes. It took a minute, but she fought them down.

"I miss them, too, you know. I miss your mom and dad. They always treated me like I was one of theirs. And I miss my mom, too. And I wish I'd gotten to know my real father. One of these days I'm going to kill that Zarek."

It was the first time she had said the words out loud. It made her feel better.

"I can't believe I was ready to hit you, Kara. I love you like I love Marie."

"I love you, too, Karl. When I was little I always wanted a brother and when I met you I quit wanting one. You're like my brother. And you're my best friend. Please don't get mad at me and push me like that. I was ready to hurt you. If we'd gotten into it, we would have hurt each other bad. We don't need to be fighting each other."

Karl wiped his eyes on the sleeve of his t-shirt. "I know. I'm sorry. I don't know what happened to me back there. We were about to beat each other up over a stupid rabbit."

"Yeah, that was pretty dumb, wasn't it?" After a minute she said, "You've got to start helping me, Karl. You've got to start pulling your weight. I can't keep doing everything by myself."

"I know. I know. I will. I've just been so…so down. But I will start helping you. You'll just have to show me how to do things."

"No problem. Keeping a place cleaned up and fixing meals is not exactly FTL science. If I can do it, you know it's not."

They sat together for a long time without speaking just enjoying the feeling of being best friends again.

Finally Karl said, "You want me to bury the rabbit for you?"

Kara grinned. "I don't think so. I'm going to cook it."

"Gross," Karl said.

"Then get your own supper."

"What does it taste like?"

"I don't know, but we're going to find out."

...

Everything got better after that. Karl helped her with the cooking and cleaning. She finally had to admit that Karl was a better cook. Cooking just wasn't her thing. And rabbit was very good in a stew with peppers and onions and potatoes. Karl found a recipe for beef stew in one of the old woman's cookbooks and they substituted the rabbit. When they finally figured out that carrots grew under the ground just like the onions and potatoes, they added them, too.

In the late autumn as the days shortened and finally started getting cool, the garden stopped growing. Kara found a whole wall of shelves in the cellar filled with jars of vegetables that the old woman had canned the previous year. There was also a big box of empty jars and lids. Karl was the one who found some instructions on how to can vegetables stuck in one of the old woman's cookbooks. It was too late for the current year, but they made plans to do it the next year. They started talking about saving some of the seeds and how they would plant the garden in the spring. Karl found a lot of information in a book called an almanac.

They took a chance and ventured back up the road and picked some corn even though it was old and tough. On the first trip they got two pillowcases full, but when they went back several weeks later, it had been harvested. Even the stalks were gone. They knew then that someone was still alive somewhere nearby. Neither of them wanted to investigate, but the thought was comforting. Somewhere beyond the miles and miles of corn and wheat fields someone else was still alive. They Cylons hadn't killed everybody.

They hadn't known for sure until then because early during the second week that they spent at the little house, the television quit working. Kara turned it on one evening and it wouldn't come on. Soon she started smelling something like a fried circuit board, just like had happened to one of her video games back on Picon. Afraid of a fire she unplugged the television. Karl later told her that it was so old they probably shouldn't have ever turned it off.

The old couple didn't have a radio, so after they heard about the treaty negotiations being started, they didn't know what was happening in the cities or anywhere else. They finally decided that a treaty must have been signed because nothing near them was destroyed and nothing ever fell from the sky again. Several weeks later they started seeing vapor contrails high in the sky. Big ships were flying north and south again, but were they Colonial ships or Cylon ships? They had no way of knowing.

They talked then about trying to walk to one of the towns thirty or forty miles away, but decided that was stupid. What if the towns were full of the toaster Cylons? They decided to stay where they were.

Karl was the one who said they couldn't quit learning just because they weren't in school anymore. Before he said that, Kara hadn't even thought about school. There was a set of old encyclopedias on the bottom shelf of the bookcase in the little living room. The bookcase was three shelves tall and stretched the length of one wall in the living room. They started reading a little each night. It was mostly totally boring and she felt good if she read a page or two. Sometimes she just pretended to read and daydreamed instead.

She finally picked up one of the novels and decided that reading wasn't such a bad thing after all. When she was reading she could travel to other places and other times and pretend she was other people. The old couple especially seemed to like science fiction. Kara found that she liked it, too. Besides, with the television broken and no video games or board games or even a set of triad cards, what else was there to do now at night except read?

At first Karl stuck to the encyclopedias and the history books. He especially liked the one on the history of transportation in the Colonies. Eventually he started reading the science fiction novels and was soon just as much into them as she was.

She didn't have a favorite book until early in the winter when she got around to a set of three volumes that she had found in the bottom of the nightstand in the bedroom. Volume I was called _The Caprican Prince and the Quest for the Talisman._ From the first paragraph she was hooked.

_In the days when the gods were much closer to man than they are now, a child was born to a maiden of royal blood. Her child's father, she said, had come to her on wings like silver moonlight and had loved her for but a single night and then departed. As proof she showed the priests her son's eyes, which were as blue as the sky at twilight, and on his chest, above his heart, the birthmark in the shape of a pair of wings._

Kara immediately thought of the wings that had been pinned on her father's shirt that night when they had left Picon, silver wings over his heart. So maybe the baby's father had been a pilot just like her father. Completely enthralled she stayed up reading that night until Karl took the book away from her and told her to go to bed.

"We've got a lot of work to do tomorrow to finish cleaning up the garden for the winter. That book isn't going anywhere. It'll be here tomorrow night."

The book was thick and it took her almost a week before she got to the part where the prince, whose name was Olliver, was eighteen years old and ready to go on the quest for a magic talisman. If he found the talisman and proved himself worthy, he would be granted entrance into the realm of the underworld and would meet his father who was imprisoned there for daring to love a mortal woman. Apparently only certain gods were allowed to love mortal women and Olliver's dad wasn't one of them. Olliver was going to have to perform three difficult tasks if he wanted to win his father's freedom.

She so much wanted Prince Olliver to find his father and bring him back to his mother. She almost got tears in her eyes as his mother bid Olliver farewell.

_Go, son. Your journey will be hard and there will be many perils, but you will survive because you're the son of a god and you are my son. You will survive and you will bring your father back to me for I will never love another man._

She suddenly remembered her mother's words the night they left Picon. "_You will survive this. You're my daughter. You will survive._"

She had survived. So far she had survived just like her mother had said she would. She had survived and her mother and father had died.

Kara put the marker in the book and closed it and went over to the sofa where Karl was reading one of the science fiction novels. She sat down on the floor, leaned back against the front of the sofa and closed her hand over the dog tags and the ring.

"What's up?" Karl asked.

"I miss my mother," she said, her voice beginning to tremble. "She wasn't around a lot, but I still miss her. And I know my father's dead, but I want to go to the underworld and find him just like the guy in this book is going to do. See, I'm not so tough after all."

The tears spilled from her eyes and ran down her cheeks.

Karl put his book aside, got down on the floor with her and put his arm around her. She leaned her head against his shoulder. He sat that way with her until she stopped crying.

It was several nights before she could pick up the book again.

...

They hunted the woods for small game. Kara was so good with the slingshot by now that she rarely missed, even if her target was moving. Some things she shot they couldn't eat. But the squirrels were okay, and the rabbits. She wouldn't shoot any birds or ducks, though. She couldn't bring herself to shoot something that had wings, something that took to the sky and soared high above them on the wind.

They learned the land around them and began venturing farther away from the house. Late in the fall they found a large pond several miles away and spent at least a day a week fishing there. Karl knew all about fishing since he and his dad had done that together since he was a little boy. The old man who had lived in the house had a tackle box and some other fishing gear. Karl said it was pretty basic, but he did okay with it. He taught her to fish, too. Kara could never understand why skinning a rabbit didn't bother her but trying to put a worm on a fish hook did.

With the vegetables that the old woman had canned and the game and fish, they were never hungry, but it took most of their time catching and then preparing the meals. Playing and having fun seemed like a thing of the distant past now.

Keeping the place cleaned up took some time, too. The old couple had let a lot of the heavy cleaning go. Kara couldn't stand a dirty or dusty house. Her mother had instilled that in her. It must have been her Marine training.

On her first big cleanup operation, Kara found a sealed box under the bed that contained the old woman's wedding dress. It wasn't too white any more, but it was still in good shape. One winter night on a whim, she tried it on. The hem ended above her ankles and it was too big for her, but it was the first time in years that Kara could remember seeing herself in a dress. There was a lace veil which she put over her hair. She stood looking in the mirror and was surprised. With her chopped up hair covered by the veil, she looked almost pretty in the soft lace.

She went into the living room and twirled around in front of Karl. "What do you think?"

He looked up from his book and stared. "Lords of Kobol, Kara. Where did you find that?"

"It was under the bed. Do I look like a bride?"

He swallowed hard. "You look…damn…you look beautiful."

"No, I don't."

"Take my word for it. You'd better go take that off…yeah…you'd better." He got up. "I'm, uh, I'm going outside for a few minutes. It's kind of hot in here."

She took the dress off and put it back in the box but she kept the veil. She could make it into a good fishing net.

When Karl came back in later, he didn't look at her for a long time.

For the first time she realized that maybe he sometimes saw her as more than a sister.

She realized it again when she was reading the second volume of the books, _The Caprican Prince and the Silver Arrow._

"What's a wench?" She asked him one night.

"One of those things like Sergeant Taylor used to wind his boat up onto the trailer."

"No, I don't think that's it?"

"Spell it."

"W-e-n-c-h."

"Uh, read the sentence it's in."

"_Olliver took the lusty wench to his bed_."

"Frak, Kara, what are you reading?"

"It's about this prince who's looking for a magic talisman to help him find his father. I think the talisman is going to be a silver arrow since that's in the title."

"It's about more than that if it's got a sentence like that in it. It sounds like…I'm not sure you should be reading stuff like that."

"What? All of a sudden you're telling me what I can and can't read?"

His cheeks colored. "No, I mean, it's just you probably shouldn't be reading about people going to bed together. I think what they mean by lusty wench is kind of like a…uh…a hot woman. Is that all it says or is there any more?"

"Well, I haven't got that far, yet." She read on. "Uh, yeah, there's more. Want me to read it out loud?"

"No. Maybe I'll read it later."

She thought she understood what the prince and the lusty wench were doing in his bed until she got to a sentence that puzzled her.

"Okay, what does this mean? _He put his hand under her skirt and found her already wet and ready for him."_

"Holy frak, Kara. Give me that."

He got up and tried to take the book away from her.

"No," she held on. "Let go. You're not taking this away from me."

"I just want to read it. I'll give it back. I promise."

Reluctantly she let him take the book.

She watched him read the page. "Oh, _damn_," he said and handed the book back to her. "I'll be back in a little bit. I'm going for a walk." He grabbed his jacket and went outside.

He was gone for a long time.

When he got back she still wanted an answer to her question. "I know you understand what they're doing. I mean I understand some of it, but not all of it. Please tell me."

He told her that there were other things men and women could do to each other besides just the one thing she had learned in sex-ed class…the kind of sex that made a baby.

"Like what other things?"

Karl took a deep breath and haltingly, barely glancing at her from time to time, he explained the things that could be done using touching and your mouth to all sorts of body parts.

"Oh," was her only comment when he finished. "How did you learn about that stuff?"

He shrugged. "Guys talk. One time when my dad and I went to Sergeant Taylors house to buy some fishing gear, i saw a magazine in the bathroom with a lot of pictures in it. Sex pictures."

She was still skeptical. "Do people _really_ do stuff like that to each other?"

"Yeah, people really do stuff like that."

"Why?"

"Because I guess they enjoy it. Because it feels good."

"Have you ever…" She didn't even get to finish her question.

"No!"

"You kissed Damaris Benjamin at her birthday party."

"It was more like she kissed me and that's all it was."

"I've never kissed anybody. Nobody's ever kissed me either."

"You've still got plenty of time. There's no need to be in a hurry."

"I'm not."

Karl picked up his book. "When you're through with that…" he said without looking up at her.

"Yeah, I'll pass it along. You really need to read the first one though before you read this one."

"Okay. Where is it?"

"I put it back in the nightstand."

Karl got up and went into the bedroom. When he came back he had the first volume.

"You'll really like it," she said a minute later.

He was already on the second page and didn't even answer her.

She started reading again. Now that she understood what was happening, though, reading about Prince Olliver and his lusty wench was making her feel funny, like she wanted to kiss somebody or have somebody kiss her, or maybe even do some of the things that they were doing.

She suddenly remembered the way her father had laughed at her that night leaving Picon when she'd told him that she thought sex was gross and wondered why he and her mother had wanted to do it.

If Prince Olliver and his lusty wench liked it and her mother and father liked it, then maybe it wasn't so gross after all.

Maybe one day if she met somebody like Prince Olliver, a man with eyes as blue as the sky at twilight and wings over his heart, she might like it, too.

TBC…


	12. Idyll's End

.

Chapter 12

Idyll's End

_The government took nearly four years to complete housing in the cities and phase out the refugee camps in the northern part of the continent. During those four years an estimated seventy thousand people lived in three different camps, two near Sovana and the other one near Antioch. Conditions in the camps were harsh and during an influenza epidemic which struck the largest camp in the winter of the second year, almost nineteen thousand people died. Some people continue to believe that the Cylons were experimenting on the refugees with some sort of biological toxin. No real proof of that has ever been found._

_-Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War_

_._

During the two and a half years that she and Karl spent in the refugee camp, Kara sometimes wondered what would have happened if the ice storm in the late winter hadn't brought a tree down on the power lines halfway down the long gravel driveway.

She first realized something was wrong when she woke up early one morning. The light outside the little bedroom was still the early predawn gray. What was different was that Karl was lying curled against her back, spooned into her, his arm across her waist, holding her against him. But he wasn't trying anything. He was asleep. She could tell by the way he was breathing.

The next thing she realized was how cold it was. He was curled into her for the warmth. Sometime during the night he must have gotten up from the couch where he had been sleeping since they had moved into the little house and come into the bedroom and crawled into bed with her. She looked at the clock beside the bed. It was an electric clock, but not a digital one. It had hands. Everything the old couple had was ancient. The clock had stopped between 3:45 and 3:50. This was potentially a very bad thing.

She stirred and whispered, "Karl." He didn't answer her so she turned over and shook him. "Wake up. Something's wrong."

"Huh," he said, coming awake fast. "What?"

"The electricity is off."

"I know. I got really cold on the couch last night. I didn't think you'd mind if I came in here. I brought my blankets. I thought it would be back on this morning. I wonder what happened."

"I don't know. We need to go look and see if we can figure it out."

Halfway down the driveway they found the ice-covered tree down across the power line.

"Damn," Karl said. "Damn. We can't do anything about this."

"What are we going to do?" Kara stomped her feet against the cold. The soles of her sneakers were thin by now.

"We're going to have to start using the wood stove in the kitchen to heat the house."

"Cook, too?"

"Yeah. Cook, too."

"What about water?"

"Damn, I didn't think about that. You're right. The well pump runs on electricity. We're frakked. We're going to have to bring it all the way from the creek and start boiling it."

"There's that pump in the front yard."

"That old hand pump? I don't even know if it works."

"Let's go see."

The handle of the pump worked fine, but no water came out of the spout. Still Karl wasn't willing to give up. "I know there's water in the well. Why don't you start getting some firewood up to the house? Let me work on this."

She got a fire started in the wood stove and then carried firewood all morning and stacked it behind the house. Karl finally found the answer to the pump in a book. All it needed was priming. He carried a bucket of water from the creek and finally got it going early in the afternoon. It didn't work great, but it worked.

Life had definitely gotten harder, though. Cooking on the wood stove was a challenge to say the least. She and Karl both burned meals before they started learning how. Showers were a thing of the past. They had to heat water on the stove to bathe, and in the cold bathroom that was definitely no fun. They found a few candles and an oil lamp that was nearly out of oil. They saved them, afraid they would need them one day.

Reading at night was also a thing of the past. They spent their evenings in the kitchen in front of the wood stove until it was time to go to sleep. They put all the blankets on the bed and learned to sleep with their backs together for warmth. Sometimes she woke up with him spooned against her. Sometimes she woke up spooned against him. It wasn't really all that bad a feeling, she decided, like puppies in a litter snuggled together.

If Karl had any other thoughts or feelings, he was too tired to do anything about them. They didn't have as much to eat now and cutting enough firewood to fuel the wood stove was taking much of their days. Without electricity they had lost everything in the freezer. After two weeks both of them noticed their jeans were looser. They had been wearing the old couples' sweaters and coats which were too big for them but were warm.

Karl was beginning to get good with an axe, but she knew it was hard work. She'd tried it a couple of times. Yeah, it was hard work. No wonder he was losing weight. She started giving him some of her portion of the canned vegetables and telling him she wasn't that hungry.

One day early in the third week without electricity, they finally went out hunting without any luck. The animals seemed to be hibernating now. They were coming back empty-handed in the late morning. The wind had picked up and gotten colder. She looked at the sky darkening to the west. Another storm front was coming in. Was winter going to last forever?

Karl was grumbling about having to eat canned vegetables again or else get the fishing gear and walk all the way back to the pond. She doubted he'd do it because even the fish seemed to be hibernating now. She was only half-way listening to him when he stopped and grabbed her arm.

"Smell that?" he whispered.

"Yeah, cigarette smoke." Her heart leapt in her chest. "My father. It's my father." She started off at a run.

"No, Kara, wait! Wait! It's not your father! It can't be your father! Wait!"

She should have listened to him.

She came out of the woods into the clearing behind the house too fast to stop. The soldiers saw her right away.

There were four of them. One of the soldiers threw his cigarette down and started toward her. He had a strange-looking rifle with a stubby barrel that was slung loosely across his shoulder, but his hand was on it, and she knew that he could have it up and pointed at her in a second. She rubbed her thumb across the slingshot in her coat pocket and immediately dismissed the thought. Slowly she took her hands out of her pockets and held them palms forward away from her body, showing him she wasn't armed. Her mother had taught her that.

When she got closer to him she saw him speak into a radio at his shoulder. "We found somebody. It's just a kid. No problem."

She breathed easier. Maybe this would be okay.

"Two of them," the soldier said into the radio.

She looked around. Karl was right behind her.

The soldier walked with them back down to the house. "Where are your parents?"

"Dead," Karl said.

"When?"

"When the Cylons attacked. They were on Picon."

"And how did you get here? Got an FTL drive hidden in that big jacket?" The other soldiers snickered.

Earlier she and Karl had talked about a story to tell in case they ever had to, and now the lie rolled off her tongue without any hesitation.

"We were here visiting our grandmother."

The soldier looked at her. "Where's your grandmother then? The house is empty."

"She died after the news about the Cylons." _They had to keep that part vague since they didn't know exactly what had happened. _"She had a heart attack." _A lot of old people died from heart attacks._ "We came back here after the funeral." _When people died there was always a funeral._ "We didn't have any other place to go." _That was part of the story, but it was also the truth._

"Are you telling me that you two kids have been living here by yourselves since the Cylons attacked late last summer?"

"Yeah," Kara answered him. "We had plenty of food in the freezer and the pantry and the garden."

"That's pretty damned amazing," one of the others said. "I don't think they're alone, sarge. Two kids couldn't make it that long without an adult."

She and Karl looked at each other and grinned. "Feel free to keep searching," she told him.

"Why'd you come out here?" Karl asked the first soldier.

"A farmer about five miles from here kept seeing smoke. He thought somebody might be operating a bootleg liquor still back here. Whiskey's harder to find and a lot more expensive since the other Colonies were destroyed. People are starting to make their own now, especially out here where corn is plentiful. That's why they sent us. The sheriff doesn't have enough men to cover this whole province."

"Well, you can see we're not making whiskey. We're fine. You can go now," Kara said.

"How old are you?"

"Sixteen and he's eighteen."

More snickers from the soldiers. One of them said, "And I'm the President of the Twelve Colonies, except some folks are starting to call him the President of the One Colony."

"Some folks are starting to call him the Cylons' butt-frak," another soldier said under his breath. "We got frakking rubber bullets in our guns now. Asshole sold us down the frakking…"

"Shut up," the first soldier said harshly. He turned to Karl and Kara. "Come on, you two, pack your stuff. You're coming with us."

For the first time Kara felt concern. "Where?"

"Refugee camp. We can't leave two kids back here by themselves with no electricity."

"I told you we're doing fine. We've got food. We can live without the electricity."

"Sorry. No can do. The camp isn't bad. Food every day, clean bunks, other people. It's not like it was five, six months ago. You can probably even get somebody to give you a decent haircut."

One of the other soldiers laughed.

"Oh, frak you," she said hotly. Inside her coat pocket she clenched her fist.

Karl came up behind her, put his hands on her shoulders and squeezed. "Take it easy, Kara. Maybe we should just do what the man says. No sense in doing this the hard way."

She took a deep breath and let it out. He was right. They were going to force her to go anyway, so she might as well not get hurt or get Karl hurt.

"What are your names?" the sergeant asked.

Karl spoke up before she could answer. "I'm Karl Agathon. This is my sister Kara." That was part of the story, too. It went along with _visiting their grandmother_.

The sergeant went into the house with them while they put some clothes into their backpacks. She was glad he didn't look in her backpack first. He never knew she had the Mossinger in there. At least that was a comfort.

They walked down the driveway to the fallen tree where the soldiers had parked three jeeps. The guy who had laughed at her about her haircut offered to carry her pack, but she gave him her best go-to-Hades look and he backed off.

They were many miles down the road away when she realized that she had left the book behind. The third and final volume of Prince Olliver's adventures, the book she had just started reading, _The Caprican Prince and the Golden Wings._

When she realized it, she wanted to cry. She would never know if Prince Olliver found his father and brought him back to his mother. And Olliver had just seen a princess, a girl with golden hair and emerald eyes, and he hadn't even kissed her yet. He'd been trying to get away from some centurions and had found a hiding place in a secret garden of the palace. Olliver had watched the princess from his hiding place as she had gotten out of her bath, and he had instantly fallen in love. Kara just knew the princess was going to fall in love with Olliver, too, but she would never get to read about it, never get to read about their meeting or their first kiss. She sank back in the seat next to Karl. She wanted to cry but she wasn't about to let the soldiers see her so she sat silent and dry-eyed for the entire trip north to the camp.

The soldier was standing beside them when they gave their names to a man in a big tent, so she had to keep up the lie that Karl had told. She saw the man record their names and birth dates in a computer. She was no longer Kara Thrace. She was officially Kara Agathon, Karl's sister.

For the first week she and Karl were separated. She went to a large hastily constructed dormitory with some other girls who didn't have parents. Karl went to one for boys. She hated it, though, and each day she put on her backpack, which she was afraid to leave behind, waited on Karl and they walked through the camp. Finally they found a small unoccupied two-cot tent near one perimeter. The location was about as bad as it could be, the longest distance from the mess tent, the showers, and the portable latrines and the closest to the sector's refuse dump. Maybe that's why nobody wanted it. At least the tent was upwind of the dump. She saw a couple of rats, but she could take care of those with her slingshot.

They came back day after day and no one had moved in. After a week they brought their bedding and put it on the cots. No one seemed to care.

She was happy again, as happy as she would be at the camp. It wasn't nearly as nice as the stone house while they had electricity, but it wasn't as bad as when they were without it. At least she got a warm shower whenever she wanted. They had a small heater in the tent and a lantern at night. The food wasn't as good, but someone else was preparing it. Best of all she and Karl were back together. They'd been through too much to be separated now.

She had been thinking of him as her brother for so long that it seemed real. She never hesitated when anyone asked her a question about them.

Together they settled into life in the refugee camp.

...

Lee had just finished mowing the front lawn and was pushing the lawn mower up the driveway when he saw a transport stop in front of the house and John Gallagher get out. John leaned in the window, paid the driver, and the transport moved off up the street.

Spring had come early to the south of Caprica that year. Lee had been mowing the grass for six weeks now, and he was still a week away from his high school graduation. It was really Zak's turn to mow, but as usual when there was work to be done, Zak was nowhere to be found. In fact since his father had moved back into the house, something was going on with Zak. He'd changed a lot, gotten moody and started staying in his room more. That is when he was even at home. Now that he was sixteen and had gotten his driver's license, it seemed like he was gone more than he was there. He always had a good reason, soccer practice or a game, or a homework project or some club meeting. Lee knew there were a lot of times that Zak was probably just hanging out with his friends.

Lee knew, too, that some of Zak's problem had to do with the fact that his father was used to giving orders and having them obeyed. When he told them something, that's the way it sounded. Zak had spent his entire life without being told what to do so he was having a particularly hard time adjusting to Bill Adama. Lee didn't have as much of a problem. When his father told him to do something, he just did it. It saved them all a lot of headaches.

Their father had bought them a car that they were supposed to share. That was a joke. When Lee dated on the weekends he usually had to borrow his mother's. He knew his father would make Zak let him have the car more if he made an issue of it, but he didn't. He didn't want to cause more problems. Not for Zak and certainly not for his father. His father had enough to worry about on his new job.

Lee pushed the mower over into the grass and walked back down the driveway. He was really glad to see John. He couldn't count the number of times he had wondered about John's whereabouts since that night at the airbase.

Gallagher was carrying a zip-up bag and was wearing a pair of khaki cargo pants that looked a lot worse for the wear than when he'd last seen the captain. He had on a brown leather bomber jacket over a white t-shirt. The jacket looked old, but the leather was still good. Lee thought he saw a _Solaria_ patch on one shoulder. There was definitely a Viper patch on the other shoulder. Gallagher looked like he had lost weight that he didn't need to lose.

"Damn," Gallagher said and took off his sunglasses. "It's good to see a friendly face."

He put the bag down on the driveway and he and Lee hugged. It seemed like a natural thing to do, like he would have hugged Zak or his father if he hadn't seen them in a long time.

"I'm sweaty," Lee said.

"That doesn't bother me a bit. I haven't seen a shower myself in two days. Haven't shaved either. I know I look rough. How've you been?"

"Good. You?"

"I've been better."

"Did you find Kara?"

"No. I'll tell you about that later. How's your dad?"

"Fine. He's on a battlestar somewhere. He's working for the President now. About once a month he visits a couple of battlestars, a good-will ambassador or something like that. I'm not sure exactly what he does while he's there. He carved out this job for himself. I asked him one time if he was putting together an anti-Cylon network on all the battlestars. He gave me a weird look and told me I'd been reading too many spy novels. He said he just has a few drinks with the commanders and talks to them about what's going on. Somehow I doubt that's all he does. He'll be back this weekend and I know he'll want to see you. Come on up to the house."

Gallagher picked up the bag and walked beside him as Lee pushed the mower back up the driveway.

"I've wondered how you were doing, John."

"I've thought about you and your dad, too. I should have called, but I just never seemed to get around to it. Look, I know you don't want me smoking in the house, but I've got to have a cigarette. I swore when I found Kara I was going to quit. I'm still smoking."

Lee took him around to the patio beside the fish pond in the back of the house. "This is where Dad comes when he wants a cigar. Have a seat. I'm going to take a shower. I'll be back."

When he returned Gallagher was sitting in one of the chairs at the wrought-iron table. His left leg was propped on another chair. The silver flask that Lee remembered from the _Galactica_ was sitting on the table. There was already one cigarette butt in the ashtray his father used for his cigars. Gallagher was smoking another one. The bomber jacket was hanging on the back of the chair. The other shoulder patch was definitely from the _Solaria._

"I don't normally put my feet on other people's furniture, but my leg is killing me today for some reason. It does that from time to time. Mostly when I'm tired and haven't been taking good care of myself. You wouldn't think you could feel something that was gone, but you can." He finished the cigarette, picked up the flask and took a drink. Then he pushed it across the table to Lee. "Your mother will probably have my hide, but here. I'm not too particular about who I'll drink with, but I'm real particular about who I'll share this flask with. The last person to share it with me was my daughter. I call it Siren's Kiss."

"As in temptation?"

"I figured you'd get that one right away. It went over Kara's head. She took it too literally."

Lee turned up the flask. "Holy frak," he said after he took a swallow. He could hardly breathe and his eyes were watering.

Gallagher grinned. "Sorry, I should have warned you. Kara did better than that. You know that worries me. It makes me think she's more like her old man…" His voice caught and Lee heard him take a deep breath. "…than I'd like for her to be."

"Holy frak," Lee said again. "It's good, but it has a real kick."

"Yeah, it does. I'm going to have a couple more drinks and then I'm going to put this flask back in my bag. When I do that, don't you let me get it out again. Otherwise I'll sit right here and get drunk. I've been doing too much of that lately."

"You want to tell me what happened?"

"I couldn't find her. I couldn't frakking find her. It's like she and her friend fell off the face of the planet…or got swallowed up by it." He took another drink and went on. "I'm almost out of money, the ship needs some serious maintenance, more than I can do to it, and I don't know where to look next. She's not dead. I just won't believe it. She's out there somewhere. I just don't know where. All I wanted was the chance to be a father to her for a couple of years while she finished growing up. Was that…" Again his voice caught and again he took a deep breath, got it under control. "…was that just too gods damned much to ask?"

Lee knew Gallagher wasn't expecting him to answer.

"You went back to the place you left her?"

"Yeah. The detective was as helpful as he could be, but he was more interested in hearing about what had happened to Singer. And you know what? They're not even going to try that son of a bitch Zarek for Singer's murder. His men said he wasn't there when it happened so Zarek gets a free pass. He'll finish out his term for whatever he was in for and get a few months tacked on for the escape. The detective said he'd be a free man in a couple of years, maybe less. They're not even going to try any of them for hijacking my ship. His men all said I _volunteered_ to take them off Caprica. And yeah, in a sense that's true after Zarek threatened to let his men rape my daughter. Hell yes, I said I'd take them. Without Kara and her friend to testify, it would be my word against theirs. They've all gone back to prison anyway. The District Attorney said it wasn't worth the cost of a trial. One of his men is going to be tried for killing the pilot of the _Astral Queen_. The copilot identified him from a lineup. That's all the DA is interested in."

"That sucks," Lee said.

He reached for the flask and gingerly took another sip. Since he was prepared for it, he did better this time.

"The detective had tried to find Kara and her friend Karl, though. He'd notified the police in all the towns around the airport to be on the lookout for them. I went to the airfield and spent a couple of days searching the woods nearby. I found a place they might have camped, two places actually, but I don't know. It could have been somebody else, even some kids playing. I just don't understand why they wouldn't have waited for the police."

"Maybe they were afraid," Lee said. "I mean if I were in their place I probably would have been. They were in a strange place. They didn't know anybody. They probably realized that they might have been separated if the police had to get Social Services involved. I'm sure they wanted to stay together until you got back. But since that was days…" Lee shrugged.

"Yeah, yeah, you're probably right. I keep forgetting thirteen-year-old kids would look at the situation a lot differently than an adult."

"What about the refugee camps? I know there was one about a hundred miles north of there."

"I eventually got there. First I went to all the towns around the little airport. The airport has been closed since Singer's murder. I locked the ship in a hangar and used Singer's old truck. I spent a couple of weeks driving to every town on the map in a fifty-mile radius. Outside of fifty miles there's not much but farmland. It's not that I didn't believe the detective, but I wanted to follow up. Two homeless kids in a big city wouldn't be noticed, but in towns as small as these they would be. I went to the police stations, hospital if there was one, boarding houses, motels, anywhere two kids might have gone. I even stopped at a lot of farm houses. The detective was right. Nothing."

He took another drink. "Finally, I thought they _must_ have gotten picked up and taken to one of the camps. I went to the closest one first, the one you mentioned up near Sovana and managed to sweet-talk a nice lady into letting me look at the list of refugees. I spent a couple of hours reading through it, but didn't see Kara's name. But just to be sure I walked around the camp for another couple of days. Nothing. Nothing but a bunch of miserable, starving people, a lot of them injured in the bombing. People were dying every day. I almost started hoping I wouldn't find her there. You think you've seen it all. Damn. I wasn't prepared to see people so hungry they were fighting over frakking rats."

He reached for the flask. Lee thought Gallagher was going to pick it up, but he didn't. He took a deep breath and went on with his story.

"Second camp was about seventy miles away from the first, between Sovana and Kinsdale. When I couldn't produce Kara's birth certificate listing me as her father, the woman in charge looked at me like she'd relish the opportunity to neuter me with a dull table knife. Yeah, that's the first thing you think about after a nuclear holocaust, running to the courthouse to get a birth certificate you're not even on anyway. I think she thought I was some kind of pedophile looking for a young girl. I know they've got to be careful, but what could it have hurt to let me look at the frakking list? She just glanced at it and said Kara wasn't on it. I was careful to avoid her, and I walked around that camp for three or four days. I finally realized I needed to be talking to kids about their ages. Nobody knew a Kara or Karl."

This time Gallagher did take a drink.

"I got to the third and last camp in the late autumn, maybe early winter. The weather was just starting to get cold. It's a lot farther west, about twenty miles south of Antioch. Bigger than the other two camps put together, so big it was divided into sectors A-L. Must have been sixty, seventy thousand people in all, maybe more."

"You drove Singer's truck all the way to Antioch? I heard the roads between Antioch and Sovana had been bombed."

Gallagher nodded. "The Cylons took out the bridges so I went back to Singer's airfield, flew the ship into the Antioch Airport and parked it with a few other private ships. There were a lot of cars in the parking lot whose owners weren't coming back for them...ever. I found one that had been there a couple of months based on the dashboard ticket. I…uh…borrowed it."

"You stole a car?"

"No, I _borrowed_ it. I eventually took it back and left it right where I found it, same parking place even. Hey, don't look at me like that. It cost me some cubits to get the damned thing out of the parking lot. Like I said, it had been there for a couple of months."

"It's just that…never mind…go on with your story."

"The guard at the camp's gate pointed me to a big tent. Once I was inside, they started sending me from one person to the next. At times like that patience is not one of my virtues. I lost my cool. I finally asked some prissy little guy to tell me just what the hell I needed to do to see the gods damned list of refugees. Not smart. I got thrown out of the tent by a couple of Marines. That was no fun. They escorted me to the gate and told me if I came back to the camp they'd arrest me. I was on my way back to the car thinking about how I was going to get into the camp when a woman, and I use the term loosely, catches up to me and says she can get me the list."

He stopped talking for a moment. Then he laughed, but it didn't sound like he found anything funny. "Guess what she wanted in return?"

"To share a bunk?"

"Damn, you're quick."

"So, did you?"

"What do you think? We're talking about a list that might have had Kara's name on it. Once we got to the place she was staying, though, I started having some doubts about whether I was going to be able to do it. But she…uh, had a talent I won't dwell on except to say I was really hoping she'd had her rabies shots. And it had been a damned long time since Lissa and I had shared my bunk. I just shut my eyes and pretended it was her and everything happened like it's supposed to."

Gallagher stopped and took another drink, shook his head slightly as if trying to clear an image from his mind. Then he went on with his story.

"I guess I must have made her happy because she went back to the admin tent and got the list. Hell, it was so thick I thought she was bringing me the Caprica City phone book. Turns out it was actually a master list for all three camps. A hundred and eighteen Thraces, but the closest one to Kara's age was an eleven-year-old boy with his parents. The other bad thing is I can't remember her friend's last name. I got the _Karl_ part, but not the last name. I might recognize it if I heard it again, but I just don't remember it. Anyway, I waited a couple of days and managed to get into the camp without being seen. I spent time in every sector avoiding anybody who looked like they were in authority. I talked to as many kids as I could. I figured they'd know quicker than anybody else. No Karas. I found a couple of Karls, but not him."

"I'm sorry."

"So am I."

Lee suddenly had a terrible thought. "Could there have been another list, like the people who, uh, didn't make it?"

"The list I saw had everybody. If they had died in a camp, there was something beside the name, usually just the word _deceased_, sometimes with a reason_._ No, after I saw the conditions, especially in the first camp, I thought about it. But even if that had happened, she would have been on that master list. So it was worth whoring myself out to find out Kara wasn't there. The bad part is that was the last place I could think of to look for her."

"My father told me that Laura Roslin, the Secretary of Education has been trying to help the people in the camps. It was her idea to use military transports to deliver food and other supplies. I guess you heard about the stand-off at the Caprica Airbase?"

"Yeah, I saw some big military cargo ships at the Antioch Airport. I'd sometimes go for days without seeing any news. I'd try to catch up when I got into a town. I got back into Antioch a couple of days after all the excitement had happened. I talked to some of the pilots. I finally saw the one everybody was talking about. Damn, what a shot. I didn't know it was the Secretary of Education who was responsible."

"I met her about a week ago. My parents and I were having dinner in the city and she came over to our table. She was on the negotiating team with my father last fall. She's really beautiful. My father…a long time ago he had a thing for her. I mean he never told me that, but I put a few things together."

"If they're trying to help the people in those camps, then I'll drink to her." He held up the flask before he drank. "To Laura Roslin."

"You can see it in her eyes, how much she cares. My father said she always wanted to _better humanity_. Those were his exact words. So where have you been since you left the last camp?"

"Flying for a group called United Caprican Charities based in Delphi. It was just a temporary job shuttling medical supplies from their hub to a distribution point near Antioch. I slept on a cot in a hangar, shared the showers and bathroom with the maintenance crew. The job paid almost nothing, but it was enough to buy food and cigarettes and more whiskey that I should have. Have you bought liquor lately?"

"Uh, no," Lee said.

"Of course you haven't. Damn, what was I thinking? You wouldn't believe how much the cost has gone up since the other Colonies were destroyed. Anyway, I made my final flight for UCC early this week. They called me and my copilot in and paid us off. They're out of money. Donations aren't coming in like they used to. A lot of people have forgotten about the camps. The government would probably have forgotten, too, if it weren't for people like Laura Roslin."

"She's not going to let them go without. Dad said so."

John screwed the cap on the flask, put it back into the bag and zipped it. "I just got back to Caprica City this afternoon. I've got an interview tomorrow morning with that friend of your father's about a cargo pilot's job. I just wanted to stop by and see you. I've got to find a place to stay tonight, get something to eat, get cleaned up. I'd best be on my way."

"You can stay here tonight. We have a guest bedroom. Mom will be home soon. I just put a casserole she made last night in the oven. Stay."

"I don't want to be any trouble."

"You deserve a break."

"I could use one about now. I appreciate your offer, but you need to clear it with your mother first."

Lee was telling John about his senior year when he heard the patio door behind them slide open about fifteen minutes later. His mother came up beside him and put her hand on his shoulder.

Lee looked up at her. "Hi, Mom."

By the time he looked back at Gallagher, the captain was on his feet.

"Mrs. Adama, I'm John Gallagher. It's nice to finally meet you." He held out his hand.

"I've heard my husband mention you, Captain Gallagher, and of course Lee has too. Please, it's Carolanne." She took his hand and shook it.

"John."

Lee said, "I've asked John to stay for dinner. Uh, also to stay the night. He just got into town."

"And I was telling Lee I don't want to be any trouble."

"No trouble at all. Any friend of Bill's and Lee's is always welcome. It will be nice to have someone sitting in the chair across from me. Now, could I offer you a drink? I'm going to have one."

"Just one," Gallagher said and smiled. "I've had a little bit of a head-start."

"What'll you have?"

"Whatever you're having."

His mother turned and went back inside. She came back out shortly with a straight whiskey.

"My kind of drink. Thank you," John said.

"You look like a straight whiskey kind of man, just like Bill. Let me know if I can get you another one. Now, I'm going to check on dinner. I'll let you and Lee finish catching up."

As soon as Lee heard the door slide shut, John said, "So finish telling me about your senior year. Still at the top of your class?"

"Third. I got involved in too much this semester. It doesn't really matter, though. I've been accepted at the Academy for next fall and after that I'm going to go to flight school. I'm going to be a Viper pilot."

"Good decision. You won't regret it. Girlfriend?"

Lee shook his head. "I've dated a couple of girls. I even, uh, shared a bunk with one of them, but nothing serious. I'm not ready to go there yet. I guess I was waiting for you to come back with your beautiful daughter."

He realized as soon as he said it that he shouldn't have. Gallagher made an effort to keep up the joke. He smiled, but the smile never reached his eyes.

"You know it's a good thing for you my leg is hurting and I'm about half-drunk right now. Otherwise I'd just have to get up and kick your ass. Kara's not eighteen yet."

"I'm sorry, John. I'm really sorry."

Gallagher finally shook his head. "It's okay, Lee. Where I am right now is not your fault."

They sat in silence for a long time until John said, "I was born in the north of Virgon, on the coast where the waters are cold and the fish are…_were_ the best in the Twelve Colonies. My dad had a fishing trawler that he worked with a small crew and my four older brothers. I think I was a big surprise to my parents. Two years at most between each of my brothers. Then almost nine years before I came along."

"I'll bet that was a surprise."

"When I was just a kid, probably about twelve, I wanted something my parents couldn't afford. I don't even remember now what it was, but you know how kids are, whatever they want is the most important thing in the world. Anyway, I was arguing with my parents at the dinner table, which wasn't allowed, and my dad finally got up and took me by the arm and marched me to my room."

"Uh-oh."

"Yeah. I figured I was in for it, and it sure wouldn't have been the first time because I was a hard-headed little brat, but he just sat me down on my bed and said, _I know your mamma's spoiled you and maybe I have too, because you're our baby, but you need to be a little more thankful for what you've got…for a warm home and food on the table and for parents who love you more than anything else in the world even if they can't always afford to give you everything you want_.

"And of course in the beginning I was only half-way listening to him because I still wanted my way, but before he was through talking I felt so bad I was almost wishing he'd taken his belt to me instead. Finally my dad said, _Be grateful for what you've got, John, because otherwise that selfish streak you've got in you will eat you alive._ _It's negative and it's bad for you._

"I've been letting the negative eat at me too long now, ever since I couldn't find Kara. There's only one time before in my life when I did that, when I just frakking gave up, and the love of a good woman pulled me back from the edge. The result of that love was our daughter. She's all I've got left of her mother now except memories. And every time I was so discouraged I'd start thinking about putting that damned ship into the side of a mountain, I'd ask myself, _What if tomorrow is the day you're going to find Kara?._ I'm still waiting on that tomorrow, and I still believe it'll happen. But I've done everything I know to do right now. I've got to get on with my life, lay off the booze, get a real job, and get back in touch with the few friends I have who are still alive. I'm starting with one who means a lot to me. I'm starting with you."

Lee reached out, took the drink that Gallagher hadn't touched, and poured it into the edge of the flowerbed beside the table. He was tempted to drink it himself, but he was really feeling the effects of the Siren's Kiss. John had just shared something deeply personal with him, something that resonated, something that struck such a familiar chord that some of Gallagher's words about the negative side of a person could have been his own. Lee had to let John know that he understood exactly what he was talking about. It was a struggle to talk about himself, but he made himself do it. This was important.

"When I was growing up my dad was hardly ever here, and my mom was depressed and drank a lot. She didn't hit me or abuse me. She mostly just ignored me. I mostly raised myself and my brother, too. There were times when I wanted…I don't know…just wanted to give up…when I fought with something really dark. I was lucky I was able to get into stuff at school. It helped. But I don't know what love feels like, John. At least your parents loved you and wanted you, and you and Kara's mom loved each other. I'm still waiting to find out what it feels like to love somebody. Or have somebody really love me. My dad was in love with Laura Roslin and something happened between them and they broke up. I don't know about that part. I just know he got drunk one night and got my mom pregnant. I know neither one of them wanted me, but my dad did the right thing and married her. Even my grandparents referred to me as a _mistake_. I've never told anybody this before, but when you talk about the negative eating at you, I know exactly what you're talking about."

Gallagher said softly. "Damn, you do, don't you? You really do. And here I sit feeling sorry for myself. Damn, Lee. I had no idea."

Lee thought about the many times he'd felt the pull of the negative, when he got tired of being the responsible one, of shouldering things his parents should have been taking care of, when he'd had to turn away from the dark thoughts just to survive, when sometimes just knowing his brother was depending on him was the only thing that kept him going. He'd never thought of it quite that way before, but John was right. The negative was something that could consume you if you let it.

Lee finally went on. "Yeah, I know what you're talking about. I learned how the negative can dominate your thoughts a lot younger than you did. My dad is home now and my mom is doing better. And I didn't tell you this so you'd feel sorry for me. I did it so you'd know I understand what you're talking about."

"I guess in some ways we're kindred souls, Lee. And I don't feel sorry for you. You're way too smart and got too much going on for me to feel sorry for you. You showed me up there on the _Galactica_ what you're made of. When I find Kara, you'll meet her. It doesn't matter if she's eighteen or not."

"I know."

"But I'll still kick your ass if you try anything with her."

Lee grinned. "I know that, too. The way you love her I wouldn't expect anything less."

"Just so we're clear on that," Gallagher nodded and smiled. This time the smile reached his eyes.

TBC…


	13. First Kiss

Chapter 13

First Kiss

_Record keeping in the refugee camps was not consistent. In some instances detailed accounts were kept and in others, deaths and births went unrecorded. A black market eventually flourished, not just for anyone wanting to start life over with a new identity, but for anything the refugees could want and afford. Camp officials made an effort to keep the dealings to a minimum but realized that under the circumstances they would never be able to stop it entirely._

_-Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War_

The girl's name was Carrie Warner and she was three years older than Kara, three years, four months and twelve days to be exact. Kara would always remember that later when she and Karl were living in Caprica City and she was using Carrie's ID because Carrie didn't need it any more.

She saw Carrie on her first day in the refugee camp, that cold, windy late winter day the soldiers dropped them off. A day when no amount of pegging down the big admin tent could keep out the frigid air and the hastily constructed dormitories where the orphaned and girls lived seemed to leak the cold air like a sieve.

Carrie was sitting barefoot on the floor near one of the heaters. She was polishing her toenails a bright green. Her fingernails were bright blue. The natural color of her hair was light brown. That was easy enough to see because three or four inches of it had grown out. The rest of her hair hung down past her shoulders and had one time been dyed jet-black with streaks of red, not auburn or even carrot-colored like real hair, but scarlet, like blood.

It was one of the weirdest looks Kara had ever seen. Carrie had six earrings going up the outside of each ear, a small diamond stud in the side of her nose, and a little silver safety pin through one eyebrow. Her brown eyes, which were her prettiest feature, were ringed around with dark eyeliner that made Kara think of a raccoon.

Kara saw her around the dormitory for a couple of days, until she and Karl found the unoccupied tent and moved in. The next time she saw Carrie Warner was a month later when they were both assigned to cleanup detail in one of the women's showers in the camp's D-Sector.

Cleanup detail in the showers wasn't a duty. It was a punishment. The fiberglass building had been put up over a low concrete platform raised just enough to get it off the pipes. There were twenty small showers on one side and eighteen on the other. The showers were in use all the time except for the hour each afternoon when they were shut down, one side at a time, for cleaning. The water was never hot, but it wasn't cold either.

There were no doors or curtains on the showers, just small fiberglass partitions between them. Kara learned early that you didn't look at anyone else and if someone looked at you, you ignored it.

Along both end walls were large, deep sinks where clothes could be washed. Kara told Karl he could wash his own clothes. It was enough of a chore to wash her own. When they lived at the stone house, she hadn't minded throwing his clothes into the washer with hers, but doing laundry by hand was different. He finally told her that sometimes he just showered with his clothes on, soaping and then rinsing them before he took them off and finished his own shower. She rolled her eyes. Guys. They were always looking for a shortcut when it came to chores.

At least there was a place inside their tent where they could string a clothesline. Something was always hanging there to dry. She learned never to put anything outside unless she wanted to sit and watch it. Stuff left outside got stolen, even underwear that was nearly worn out.

One day a woman washing at the next sink told her that once a month a charity group brought used clothing to the camp. She told Kara to watch for the flyers put up in the mess tent. A lot of time the used clothes included underwear. The woman told her that all the donated clothes had been laundered and were clean. Kara didn't think she would ever be able to wear someone's used underwear, but eventually when hers was in tatters, she changed her mind.

"What'd you do to get assigned to cleanup detail?" Carrie asked as she sprayed cleaner and wiped one of the partitions.

"Got caught outside the camp perimeter," Kara answered her. "For the second time. The first time they let me off with a warning. I've been out there in the woods lots of times. What about you?"

"Stealing cigarettes from one of those old ho-bags in the admin tent. She totally gives me the creeps. She's always coming on to good-looking guys like she's Miss Caprica or something. Three, four months ago there was a guy came in looking for his kids. He was hot. I'd have done him myself if I'd gotten the chance. Anyway, something happened and the Marines threw him out. A few minutes later I see her leave, too. She comes back about an hour later with that _I-just-been-well-and-truly-frakked_ look on her face, gets something out of the admin tent and leaves again. All I can say is that guy must have been totally desperate to do her. And lately there's this government guy comes up every week to check out the camp. Name's Leban, Leoban, something like that. He's hot, too. She's always after him like a little bitch in heat."

"Does he like her?"

"Are you kidding? Like he's got to be polite to her, but he looks like he's trying to keep from puking on her feet. While she's primping like a little whore for him, I'd steal a couple of cigarettes. This time I got greedy. I took the whole pack. Dumb. She caught me before I got out of the tent."

"Why don't you just buy some?"

"No more cubits. I traded my last cubits for some makeup and fingernail polish. I could get a whole pack if I was willing to give some creep a blowjob, but I'm not that desperate, yet."

Kara made note of the term _blowjob_. She thought she knew what it meant, but she'd have to ask Karl to be sure. "Cigarettes are nasty. My real dad smoked."

"You know I hate that term _real dad_. It makes it sound like you had a _fake dad_, too. What you mean is biological father." Carrie said.

"Yeah, okay, my biological father wasn't married to my mother. I had another father who was married to my mother."

"What happened to them?"

"They're both dead. My mother, too. What about you?"

"All dead when the Cylons bombed Antioch. My sister and my brother, too. Nobody left but me. If I hadn't sneaked out of the house that night to meet my boyfriend in the park, I'd be dead, too. A bomb hit our apartment building. Nothing left but a big crater."

"I have a brother," Kara said. "I don't know what I'd do without him."

"Lucky you. How old? Is he cute?"

Kara thought about that for a minute. If she were looking at Karl as somebody she had just met, what would she say?

Finally she answered. "Yeah, he's real cute. And he's real nice, too. He's fifteen...in a couple of months."

"My brother would have been almost eighteen by now if he'd lived. He was a year older than me."

"What was his name?"

"Stephan. He was cute, too."

"Less talk and more cleaning," said the woman who was in charge of the shower cleanup detail. "You haven't got all day to get this done."

Carrie rolled her eyes and mouthed the word _bitch._ Kara grinned.

"I want to meet your cute brother," Carrie whispered. "My boyfriend dumped me for some skanky blond slut over in B-Sector. I'm about tired of going without in this dump."

"Going without what?" Kara whispered back.

"Are you for real? _Going without what_?"

Carrie laughed so hard that the woman in charge came over and made Carrie go to the other end of the row of showers. Kara could hear her still laughing.

That evening when she repeated the conversation to Karl, and he told her what Carrie was going without, Kara didn't think it was funny at all.

"You're not seriously thinking about doing that with her, are you?"

"I don't know. What did you say she looked like again?"

"Like a real dog."

"I like dogs," Karl said and grinned. "Does she roll over and beg?"

"No, but she bites. And she hasn't had her rabies shots either."

"Are you jealous?" Karl asked.

Trying not to laugh she threw her pillow at him. "Oh, frak you."

He caught it and threw it back. They ended up smacking each other with their pillows just like a couple of silly kids, until they were both laughing so hard that they were too weak to keep it up and collapsed, still laughing, on their cots.

She couldn't remember how long it had been since they had done something fun like that.

...

Despite the threat of getting caught and punished by being put on shower detail again, she couldn't stop going to the woods that bordered the camp on the west side. She averaged shower detail about once every third week. Not only that, she had to listen to a lecture on the dangers of the woods. She never bothered to tell anyone that she knew all about the woods and that she had her slingshot. She was going to get the lecture no matter what.

She didn't see Carrie again on shower detail. She must have found another source of cigarettes or else she'd given them up or maybe she had…yuck, Kara wasn't going to think about that. Karl had told her. _Blowjob_ meant exactly what she thought it did.

In the early spring and completely by accident she found the special place in the woods. There was a bend in the stream where she went to get the smooth pebbles for her slingshot. She wasn't killing game anymore, but she still practiced with the slingshot, shooting a row of pinecones off a tree trunk as fast as she could get a pebble loaded. It was a way to pass the long, boring days.

She'd already shot some rats outside hers and Karl's tent, one of the downsides of being close to the sector's rubbish heap. Karl told her that one of the guys said there was a time in the early days of the camp when people were so hungry they had cooked and eaten the rats. Kara didn't believe it. Nobody could be hungry enough to eat a rat.

One day she walked down the creek path farther than she ever had before and found an ancient fallen tree to line the pinecones up on. It was taller than the one she was used to, the top side of the trunk almost reaching her shoulder. She put the cones on top, shot them off, and then walked between the trunk and the face of a tall rock cliff to retrieve the cones and do it again.

There was a low opening in the rock face that was hidden by the trunk. She saw light on the other side and squeezed through. It opened onto a small, enclosed glade that looked like it had once been used for some kind of ceremony. In the middle of the glade there was a rectangular stone about ten feet on each side and between three and four feet tall. Around it in several semi-circles were smaller flat-topped stones that might have been used as seats.

The place smelled of pine needles and damp vegetation, the smell of the woods. Kara felt like she was in the presence of something ancient, some long-ago people who had made this place and then vanished. It felt sacred.

She walked around the large rock, the altar as she was now thinking of it. There were symbols carved into it, twelve symbols, six per the two long sides and some other strange symbols on each end, but they were so weathered that she couldn't tell what they were. This was definitely an ancient place.

The glade became, for her, a place of peace and solitude where she could go to get away from the constant noise and smell of the camp, a place where she could think about her father and her mother, about Sassy and Flyboy. She brought small things there and lleft them on the altar. A piece of broken glass in the shape of a wing, a little toy plane that had been thrown on the rubbish heap but still looked good, a single bullet from her mother's pistol, a bird's egg the blue-gray color of her mother's eyes.

She never told anyone, not even Karl, about the special place. It was hers alone. Besides, Karl wasn't interested in leaving the camp anymore. He'd met some other guys his age and they'd started hanging out together, playing soccer a lot and talking to girls.

Once she'd seen him walking through the camp with Carrie Warner. She wondered if Carrie was still going without. She didn't ask Karl and he didn't volunteer any information. They were still best friends, but they had drifted apart. It wasn't like it had been back at the little stone house when all they had was each other. Sometimes they went their separate ways in the morning and didn't see each other again until the evening.

She didn't much care right now anyway. She had her special secret place to go.

That's why she was so angry, so outraged when she went there one afternoon in the autumn, two months past her fourteenth birthday, and found a man sitting on the altar. Even worse, as she came up quietly behind him in the clearing, he raised a pistol to his temple.

She watched in horror as he lowered the pistol, sat there for a minute, and then raised it again.

"What the frak do you think you're doing?" she shouted at him.

He jumped and lowered the gun and looked around at her.

For one brief, heart-stopping moment she thought he was her father. But he wasn't. He was younger than her father and his hair was black not dark brown. But he was good-looking like her father, or he would have been if his face weren't so drawn and he weren't so sad looking. Maybe it was the white shirt, too, that made her think of her father. Only he didn't have on the navy uniform trousers. He was wearing jeans.

Without thinking about her own safety, she marched up to the altar stone.

"Get the frak off there. You want to do that to yourself, you go do it somewhere else."

She thought about the mess Zarek's men had made when they shot Singer, the blood and brains on the wall behind him. And this guy was getting ready to do that to her altar, all over the things she had put there for her mother and father.

Her voice was shrill with her outrage. "This is _my_ place. Those are _my_ things. Get down from there."

He sat for what seemed like forever, cross-legged, staring at her, the pistol still in his hand but down on the stone now, pointed away from them, and then something like a twisted smile appeared on his face.

"It figures. The person who finds me getting ready to blow my brains out doesn't care whether I do it or not, just that I don't do it on her stuff. So where do you want me to do it?"

"Anywhere in the woods but here. This place is special."

He kept looking at her. "That's why I was going to do it here. It is special. Some would say sacred. Maybe the gods will have mercy on my soul."

"I don't give a frak if the gods have mercy on your soul or not. Just get the frak out of here."

"Man, you've got a smart mouth."

His words hit her like a blow. "My father told me that one time. He's dead," she said quietly and looked away. "He was a pilot. Somebody shot him."

"Is he why you put the little plane here?"

"Yeah."

"What's your name?"

"Kara. What's yours?"

"Hugh Connelly."

"So why are you going to shoot yourself? It's not like you've got it any worse than the rest of us."

"Why am I going to shoot myself? Oh, let's see. I lost my wife and my parents when Sovana was bombed and yesterday my little boy died. He's been sick since we got here. He was only two years old. I've lost everybody I ever loved. Everybody who ever loved me."

"So that makes you different from the rest of us how?"

Her anger at him was gone. She was beginning to feel sorry for him. He was a father who had lost his son. She was a daughter who had lost her father. She climbed up on the altar and sat down cross-legged beside him.

"Sitting up here beside a crazy man with a gun doesn't scare you?"

"I've been around guns all my life." She looked down at the pistol. "Besides, the only way you're going to shoot yourself or me with that is if you take the safety off."

He almost laughed. "I can't even do this right. So how have you been around guns all your life?"

"My mother was a Marine. She taught me. She died back on Picon."

Hugh Connelly seemed to be thinking about what she had said. "I guess I'm not the only one who's lost everybody."

"I have a brother."

"So you aren't totally alone."

"No, I guess I'm lucky. Where'd you get the pistol?"

"You can buy almost anything in the camp if you know the right people and have the cubits."

"Yeah, well next time buy some lessons on how to use it, too."

He snorted. "So much wisdom from one so young. How old are you anyway?"

"Seventeen, almost eighteen," she lied. She looked at least as old as Carrie Warner and Carrie was seventeen. "How old are you?"

"Twenty-five."

"What did you do in Sovana?"

"I taught school. Tenth grade."

"Ugh, wouldn't you just know I had to go and stop a school teacher from shooting himself."

He almost laughed. "I take it you don't like school or is it just teachers?"

She shrugged. "Mostly school. It was okay most of the time. I hated homework. What did you teach in tenth grade?"

"Colonial History. One ancient history class for honors students."

"Well I sure wouldn't have been in that class. How did you find this place?"

"I followed the markers."

"What markers?"

"The marker stones in the woods. The symbols on the long sides of this stone are the original symbols of the Twelve Colonies. I told you I taught ancient history. How did you find it?"

"By accident. I was practicing with my slingshot."

"Are you any good?"

She took a pebble out of her pocket. "See that yellow leaf hanging down over there?"

"Over by the rock face?"

She put the pebble in the slingshot, drew it back and released it. The yellow leaf snapped off and fell. "I'm not quite as good with a moving target, especially if it's small and moving fast, but I do okay. I practice almost every day."

"Wow. Could I get you to shoot me?"

She rolled her eyes. "No, you're going to have to figure out how to do that yourself. There's only one man I'm going to shoot some day and that's the man who killed my father only I'm going to do it with my mother's pistol. I'm going to look him in the eye and I'm going to make sure he knows who I am before I pull the trigger."

"You shouldn't obsess about revenge, Kara. It destroys the soul."

"I'm not obsessing about it. I'm just stating a fact."

The sat in silence for a few minutes and then Connelly got down off the stone. "I'm going to think about this overnight. If I do decide to kill myself, I promise you I won't come back here."

"Yeah, you do that. Think about it some more. My father thought he wanted to kill himself one time, too, after he lost his leg and couldn't fly a Viper anymore, but my mother changed his mind. If she hadn't, I wouldn't be here now. She…she just changed his mind." Kara didn't want to start thinking about what her mother had done to change her father's mind about killing himself. She sure couldn't do that to this guy.

She started to get down from the altar and Connelly reached out his hand to steady her. He didn't take his hand off her arm right away. Now that they were standing she saw that he was tall, like her father. She looked up into his eyes…eyes as blue as the sky at twilight.

Her breath caught and without thinking she looked at his chest. No wings. Nothing except a pocket. He wasn't Prince Olliver.

Something was going on with her, though, something she didn't quite understand. She looked back up at his eyes again. She felt hot and cold at the same time.

"You have the most beautiful green eyes," he said.

"I have my father's eyes." Even her voice sounded funny.

He kept standing there with his hand on her arm. Finally he squeezed it gently and said, "There's an ancient saying that if you save a man's life, you own a piece of his soul. I hope you know you've got a piece of mine, at least overnight. I will think about it. Maybe killing myself is not such a good idea after all. I'll leave you here now with your things, to think about your mother and father. Be careful going back to the camp." He turned around and left.

She stayed there for a long time leaning against the altar, trying to understand just what she was feeling. When she woke up the next morning, she understood what it was. She liked Connelly in a grown-up kind of way, like a boyfriend.

She went back to the secret place every afternoon for weeks hoping he would come back there, too, not to kill himself, but to see her. He never showed up, though.

She started walking around the camp looking for him, but it was huge, divided into more than a dozen sectors, and she knew he could be anywhere. She and Karl were in D-Sector. She decided to be methodical. That's what Karl would do, search the camp sector by sector. She spent her mornings walking through the camp and her afternoons in the woods.

Weeks later as she was on her way back from the secret place, an older boy stepped out from behind a tree into her way. He was big, several inches taller than her, and he was mean-looking.

"Give me the necklace," was all he said.

For several seconds she didn't know what he was talking about.

"The necklace," he repeated and took a step toward her.

She realized that he meant the dog tags. He could see the top of the chain around her neck. The tags themselves were under her t-shirt.

She shook her head and casually put her hand in her pocket. She had the pebble out and the slingshot drawn before he realized what she was doing.

"Step aside," she said. "I'm aiming at your eye. At this distance there's no way I'll miss."

He didn't move as she began to edge around him. What she hadn't counted on was that he wasn't alone.

The other guy came up behind her, got an arm around her neck and started dragging her backward. The pebble went a foot wide of its target. She dropped the slingshot and grabbed at the arm that was now choking her.

"Hold her," the big guy said. The other one clamped a hand over her mouth and dragged her to the ground as the big one began pulling at the button of her jeans.

She ignored his hands for a second, jerked back her leg and kicked him as hard as she could in the jaw. He reeled backward cursing, but it kept his hands off her for the moment. She was struggling too much for breath, though, to keep it up for long. She was unable to believe what was going to happen to her, the thing that Karl hadn't wanted to talk about.

Suddenly a man's voice said. "Let her go. I said…let…her…go. Kara, get up."

The hands on her were gone. Gasping, she struggled to her feet. Hugh Connelly was standing on the path looking crazier than he had the day she had seen him weeks before. He had the gun pointed at the two guys, moving it back and forth between them. She took several fast deep breaths and her dizziness cleared.

"Go back to the camp, Kara. Now."

She picked up her slingshot. She was okay. She was okay. In a minute she knew she was probably going to fall apart, but right now she was okay.

"Start backing away," she told Connelly. "I'm right behind you." She loaded the slingshot with a pebble. "If either one of them makes a move, you shoot the one on the left. Aim for his chest. I'll take the one on the right. I'll put one through his eye. I'd really love to do that."

She started backing up carefully. Neither of the guys moved. "Come on," she said to Connelly. "Move."

When they were far enough away, they ran.

Neither spoke again until they got near the perimeter.

"Put the gun away before somebody sees it. Make sure the safety's on." Other than being out of breath from running her voice sounded almost normal.

"How can you be so cool? Those guys were going to rape you."

"Well, they didn't. I'm okay." But she knew she wasn't. Her hands were shaking so badly that she could hardly hold the slingshot. She struggled to get it into her back pocket and finally gave up and carried it. She showed him where the wire fence had been cut, where she always got out and then back in, and they squeezed through.

"Where are you staying?" he asked.

"This way." She started walking concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other.

When they reached her tent, they went inside. Karl was gone as he usually was in the afternoon.

Her legs were getting shaky, too, and she sat down on her cot.

Connelly said. "I'll be back in a minute. Just sit right there."

She had no idea how long he was gone. It could have been five minutes or twenty-five. She just sat, rubbing her hands against her jeans, occasionally taking deep, shuddering breaths, trying to make the shaking stop. When Connelly got back he had a small flask. He held it to her lips and she smelled the alcohol.

"Drink."

She did. It wasn't nearly as good as the Siren's Kiss, but it was what she needed. A few sips later the shaking subsided and the tears finally came. Connelly sat down on the cot beside her and put his arm around her just like Karl did when she cried, but it didn't feel the same. She put her head on his shoulder, too, but that didn't feel the same either.

He turned up the flask. It looked like he drank what was left in it. "I think I need this as bad as you do. I guess you know you can't ever go back into the woods, don't you?"

She nodded and that brought fresh tears.

"I'm sorry, Kara. I know that place means a lot to you, but it's not safe. I've been watching it for weeks, afraid something like this was going to happen, ever since I saw those two guys start hanging around. You know there're reasons you're not supposed to leave the camp's perimeter. That's one of them."

"You've been looking out me?"

"Yeah."

"I've been looking for you."

"Why would you look for a crazy man?"

She shrugged. The tears had stopped. It sounded almost like he was teasing her.

"To see if you were okay."

"Well, I'm not okay, but I'm not ready to kill myself either. I guess you're going to have to hang on to that piece of my soul a while longer."

His arm was still around her and he squeezed her shoulder. She was beginning to get that funny feeling again.

Maybe he was feeling something, too, because he stood up and slipped the flask into the back pocket of his jeans. "If you're all right, I'd better be going."

She stood, too, and they walked closer to the tent flap. They were really close together. She looked up into his blue eyes.

"Thank you. For everything."

He touched her face gently. "You saved me. I returned the favor."

"So you own a little piece of my soul, too."

Neither of them moved. Finally he said, "Kara, I want to kiss you. Is that all right?"

She nodded. She wanted to tell him she didn't know how to kiss, but he didn't give her a chance to say anything.

He slid his hand from her cheek to the back of her head, pulled her to him and kissed her. It was soft at first, their lips barely touching, barely moving, but eventually he gently forced her lips apart and she felt his tongue begin to explore hers. He tasted like alcohol. She knew she probably did, too.

She was awkward at first but he didn't seem to notice or care. By the time she put her arms around his neck, she was really getting the hang of it. His arms tightened around her. Their bodies were pressed together. That felt good, too.

She wasn't sure how long they stood there, arms around each other, the kiss getting deeper and hungrier. It made her think of the way her father had kissed her mother back on Picon. Then Connelly slid his hand under her t-shirt and bra and over her breast. She made a sound that was part moan and part whimper, a sound she didn't even know she could make.

He took his hand off her breast and pulled back from the kiss. "You'd better tell me to stop if you don't want to go any further with this. Tell me to stop now and I will."

"No," she breathed. "I don't want you to stop."

As soon as she said it, he took her hand and pressed it against the front of his jeans. When she didn't know what to do, he put his hand over hers and held it tightly against him and squeezed.

He closed his eyes tightly while she rubbed her hand against the length of him through his jeans. She didn't realize it could get that hard…or that big.

"I will make this good for you, Kara, I promise. Before I ever…I will make sure…" He kissed her again.

That's what they were doing, standing there kissing, her hand on the front of his jeans, when Karl lifted the tent flap and walked in.

"What the frak?"

She and Connelly quickly separated.

Karl took her arm, pulled her away from Connelly and got between them.

"What the frak is going on?" Karl sounded angry.

For a few moments neither of them said anything. Then Connelly said, "You must be the brother." He was still breathing hard.

"Yeah. Who the frak are you?"

"It's okay, Karl," she said. "He's my friend."

"_Friend_? It looks like he's a lot more than just a _friend_."

"Tell him what happened, Kara. I'll see you tomorrow."

"No the hell you won't see her tomorrow if this is what you've got in mind. Do you know she's only fourteen?"

Connelly gave her an incredulous look. "Fourteen? Lords of Kobol!"

She hung her head. "I told him I was almost eighteen," she said to Karl. "It's not his fault."

"Well now you know," Karl said to Connelly. "You stay the frak away from her. I promised her father I'd take care of her."

"Wait a minute. What do you mean you promised _her_ father you'd take care of her? I thought you were her brother."

She and Karl looked at each other. "Different fathers," she said.

Connelly looked at her and then at Karl and then back at her. "Okay, this is clearer now. You say you're brother and sister so you can live together. You two really need to get your story straight. One thing you have got just perfect, Kara, is that innocent act of yours. I've always hated being lied to."

He turned and left the tent.

She sat down on her cot. "We're busted. He's figured out we're not brother and sister. He thinks we're…oh, frak, I've really screwed up."

She told Karl everything that had happened before she and Connelly got back to the tent. She didn't need to tell him about what had happened after. He'd seen enough to figure that part out.

"Damn, Kara. Are you all right?"

"Yeah, thanks to him.

"You don't know how lucky you are. Damn, I didn't know you'd been going to the woods like that or I'd have gone with you. Okay, this Connelly kept you from getting raped. And you lied to him about your age. He gets a pass this time. And he's sure right about one thing. You can't ever go back to the woods again. You've got to promise me."

She nodded.

"And you've got to promise me you'll stay away from him."

She shook her head. "I like him," she said defiantly.

"Kara, he's too old for you. You said he's twenty-five and that he's been married. You know what he wants."

"Would that be so bad?"

"Right now it would. You're too young. Fourteen is way too young to be having sex. You're under the age of consent. I know you learned about that in sex-ed class. What if you got pregnant? He would be arrested because you're not sixteen. Do you want that? A baby to take care of and him in jail?"

"No."

"Then stay away from him. In a couple of years maybe, but right now don't even think about doing something like that."

"You've been doing it with Carrie."

"I have not."

"You haven't?"

"No. She's…I didn't want to…I can't see her as a girlfriend. Now promise me, Kara, that you won't go around that Connelly guy again."

"I won't be anywhere alone with him, okay. You have my word."

That was all she was going to promise Karl. She liked Hugh Connelly too much.

She was going to keep looking for him. He may not even talk to her now, but she wasn't going to give up until she found him and told him the truth about her and Karl. And she needed to apologize to him for lying about her age. She couldn't be alone with him. She'd promised Karl, but she still wanted to see him.

Connelly had kissed her, her first grown-up kiss, and what a kiss. He really knew how to kiss. She shut her eyes and thought about how good the kiss had felt. Just thinking about the way he had kissed her made her get that funny feeling again.

Bet Karl had never had a kiss that good.

Kara smiled to herself. She bet even Carrie Warner had never had a kiss that good.

The only man who might kiss her better than Hugh Connelly would be Prince Olliver.

Karl was right. She needed to grow up before she started looking for a man who not only had eyes as blue as the sky at twilight but also had wings over his heart.

TBC…


	14. Winter Break

Chapter 14

Winter Break

_As the second year of Cylon occupation began, increasing numbers of military personnel left at the end of their enlistment periods. Retirements were also up and recruitments generally were down. Pilot training was one of the few areas that continued to attract new recruits although some freely admitted that they were hoping to use the skills they acquired at the expense of the government in future commercial careers._

_-Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War_

Lee Adama sat at the kitchen table waiting for his parents to finish getting ready. He wasn't the least bit happy about having to go out to dinner tonight with them and his father's former XO, Colonel Saul Tigh and Saul's wife Ellen. Tigh was still on the _Galactica_, but he and Bill Adama always got together when the colonel was home on leave. His father had told him earlier in the day that Tigh was thinking about retiring. He wasn't quite fifty yet, but he'd put in thirty years so he could do it.

He knew his father was trying to talk Tigh out of retiring. For some reason he wanted the colonel to stay aboard the _Galactica_. Lee knew better than to ask his father why. His father was really tight-lipped about his job.

Fine, let his father talk to Tigh all he wanted. Lee just wanted to be left out of it. As far as he was concerned dinner with the Tighs was a waste of a perfectly good Saturday night, one of only two he had during his winter break from the Academy.

He'd had a date lined up for tonight, another cadet he'd been seeing this past semester. Her name was Shelley. She was hot and they'd shared a bunk on their first date. She knew he didn't want any kind of serious relationship. He'd told her that right away, even before she had taken him back to her room, but she said she didn't either. She'd made it clear why she was interested in him. That was okay with him.

The sex was great, and there were quite a few times that Lee wondered why his feelings never went past a certain point with her. He liked her, but what he felt was nowhere even close to love. He wondered now if he had even felt that with the girlfriend who had died on Gemenon. He'd thought he had, but was it really love that he felt? Did he even know what it felt like to love someone? Was he even capable of love? He'd once told John Gallagher he didn't understand what it felt like to love someone. He was fairly certain that he still didn't know.

He'd had to call Shelley that afternoon and break the date. He could tell she wasn't pleased. For the first time he'd heard possessiveness in her voice, and disbelief, too. She obviously didn't believe him when he told her what had happened, that his parents were making him accompany them to dinner with the Tighs. And that made him angry because he'd never lied to her or given her any reason not to trust him.

His father had said it was okay for him to call John and see if he could join them. That would at least have made the evening bearable, but John had declined. He'd told Lee the truth, but all Lee had told his father was that John couldn't make it. What John had told him was that he didn't think he could take another hour of trying to keep Ellen Tigh's foot out of his lap. It was John's bad luck to be seated across from her the one and only time they'd all gone out to eat together several months ago. John had handled it well, though. Lee hadn't even realized anything had happened until the end of the meal when Ellen had to crawl under the table to find her shoe. It was under John's chair.

After he'd refused Lee's invitation, John had said, "Colonel Tigh isn't a friend of mine, but some women have _trouble_ written all over them. She's sure one of them. Sorry, but no thanks on dinner tonight. I'll see you at McGee's in a couple of weeks. Enjoy the rest of your break."

Lee usually went to McGee's, a nice pub near the Academy's campus, on Friday nights. It was a popular spot for cadets and others who were or had been pilots. Depending on his flight schedule, John would often show up, too. He had gone to work as a pilot for Bill Adama's friend who owned an air cargo business. John looked a lot better now. He'd put back on the weight he'd lost. He'd joined a health club and started working out. In fact he looked the best he had since Lee had met him.

Lee had been working out, too, at the Academy's gym. John had told him it took strength to fly a Viper, especially leg strength. Lee was proud of the way he looked now.

He knew that John was still trying to find Kara. Early in the autumn he told Lee about meeting a young man who worked in the business office at the air cargo office and who was a computer whiz. Over the next few weeks he'd hacked into almost every data base on Caprica except the secured ones like military and medical and a few of the government ones. Kara wasn't in any of them. After that, John quit talking about finding her as much as he had before. Lee had decided that John blamed himself for what had happened to them that night at Singer's airport. John now said that he should have landed at Rendlesham and taken his chances on getting fuel and being able to leave again despite being in a drug runner's ship.

Even though he hadn't been able to find her, John still believed Kara was alive. Bill had told Lee that one day a hunter or hiker would probably find some bones in the woods near the small airfield. Lee never repeated the comment to John and told his father never to do it either. Lee recognized that John's hope of finding Kara was now hanging by a thread and he couldn't bear the thought of it being completely crushed.

John said he wasn't drinking like he had been either and Lee believed that, too. John never had more than two drinks when they were together. In fact if he was flying the next day, he stuck to something non-alcoholic. The two drink policy was one that Lee decided to adopt. Considering his mother's problems, he didn't want to get started down that road. Rarely did he exceed his self-imposed limit even when John wasn't around.

Lee could use one now, though, as he waited for his parents to get ready. He briefly contemplated mixing a quick one before they left for the restaurant, but realized his father or mother would smell it on him. What made him even angrier was that they weren't making Zak go with them. Zak had mumbled something about homework and retreated to his room. When Lee had looked in half an hour earlier, Zak was playing a video game. He knew that as soon as they were gone, Zak would probably leave too, or someone would come over to the house.

Zak had changed during the last year. Lee wasn't sure exactly _what_ was going on with him. On the afternoon he'd gotten home from the Academy earlier in the week, he'd gone upstairs and walked in on Zak and one of his girlfriends in the shower. They hadn't even locked the door. That had been a shock. It bothered him a lot more than it seemed to bother Zak.

But most disturbing of all Zak had rolled his eyes when Lee asked him later if he was being careful with the girl.

"Careful?" Zak asked.

"Birth control," Lee was really exasperated by that time.

"She's on the pill," Zak said.

"Are you sure?" Lee asked. "Zak, you're barely seventeen years old. What if something happened and she got pregnant?"

"Not my problem."

"It damn well would be your problem. Eighteen years worth of your problem because that's how long you'd be paying child support. You're too young to be taking a chance on messing up your life like that. And you need to be careful about...about catching something, too. You're acting like an idiot. "

"And you're acting like my frakking father," Zak flared back, anger in his voice for the first time. "I don't frakking need two of them. One is bad enough."

Lee let it go then, but he worried. Whatever was going on with Zak definitely had something to do with their father being at home most of the time now. Probably it had to do with the fact that for nearly sixteen years Zak had been basically unsupervised, and now Bill Adama was home giving orders the way he used to give them on his battlestar. Now that Lee was at the Academy, there was no one to serve as a buffer brtween his father and Zak.

Lee knew he had to talk to Zak before he left to go back to the Academy. If he could just get Zak to understand what was going on with their dad, maybe Zak would handle it better. He couldn't imagine what it had done to his father to have to turn over his battlestar and all the other battlestars to Cylon control. That had to have affected him in a major kind of way.

"Ready to go?" His mother came into the kitchen. She looked really good tonight in a red cocktail dress, and Lee was just about to tell her when she said, "Lee, you need to wear a tie."

"Are you kidding me?"

"No, I'm not. Bonnie Patrice is a _very_ nice restaurant. Wear the dark burgundy tie your grandmother gave you two years ago. It will look good with that blue shirt."

Lee stayed seated at the table. "What, they won't let me in without a tie?"

His father walked into the kitchen. He was wearing a suit and tie. Lee could count on the fingers of one hand the times he had seen his father in a suit and tie instead of his uniform.

"Go put on a tie," his father said. It sounded like an order. Lee felt a little more sympathy for Zak.

He got up and went upstairs to get the tie. Could this evening get any worse?

It did. The Tighs had both had a couple of drinks by the time they arrived at the restaurant…almost thirty minutes late.

"Blame it on me," Ellen laughed by way of apology. "I waylaid my husband on his way to the shower tonight. He's just not home enough to _satisfy me_." She laughed again.

Her double entendre was not lost on Lee.

Way too much information. He tried to scrub that image from his mind. "Excuse me," he said. "If the waiter comes before I get back, Dad, just order for me. I don't care what."

His father started to say something, but just nodded. Maybe he finally realized how much Lee hated these dinners. They weren't family bonding experiences for him at all if Ellen Tigh was involved.

As he left the table, he heard her laugh, "Well, Saul, I didn't mean to _offend_ him. Can't he take my little _jokes_?"

Lee went through the restaurant and into the bar. At first he thought he couldn't be that lucky, that one of the women sitting at the bar wasn't really who he thought she was. He walked over to her.

"Blaire?"

Recognition leapt into her eyes. She beamed. "Lee? Wow, do you look…good."

"So do you."

She looked better than good. She looked beautiful. Her wavy honey-colored hair was down to her shoulders and she was wearing a dark blue dress, cut just low enough to be sexy, but not so low it showed too much. She even had on makeup, but that wasn't overdone either.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Waiting on someone. A Viper pilot from the _Galactica._ He's still on the ship. I mean he's here on leave this weekend. He dropped me off so I could get a table. The maître d has our names, but he said there would be a half-hour wait so here I am. He had to take a pilot friend of his somewhere. He'll be back soon."

"Are you not on the _Galactica_ anymore?"

"No. They didn't need all of us on the ship anymore, so I took a position in communications back here at Fleet Headquarters. Wow, I can't get over how good you look." She reached out and gently squeezed his bicep. "Somebody's been working out."

Lee felt himself begin to blush. "Would you like to have a drink with me while you wait?"

"I'd love to."

Lee ordered a beer which was all he could buy at nineteen and they went to a booth.

She took one of the small paper cocktail napkins and wrote on it. "My phone number. Call me. We'll get together sometime if you want to."

He had just folded the little napkin and put it in his pocket when her date arrived. Lee stood up, shook his hand and introduced himself. He wished he could say he remembered the guy, but he didn't.

The pilot remembered him, though. "You brought me coffee a couple of times during those three days we were fighting the Cylons. When I tell people that the commander's son brought me coffee, they tell me I was hallucinating."

"I carried a lot of coffee cups during those three days…and nights," Lee said.

Blaire had gotten out of the booth and the pilot put his arm around her possessively. "So how do you know my girl?"

"My father decided I should see how everything worked on the ship. Blaire was kind enough to show me around the Comm Center and Mail Room."

"She cleans up good, doesn't she? I told her a long time ago that she needs to fix up more."

Lee decided that he didn't like this pilot too much. Blaire was beautiful without 'cleaning up' or 'fixing up'.

"I'd better get back to the table. My parents and I are eating with Colonel Tigh and his wife tonight."

"Good old Colonel Tigh," the pilot said. "Does he hit the bottle down here like he does on the ship?"

"I didn't notice," Lee answered even though it had been more than obvious to him that Tigh did.

"Hey, tell your dad that we really miss him. We wish he'd come back. No one likes Commander Cain. She's a bitch. A woman shouldn't be in command of a battlestar anyway. Next thing you know she'll be giving us a girl CAG."

"I'll pass your comments along," Lee said as he glanced at Blaire who looked embarrassed. "It was really good to see you again, Blaire."

"You, too, Lee. I'll see you around."

As he turned to leave he heard the pilot say, "I doubt you'll see him around. I heard he's trying hard to make a name for himself at the Academy. Top of his class. He doesn't have time for girls."

"What a shame," Blaire answered. "He seems like the kind of guy who would be _really good_ to a girl."

"What? Better than _me_?" The pilot's tone suggested that he wasn't too worried about it.

Lee was too far away to hear how she answered.

When he got back to the table, his father had ordered a steak for him. Lee barely noticed when the food arrived. He barely noticed how intoxicated the Tighs got, especially Ellen. He was watching Blaire Merric and her date as the maître d showed them to a table, watching Blaire as she chose a seat where she could see him, watching as she glanced in his direction and smiled more than once.

He waited until Monday night before he called her. "Can you talk?"

"Why wouldn't I be able to talk?"

"Your friend the pilot?"

"He went back to the _Galactica_ this morning on the weekly transport."

"So, how serious are you two?"

Her voice was light and teasing. "Is there a reason you're asking me such a personal question?"

"Come on, Blaire. You must have figured out by now that I want to ask you out."

"I'm not dating anyone else right now, but he and I haven't made each other any promises. He's sleeping with somebody on the ship. At least that's what a friend of mine who's still on the _Galactica_ tells me. I'm not. Sleeping with anybody else, that is. Not that I wouldn't if he were the right guy. I'm just not out there looking. Does that answer your question?"

"One of them. Will you go out with me?"

"Oh, Lee. Why do you think I gave you my phone number? I'd love to see you again."

He took her to a movie the next night, and as much as he wanted to, he didn't go in when he took her back to the apartment she was sharing with two other women who worked in communications at Fleet Headquarters. Maybe it was because of what had happened on the _Galactica_, but it was important to him for Blaire to know that was not the only reason he wanted to see her.

They went to a pyramid game on Thursday night. Lee didn't have to explain anything about pyramid to Blaire. She was an avid fan. The Caprica Buccaneers' newest player, Sam Anders, scored three goals and was almost single-handedly responsible for their win. Again Lee took Blaire back to her apartment and again left her at the door. He could tell she was disappointed. It was all he could do to drive away.

He took her to dinner on Saturday night at a nice restaurant, not as nice as Bonnie Patrice, but he couldn't afford their prices on his allowance. Blaire didn't seem to care. This time when he took her back to her apartment, he went in.

Only one of her two roommates was there. Blaire introduced them. Her name was Anastasia Dualla, but Blaire called her Dee. She offered to let them have the living room, but Blaire grinned and declined. She took Lee to her bedroom.

"You know we don't have to do this, don't you?" Lee said. "That's not the only reason…"

"I know it's not," she pulled him to her. "But you want to, don't you?"

"Yeah, but…"

"Well, me, too. You don't know how many times I've thought about what we did on the _G_. So just shut up and kiss me."

He happily did as she asked.

The sex was much hotter than he remembered. One of them had learned a lot and he was fairly certain it wasn't her.

As she was snuggled against him later, he realized that he was feeling something he hadn't ever felt before. He didn't think it was love, but it felt good. He really liked Blaire.

Apparently someone saw him with Blaire on one of the nights they had dated and told Shelley because Shelley called him Sunday morning, called him a liar, told him to go frak himself, that she didn't need him, and then hung up on him. Her response surprised him and he wondered if he could have handled it better, although in retrospect he couldn't remember getting a chance to say anything. At least he had the comfort of knowing he'd never lied to her about his feelings. He'd been truthful with her from the start. If she'd chosen to read something into their relationship that wasn't there, then it wasn't his fault. It was probably for the best anyway. He never had been able to have two girlfriends at the same time.

On Sunday afternoon before he left to go back to the Academy, he found his father alone in the den looking at television. The Buccaneers were playing the Delphi Dominos. His father was in his favorite leather recliner. He muted the volume. Lee sat down on the sofa.

"Going back now?" Bill asked.

"Yeah, Mom's taking me to the transport station."

There was an awkward silence. Bill said, "Will you be home anytime soon?"

Lee shrugged. "I'm not sure." It was now or never. He took a deep breath. "Dad, what's going on with Zak?"

Bill looked puzzled. "Is something going on with Zak?"

"I…I don't know," Lee stammered. Why had he expected his father to notice a change in Zak. He would have had to know how Zak was before in order to notice a change. "It's nothing, I guess."

"No, you wouldn't have said that if something wasn't bothering you. Spit it out."

How could he put this without sounding like he was ratting Zak out? "He just seems like he's a lot moodier. He just seems…different to me."

Bill chuckled. "He's seventeen. Aren't all seventeen-year-olds like that?"

"I wasn't that way when I was seventeen."

"No, you weren't. You were a lot more responsible. The military will shape him up after he graduates from high school next year. Your mother has probably spoiled Zak."

_His mother? How about almost sixteen years with no parental supervision? _

Instead of saying that, though, he asked, "How does Zak feel about going into the military?"

"We haven't talked about it yet. There's still plenty of time." He saw his father glance at the television. "That Sam Anders is developing into a first-rate player. Look at that. He just scored. Difficult shot, too."

"Blaire and I saw him play Thursday night. He's really good. Enjoy the game, dad."

"Good luck with basic flight class and simulator training this semester. Come home soon."

"Sure, Dad."

Lee stood up and then surprised himself by sitting down again. "Turn off the television a minute, Dad, please."

His father looked surprised, but he did as Lee asked. "Something still bothering you about Zak or is it something else?"

"It's Zak. Dad, I'm not trying to tell you what to do, but you need to do some things with Zak. Take him to a pyramid game instead of just sitting here looking at it. I know you're busy during the week, and I know your job involves stuff you won't talk about, and I know you're tired on the weekends, but you need to…" Lee nearly faltered, but he forced himself to go ahead, "…you need to be more hands-on with Zak. You need to do stuff with him, talk to him more instead of just giving him orders."

Lee almost winced as he said the last words. He could tell they didn't go over well with his father.

Bill got up and poured a drink.

"So I've got my nineteen-year-old son telling me how to be a father to my seventeen-year-old."

"Look, Dad, most of the time Zak was growing up you weren't here. I'm the one who took Zak to ball games. I'm the one who took him to the zoo on the weekend or down to King's Bay Park to ride the rides. I'm not here anymore, and Zak's too old for the zoo and the rides, but you still need to do stuff with him. You need to talk to him, find out what he likes to do. He's a great soccer player. You need to find time to go to his games once in a while."

At least his father didn't blow up or dismiss him. Bill walked over to the window and looked out. He seemed to be thinking or maybe just remembering. Finally he said, "I haven't been much of a father to either of you, have I?"

"I'm not trying to be critical. I just think it would be good for Zak and you, too, if you did some things together. Take Mom, too, if she wants to go."

Again Bill seemed to be thinking. "And the child is father to the man," he finally said.

Lee stood up. It seemed like a natural thing to do to hug his father.

Bill embraced him. "I can't take much of the credit, Lee, but you've grown up to be a son any father would be proud of."

Lee nodded. His father's praise was getting to him. "Take care of yourself, Dad. Don't let the job get to you. I'll try to come home soon."

Lee went upstairs to get his suitcase. When he looked into Zak's room, he saw Zak was playing a video game. "Pause it a minute." It sounded like an order. "Please," he added.

Reluctantly Zak did so and looked up at him.

"I'm getting ready to go back. I wanted to tell you that I talked to Dad…"

"So you ratted me out about the girl?" Lee saw the defiant look come into Zak's eyes.

"No, gods no, Zak. I talked to him about how he never does anything with you, never goes to your ball games and stuff like that."

"Great. You're leaving. If you pissed him off, he'll take it out on me."

"I don't think I pissed him off. I'm just telling you this so you'll know what's going on if he shows up at your soccer games or asks you to go somewhere with him. If he asks you to go to a pyramid game or something, don't tell him you've got something else to do. Especially don't lie to him about needing to study when that's not what you intend to do. If he tries, at least meet him halfway. And Zak, try to understand how rough this last year or so has been on him. He had to stand by and let Cylons take control of his battlestar and…everything. You need to cut him some slack."

There, Lee thought, he'd made his little speech. He'd done all he could do.

Zak just shrugged. Lee was at the door when Zak said, "Hey, man, I miss you."

Lee turned around. "I miss you, too, little bro. Give Dad a chance."

"Yeah, okay, just for you."

"About the girl, please be careful."

Zak grinned. "I was just screwing with you. I'm always careful. It just pissed me off when you started sounding like Dad that day. I'm not going to make you _Uncle Lee_ any time soon."

...

Thoughts of what was going on at home vanished when Lee started his second semester at the Academy. First there was basic flight class and then training in the simulator and both took his concentration the way nothing else ever had. There were times when all he thought about was the feeling he had in the Viper simulator. He could hardly wait to get into a real Viper.

The only person he thought really understood what he was talking about was John. Due to John's flight schedule, it was over a month after the start of the second semester before John showed up on Friday night at McGee's. Lee already had their favorite booth near the back.

He talked non-stop for half an hour about his experiences in the simulator. John just listened and nodded and made a comment from time to time. Finally he asked, "Do you feel like you were born to sit in that cockpit?"

"Yeah," Lee grinned. "Yeah."

"The same thing happened to me. Just wait until you're sitting in a real one. There's nothing quite like it. So what else is new with you?"

"You remember Blaire, the girl that I, uh, shared my bunk with on _Galactica_?"

"I never saw her, but I remember the name. Don't tell me you've hooked up with her again?"

Lee nodded and finished his beer, signaled the waiter for another one. "Yeah, I really like her."

"Uh-oh, is this more than just sharing a bunk? More than what you got going on with Shelley?"

"Shelley and I aren't together anymore. Somebody told her about Blaire and she dumped me. I just really like Blaire. She's…special. So what about you? Any new girlfriends?"

"For the past four or five weeks I've been seeing this woman who works for the company. I'm about to decide the sex isn't worth it, though."

"Now that's something I never thought I'd hear you say. What do you mean?"

"I should have known better than to get anything started with someone going through a messy divorce, but she kept asking me over for dinner, so I finally took her up on it." He sipped his beer. "After dinner and a couple of drinks, we…you know…and after that she's feeling really good. I made damned sure of that. Of course I am, too. Anyway, instead of just letting us both enjoy this nice feeling, she starts telling me what an asshole her soon-to-be ex-husband is. Okay, I'll give her once. She needs to get it off her chest. But I've seen her half a dozen times since then and it's the same damn thing every time. Afterward, when I just want to enjoy how good I'm feeling, I get to listen to a whole list of his sins A to Z. Trouble is, the more she talks, the more it sounds like she's talking about me, too. He's a pilot who used to fly for the company. He's flying for Capria Air now."

"How hot is she?"

"Pretty damned hot, but it's not worth it. I don't think I'm going back."

"Sure you're not," Lee grinned.

"No, I mean it. You know every time I'm with a woman I always think about Kara's mother. She's my gold standard. She didn't say much afterward, but she always found a way to let me know how much I'd just rocked her world. No one's even come close to making me feel like she did. And it wasn't just the great sex. It was everything about her. Damn, I loved that woman. I'll never feel that way about anybody again."

"You need to be careful about using the word _never_."

"I know. But I mean it. I guess I'll just have to settle for mindless sex and listening to a woman bitch for the rest of my life."

"I can't believe you're complaining. What is this one, the third or fourth hot woman you've hooked up with since you've been back here in the city? In a couple of weeks or months, it'll be another one. I really feel sorry for you."

"Go ahead, make fun of me. I can tell you're getting a big kick out of this."

"I'm not making fun of you. You're living a lot of men's dream existence."

"Well maybe I'm getting tired of it. You know the happiest I've ever been in my whole life was when it was just me and Kara's mom. I don't need a lot of women. I don't want a lot of women. I'd just like to find one sweet, even-tempered woman. If she's beautiful and tough like Kara's mom, that would be a real plus. Maybe smart, too, with a sense of humor, who's not afraid to get in my face when I need it." He laughed. "Hell, I don't want much, do I? So now you see what I'm up against. I'll never find anybody like that again."

"Want me to introduce you to Laura Roslin? It sounds like you're describing her. She's all of those things you want. Of course my dad would probably kick my ass if I did that. I think he still likes her."

"Lee, you're talking about a member of the President's Cabinet. Now I know you're making fun of me."

"No, I am not. You're a man and she's a woman. You're both single. What's the big deal?"

"The big deal is that she's so far out of my league it isn't even funny. At least keep your suggestions in the realm of possibility."

"Would you settle for that girl you met on the _Galactica_? Lissa? I think that was her name."

"Yeah, I'd settle for her since we're going to forget about that other suggestion of yours."

"Well hang around for a while."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Lissa's shown up the past couple of Friday nights with Sam Anders, of the Caprica Buccaneer fame. First time she was in here she saw me and came over and spoke. Of course she asked about you, and I told her that you showed up here from time to time on Friday nights. I think you must have made a _big_ impression on her up there on the _Galactica_. She's been in here every Friday night with him since then. As soon as she sees me she comes over and says, _'Where's John? I thought you said he comes in here on Friday nights.'_ She all but called me a liar last week."

"And you didn't call me? I ought to make you pay for the beer tonight."

"I didn't call you because for the last couple of Friday nights I kept thinking you'd show up."

"Yeah, well, I had a little problem with my flight schedule. They had me getting back too late from Sovana on Friday nights, but I think I've got that straightened out now. This woman I've been seeing schedules the pilots."

"Oh that's convenient, isn't it? You didn't like your schedule and now you just happen to be sleeping with the woman who does the scheduling."

"Hey," John said defensively, "I didn't know that's what she did when I started seeing her. I just knew she worked in the office."

"Well that worked out to your advantage, didn't it?"

"Yeah, yeah it did. Otherwise I wouldn't be sitting here drinking beer with you tonight." He looked at his watch. "I'd be in the air about an hour out of Caprica City on my way back from Sovana right now. Of course as soon as I quit listening to her bitch about her ex-husband, I'll probably be flying Friday _and_ Saturday nights, too. "

"You could always go to work somewhere else as a pilot?"

"You got any suggestions?"

"What about the government? Dad said they sometimes need pilots. I'm sure he could help you."

"Your dad's done enough for me as it is."

"You might get to fly _Laura Roslin_ somewhere." Lee was glad he had finally found something he could pick on John about. John kidded him enough.

Gallagher grinned. "Shut up, Lee, or I'm going to hurt you."

Just then Lissa and Anders walked in. Lee pointed toward the front of McGee's.

Gallagher looked around. "Damn, you weren't kidding. Mind if I ask them to join us?"

"It won't bother me."

Gallagher went to the front of McGee's, spoke to them, and Lissa almost jumped into his arms as she hugged him. Anders had his back turned and Lee couldn't see his face, but he guessed Anders' expression wasn't nearly as welcoming as Lissa's.

The three of them started toward the booth where Lee was sitting. As they approached the table, Lee saw that Lissa had on a short denim skirt and a tight knit low-cut top. Her thick, dark hair was down around her shoulders and she had on a good bit of eye makeup. He liked Blaire's natural look better, but he couldn't deny that Lissa looked hot. She had a great body. Most guys' heads turned as she walked by them. Of course that might also have been because they recognized Anders.

Lissa introduced him to the Buccaneers' newest star. While she was doing that, Gallagher sat down across from Lee. That allowed Lissa to slip into the booth next to him and forced Anders to sit beside Lee. For ten minutes they talked about pyramid. For ten minutes Lissa looked bored. Lee had to hand it to Gallagher. He was being really cool about the whole situation, not acting all that interested in Lissa. If he hadn't known, he'd never have guessed they'd shared a bunk.

Lee finally asked her what she was doing now.

"I'm working in one of the biomedical labs."

"So you're not in the military anymore?" Gallagher asked.

"No, I didn't re-enlist."

"What are you doing in the biomedical lab?" Lee asked.

"I'm not supposed to talk about it and I'm just a technician, but it has to do with…it's hard to explain…it has to do with…let's just say genetic engineering."

"What are you trying to do? Better food production?" Gallagher asked.

"No, nothing to do with food at all. That's another lab. I'm working on a project headed by Dr. Gaius Baltar. The first time he came into the lab I thought he was some professor's assistant. He looks a lot younger than he is. I mean he's probably thirty or something, not that thirty is really old."

Lee noticed John momentarily glance at the ceiling. John didn't look it, but he was thirty-nine.

Lissa went on, "Anyway, the other guy who's on the project with us now is a doctor named Simon."

"You're working with a _Cylon_?" Lee asked.

Lissa immediately got defensive. "Why is that such a big deal?"

"Oh, maybe because they killed a couple of _billion_ of us. Did you know he was a Cylon when you went to work there?"

"We were all told before we applied for the jobs. If we had any problems with it, they wouldn't even take our application."

"And you've got no problem working with a Cylon?" Gallagher asked.

"You're working with an honest-to-gods Cylon?" Anders repeated Lee's question. "Is it one of those metal jobs? A chrome toaster?"

"He looks just like us," Lissa snapped. "Don't you ever read the paper? And I don't work directly with him. I work with some other technicians and we work for Dr. Baltar."

"And who do you think Dr. Baltar is working for?" Lee asked.

"For the government. For _our_ government."

"I doubt that. I'll guarantee you that Simon is calling the shots. Baltar may be acting like he's in charge, but I'll bet he's really not." Lee's voice showed his anger for the first time.

"You don't know what the hell you're talking about," Lissa said hotly. "Gaius Baltar is a genius. His ideas are so far ahead of anybody else's I'd be a fool to pass up the opportunity to work with him. I don't really have a choice about this job."

"Yes, you do," Gallagher said. "You always have a choice. I agree with Lee. I doubt Dr. Baltar is the real power behind whatever this project is. I doubt all those brilliant ideas are his, either."

"You are so wrong. You are just _so wrong_. I've got to have a job. This is what I want to do. This is so leading edge you couldn't possibly understand it. I'm not supposed to be talking about it anyway. So let's drop it!"

They did and started talking about pyramid again. Anders resumed participating in the conversation. Lissa looked relieved and quickly resumed looking bored.

Finally Gallagher said, "You're going to have to get up and let me out, sugar. Nature calls."

"While I'm up, I'll go, too," Lissa said. "Back in a minute, Sammie."

She followed Gallagher toward the restrooms.

"So how do you know Lissa?" Anders asked.

"I met her while I was on the _Galactica._"

"This other guy, Gallagher, he was there, too?"

"We both were during the three days of fighting. He'd been hurt. We had to go to Sick Bay. Lissa patched him up."

"You both pilots?"

"He is. I'm at the Academy now. I'll start flight school this summer."

The minutes ticked by, over fifteen as Lee kept glancing at his watch. He kept up a steady stream of questions, trying to keep a conversation going and keep Ander's mind off the fact that neither Gallagher nor Lissa was back yet.

Finally Anders said, "It's been like over twenty minutes. Where do you think they are?"

"Gallagher's probably out back smoking or maybe in the parking lot," Lee improvised. "He can never go too long without having a cigarette." That wasn't the truth. Gallagher rarely went outside to smoke anymore. Lee had just lied for a friend and that bothered him.

Nevertheless he continued. "McGee's went no smoking last fall. A lot of people didn't like it, but some kind of legislation was passed in Caprica City. Does Lissa smoke?"

"No."

"Then I don't know about her. She probably ran into someone she knows in the restroom or something. You know how girls can talk when they get together."

He realized how stereotypical that sounded and that bothered him, too.

"Yeah," Anders said. He was getting more and more fidgety, rolling his empty beer bottle between his hands, putting it down and picking it back up. He did that a few times before he said, "I'm going to look for her."

"Sure." Lee took a sip of his beer. "You want me to get one of the female cadets to check the ladies room?"

"No thanks."

Lee hoped John and Lissa weren't doing anything more than just talking. His fear was of Anders catching John with Lissa and the two men getting into a fight. They were about the same height and size, but Anders was younger and in peak physical condition. Still he'd seen the way Gallagher had hit Tom Zarek that morning on the _Galactica_. Gallagher knew how to use his fists. Lee hoped it didn't come to that. Fights meant the MPs or the police and they didn't need that.

Then he started thinking about how he would feel if he were out somewhere with Blaire and she did that to him. He knew how much it would hurt if Blaire disappeared with a guy she barely knew. It was not a good feeling. He'd made excuses to Anders to cover for a friend, but he didn't feel good about that, either. Some things were just wrong, no matter how you looked at them.

He was still thinking about that several minutes later when Gallagher slid back into the booth across from him. Gallagher's beer was empty and he reached out and took Lee's, finished the little bit that was left and signaled the waiter for two more.

"You didn't." Lee said.

"Didn't what?"

"Damn it, John, did you and Lissa…?"

Gallagher looked down and then back up. He didn't have to answer the question. Lee knew from his look that they had.

"Where?"

Gallagher looked like a kid caught in mischief. "We went to her car for a couple of minutes to talk. I didn't think…I _really_ didn't think anything like _that_ was going to happen."

Lee knew he was probably going to make his friend angry, but he couldn't let this one pass.

"That was wrong of you, John. Wrong and damned inconsiderate. You shouldn't have done it. Look, I know you don't know Anders, but he seems like a decent guy, and he's her date. Think about how you'd feel if you were in his place. What you did was wrong. Her, too."

To his surprise, Gallagher agreed with him. "Yeah, I know. I swear to you Lee, I didn't go out there with that in mind. She was waiting on me when I came out of the men's room and took me out the back door. She said she wanted to talk for a few minutes about her job. She could tell I wasn't too happy about what she's doing. It's too cold to stand outside so we went to her car. We were arguing about it, and all of a sudden she was on my lap and she has on that little short skirt and then she started kissing me and…damn. There's not a man under ninety who could have told her _no_ at that point. But I'm not blaming her. All things considered I'm not proud of myself for what I just did."

The waiter came to the booth with their beers. This was going to be three for both of them, but tonight Lee needed another one. He was still angry and it was still evident in his voice.

"And it never occurred to you that Anders was sitting here wondering what the hell had happened to his date?"

"I've disappointed you, haven't I?"

Lee forced himself to look his friend in the eyes. "Yeah, John, you have."

"I'm sorry," Gallagher said softly. "Your good opinion means a lot to me."

Lee shrugged. "It's not me you should apologize to."

"Yeah, it is. I put you in the position of sitting here talking to Anders while I out there having my way with his date or she was having her way with me. Whatever. I owe Anders an apology, too, but if I do that, he and I will probably end up out back, and while I've never run from a fight, I don't go looking for one, either. So you get his apology, too. I'm sorry."

"Just promise me you'll think about it before you do something like that again."

"I'm not going to do something like that again. And just to prove to you how sorry I am, even though Lissa has asked me to come see her tomorrow night and even though I really want to go see her tomorrow night, I still intend to keep my date with this other woman, have mindless sex with her and listen patiently to her bitch about her ex-husband for half an hour. And I won't come back here and complain about it to you either."

Lee started laughing. It was impossible to stay angry at Gallagher. "Gods, John. I don't believe your way of looking at life. That's really some serious punishment."

Gallagher smiled. "You might change your mind if you were on my end of it."

"I give up. I'm not going to win this one, am I?"

"You already have. You're good for me, Lee."

"You've done this before, haven't you?"

Gallagher shrugged. "Not lately. I just have a problem saying _no_ to pretty women."

"You seriously mean it now, though? You won't do it again?"

"I honor my promises."

"John, I got one more thing I want to say on the subject of what happened tonight and then I'm going to drop it. I know you like Lissa, but you really ought to think about what she just did to Anders before you get involved with her."

"What makes you think I'm getting involved with her?"

"You got her phone number, didn't you?"

Gallagher patted his shirt pocket and grinned. "Address, too."

"I rest my case," Lee said.

Anders and Lissa never came back to the table, which didn't surprise him at all.

...

When Lee went to pick Blaire up for their date the next night he took her flowers.

"What are these for?" she asked him in surprise.

"Just for being the nice, sweet person you are."

She smiled and looked at him with a question in her eyes. "Have you done something you need to apologize for?"

"No, but last night something happened to a friend of mine that showed me just how much I should appreciate you."

She came over and kissed him. "You do know the way to a girl's heart."

If it was that easy, why, then, hadn't Blaire completely captured his heart?

What was he waiting for?

Maybe he should be asking himself _who_ he was waiting for.

Oddly enough, even as he was kissing Blaire, a name crossed his mind, someone he hadn't thought about for a long time.

_Kara._

TBC…


	15. Plague

Chapter 15

Plague

_The flu epidemic that ravaged the large refugee camp near Antioch took the lives of an estimated nineteen thousand people, nearly a fourth of the camp's occupants. A large percentage of those who died were children, especially infants, and the elderly. Healthy adults who died usually succumbed to swiftly-killing secondary infections, mostly respiratory in nature that could have been cured by antibiotics. At that time all medicines were in short supply due to the destruction of the Colony's large pharmaceutical manufacturing plants near Sovana. The two smaller plants near Delphi were not able to keep up with the demand._

_-Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War_

During the weeks following the afternoon that Karl caught Kara with Hugh Connelly, Karl wouldn't let her out of his sight. He insisted that she go with him when he went to play soccer with his friends, and after watching for about fifteen minutes the first day, she got in there with them. They never had a full team and often lost, but it was better than sitting on the sidelines watching.

She still thought about Connelly a lot. She knew that she could tell Karl to leave her alone and he probably would, but she didn't want to do that. They'd stuck together through too much. And he was right. Hugh Connelly was too old for her. Karl was just trying to protect her.

She was still determined to one day explain their situation to Connelly. She felt like she owed him that much. And she owed him an apology for lying about her age. She had finally been able to understand his anger.

Of course playing soccer every day meant a trip to the showers afterward, and that, at least, was one place that Karl couldn't follow her. She was coming out of the shower building with her dirty clothes bundled under her arm one afternoon when the girl coming out behind her spoke.

"Hey, Kara. I thought you'd left the camp or something. I haven't seen you in a long time."

Kara turned. If the girl's hair hadn't been tucked behind one ear and the six earrings visible, Kara would never have recognized Carrie Warner. The dyed black hair had been cut off, the brown hair shaped into a cute chin-length bob. The dark eyeliner rings around her eyes were gone, too, as was the safety pin in her eyebrow, but she still wore the little diamond stud in the side of her nose and the blue fingernail polish.

"Hi, Carrie."

"I'm on my way to see my new boyfriend. Come on. His mom cut my hair. You really need a haircut. Have you been cutting it yourself?"

Kara shrugged. "Me and my brother."

Carrie rolled her eyes. "I believe that. Jared's mom is really good. She used to be a beautician. I mean like I guess she still is."

"I can't pay her," Kara said.

Carrie laughed. "I'm sure she'll take pity on you and do it for free. I can't pay her either."

Carrie's new boyfriend, Jared Daniels, was a shy eighteen-year-old, who wore glasses. He had dark hair and was a few inches shorter than Karl, but Kara thought he was really cute in a nerdy-looking way. He reminded her of a guy in her math class who always aced his tests. Jared and Carrie didn't seem to go together at all, but he appeared to be really smitten with her.

When his mother saw Kara, she said, "Lords of Kobol, child, come here."

She sat Kara on a plastic chair outside their tent, put a towel around her shoulders, grabbed her scissors and started trimming. When she was through, Kara had a layered haircut that curved into her cheekbones. When Jared's mother handed her a small mirror, she was surprised at the difference it made in her appearance. Her hair was short, but she looked like a girl with the soft layers.

She saw Jared glance at her once as he and Carrie talked. She recognized the approval in his eyes. Kara looked away. Something about him at that moment made her think of Hugh Connelly. Maybe it was his blue eyes.

Later as she and Carrie walked back to D-sector, Carrie asked her if she had a boyfriend yet.

"Not really. I mean I like this guy but he's too old for me and I don't know where he lives, anyway."

"Like how old?" Carrie asked.

"Twenty-five."

"He wants to do it with you?"

"Yeah, until Karl told him I was fourteen. That really freaked him out."

"I'll bet you're like still a virgin, aren't you?"

"Yeah."

"Then stay away from him or you won't be."

"I still need to find him and apologize to him for something, but I don't know where he lives."

"Go ask in the admin tent."

"What?"

"Go up to the admin tent and ask them where he's staying. You do know his name, don't you?"

"Yeah. I never thought about that. Yeah, I'll do that."

"Duh, make that old ho-bag earn her keep. If he's hot, though, keep him away from her or she'll be hitting on him."

"He's hot," Kara felt herself blush. "He kissed me. He really knows how to kiss."

"Lucky you. Jared kisses me, too. He didn't know much when we got started, but I taught him. He's smart. He learned quick. We do more than just kiss now. Like tonight after his mom's asleep, he'll sneak out. We have a place that we meet."

"Aren't you worried about, you know, getting pregnant?"

"Duh. I went to the med tent and got a patch."

"Patch?"

"Gods, you don't know anything. Birth control patch. There's like a nice doctor in the Med tent. He'll give anybody one who wants it. I guess they don't want any more little mouths to feed. I heard that if you get knocked up and don't want it, they'll get rid of it for you."

Kara was horrified. "How do they do that?"

"Like there's a pill if you find out before six weeks. After that it's an abortion. If you wait too long, you're stuck with having the baby."

Kara had heard the term _abortion_ but wasn't sure exactly what it entailed. She didn't want to show her lack of knowledge to Carrie again, though.

Instead she said, "There's still women in the camp who are pregnant. I've seen them."

"Yeah, stupid them. Who wants to drag a rug-rat around all the time, especially in this dump? Gods, what a place to raise a kid. If you and your hot guy decide to do it, you'd better go get a patch first."

Early the next morning before Karl got up, Kara walked all the way up to the admin tent. From where they were, it was over a mile, closer to two. There were only two people inside. A woman was sitting behind a metal desk near the front. At least Kara thought she was a woman. She looked like a guy, too. Kara had one time heard a word that described people that looked like both. It wasn't _android_, but it was something like it. Later Hugh Connelly told her the word she was looking for was _androgynous_. He knew exactly who she was talking about.

Kara wondered if this was the one that Carrie referred to as the old ho-bag. She really wasn't all _that_ old …maybe thirty…maybe even younger. Kara had never been good at guessing people's ages.

The woman looked up from the paperback book she was reading. It looked like one of the romance novels that Karl's mom had liked to read. Yeah, she had to be a woman because Kara knew that guys didn't read those kinds of books.

"Can I help you with something?"

"I'm looking for somebody."

"Aren't we all?"

The woman was staring at her in a way that gave her the creeps. Maybe she was one of those women Karl had told her about who liked other women. Finally the woman asked, "Does your father have green eyes?"

Her question was so unexpected that Kara just stared back at her. After a long time she said, "My father's dead."

"When?"

"A long time ago."

"So who are you looking for?"

"A guy."

"This guy have a name?"

"Hugh Connelly."

"Any why do you want to find Mr. Connelly?"

"We had a misunderstanding. I need to talk to him."

"What kind of misunderstanding?"

"That's none of your business," Kara was starting to get annoyed. "What's with all the questions? Are you going to tell me where he is or not?"

"You take that attitude and I'm not going to tell you anything."

Kara heard a man's voice behind her. "Is there some kind of problem here?"

Kara turned around and saw a tall, nice-looking man with sandy brown hair.

"Oh, good morning, Leoben," the woman said. Her tone of voice changed completely. It sounded sugary sweet as she greeted the man.

The man was staring at Kara in a way that gave her the creeps, too. She turned back around so she wouldn't have to look at him. At least the woman wasn't staring just at her anymore. She was looking back and forth between her and Leoben.

Kara was starting to lose her patience. "Is there something weird about the way I look this morning? What's wrong with you people? Just what the frak do I need to do to find out where somebody is staying? Either you can help me or you can't. What's it going to be?"

"Are you _sure_ you're father's dead?" the woman asked her. "The reason I'm asking is…"

"Damned sure," Kara snapped at her. "You think I wouldn't know something like that? I even know who killed him and when."

"Take it easy," the man said. "What's this person's name you're looking for?"

Kara repeated, "Hugh Connelly."

The man went behind the desk, pulled the wireless computer over and keyed something. She saw him hit the _Page Down_ key a couple of times. "E-sector, tent 233."

"Thank you," Kara said sweetly to Leoben. She looked at the woman and gave her what she knew was a smart-ass smile. She got a go-to-Hades look in return.

Leoben walked out of the tent with Kara. "You know where E-sector is?"

"I can find it."

"I'll be glad to show you."

"Thanks. I said I can find it.

"Come back if you need directions."

"I'm sure my brother knows where it is. He has some friends in E-sector."

She kept walking. Thankfully Leoben didn't follow. The last thing she wanted was Karl to see her with another older guy. Leoben was a lot older than Connelly. He was probably as old as her father, maybe older.

She waited until the next morning, got up early again and picked a few yellow wildflowers from along the perimeter fence. She found Connelly's tent without any trouble. She decided that the flowers didn't mean anything except that she was sorry she had lied about her age.

Standing outside, she called his name several times, but there was no answer.

"He's gone to get breakfast right now," the old man sitting outside the next tent said. He was sitting on what looked like an overturned bucket, and he was leaning on a cane. "He always brings something back for me because I can't walk that far now."

Kara went inside, laid the flowers on Connelly's cot and hurried back out.

That afternoon he came to where they were playing soccer. Karl didn't like it, but he didn't make a scene as Connelly walked with her back to the tent.

"You brought the flowers?"

"Yeah."

"Won't that make your boyfriend angry?"

"He's not my boyfriend. He's not my brother either, but he's been my best friend since I was eight years old. He's like a brother. And I brought the flowers to say I'm sorry for lying to you about my age. Karl and I have been looking after each other since the Cylons destroyed Picon and my dad flew us here and a man named Zarek killed him and then we stayed for a while in a little house where an old couple lived who had killed themselves. It's really a long story."

They walked for a while in silence. Karl wasn't right behind them, but he was close enough that he could watch them.

"Start over, Kara," Connelly finally said, "and tell me everything."

She was still talking when they got back to the tent, and to keep Karl from freaking out, they stood outside the tent until she finished.

"If you don't believe me, ask Karl," she finally said. "Everything I've just told you is the truth."

"I believe you," Connelly told her. "Not many kids would have survived what you two just did. I'm impressed."

She shrugged. "We did what we had to do."

"Had anyone even kissed you before I did?"

She looked down and shook her head.

"I should have realized it then, but I wasn't quite myself at the time. I would never have touched you if I'd known you were so young. No wonder your friend was ready to kick my ass."

"He's just doing what my dad asked him to. My dad told us to take care of each other. My dad…he really loved me. He…to save me he…these men…they were going to…like what almost happened in the woods." Kara found she couldn't go on as she remembered the night at Singer's airfield.

Connelly said gently, "The man who killed your father didn't get away with it. I remember reading or hearing something about a trial where one of Tom Zarek's men was convicted of killing a pilot and someone else, too."

"Singer?"

"That was it. Singer."

"But not Zarek? Zarek wasn't convicted."

"I don't think so. I don't think he was even tried."

"Good, then that just means I get to kill him. He's the one who's responsible."

"Kara, that's the second time you've mentioned killing this man. Don't let a desire for revenge eat at you. You're too young."

She shrugged. "I'm just telling you that one day I'm going to kill him. I don't know when or where, but one day I will. The gods owe me that for letting Zarek take my father away from me. One day I'm going to point my mother's gun and him and I'm going to make sure he recognizes me. He needs to know why he's going to die. Then he gets one right between the eyes. Maybe he didn't pull the trigger, but he's the reason my father is dead. "

She saw something in Connelly's eyes that she didn't understand. It might have been pity. "Gods damned Cylons," he finally said. "They're the reason your father is dead. You should be going to school, holding hands with your first boyfriend, going to your first prom, not thinking about killing someone. In some ways you're so innocent, but when you talk about killing Zarek, your eyes are as hard as green marbles."

She shrugged. She knew he didn't understand how she felt about Zarek or her father. The wind had picked up and she shivered in her sweaty t-shirt. "I'm going to have to go get a shower. Come watch us play sometime."

"I'll do that. I like your haircut."

"Thanks," she said, suddenly feeling shy and looking down at her feet.

"You don't have a clue how beautiful you really are, do you?"

She dug the toe of her sneaker into the dirt. "I'm not beautiful."

He lifted her chin and made her look at him. "Yes, you are…and strong and resourceful and brave."

She was getting that funny feeling again. She knew he was, too. She could see it in his eyes.

"I've got to go, Kara. I'll come see you play soccer. I promise."

On the way to the showers she was smiling. Things were okay with her and Connelly again and that made her happy. That and the fact that he'd told her she was beautiful. Maybe she didn't just like him. Maybe she loved him, too.

That night she dreamed Connelly was touching her the way Prince Olliver had touched his lusty wench. The feeling kept getting better until she finally understood why it had made the lusty wench cry out in pleasure. It was so good that she woke up, aware that she had made some kind of sound.

She heard Karl stir in his cot on the other side of the tent, but he settled. She lay in the dark, heart beating fast, breathing hard, the good feeling finally subsiding.

If sex felt this good, no wonder her father had laughed at her when she had made such a dumb comment that night leaving Picon. If she had known this, she would never have said something that stupid.

Several days later Connelly came to see them play soccer again and again walked back to the tent with her. He started doing that once or twice a week and they talked about a lot of things. She finally told him about the books, about the Caprican Prince and how she had never finished the last volume.

"I've read the trilogy," Connelly said. "It's a great adventure story with some sex and romance thrown in."

"I had just gotten to the part where Olliver was in the garden and saw the princess getting out of her bath. He fell in love with her on the spot."

"I remember that part. A golden-haired princess with emerald eyes. Her name was Esmari. Do you want to know what happens next?"

"No, don't tell me. I want to read it myself. Maybe I will someday."

"Okay, but if you change your mind, just ask me."

They got to talk to each other only a few more times before people started getting sick. The rumor went around the camp that the Cylons were testing some kind of biological toxin on them, but the doctors said it was just the flu.

That didn't mean it wasn't deadly, though, for a lot of people.

Kara escaped getting sick. She thought it was because her mother took her to the doctor every year and got her a flu shot. Karl's mother didn't believe in the shots. She blamed childhood vaccinations for Marie's asthma and therefore Karl never had any of the shots. Then again maybe Kara just got lucky. There didn't seem to be any pattern as to who got sick and who didn't.

She knew Karl was getting sick when he woke up one morning and told her he had a terrible headache. By that afternoon he was running a fever and having chills and was starting to ache. She knew better than to take him to the medical tent. They couldn't have taken him anyway. It was already overflowing.

Instead she put the covers from her cot onto his and lay down with him to try to keep him warm. She made him drink water during the night and the next day, even when he said he felt like he was going to throw up. The doctors had posted flyers everywhere telling people who were sick to keep getting plenty of fluids and stay in bed. The first flyers said to come to the med tent to get something for the fever and aches. The later flyers didn't mention the medicine, but on the second day that Karl was sick, she went to the med tent anyway.

An exhausted-looking medical technician said, "We're out of everything. A shipment's supposed to be on the way, maybe tomorrow, maybe the next day. Just keep coming back and asking."

She went back and asked for the next three days and was told the same thing. The shipment still hadn't arrived. Later she heard that it came in too late to help most of the people who were sick.

Kara brought soup from the mess tent and fed it to Karl one spoonful at a time. She made him eat when all he wanted to do was sleep. All she could think about was how she couldn't let Karl die, how she couldn't let her best friend die. Karl was closer than a brother. Karl was her family, the only family she had. What would she do without him? She couldn't even imagine what it would be like to be alone in the camp.

On the fourth day, he finally turned the corner. She could tell he was cooler when she felt his forehead. In the late afternoon while he was sleeping she went to the showers for the first time in four days. There were only a few other women there. That night both of them slept through the night for the first time since he'd gotten sick.

By then the death toll had started to climb.

On the fifth morning Karl woke up and said he was hungry for the first time since he'd gotten sick. She was on her way to the mess tent to get them some breakfast when she saw two guys wearing surgical masks carrying a sheet-covered stretcher out of the girl's dormitory. She probably wouldn't have looked twice, she'd seen plenty of those covered stretchers in the last few days, but the girl's arm was hanging down and Kara saw the blue fingernail polish.

She walked into the dormitory. Over half the beds were empty. There was a small box on the floor beside the bed that had been Carrie's. She went over and picked it up. There was nothing in it except the fingernail polish, some eyeliner, the silver safety pin, and a driver's license. Even though she barely knew Carrie, she felt tears sting her eyes. She put the driver's license in her coat pocket and left.

Later that afternoon Karl was sleeping again and she walked over to Hugh Connelly's tent. She called his name, and he came out of the tent next to his.

"Hi, Kara, come in. I would have come to see if you were all right, but I didn't want to take the chance if you were still well."

He went into his tent and she followed him. She knew what she had promised Karl, but the way Connelly looked she didn't think she needed to worry.

"You've been sick, haven't you?" she asked him.

"Yeah, and I've been trying to take care of the old guy in the next tent. He doesn't have anyone. I don't think he's going to make it. He won't eat or drink anything now." Connelly sat down on the side of his cot and put his face in his hands. He looked terrible. His hair was oily and he looked like he hadn't shaved in days.

"I haven't been sick, but Karl has. I've been taking care of him. He's better." She went over and stood beside him.

"Good," he said without looking up at her.

"Get in bed," she said to him. "You need to rest."

He shook his head. "I'll be okay. I need to go back…"

"Don't argue with me." She made him stand up, pulled the covers back, made him sit back down and took off his shoes. Then she made him lay down and covered him. "Rest. I'll be back."

She walked to the mess tent in E-sector, got soup and brought it back. She woke Connelly and fed him the same way she had fed Karl. She had a hard time keeping him awake long enough to finish the container of soup, but she did. She hadn't saved his life back there in the woods to have him die on her now. Karl and Connelly were the only two people who were alive that meant anything to her.

Before she left, he caught her hand and kissed her palm. He mumbled something that sounded like _I love you_, but she realized later she hadn't heard it well enough to be sure. She had made it into what she wanted to hear. She leaned over the cot and kissed his forehead. She could tell he still had a fever, but not much.

When she checked on him the next day, he felt better. He looked a lot better, too. His hair was clean and he'd shaved. He thought he had dreamed about her feeding him soup the day before. Neither one of them mentioned the kisses. It was probably better if he thought that was a dream.

The old man next to him had died during the night.

A week later, the daily death toll finally stopped climbing and leveled off. Several days after that it began dropping. She later heard that over a fourth of the camp's occupants had died. She just knew there were a lot of empty tents now.

She also heard a lot of grumbling in her sector's mess tent about how the government hadn't done enough for them, how they had just let the people die. Some people blamed the government, some blamed the Cylons, and some said it was the same thing, that the Cylons were the government now, that President Adar was nothing but their puppet.

Maybe that's why more government officials started coming to the camp. Most of the time they just visited the admin tent and had their picture taken by the media, but one windy day early in the spring, a politician actually came to their mess tent and talked to them. She didn't have any media with her, either.

She was Laura Roslin, the Secretary of Education. Kara and Karl both laughed when they saw the notice posted the day before her visit.

"Education?" Karl almost sneered. "Who the frak cares about education? They can't even take care of us when we're sick. If it hadn't been for you, I'd have died. Frak the Secretary of Education. Frak the government."

Still, Kara went to the mess tent the next day to hear what Laura Roslin had to say. It was better than lying on her cot all morning. Karl said he would pass.

For a while Roslin talked about the importance of education in general, and then she talked about plans for starting a school at the camp. Finally she asked if there were any volunteers who would be willing to work with government officials. There was some murmuring in the small group that had gathered to hear her, but no takers. The term _volunteer_ probably put them off. As Kara understood the word, it meant they wouldn't get paid for it.

She thought of Hugh Connelly. He wasn't there, but he had been a teacher. Maybe he would help. Kara got up and walked up to the front of the tent, to the small platform where Roslin was standing. There were a dozen Marines up there and one of them stopped her.

"That's far enough," he said.

To her surprise, though, Roslin said, "Let her past."

The Marine who had barred her path with his rifle now pulled it back. He made her take her hands out of her pockets and open her jacket before he let her walk around him. He turned as she went past. Kara knew if she made any sudden moves he would probably tackle her or maybe even shoot her. The Marines were clearly guarding this woman for some reason.

The Secretary stepped down from the platform. "You have something you want to talk to me about?"

"I'd like for you to go with me to meet someone. He used to be a teacher. I think he'll help you."

"We can't let you go out into the camp, Madame Secretary." the Marine said.

"Yeah," Kara said, "I figured you were bullshitting like all the rest of the politicians who've come up here. No one else has ever gone out into the camp either. They all stay in the admin tent or just outside. They get a few of the orphans together, take a few pictures, and think they've done something really great. I guess they think the rest of us have lice or something."

"I'll go with you," Roslin said

"Ma'am," the Marine said. "We can't…"

"It's all right. Just follow us." Her voice was gentle, but there was no mistaking she had just given him an order.

They left the mess tent, walking side by side, with the Marines behind them and beside them. Kara couldn't figure out what everyone was so afraid of. The people in the camp were about as harmless as she'd ever seen.

"It's a long way," she said as she looked down at the Secretary's high heels.

"I'll manage," Roslin said and smiled.

Kara felt a grudging respect begin in her for this beautiful, well-groomed woman whose pantsuit probably cost as much as feeding the sector for a day or two. She was tough. Not nearly as tough as her mother, as Sassy, but anybody who would brave the mud and dirt in high heels was tough, and that impressed Kara.

As they walked, Kara told her Hugh Connelly's name and the background she knew about him. She didn't mention him trying to kill himself in the woods that day. She was purposefully vague about how they met.

In view of the Secretary's high heels, Kara took the shortest route, even though it went past the refuse dump in the E-sector. Maybe there was another reason she went that way, too. It wouldn't hurt to show this lady what they dealt with on a daily basis. Since the flu had swept the camp, the rats had gotten much worse. She'd see how tough Laura Roslin really was. Kara tried to imagine how the Secretary of Education would relate this day to her friends.

"Dear gods," she heard the Secretary say as they neared the dump and a rat ran across their path and between two tents. "What was that?"

But she didn't scream or stop walking or jump into the arms of the nearest Marine. She'd passed another test for Kara.

"Just a little mouse," Kara answered. She already had the slingshot out of her coat pocket. Up ahead another rat ventured out, larger than the last. She stopped walking and the rest of them stopped, too.

The rat was moving fast, and Kara tracked it. She got it with a head shot, accurate and deadly.

The Marine beside her tensed, but he let her make the shot. "Damn," he murmured, "you come see our recruiter in a couple of years."

She turned to him with her chin up and said proudly. "My mother was a Marine. She died with the rest of her unit _fighting_ the Cylons back on Picon."

She saw something in his eyes before he nodded slightly at her, and she knew that he saw her differently now. There wasn't any doubt in his mind how she felt about the Cylons. There wasn't any doubt in her mind how he felt either.

"You said you're mother's dead. What about your father?" The Secretary asked.

"He's dead, too."

She saw the sympathy in Roslin's eyes, the slight shake of her head that said _I'm sorry_ without a word being spoken.

"What now? Will someone clean the rat up?"

"The other rats will do that before anyone gets the chance. Let's go."

Kara waited for the Secretary's face to whiten or for her to look sick. It didn't happen. This woman really was tough and that made her all right in Kara's book.

When they got to Hugh Connelly's tent, Kara called his name.

"Come in," she heard him answer.

"No, you've got to come out. There's somebody here who wants to meet you."

"Who?"

"Laura Roslin, the Secretary of Education."

"That's not really…" he came out of the tent "…funny," he finished. The look on his face when he saw her and Roslin with a dozen Marines behind them was priceless.

"Mr. Connelly, I'm Laura Roslin," the Secretary said. She stepped forward and held out her hand. "I understand you're a teacher. This young woman thinks you can help me."

He shook her hand. "How?"

"That's what we need to discuss. Would you accompany me back to the admin tent and sit down and talk with me? I've brought some education plans and other material with me."

"Sure."

As they started walking back, Kara slipped away. They didn't need her now.

When she got back to the tent, Karl asked her, "What did you do this morning?"

"Nothing much. Went to hear Laura Roslin talk."

"What did she have to say?"

"She wants to educate us."

Karl laughed.

"My feelings exactly. I introduced her to Connelly, not because I think they're going to educate us, but because he needs something to do."

"Good thinking."

That afternoon Connelly came to their tent.

"I don't know whether to thank you or strangle you."

"She seems nice."

"She is. Extremely. She believes in what she's doing. She's so good she's almost got me convinced it can be done."

"So when do you start working for her?"

"Right away. We're going to try to get organized enough to start some classes this fall, maybe late summer."

"You mean I might have to go to _school_ next year?"

"We're going to start with the youngest group of children first, the six and seven year olds, and get them started with the basics…alphabet, numbers, reading."

"That's a good idea to start with the little kids first."

"If we don't, there are a lot of children who will be years behind when the government can get permanent housing worked out. Ms. Roslin is going to get a team of teachers up here from Caprica City. She wants me because I used to be a teacher, but more importantly because I know the camp. She thinks that I'll know what will work and what won't. I just hope her faith in me isn't misplaced."

"It's not. I'm sure it's not."

He hesitated and then said, "I'm going to be moving outside the camp."

Kara's heart sank. "She didn't mention that."

"I'll be back here a lot, though."

She walked outside the tent with him when he left. He turned and wrapped his arms around her. "I wish…"

She wrapped her arms around him. "I know." He was going to say he wished she were older.

"You just keep saving my life," he said.

"At this rate one day I'll own your entire soul."

"I can't think of anyone I'd rather have it," he said.

"Will you kiss me again?"

"Kara…I shouldn't."

She felt like she was saying goodbye to him. "Please, before you go."

He did, but it wasn't like the other time. He barely touched his lips to hers. It was barely a kiss at all.

The next time she saw him he was walking through the camp with a group of well-dressed people. They had clipboards and layouts of the camp. One of them, a young, dark-haired woman was walking really close to him. He was talking to her and smiling. He didn't even notice Kara.

She felt a painful knot begin to form in her chest.

She would think twice before she trusted her heart to another man. She wasn't being fair to Connelly, she knew. After all, she was the one who had taken Laura Roslin to meet him. Connelly getting this job and meeting the dark-haired woman was really all her fault, but that didn't make it hurt any less.

That night she thought of Prince Olliver for the first time in months.

He would never do that to her.

She was Olliver's golden-haired princess with emerald eyes. She was his true love. One day she would find Olliver with his eyes as blue as the sky at twilight and the wings over his heart. He'd make her forget all about Connelly.

She held on to that thought, her pillow still damp with her tears as she finally went to sleep.

...

After thanking her Marine escort, Laura boarded the small eight-passenger government ship at the Antioch Airport. Her feet were aching, and she couldn't wait to get seated so she could kick off her shoes.

The ship's pilot Captain Russell Russo was waiting for her and welcomed her back on board. He always did that which was one of the many reasons she always requested him each time she had to fly anywhere. He was soft-spoken and kind, a little older than she was, and he was a family man, devoted to his wife, six-year-old daughter and three-year-old son. Laura felt like she could always rely on him to get her safely from Caprica City to wherever she was supposed to go and then get her back again.

"Tough day, Ma'am?" he asked as he took her briefcase and stowed it in an overhead compartment.

"Very." She sat down in one of the front seats in the passenger compartment and kicked off her shoes and massaged first one foot and then the other. "I must remember to bring some comfortable shoes with me next time. I had the most extraordinary experience today, but it involved walking several miles in those." She gestured to the heels.

"Michelle gave them up when she was pregnant with our daughter. I'm not sure she owns a pair now. They don't lend themselves to chasing an active little boy, either."

"Smart," Laura said. "I sometimes wish I could."

"We've got good weather this afternoon. We'll have you back to Caprica City as soon as possible."

"Thank you, Captain."

Billy usually accompanied her on trips like this, but today she had come alone. She'd left him in her office working on the education proposal for the camp's children. She didn't know if she stood a chance of getting the funding considering how the Cylons felt about the camps. But she was going to try. If not, she'd have to take it from another one of her budgeted accounts. One way or another she was determined to help these forgotten children.

Laura sat back and closed her eyes as the ship lifted off. She was so tired right now that in some ways the day was just a blur of jumbled images…the meager group of people who had come to hear her speak…the rats…the teacher who had lost his entire family…and the thin, pretty girl with the beautiful green eyes and deadly aim with the slingshot who had challenged her without the slightest bit of hesitation…or fear.

Laura wasn't sure of her age, probably early or mid-teens, but everything else about her seemed older, even her beautiful eyes had a hardness about them that no child's should have. The only time they had softened was when she was looking at the teacher. Laura had recognized the look. The girl had a crush on him.

She had slipped away as Laura and Hugh Connelly had walked back to the admin tent. Only after Laura had realized she was missing had she thought to ask her name. Connelly had told her.

Laura filed the name away in her memory and hoped she would be able to recall it later.

_Kara._

TBC…


	16. Graduating and Beyond

Chapter 16

Graduating and Beyond

_While the Cylons made no attempt to overtly hinder the training of new pilots, they did nothing to help either. The maintenance of aging equipment became an issue as funds were increasingly diverted to other projects that the Cylons felt no need to explain to the Colonials. Those who cooperated with the Cylons were given an almost unlimited free reign in their spending. One of the most well-known of these was the scientist and Artificial Intelligence expert Dr. Gaius Baltar. _

_-Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War_

Lieutenant Lee Adama stood on the stage in front of his graduating class from the Academy. He had been a lieutenant for six hours now, ever since the morning ceremony when he'd gotten his commission as an officer. This afternoon he was graduating at the top of his class of three hundred twelve students. He had just finished giving the valedictory address to his fellow cadets and their families.

His speech hadn't been nearly as good as that of their commencement speaker, Laura Roslin, the Secretary of Education, but it had been shorter so he knew that no one cared. He doubted that many of them were listening anyway. It had been a tough year and everyone was looking forward to several weeks of vacation before they started Flight School or whatever their next training would be.

He and Blaire were going on a much-anticipated vacation. Last night at a graduation party for him, his parents and John Gallagher had given them the round-trip tickets to one of the small islands off Caprica's south coast. Included was a week's stay for the two of them at a nice resort.

John had done exactly what he said he wasn't going to do as far as Lissa was concerned. He'd not only gotten involved, he was living with her. Not that Lee saw her very often. She had come to his party with John, but had seemed bored most of the evening. The only time Lee had seen her acting like she was having a good time was when she was talking to Zak and later dancing with him. Zak was a total charmer when it came to women even if they were older than him.

Blaire had talked to Zak, too, and danced with him once, but Blaire was just naturally sweet and friendly. She had talked to everybody so Lee didn't think too much about it. After all, she had left the party with him.

John was here today at his graduation, of course, sitting with Lee's parents and Zak and Blaire. They were on the front row in the section reserved for the parents and other guests. John even had on a new suit and tie. Bill was wearing his dress gray uniform. Lee felt a deep sense of pride that his father was the highest-ranking officer in the auditorium that day. The sash displaying his medals was impressive.

At the end of Lee's speech he sat down to a lot more applause than he thought he would get.

Colonel Charles Winters, the Academy's top administrator got up, made a few remarks, and began reading the names of that year's graduates. As he read each name, the cadet walked across the stage and was handed his or her diploma. Lee didn't have to walk across the stage. Colonel Winters brought his diploma first and handed it to him and then shook his hand.

After everything was over and the new graduates were dismissed, Laura spoke to Colonel Winters for a few minutes, and then she came over to him. She looked really beautiful today in a sapphire blue suit. His father had told him that she was thirty-eight now, but she looked a lot younger. Her hair was down around her shoulders, and it glowed with auburn highlights under the stage lighting. Lee still felt a sense of awe when he was around her.

She shook his hand. "Congratulations. Your speech was concise and interesting. I can tell you put a lot of thought into it. The tribute you paid to the pilots we lost during the three days of fighting was very touching. I could tell it came from your heart."

"Thank you," he said. "I was on the _Galactica_ with my father and the rest of his crew during those three days. That's one of the reasons I decided to become a pilot."

"I didn't know that."

"Dad must have forgotten to mention it to you. Your speech was better than mine, though. You're a real inspiration to all of us. He told me what you've done for the refugees, what you're still doing."

"Thank you. I'm sure you understand why I've tried so hard for them, Lieutenant Adama." She smiled.

For a moment he saw something in her eyes, a memory stirred, perhaps. Was she thinking of his father? He had once been Lieutenant Adama also. In fact when he was in love with Laura Roslin he was Lieutenant Adama.

"Please, call me Lee."

"Only if you'll call me Laura."

"Deal," he said and smiled.

At that moment his family walked up. His mother hugged him and then his father and then Zak and then John and finally Blaire. He kept his arm around her. He noticed that his father and Laura shook hands. He also noticed that his father held the handshake just a few seconds longer than he did with anyone else.

Laura greeted his entire family by their names. Then she turned to his father. "I don't believe I've met this young lady or the other gentleman," she said to him.

"Sorry," Bill said. "This is Blaire Merric, Lee's girlfriend."

"Oh, my, Lee is a lucky man. You are a beautiful young woman. What do you do?"

"I work at Fleet Headquarters in communications."

"Then you're smart as well a beautiful."

"Thank you," Blaire murmured.

Bill continued. "And this is John Gallagher, Captain John Gallagher I should say. He's a good friend of ours, especially Lee's. John, this is Laura Roslin."

She stepped around Bill and held out her hand. "My pleasure, Captain Gallagher. Any friend of the Adamas is my friend as well."

"Madame Secretary," John said as he took her hand. "The pleasure is mine."

"Oh, please, Lee and I just went through this. It's Laura to my friends." She smiled at him.

"John," he said returning the smile.

Lee noticed Gallagher was still holding her hand. He had never seen John blush like that before. John seemed finally to realize and released her hand.

Laura didn't lose her composure at all. Like most beautiful women, she was probably used to men acting like that when they met her.

"Bill introduced you as Captain," Laura said. "Are you in the military, too?"

"No, ma'am. I'm a commercial pilot…uh…cargo…pilot."

"John's flown almost everything," Lee said. "Including a Viper during the First War."

Laura smiled. "That doesn't surprise me at all. You Viper pilots are a tight-knit group, aren't you? Sharing things the rest of us can't even imagine."

"Combat can produce that bond. You save a man's life or he saves yours, you carry that with you for the rest of your life. All of us do."

"Well put, John. I can tell you've been there."

"Yes, ma'am. Bill and I have both been there."

Laura glanced at his father, "I don't doubt that at all," she said softly.

A tall young man with slightly-curly brown hair came up beside Laura. She turned and he said, "Excuse me, Madame Secretary, your car is waiting. You have that four o'clock ribbon cutting at the new elementary school near King's Bay. It will take us almost an hour to get there."

"Thank you, Billy." She turned back to them. "I'm so sorry, I'd love to continue this conversation, but I have to go. We worked so hard to get the funding for that school. The old one was destroyed in the bombing. Thank the gods there were no children there when it happened. Bill, Carolanne, Zak, it's nice to see you again. Blaire, hang on to this fine young man. John, it's _very_ nice to have met you. Lee, congratulations on your graduation and on being first in your class. I know your family, _especially_ your father, and your friends are proud of you. Good luck with Flight School. I hope to see _all_ of you again soon."

"Thank you," Lee said. He watched her walk with Billy to the edge of the stage and down the steps. Her ever-present Marine guard fell into step behind them. The skirt of her suit came just above her knees. He'd never noticed before what nice legs she had.

He glanced at his father. Bill was watching her. John was watching her, too.

They were all going out to eat. On the way to the parking lot John stopped long enough to light a cigarette and then caught up with Lee and Blaire who were still walking arm in arm. John was uncharacteristically silent.

Later Lee got a chance to ask John what he thought about Laura. "Well, you've met her. What do you think?"

"She's everything you said and then some. I'm sure she thinks _I'm_ an idiot."

"Why would she think that? Maybe because you blushed like a little schoolgirl and held her hand for five minutes?"

"Did I? Damn. I knew I'd done something stupid. She was very gracious about it."

"Yes, she was, wasn't she? Maybe you should think about asking her for a date."

"Forget it, Lee. She's a member of the President's Cabinet. I'm a cargo pilot. I told you before she's way out of my league...way out."

"That sort of thinking precludes anything anyway, doesn't it?"

"Just drop it. I'm living with Lissa. I'm fine with that."

Lee dropped it but he wondered. Something had happened recently with John and Lissa, something he hadn't shared with Lee, something that was bugging him. He was still living with her, but John no longer sounded like he was fine with it.

...

Flight School was a lot harder than Lee thought it would be. He spent the first four weeks in the classroom, studying Viper technology and instrument navigation. Because there were only fifty-two Mark V and VI Vipers at the Caprica Airbase with no hope of getting more, the instructors were especially hard in the classroom and in the simulators. They wanted only the best students to make it to an actual Viper. So far Lee was at the top of his class. His simulator scores were among the highest, too.

There were plenty of Mark II Vipers now, thanks to something Bill had done. Lee had heard a rumor that some engineers were secretly hard at work on the design of a new Mark VII Viper. His father told him that was nonsense. The Cylons would never allow it.

Lee had a textbook-perfect first four weeks of Flight School. When he started survival training, however, something went wrong in the vacuum chamber that was used to simulate deep space. The old flight suit he was wearing had a pin-sized hole. At some point he actually heard the suit leaking, but by then he wasn't able to speak. He tried anyway. He opened his mouth. His last conscious memory was of the saliva on his tongue beginning to boil. By the time someone realized he was in trouble and started the emergency re-pressurization procedure, he was nearly dead.

He spent twelve hours in a decompression chamber and three days in the hospital. The doctors assured him he would suffer no long-term ill effects. The short-term effects were another matter.

Sometime during the twelve hours he spent in the decompression chamber he first saw the girl. He could never decide later if she was a dream or a hallucination. He didn't ask the doctors. He was sure they would have a multi-syllable medical term for her like they did for everything else he had experienced. He had already heard the term _hypoxemic hypoxia_ used too much. Why didn't they just say the oxygen level in his blood had gotten to a dangerously low level? Why didn't they just say that the human brain when deprived of oxygen does strange things?

Whoever or whatever the girl was, he must have conjured her from somewhere in his subconscious. At least that's what he later told himself. He finally realized she couldn't have been real.

She had soft blond hair and a perfect body and she swam naked in front of his vision with the grace of a mermaid in the ocean. She was the painting of Posiden's beautiful daughter he'd seen one time at the Caprica Museum of Fine Art. Or maybe she was Aphrodite, goddess of Love. Or maybe she was in an adventure story he'd once read, a princess rising from her bath in a garden pool as the hero watched, the water touching her skin like a lover's kiss. Her green eyes held all the stars in the universe and she was smiling at him.

He could reach out and almost touch her.

She stayed with him the rest of the time he was in the chamber, and just when he thought she would stay always out of his reach, she leaned down and kissed him. Her mouth was warm like sunlight and sweet like a Siren's Kiss and it held more than temptation. Her kiss held the gift of love.

When the medical team removed him from the decompression chamber and put him on the stretcher to take him to the hospital, he told them to bring her, too.

"Sure, buddy, we'll do that," one of them said to him and smiled. Lee shut his eyes. When he opened them again, he was in the hospital and the girl was gone.

He later realized that the first crack in his relationship with Blaire appeared during the three days he spent in the hospital. She begged him to quit Flight School and pursue something else. He wondered how she could even have asked. She knew how much he wanted to become a pilot.

Whether or not the girl in his vision had anything to do with what happened to him and Blaire was not a question he could answer.

The first day and night that he was in the hospital, his father was at his side every time he opened his eyes. Sometime his mother was there, too, but always his father. Lee knew he was being kept mildly sedated. He later found out that he'd been combative at first and that the doctors feared seizures. He had no memory of that at all.

One time when he surfaced from sleep, his father was standing by the bed, his hand on Lee's shoulder. Bill's eyes were tired and red-rimmed. Lee wanted to tell him about the girl, but his tongue felt thick and his mouth was too dry when he tried to speak. A nurse or maybe a doctor came in and Bill stepped back from the bed.

She checked the nasal cannula that was delivering his oxygen. Then she checked his IV and all the monitors he was hooked to and put a stethoscope to his chest in several places. She said, "He's doing fine, commander."

"I thought I'd lost him," his father said and Lee heard his voice crack.

"He's going to be fine," she repeated. She had a hypodermic and injected something into his IV line. "The pulmonary edema has cleared up. We'll take him off the oxygen soon. He just needs to rest right now."

Lee closed his eyes. There was something in his father's voice he'd never heard before. Was it new, or had it always been there and he was just hearing it for the first time? Was the girl responsible for that, too?

"Dad?" His voice was little more than a whisper.

His father was back at his side.

"There was a girl…" he said thickly. His voice trailed off and he closed his eyes again.

"Was she beautiful?" he heard his father ask.

_The most beautiful girl I've ever seen._ He thought he said the words out loud but he wasn't sure.

"You rest, son. I'm not going to leave you."

Lee smiled, or thought he did. _She gave me the gift of love._

On the second morning they took him off the oxygen and started reducing the sedative.

Late on the second afternoon his father was gone and John was sitting in the chair by his bed when he woke up.

"You know some guys will do anything to get a little afternoon nap." John said. "Leave it to you to come up with something this original."

Lee tried to speak. He sounded like a frog croaking, but his tongue felt a lot better.

John stood up and held a cup of ice water while Lee drank from the straw. "You scared me, Lee. How do you feel?"

"Who's Lee? And who are you?" He managed to hold a blank stare for a full five seconds. The look on John's face was worth it, and then John realized he'd been had.

"Damn it, that's not funny. Get out of that bed so I can kick your ass."

"That'd be easy for you to do in this hospital gown I'm wearing."

"On second thought, you stay right where you are. So I'll ask again, how do you feel?"

"A lot better than I did yesterday."

"Good." John squeezed the lower part of Lee's arm. "Try not to do something like that again."

"Not enough fun," Lee said. "Don't think I will."

John sat down. "Don't mind me. I'm just going to sit here. Your dad needed to go home and get some sleep. I told him I'd stay until he got back. I don't know if you realize it, but he's been with you since you've been in here. He was outside that decompression chamber the whole time, too. You had us worried."

"Really?"

"Lee, I know what you told me one time, but your dad loves you. Don't you _ever_ doubt that."

"Maybe you're right."

"No _maybes_ about it. If there's one thing I recognize, it's a father who loves his child."

Lee knew that was true.

"Blaire wants me to quit Flight School and do something else. She told me when she was here last night. She told me again when she stopped by this morning on her way to work."

"How do you feel about it?"

"I don't want to."

"Then don't. She'll either get used to it or she won't."

"When you were with Kara's mother, how did she feel about you flying?"

John shrugged. "It wasn't something we ever discussed. Just like I never asked her to quit being a Marine. I knew what she did was dangerous at times, like when she was posted to Tauron and got wounded, but some things are just who you are. Whoever you're with should understand that. Kara's mom was a Marine. I'm a pilot. I think you are, too."

"Yeah."

"Do you want me to talk to Blaire? Try to explain it to her?"

"No, that's up to me. You're right. She'll either accept it or she won't."

...

Even after missing a week of Flight School, Lee still had a nearly perfect check ride with his instructor in the two-seater Viper. Two days later he soloed. If there had ever been any doubt in his mind about continuing, that put it to rest. He was going to be a Viper pilot. He studied late into the night and made up all the work he had missed.

One of his classmates jokingly asked him if he wasn't too hung up on always being top man in the class. Lee shrugged and told him that any of the top three slots was okay with him. The same classmate unwittingly gave him his call sign. He started calling him _Apollo_, the sun god for his favored status. _Apollo_, son of Zeus because his father was a commander. At first Lee hated it because he knew they were making fun of him, but every time he heard it, it seemed to grow on him. _Apollo_. When it came time to pick his call sign, nothing else seemed right, and yet he hesitated.

He talked it over with John one night at McGee's. At least John didn't make fun of him.

"Hearing you talk makes me wish I was still flying a Viper," John said. "I was Starbuck. Starbuck and Apollo. It has a nice ring to it, don't you think?"

"I like Apollo and Starbuck better."

"Of course you would. I thought one day…that night leaving Picon…Kara told me that she had always wanted to be a Viper pilot like me. It got to me so much it made me cry. I was hoping to pass my call sign down to her. I was hoping to…you see…but I guess now…" his voice trailed off.

"You still will, John. One day I'll fly with Starbuck, only it will be Kara, not you."

"That would be nice. That would be real nice."

Lee recognized the depth of emotion that he never heard unless John was talking about Kara, the faraway look he got these days when he tried to talk about her. Lee knew he'd better change the subject or John would order another drink…and then another.

"This _Apollo_ thing," Lee said. "I know when the guys started calling me that they were making fun of me."

"They're just jealous," John said. "If you like _Apollo_ as a call sign, then take it. Don't let them get to you. You've got to be who you are, Lee. Top-of-the-class is who you are."

"You don't think I'm too obsessed with it, do you?"

"There are times when I think you should lighten up a little bit. Being second or even tenth is not the end of the world. But that's me looking at it from the way I was. Don't get me wrong. I took flying a Viper very seriously, but I still had a hell of a lot of fun."

"I'm not sure I ever learned how to have fun," Lee said. "Growing up…there was always something that needed to be taken care of…stuff my mother couldn't…handle. And my dad was gone most of the time. We don't need to go there again. We've talked about that enough before."

"Follow your brother's example, then. Zak sure knows how to have fun."

"Too much fun if you ask me."

"Now see, there you go." John said. "Who's to say how much fun is too much fun?"

"I guess you're right."

After that Lee couldn't stop wondering when being the best had become so important to him. Why did it matter so much to him? Just what was he trying to prove and who was he trying to prove it to? John had expressed it nicely by saying he should lighten up a little bit. Zak expressed it differently. He told Lee that he was a nut-job about the grades and his class standing. Of course that was right after Lee got all over Zak about being satisfied with just barely passing.

"Hey, you take the grades," Zak said, "I'll take the girls. Guess who's going to be happier?"

"I'm happy with Blaire," Lee snapped. "I don't have any interest in frakking half the girls at King's Bay High School. I never did. You should be studying more, getting your grades up so you can go to the Academy."

"Yeah, you're nineteen going on ninety," Zak shot back. "That's about how much fun you are to be around these days. And who said I want to frak half the girls in the school. I'm going for quality, not quantity, the homecoming queen, the student body president, the head cheerleader. As for the Academy, why do you and Dad think I want to go to the Academy? I've got another whole year of high school and the two of you have already got my whole frakking life planned."

"Look, Zak, Dad is the one who thought the military would be good for you, but I agree with him. You can't be stud-boy and play around at sports and goofing off for the rest of your life. You need to do something constructive."

"And the two of you are the best judge of what that is? I don't frakking think so. Coming along behind you in high school is bad enough, and you only finished third in your class. How do you think I'd feel at the Academy where you finished first? How many times do you think one of your teachers has looked at me and said '_So you're Lee's brother_,' like it was some kind of honor just to be related to you? How do you think that makes me feel, huh, always being compared to the best and always coming up short?"

"Zak, you shouldn't…"

"Aw, just forget it, man. At least that's one thing I don't have to worry about with the girls. Nobody's comparing me to Mr. Top-of-His-Class in bed. In fact, you couldn't frak your way out of a paper bag in high school." Zak started laughing. "My brother, king of the high school virgins. Took the purity pledge along with all the little giggling freshman girls."

"You don't know what the hell you're talking about," Lee said hotly.

"Oh, yeah, well if you and your best buddy John are such hot studs, why were your girlfriends hanging all over me at your graduation party? Huh? Tell me that."

"Blaire wasn't…"

"I'll tell you why. It's because they realized what they were missing. They both wanted it. Blaire was so hot for it I could have taken her upstairs and…"

Lee hit his brother, the first time in his life that he had ever hit Zak. And then it was on. Before it was over, before their mother heard them, came upstairs and went into hysterics, Lee had a bloody nose and a cut lip. Zak had a swollen eye, cut lip and a chipped tooth. Zak tore downstairs, jumped in the car, peeled out of the driveway and down the street. Lee was in the kitchen getting some ice for his lip and holding a towel to his nose to stop the bleeding when his father got home.

"What's going on, Lee?"

"It's nothing, Dad. It's between me and Zak."

"That's not good enough, son."

"It'll have to be. I'm not going to talk about it."

"You and Zak have never fought before. I want to know what's going on."

"You can give orders all you want. I'm not going to discuss it with you. You were never here before so just stay out of it. It's always been just me and Zak. This is something we're going to have to work out for ourselves."

"Not with your fists, you're not. Not in my house. Not and put your mother in this kind of state."

"Maybe we'll go for dueling pistols at dawn, then."

Lee slammed out of the kitchen and up to his room. Behind him he could hear his parents talking. He could hear his mother's anguished voice and his father's questions. Let them talk all they wanted. He and Zak would have to work it out, just the two of them, just like it had always been.

Late that night Lee was lying on his bed on top of the covers in the dark. There was a soft tap at the door. He didn't answer. He didn't want to talk to anybody right now.

The door opened a few inches and a sliver of light from the hall fell across the foot of the bed.

"You awake?" Zak asked.

"Go away, Zak. I'm not in the mood to talk right now."

"I didn't mean it about Blaire. She's nice and sweet and I would never make a move on her." Zak waited.

"Yeah, okay," Lee finally said. "I'm sorry I hit you."

"I deserved it. I'm sorry I hit you, too. Just please tell Dad to lay off about the Academy. I don't want to be a pilot."

"You don't have to be a pilot. There're other careers in the military."

"I'd just flunk out of the Academy."

"What do you want to do then?"

"I don't know. Maybe play pro soccer. I'll meet lots more girls."

"Go to bed, Zak," Lee said tiredly.

The door clicked shut and the room was dark once more.

Was Zak right? Was his classmate right? Was he obsessed with being perfect? Were his ideals and standards _too high_? Was he just setting himself up to be disappointed? What right did he have to tell Zak what to do? To tell his father what to do? To tell John what to do? He'd come down on John that night at McGee's for something his brother would probably have patted him on the back for. What right did he have to judge anybody? When had life become so serious for him? Where had all the fun gone? Had he _ever_ known what it was like to have fun? To live the carefree way Zak lived? Had Zak been telling the truth the first time about Blaire? Was that what was bothering him more than anything else, the thought that he might not be good enough to keep Blaire's interest? That some good-looking, sweet-talking kid like Zak would one day take her away from him, that some guy who knew how to have fun would take her to bed and make her forget all about him?

For the first time in a long time, Lee felt the negative beast creep in and take a bite of his soul.

The next day he went back to class, then out to the airfield and got in a Viper. As the ground began to recede behind him, he felt his doubts and fears and questions begin to dissolve. High above the planet when he was in a Viper, everything negative went away. He felt the girl with him again. He didn't see her, but he felt her. He breathed her in. He would always be good enough for her, for the green-eyed girl with the Siren's kiss of love.

Seven weeks later he graduated from Flight School at the top of his class and took the Top Gun trophy. Whereas his graduation from the Academy had not been that emotional for him, the ceremony where his father pinned on his wings was. Bill was feeling it, too. In fact, he was the one who got tears in his eyes before Lee did.

His father embraced him. "I'm so proud of you."

Lee was too choked up to speak.

The legacy was passed from a father to his son.

Lee glanced down at his chest, at the wings over his heart.

He was a Viper pilot, just like his father.

...

Because he was at the top of his class, he got his choice of the three battlestars that were continuing the training of Viper pilots, the _Triton_, the _Columbia_ and the _Galactica_. He would spend a year on the battlestar so the decision was a difficult one. Part of him wanted to go to the _Galactica_, his father's old ship, but part of him didn't want to have to contend with his father's legacy, to wonder if he was getting preferential treatment because of who his father was. There was the flip side of that, too, being resented for who his father was.

He finally let chance make the decision for him. He and several of his flight school classmates went to McGee's one night. All of them had too much to drink. They pinned the names of the three battlestars on the dartboard, took turns being blindfolded, and threw a dart. Lee got the first throw. There was much cheering from the onlookers as he twice missed the board entirely. On his third throw he hit the _Triton._ He found it was a decision he could live with.

On his last Saturday night before he left for the battlestar, he took Blaire to Bonnie Patrice. It had been almost a year since he had first seen her there. What he had neglected to do was make reservations, and when they got there, he found that the wait would be over an hour, closer to an hour and a half.

He was driving and didn't want to sit in the bar for that long.

He and Blaire were trying to decide what to do when Laura Roslin and the nice-looking young guy Lee had seen come up to her at his Academy graduation came in. She saw them and stopped.

"Lee, how nice to see you again and… let me see… Blaire…is that right?"

"Yes, ma'am," Blaire murmured. "You have a really good memory."

"I have to work at it," Laura smiled. She then introduced them to her aide, Billy Keikeya. "Today is Billy's twenty-second birthday. I asked him where he wanted to go to celebrate and of course he picked the most popular restaurant in Caprica City. I think he wants to be _seen_," she added in an exaggerated whisper.

Billy blushed, possibly at the attention she had just called to him.

Lee could tell, however, from Laura's gentle, teasing tone that she felt nothing but affection for her aide.

"Well, happy birthday," Blaire said.

"Thank you."

"We're trying to decide whether or not to wait over an hour for a table," Lee told them. "Naturally I forgot to make reservations."

Blaire said. "He's trying to blame it on the accident he had in the deep space simulator. Funny, he seems to remember other things just fine, like when his transport leaves for the _Triton_."

"Why don't you join us?" Billy asked. "We've got reservations."

"Of course you'll join us," Laura said. "I owe Billy much more than a birthday dinner for all the long hours he puts in. I know the company of two young people will be nice. I know he gets tired of spending his life in my office."

"No, I don't," Billy said.

She went up to the restaurant's hostess, gave her name, and a minute later the maître d seated them. Lee realized that they had attracted some attention as they walked through the restaurant to one of the best tables in the smaller, more private dining room. He wasn't sure if it was because Laura was that well known or because people were looking at two beautiful women. It didn't occur to him until later that dressed in suits and ties, he and Billy might have gotten some of those looks, too.

"How is your father?" Laura asked after they were seated. "He told me there had been an accident with your survival training. I could tell it upset him a great deal."

"He's fine. I think he must have made a few phone calls. I heard the whole deep space simulator exercise is being reviewed. I know accidents happen. I think what upset him was how long it took for anyone to notice I was in trouble. That, and the ancient space suits and other equipment we're working with."

He got one of _those_ looks from Blaire. She really wanted him to change the subject.

He obliged and said to Laura, "Enough about me. Tell us about what's going on in the refugee camps. How is the permanent housing coming?"

"We'll have the first complex finished in Caprica City sometime early next year. Right now we've got classes started for the youngest children in the camps. We're trying to teach them the basics so they won't get so far behind."

"I understand that getting the funding has been difficult," Lee said. "Dad mentioned it."

"Getting funding from the Cylons for the refugees is always difficult, but Billy put together a masterful proposal for me last spring. We got it past the Cylon advisors without them even realizing, I think, that it was for the camps."

Billy blushed again. "You rewrote it."

"I polished it up a little. You did all the work. You get the credit."

"It must be exciting to work that close to the heart of the government," Blaire said to him.

"I've never thought too much about it." Billy answered her. "I'm doing what I want to do. That's what's important."

"It's a good thing, too," Laura said. "As I mentioned, Billy puts in too many long days and even weekends for me to doubt that."

"A lot less than you do," Billy retorted.

"I'd be thrilled to do something like that," Blaire said. "I sit in a communication room at Fleet Headquarters all day and route messages. The only excitement we have is when that blond Cylon woman comes in and runs audit reports. We all wonder what she's looking for. The rest of the time it's totally boring."

"You could go back to a battlestar," Lee said, "like the _Triton_."

Blaire looked at Laura. "He says that like I can go to my CO and tell him to post me back to a battlestar. It's a lot harder getting back on one than getting off one. Unless you're a pilot of course. Lee's going to the _Triton_ on Monday. For a whole year."

"I remember when Lee's father went to a battlestar. It was during the First Cylon War. You can be thankful that Lee won't be going into combat right away like Bill did."

Billy and Blaire both looked at her. "You knew Commander Adama during the First War?" Billy asked.

Lee noticed the pink in her cheeks. She covered it wonderfully, though. "Oh, I thought everyone knew that. I've known Bill for years. My father and his father were _very_ good friends."

"What did your father do?" Lee asked.

"He was a Colonial Ambassador."

"Wow," Blaire said. "What a glamorous job."

"The thing is I never saw his job as that glamorous…or dangerous. I guess we never see our parents as special in that sense. He was just my father, a bit stubborn and overbearing at times, perhaps, but still just my father. He always thought he knew what was best for me."

"I can relate to that," Lee said.

Laura laughed. "I'm rather more acquainted with your father's stubborn side."

Later, when first Blaire and then Billy excused themselves, Laura looked at him. "How is your handsome friend John Gallagher?"

"He's fine."

"Does he have family here on Caprica?"

He started to tell her about John's daughter and then realized that was not his story to tell. He simply answered, "No."

"He's single then?"

Lee finally understood what she was asking. Was Laura actually interested in John? He wanted to tell her the truth without telling her too much. He hesitated. He still thought Laura and John would make a nice couple.

Laura said quickly, "I've made you uncomfortable with that question. He's your friend. I understand. He's not married but he's in a committed relationship."

"I'm not sure I'd call it committed, but he is in a relationship."

"I see. Naturally someone as good-looking as he is would be. Thank you."

He wished John weren't living with Lissa. Otherwise he would tell Laura that she should call John, that she might be very pleasantly surprised.

Laura insisted on paying for his and Blaire's dinner as well, a graduation present she said. He added something else to the list of things he liked about her, her generosity.

That night at Blaire's apartment, the crack that had appeared in their relationship following his accident widened. She started crying as soon as they were through her bedroom door and Lee couldn't seem to comfort her. They didn't even make love. He just held her until she cried herself out. After the argument they had next, he wasn't in the mood.

"I'm not going to be gone forever, Blaire. It's just a year and I'll get a leave in a couple of months."

"Why can't you get a job that will keep you here all the time? Why can't you go to law school like you told me you'd thought about? Why can't you be a lawyer like your grandfather was? Why can't you go to work for a politician like Billy does?"

"Because that's not what I want to do. I've got to complete the training to be a Viper pilot. We all put in a year on a battlestar. It's important to learn all the skills."

"Why do you want to be a Viper pilot anyway? Just because your father was one, is that why? Or because John was one? There's nobody to fight now anyway. "

"My father has nothing to do with this and neither does John. This is my career, my life. It's what I want to do. I made that decision during those three days we were fighting the Cylons. And just because we're not fighting them now doesn't mean we never will again. Blaire, you don't know what I feel like when I'm in the cockpit of a Viper. I can't even begin to describe it."

"So you'll have a great time while I sit back here on Caprica bored out of my mind in a dull job that a trained monkey could do."

Lee was shocked. He'd never heard her talk about her job like that before tonight. "What's going on, Blaire?"

"I'm just…I don't know. I guess I'm afraid you'll get up there on the battlestar and start sleeping with somebody else like the other Viper pilot I dated and…"

"Whoa, wait a minute. Blaire, I'm not like him."

"You say that, but you're a pilot now."

"Getting my wings didn't suddenly change who I am. If I were the kind of guy who was going to sleep around on you, I'd have done it before now. I wouldn't wait to get on a battlestar to do it."

"You say that now."

"Then I'm sure you'll be able to find somebody on the _Triton_ to watch me and report back to you. I'm sure you've got a whole network of comm officers you can rely on."

"Is that what you think I'll do?"

"Isn't that what you did with your other…pilot friend?"

She started crying again and they were back to square one. Lee was so exhausted and emotionally wrung out when he left her apartment before dawn the next morning that he felt like he was driving home drunk.

What had happened to them? He was too tired at the moment to try to analyze it.

...

The next Saturday night he went to the Comm Center on the _Triton_ and placed a ship-to-shore call to her. Ship-to-shore didn't work with mobile phones so he had to call the land-line at her apartment. Her roommate Dee answered almost immediately.

The connection wasn't too good, and Dee kept trying to chat with him. At first he was annoyed at how long it was taking Blaire to come to the phone. He finally had to ask Dee to get her. That's when Dee admitted that Blaire wasn't at the apartment. He didn't put Dee on the spot by asking her where Blaire was. At this point it didn't matter.

He and Blaire were either going to make it as a couple or they weren't.

He had either made the right decision in becoming a pilot or he hadn't.

The next day when he sat in a Viper cockpit in a launch tube for the first time, when the G-force of the catapult pinned him against the seat before it flung him into space, he knew he would never doubt his decision again.

He banked his Viper away from the _Triton_ in a tight turn and began the first of the training maneuvers.

The girl in his vision was with him again and he felt her approval. He looked at the stars.

This is what he had been born to do.

This is who he was.

TBC…


	17. Saying Goodbye

Chapter 17

Saying Goodbye

_Almost three years after the bombing of the northern cities, the government of Caprica completed the first of several housing projects in Caprica City for the occupants of the refugee camps and began the slow resettlement process of the camps' inhabitants. Simultaneous projects included housing in Antioch and Sovana. Six months elapsed as the camps were emptied, dismantled and finally the sites cleared. During the next few years funds were raised by various groups to landscape the camp sites into parks to memorialize those who had died there and to honor those who had survived. _

_-Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War_

"How would you like to leave the camp and go to Caprica City?" Karl asked Kara as they walked toward the mess tent. "If we get in the first group you could celebrate your sixteenth birthday in the city."

"You're kidding?"

"Nope."

"How?"

"Maggie said they were going to start signing people up in a few days. They're going to take a couple hundred the first time. If we want to go, Jared will put our names into the computer. He and Maggie are going. I'd really like to go, too."

Maggie was Margaret Edmondson. She and Jared Daniels were cousins. Kara had met her over a year earlier, not long after Carrie Warner had died from the flu, when Jared had come to see if she knew about Carrie. He'd brought Maggie with him.

It was sometimes hard for Kara to believe now that it had been nearly a year and a half since the flu had decimated the camp, hard to believe that she would be sixteen in a few months.

Jared's mother and Maggie's mother, who were sisters, had both died in the flu epidemic. Their fathers had both been in the military. Jared's dad had been on the _Atlantia_ when it was lost over Picon. Maggie's dad had been a Raptor pilot on the _Solaria_. Kara and Karl shared a common bond with Jared and Maggie. All of them had now lost both of their parents.

Maggie had moved into an empty tent close to Jared. She was seventeen like Karl. Jared was nineteen and would soon be twenty. Maggie and Jared looked enough alike that they could be brother and sister.

Maggie was also Karl's girlfriend. Kara had been hanging out with Jared a lot since Karl and Maggie were together almost constantly. She knew they were having sex because she'd almost walked in on them once. If Karl hadn't tied the tent flap from the inside, she would have.

The next time they were alone Maggie asked her if she was okay with it.

"Why wouldn't I be okay with it?" Kara asked puzzled.

"Karl told me you're not really his sister. I just want to make sure. I wouldn't want to get on your bad side."

"Karl's my best friend not my boyfriend. He really is like a brother to me."

"Okay," Maggie said. "And don't worry. I'm not being stupid. I'm not going to get in trouble. I've got plans to be a Raptor pilot. I'm not about to get myself pregnant."

"Patch?" Kara asked smugly, remembering what Carrie had told her.

"Of course. You know Jared really likes you."

"I like him, too. It's just...I don't want to have a boyfriend right now."

She did like Jared, not the way she liked Hugh Connelly, but she still liked him. He was quiet and easy-going and really smart when it came to computers and anything electronic. She knew he wanted her to be his girlfriend, but she wasn't ready to go there yet. She didn't know if she would ever be ready to go there.

They had kissed though, and even though they hadn't gone all the way, once they'd done something else, too.

The occasion was the Colonial Day celebration at the start of the new year. As there had been each year, there was a big bonfire in each sector. This year someone got a band together and there was dancing. She and Karl and Maggie and Jared went together. In fact the dance was when she first realized that Karl and Maggie had a thing for each other because she saw them kissing. Not long after that they left.

She and Jared were alone together. He had gotten some liquor on the black market and they walked around sipping a drink that was half punch and half whiskey. They danced, too, swinging each other around and laughing. Later, after her third cup of the drink, they danced to something slow.

They were dancing close, her arms around his neck and his around her waist, when he leaned in and kissed her. It was a shock at first, almost like it would have been if Karl had kissed her since she saw Jared more that way than like a boyfriend, but she was feeling the effects of the alcohol by then. His mouth felt good on hers. He kissed her almost as good as Connelly had.

The kiss got deeper. She felt him hard against her just like Connelly had been that one time.

"Come back to the tent," he whispered urgently.

She shook her head. "I can't. We'll get in trouble."

"I'm not going to go all the way with you. I know we can't do that, but we'll do something else. It will feel almost as good."

"What?"

"Come on. I'll show you."

If she hadn't been half drunk she probably wouldn't have gone with him. But she did.

What he did was touch her like she'd dreamed about Connelly doing that time, just like Olliver had done to his lusty wench. Jared was good, he was really good. Carrie had taught him well. Oh, gods, what did to her felt so good, that and the way he kissed her. The longer he did it, the better it felt, until finally her whole body melted in spasms of pleasure. Nothing had ever felt quite that good in her life. It was a lot better than her dream.

Jared gave her a minute, until her breathing slowed, and then he unzipped his jeans and took her hand and put it on him. It didn't take long at all until he felt as good as she did. Afterward he held her tightly against him.

"Please don't be sorry we did this, Kara. I wanted to make you feel good. Please don't hate me."

"I don't."

"I know you still like the teacher. I know…"

She cut him off. "You don't know anything."

"Karl told Maggie about you and him."

"I'm going to hurt Karl. He had no business telling Maggie anything about me."

"Why do you still like him? He's got a girlfriend. I saw them…"

"Shut up, Jared. I don't want to talk about him."

She got up and put her jeans back on and left Jared there on his cot. She went back to her tent, got under the covers and lay in the dark. If only Jared had been Connelly. If only Connelly had been Prince Olliver. She didn't even like Jared as a boyfriend and yet he'd made her feel so good. How could that be? Did she really like him more than she thought? Or did she just like what he did to her?

She finally fell asleep, still half drunk and totally confused.

The next day Jared came to see her and apologized. She told him she was okay with it, but they couldn't ever do anything like that again. She saw the disappointment in his eyes but he nodded. If he wanted to stay her friend that was the way it had to be.

She never told Karl about what had happened, but eventually Jared told Maggie and Maggie told him. All he said to her was to be careful or the next time she and Jared might go far enough for her to get in trouble. She told him there wouldn't be a next time. She knew Karl was being protective of her like he was about Connelly. At least he didn't lecture her about Jared being too old for her.

...

"So what do you say, Kara, do you want to go to Caprica City or not?" Karl asked again.

"Yeah," she answered. "Sure, why not?"

"We might not even have to live in the government housing."

"Where will we live?"

"Maggie said her mother had a friend who owns an apartment building somewhere in the city. She might let us stay there. Maggie found her name and address in her mother's stuff. She said we'd call her after we get to the city."

"What makes Maggie think this woman will give us a free place to live?"

"We're not going to ask her to let us stay there for free. We'll get jobs. Jared is good with computers. The rest of us could wait tables, work in a grocery store, we'll find something to do. Maggie and I have been talking. Since Jared is helping out with the computers in the admin tent now, he could probably make us some fake IDs."

"Yeah," Kara started to get excited at the prospect of a new life. "Yeah, I like that."

Later that day Karl told her that it was all set. They would leave for Caprica City in a week. Jared had gotten them into the first group.

There was only one thing she had to do before she left. She had to say goodbye to Hugh Connelly. It had been over a year since she'd talked to him.

He'd come back to see her a week after she'd seen him with the dark-haired woman. Maybe it was because of the way she was hurting, but she'd asked him not to come back anymore.

"Why not?"

"You know why," was all that she had been able to say.

"No, I don't."

"That woman you were talking to."

"What woman? I've talked to a lot of women lately about what we're trying to do."

"The pretty one with the dark hair. What's her name?"

"Stacey." He had looked away briefly, and Kara had known for sure.

"You're doing it with her, aren't you?"

"Kara, you don't understand…"

"Yes, I do. Just don't come back."

She'd seen him occasionally after that around the camp, but she hadn't gotten close enough to talk to him. Thank the gods the school they had started for the younger kids was in G-sector. She was sure that's where he spent most of his time…when he wasn't with Stacey.

She waited until the day before they were supposed to leave the camp for Caprica City before she went to see him.

The place he worked was outside the camp's perimeter. She was afraid the guard would stop her, but she tried to act like she knew where she was going and he let her pass the gate. Maybe she looked older now, too. Maybe she looked like she was eighteen instead of almost sixteen.

When she went into the room that was serving as his office, the dark-haired woman was sitting in a chair next to him behind his desk. They looked like they were going over some paperwork.

"Hi," Kara said, aware that her heart was pounding and her mouth was dry.

He looked up and their eyes met. She saw the surprise and then something else. Whatever had been between them was still there.

"Kara," he said.

"I came to say goodbye. I'm leaving the camp tomorrow and going to Caprica City. Me and Karl. So goodbye."

"Wait a minute," he said and stood up.

The woman stood up, too. Kara saw that she was very pregnant.

"This is my wife, Stacey. Stacey, this is Kara."

The woman looked at her. "I know who she is."

Connelly turned to Stacey. "Could you give us a minute?"

"Alone?"

"Yes. Please."

Without a word Stacey left the room. Kara could tell she was angry.

Connelly got up and shut the door.

Kara couldn't think of anything to say. Apparently for a minute, neither could Connelly.

Finally she said, "Your wife doesn't like me too much, does she?"

"You've let your hair grow out."

"Yeah."

"It looks good. You look good."

"Thanks."

"Would you like to sit down?"

Kara shook her head. "I really just came to say goodbye."

"It's not you she has the problem with, it's me."

"What do you mean?"

"I talk in my sleep."

"Oh."

"Every now and then I dream about being in the woods and getting ready to shoot myself. Stacey doesn't understand the…connection I feel to you."

"Did you marry her first or knock her up first?"

"You cut right to the heart of it, don't you?"

Kara shrugged. The answer was in his eyes.

"Maybe it'll be another boy," she said.

"We already know. It's a girl."

"Girls are okay, too."

He walked over to his desk. "I've got something for you. I've had it for a long time. I wanted to bring it to you, but you said you didn't want to see me again so I didn't."

He pulled open a drawer and took out a package. It was wrapped in brown paper so she couldn't tell what it was. He came over to her, put the package in her hands. "I'm sure you can guess what it is."

She took it and realized based on the size and weight that it was probably a book. She looked up into his eyes. "The Caprican Prince? The third volume?"

"I remember you telling me once how you'd left it behind when the soldiers brought you to the camp. Laura Roslin wanted to send you something to thank you for introducing us. I told her you'd like a copy of this book. She sent this to me on one of the transports."

"That was nice of her."

"She's a nice lady."

"Tough, too," Kara added.

"You'll find him someday, Kara, your Prince Olliver. Or he'll find you. He's probably looking for you right now. You're his golden-haired princess with the emerald eyes. You're his true love."

Her arms were wrapped around the book and she was holding it against her chest. Connelly put his arms around her. The book was between them. In a way Olliver had always been between them. But that didn't mean she didn't care about Connelly. In a way she loved him, too. She felt his mouth close to her ear.

"Be safe, Kara. You don't hate me, do you?"

She shook her head.

"You saved my life. You know I'll always love you."

"I love you, too," she managed to say before she had to stop talking. She didn't want to cry. She didn't want him to remember her that way. She took a deep breath. She was tough like her mother. She could handle this. "I've got to go. Please."

"Will you kiss me goodbye?" He asked.

"No…but the next time I see you, I'll kiss you hello."

"That's even better. Promise?"

"Cross my heart." She heard the unshed tears in her voice. She knew he could, too.

He released her.

She turned and hurried from the room, the book still clutched against her. Stacey was standing outside the door. Kara wasn't sure who she felt sorrier for at the moment, her or Stacey.

Kara was glad the next day when their bus left the camp for Caprica City. With each mile they traveled down the road, her heart felt lighter. Maybe it was because she was so glad to be leaving the camp behind her. Maybe it was because she was on her way to a brand new life. And maybe it was because she believed she would finally find Prince Olliver. He was waiting for her. Maybe he was even looking for her, too.

Maybe he was looking for his golden-haired princess with emerald eyes.

Just like she was still looking for him, looking for a man with eyes as blue as the sky at twilight and wings over his heart.

...

The eight buses took two days and nights to make the nine-hundred mile trip to Caprica City. Of course nine-hundred miles was the way she and Karl had measured it a long time ago on Singer's map, in a straight line, like a ship would fly. By road it was a lot longer and a lot slower trip.

They stopped twice each day, once in mid-morning and once in the early evening to eat and switch drivers. Each time they stopped, someone checked them off and then back on their bus. They weren't taking a chance on losing anybody.

Even though she thought of Karl as her brother, she still hadn't gotten used to calling herself Kara Agathon. Karl had to nudge her once when she automatically said _Kara Thrace_ to the woman with the clipboard who was checking them back on the bus. Maggie and Jared and of course Karl were the only ones who knew her real name.

She was going to have to get used to calling herself something else now though. Jared had made them all IDs. He had taken advantage of the equipment in the admin tent while he was working there. In her pocket was an ID that had her picture and Carrie Warner's name and other information. According to the ID she was already nineteen instead of almost sixteen.

Kara knew she would stand a better chance of getting a job in Caprica City if she were older. Jared wasn't using a fake ID. He didn't have to. Maggie didn't want to use a fake one either. She told Kara that in a year when she was eighteen she was going to join the military and train to be a Raptor pilot like her father.

In the camp Kara's dream of being a pilot like her father had slowly become less real to her. It had slowly faded like so many of her other hopes. Now hearing Maggie talk about it, Kara's old feelings came back in a rush. Good memories of her father surfaced and painful ones, too. She thought of Zarek and how one day she was going to kill him for taking away her father.

She had a hard time remembering her father's face now, but she knew his eyes. All she had to do was look in a mirror.

Did she still want to pursue her dream of becoming a Viper pilot? If she did, it wouldn't be as Carrie Warner. She would do it as Kara Thrace and Kara Thrace was still two years away from being eighteen. That dream would have to wait.

Kara couldn't sleep the first day or that night. Maybe it was being in a moving vehicle after over two years of living in the camp and maybe she was just too excited. Neither Maggie nor Karl had that problem.

Jared did, though, and they sat together while Maggie and Karl sat with their heads rolled toward each other dozing or talking quietly. They held hands a lot, too.

Several times Kara rolled her eyes at Jared. It was disgusting for Maggie and Karl to be acting so…so moony-eyed over each other. Young love. Yeah. Right. All love did was get you hurt.

The book Hugh Connelly had given her was in her backpack and was still wrapped. One day, maybe, she would read it, but right now she had written her own ending for Prince Olliver and the golden-haired princess with the emerald eyes. She was afraid of finding out the book said something different.

On the second night she finally slept. Jared woke her the next morning as the sun was coming up. Their bus had just wound through the hills above the city and was starting its descent. In the distance the glass and metal skyscrapers were reflecting the rising sun, and it looked to her like they were all lit with golden fire. She felt a jolt of excitement course through her. It was the most beautiful sight she had ever seen.

They were checked off the bus. Everybody who wanted to go to government housing was getting luggage and lining up or milling around. There were several government workers trying to process everyone. With eight buses full of people, it was chaotic.

Kara, Karl, Jared and Maggie collected their bags and backpacks and walked away. No one tried to stop them. Once they got outside of the terminal parking lot where the buses had stopped, no one could distinguish them from the other people walking along the sidewalk.

They had finally left the camp behind although in the months to come Kara would realize that leaving a place behind physically and emotionally were two different things.

Maggie's mother's friend didn't own an apartment building. She owned a four-story brownstone flat in a nice residential area that contained four apartments. She lived on the ground floor. All of her apartments were rented, but she was able to send them to a friend who owned more buildings.

They wound up with a two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment on the third floor of an older building in a more rundown neighborhood. The guy who owned it gave them a break on the rent because they had just come from a refugee camp and because the elevator didn't work. He told them that the service company couldn't get parts to fix the elevator right now. He was on some kind of wait list. But they didn't have much to carry up anyway.

He told them that if any of the other tenants complained about noise or loud partying from them he would kick them out. They all looked at each other and laughed. After living in the camp for two years, just being in Caprica City seemed like a party to them. Jared told him not to worry.

The apartment wasn't furnished but it did have a stove and an old refrigerator that the guy assured them would work when the electricity was turned on. Jared had been working in the admin tent for over a year so he had enough cubits to put down the deposit and pay the first month's rent. Water was included but not electricity. That night they all took cold showers and slept on the floor.

The next day Jared went to see about getting the electricity turned on. The stove and refrigerator worked as did the hot water heater. The second night they took warm showers and slept on the floor. Kara was beginning to miss her cot.

It took them nearly six months to get the apartment furnished so that a couple of them weren't sitting on the floor. Some of the furniture they found on the street. Kara couldn't believe the stuff that some people threw away. The rest they found in thrift stores and second-hand furniture stores. It was so miss-matched that in some ways the whole apartment looked cool.

On the first night they decided that she and Maggie would share one of the bedrooms, Karl and Jared, the other. Nothing else was agreeable to all four of them. They finally had enough cubits to buy single mattress sets for each of them which they put on the floor in the bedrooms. They never did bother with beds.

Karl was the first one to get a job. By the beginning of their second week in the city he was bagging groceries and stocking shelves at a big multi-story supermarket four blocks from their apartment. He got a discount on groceries, too, which helped them all out.

Jared and Kara both got jobs on the same day a week later. Jared went to work in the computer center of the subway transport system. Using Carrie Warner's ID, Kara got a job as a waitress at a restaurant and bar eight blocks from where they lived. She had to wear a short black skirt and tight black top. The hourly pay was low, but she got good tips. One of the other waitresses told her it was her blond hair and nice boobs. Things went fine for five weeks until a half-drunk guy groped her under the short skirt. She almost broke his wrist. He said he was going to sue the restaurant.

When the manager fired her later that night and paid her what she was owed, he told her that she might think about a job where she didn't have to deal with customers. She agreed with him. She didn't really like the waitress job anyway. It just wasn't her.

She changed into her jeans in the employee restroom and stuffed the short skirt into the trashcan on her way out the door.

She wasn't nearly as defiant the next day. She knew Jared was contributing the largest portion to their support. Even though he didn't seem to mind, it bothered her. Her mother had always told her she shouldn't rely on a man to pay her way. Kara wanted to be like her mother. She wanted to be tough and self-sufficient.

What was she good at, though? Cooking? No. Customer relations? No. Killing rats at twenty feet with a slingshot? Yes. So should she look for a job with an exterminator? Something about that didn't appeal to her at all. What was her dream job? What did she really want to do until she was old enough to go to the Academy?

She sat looking out the rain-streaked kitchen window at the building across the alley. Her mood was as gloomy as the weather. Maggie had become the self-appointed keeper of the apartment. She was cooking for them, too. Kara didn't object. She'd had her fill of cooking at the little stone house. A lot of time if Karl wasn't working he was right there in the kitchen with Maggie. Kara thought they were acting like an old married couple.

Maggie had gone out earlier and now came back in with a day-old newspaper.

"I got it out of the recycle bin," she said. "It's wet on the outside but the inside is still dry. I thought you might want to look at the help-wanted ads."

"Yeah, thanks." Kara said.

She spent the whole morning looking. She couldn't find anything that she was qualified to do that didn't involve some kind of sales or customer service.

Jared came home that night with a lead. One of his co-workers had told him that the day care that kept his kid was looking for help. Jared had pulled it up on a map of the city. It was located eighteen blocks from where they lived.

"You're kidding?" Kara scoffed. "Me, take care of rug-rats? Sounds like a job for Maggie."

"Hey," Jared said defensively, "I was just trying to help."

"Yeah, okay, give me the address. I'll check it out tomorrow."

Karl said, "Who knows, you might find you like it?"

"I doubt it."

"At least you won't have to worry about a rug-rat groping you," he added.

"All they'll do is barf on me."

Karl made a face. "Eww, I didn't think about that."

The next morning before Jared left for work, he told her that getting a job was often about being in the right place at the right time and knowing the right people. Since she didn't know anybody, it came down to being in the right place at the right time.

She didn't want to spend any money on a transport, even the public ones, so she decided to walk the eighteen blocks. Karl and Jared had both told her not to do it. They told her that the area between where they lived and the day care was rough territory.

Her solution was to slide the holster and her mother's pistol onto the back of her belt. She looked in the bathroom mirror. The outline showed under her t-shirt. She went into Karl and Jared's room and got one of Karl's t-shirts. It was big enough on her that it hid the pistol completely. In fact it hung half-way to her knees. She was almost a third of the way to her destination when she noticed her reflection in a store window and realized that she didn't look very professional, but if she was going to get barfed on, what did it matter?

She had just turned the corner onto a deserted side street, cutting over three streets to where the day care was located when she saw the panel truck stopped in the middle of the street.

The truck was painted black and was clean, the exterior waxed and shining. There was a logo on the side, a white inverted triangle inside a bright green square. Painted inside the white triangle were two green snakes coiled around each other except at the top where their heads faced. In smaller green-shadowed white letters on the side of the door was the name _MediFirst Inc_.

Even though a delivery truck might stop on the street like that, something felt wrong to her about the whole thing. Quietly she left the sidewalk and peered around the back of the truck. The driver was backed against the front door, holding his upper arm, which was bleeding. There was a skinny guy wearing a hooded sweatshirt holding a knife on him.

Kara realized she had walked up on a robbery.

"I'm not going to tell you again to open the truck, man," the robber said.

"I told you I don't have the code. It takes a key card and a code. I don't have either one. They have them down at the clinics where I'm supposed to deliver this morning."

"You're lying. You're going to die if you don't open the truck." They robber's tone sounded more desperate and he put the point of the knife against the driver's throat.

Kara carefully eased the pistol out of the holster. She couldn't chamber a round because she knew he would hear her pulling back the slide. She was going to have to bluff. Walking up quietly behind the robber she put the barrel of the gun against his skull.

"Don't make any sudden moves and drop the knife." Gods, how trite did that sound? A hundred bad movies worth of trite.

The robber didn't move, but he didn't drop the knife, either. She moved around to his side. Slowly he turned his head and looked at her. His eyes were mostly pupil.

"What? You going to shoot me, bitch?" He sneered.

Never taking her eyes off his, she pulled back the slide and heard a bullet click into the firing chamber.

"That's up to you."

"You ain't got the guts. You probably ain't got the bullets either."

She thought about Zarek, how she would one day face him with this gun in her hand. She had the guts. All she had to do was pretend this guy was Zarek.

"Want to bet your life on it? Want to bet your life there's no bullets in this gun? I'm not interested in calling the cops. Just drop the knife and walk away. Or die. Your choice. I don't care either way. I've seen so many people die in the last two years one more won't make any difference to me at all."

Something in her tone or her look must have convinced him. He let the knife fall from his hand. It clattered handle first onto the street. "Crazy bitch," he said. Then he turned and walked slowly away from them. When he was past the back of the truck, he ran.

She picked up the knife, a nice switchblade, closed it, and shoved it into the pocket of her jeans. "Get in the truck and slide over," she said to the driver. He did what she said. She had never driven anything like the truck before, but with his instruction, she managed to get it started and rolling down the street without hitting anything except the curb once.

"He was down in the street," the driver said. "I had to stop. I didn't realize it was a setup. He pulled the knife on me. Would you really have shot him?"

"Probably. I'll stop in a minute and look at your arm. I just want to get away from here."

"Keep going. I was headed for the clinic six blocks down and two streets over. Whoa. Whoa. Stop sign. Turn right."

"Can they patch you up?"

"Yeah. There's a doctor there. Thanks. You saved my life. I don't have the key card or the frakking code to open the back of this truck. The door codes are changed every day and called into the clinics. They've got the key cards, too."

"What's in it?"

"Drugs."

She glanced over at him.

"Not drugs like that, medicine for the clinics. It's so bad down here that we deliver every day and then come back in the evening and pick up what isn't used. Otherwise the clinics gets broken into at night. Even aspirin gets stolen. I'm not really a driver. One of them was out sick today and I filled in. I'm the mechanic who keeps these trucks running. Galen Tyrol. The drivers down at the shop call me Chief."

"Kar…Carrie Warner. Do you need any drivers?"

"We need guards. The drivers have been telling our boss that he needs to hire guards. He needs somebody riding shotgun on all of these trucks. This isn't the first time somebody has tried to rob us. When I tell him what happened today, he might do it. I know I'll never do this again without somebody riding with me."

"Let's get you sown up first. Then I want to go talk to your boss."

The day was looking up. Forget the day care. This was a lot more what she wanted to do.

The man who ran the business was a tough-looking ex-Marine who almost laughed when she asked about a job. Almost. But he did listen attentively to Galen Tyrol's story. The gash in Tyrol's arm had required fifteen stitches to close.

Galen's boss, who introduced himself as Jack Fisk, asked to see the pistol. She ejected the clip and made sure there was no bullet in the chamber before she handed it to him.

"Where did you get a Marine-issue Mossinger?"

"It belonged to my mother. She was a Marine."

"Retired?"

"She died on Picon with the rest of her unit…fighting Cylons."

"And you need a job?"

"Yes, sir."

"How old are you?"

"Nineteen," she lied. She'd just turned sixteen, but she had the fake ID, Carrie Warner's ID, and Carrie was in the system. Jared had already checked. As long as she was Carrie Warner, she was on the grid and she was nineteen years old. The camp had somehow missed recording Carrie's death from the flu. Or Jared had deleted it. She hadn't ask.

"I can tell you know how to handle a pistol. Can you hit what you aim at?"

She thought of the slingshot. "Every time."

He handed the pistol back to her. "Hang on to that. You won't get another one and you won't get any more bullets for it either unless you know someone who has a private stash."

"Why not?"

"The Cylons went into all the gun shops and took everything, even the bullets. If somebody is caught with a gun, especially committing a crime with a gun, they're taken in front of a Cylon tribunal and usually executed right afterward by a centurion. At least that's what we hear. Gun crime is way down, other crime is up. The Cylons don't care if we kill each other. They just don't want us doing it with anything that could be turned on them, like guns. Didn't you know that?"

"No."

"Where have you been for the last three years?"

"A refugee camp up near Antioch. Both my parents are dead. I'm on my own. So what do the police do? Don't they have guns either?"

"Guns with rubber bullets."

"Military, too?"

"Military, too."

"That sucks."

"Why do you think I retired after twenty years? I'd planned to put in at least twenty-five, maybe thirty, but I couldn't take it any longer. A lot of people are getting out these days."

"So do you think you could give me a job?"

"I haven't made a decision on hiring guards, yet. Even if I do, it will take a while to get the permits for the guns with the rubber bullets. The Cylons won't just rubber-stamp a request like that. No pun intended. And I'm sorry, but I don't need any drivers right now."

Kara was disappointed and she knew it showed.

Fisk scratched his head and looked at her for a minute. "Can you ride a bike?"

"Of course," Kara said. She started to add that she'd been riding a bike since she was a kid, but something told her to keep her mouth shut.

"Come with me."

He didn't mean a bicycle at all. He meant a motorcycle. It was black like the truck and just as polished and had the company's logo painted on the gas tank. It was a medium-sized, light-weight Ducarvo, and it was fast."

"Four-cylinder, four-stroke, 1298 cc, electric starter, six-speed. She'll do nearly two hundred in sixth gear."

"What do you use the bike for?"

"Emergency deliveries. Before the Cylons attacked, Caprica got almost half of its pharmaceuticals from Sagittaron and Scorpia, but now all we've got are the two small plants in Delphi. Big ones up near Sovana were destroyed in the bombing. They're rebuilding but it's slow going. Cylons don't need drugs. They could care less if we have them. A lot of people have died because they didn't get the medicine that was keeping them alive…diabetics, people with high blood pressure, cancer, heart conditions. The list goes on."

"I was in the camp during the flu epidemic. A lot of the people who died would have been okay with antibiotics. At least that's what I heard."

"I remember reading about that," Fisk said. "A real tragedy. I know the government tried, but the drugs just weren't available. The two plants near Delphi are working twenty-four hours a day now, seven days a week and still can't keep up with the demand. Chemical companies are doing the same thing. Machinery breaks down, they can't get the parts. It's been a nightmare. We have two bikes because our company makes emergency deliveries to clinics, but mostly to the hospitals. A dozen times a day, more often lately, we do an emergency run of a drug from the distribution center to a hospital. Hospitals can't stockpile medicines like they used to. Occasionally we pick up at one hospital and take to another. That's what my company does. We get medicine from point A to point B. It's by truck to the clinics and daily bulk runs to the hospitals, but we use the bike on all other runs. It can also go places a truck can't. Like through traffic jams."

"I can do that," Kara said. "I can start tomorrow. And look, I've never ridden a bike _exactly _like this one before." If he took it to mean she'd ridden other motorcycles, that wasn't her problem. "But I learn quick," she added.

Fisk seemed to be thinking. Finally he said, "Wait here." He went back inside the office and when he returned, he was carrying two helmets. He handed one to her. "Get on behind me. This is your job interview."

He started the bike and she got on behind him. The helmets were wired with radios. They could talk to each other or to a dispatcher in the office. He took a route that covered dozens of square blocks and talked to her the whole time, explaining the bike to her as they rode. Finally he pulled over into a mostly vacant parking lot and told her it was her turn.

She did a lot better than she thought she would. Everything seemed second-nature to her, like she already knew how to ride. She thought of her father. Maybe it was in her genes, just another way she was like him. By the time they got back to the office at MediFirst, Kara was in love with everything about the motorcycle.

Fisk seemed to realize that. Maybe he wanted to give her a break because of her mother or maybe because she had spent time in the refugee camp. Whatever the reason, he hired her right there standing in the parking lot.

"We have two bikes. You'll rotate with three other riders, twelve-hour shifts. Seven a.m. until seven p.m., or seven p.m. until seven a.m. three days on, three days off. We run twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. You won't be on the bike all that time, but you've got to be here and ready. I'm hiring you for the day shift, but you might have to pull a night occasionally. Sometimes if it gets busy, I might call you in on one of your days off or to cover if someone calls in sick. Do you have a problem with any of that?"

"Not one."

"Welcome aboard," Fisk said and shook her hand.

She had just landed her dream job.

That afternoon she went home and put the gun away. She would keep it cleaned periodically, but she knew she would never carry it again until she was ready to kill Zarek and Zarek was still in prison. Jared had looked it up for her.

She went to work the next day, but it was a month before she got to take the bike out on a real run. She studied detailed maps of the city, learned the best routes and the alternate routes from the distribution center to all the clinics and hospitals. She learned the one-way streets, where traffic was usually the heaviest. She learned how to check the computer for traffic problems. She learned the dispatcher's jargon, their abbreviations for the hospitals and clinics. She didn't think she had ever learned so much in such a short period of time. It was harder than anything she'd done in school, but she loved it.

Best of all, though, she got to ride the bike each day. She got better and better at handling it.

Karl was envious. Maggie thought she was crazy to have taken what she considered a dangerous job. She couldn't understand why Kara hadn't applied at the day care. Kara told Maggie there was nothing stopping _her_ from applying. Eventually Maggie did and was hired. She worked there several days a week. Kara was glad she wasn't the one getting barfed on, but Maggie seemed to deal with it okay. At least she never complained around Kara. She said it was just temporary, anyway, until she could go to the Academy.

Jared said very little until one evening while they were eating, "You're talking about that damned motorcycle like you were in love with it or something."

Kara laughed. "At least I didn't name it Connelly," she said.

He looked down and she was sorry that she'd said it. Later after Maggie and Karl had gone into the bedroom that Karl was sharing with Jared, Kara went over and put her hand on Jared's shoulder and apologized to him.

He pulled her down onto his lap. To her surprise she let him. She let him kiss her, too. And take her into her bedroom and lock the door.

"We can't…" she started.

"I know. I won't. I promise I won't…until you're ready. I just want to make you feel good."

She let him take off her clothes. That night he did what he'd done to her at the camp and a few other things, too. But he kept his promise. He didn't try to go all the way with her. Of course he showed her a few things about making him feel good, too. Prince Olliver and his lusty wench had done all of them.

Later, as she lay beside him, she realized that she would have to be careful about how often she let this happen. She could get used to feeling like this.

Suddenly she laughed.

"What's so funny?" Jared asked.

"Can you believe that a couple of years ago I thought all of this was gross and didn't understand why people wanted to do it?"

Jared laughed, too.

...

Fisk ordered black leather pants for her that zipped over her jeans and a black leather jacket with the company logo stitched on the back since the ones that the last rider had left were too big for her. He told her to get some tighter jeans so the leathers would fit better. It was all about aerodynamics. She got the tight jeans, black ones. The jacket fit tight, too, to cut down on wind resistance. She bought long-sleeved black turtlenecks and short-sleeved black t-shirts to wear under it and a pair of nice black lace-up motorcycle boots that came above her ankles and had heavy soles. Fisk also got her a custom fit black helmet. She carried the medicine in a small leather backpack with special padding.

"You pay for your own speeding tickets," Fisk told her. "I fire you after the third one since you'll lose your driver's license. That's what happened to the guy you're replacing. I want the medicine delivered as fast as possible, but I don't condone breaking the law. You lose the job, you owe me for the leathers and the helmet. You wreck the bike or dent it and it's your fault, you'll pay for that, too."

The first day she took the bike out on a real run was the most exciting day of her life. She was careful, but she still rode too fast. She loved speed. It was in her blood.

It took nearly hitting a man to slow her down.

He had apparently just bought flowers from a street vendor and had turned and stepped off the curb without looking in her direction. Kara had come around the corner at Market and Sixth on a green light. There was almost no traffic on Sixth because there were a lot of unrepaired potholes in the road, potholes that she knew by heart and could easily avoid. She was on an emergency run to the big medical center over on Sixth and King's Bay Streets, or KB6 as the dispatcher called it, almost twenty blocks away.

She leaned down over the bike and accelerated. If she caught the next light green, she would make it all the way without having to stop. And then the man stepped into the street. She swerved, felt like she had actually brushed him, although she realized later that she couldn't have. She concentrated on keeping the bike upright and kept going. She made the next intersection on the yellow light. In one of the bike's small side-mirrors she saw the man standing on the edge of the street, looking after her. She could just imagine the names he was calling her. She had a couple for him, too. _Frakking idiot_ was the one that first came to mind.

After she made her delivery, though, she pulled the bike into the hospital's parking lot and sat for a few minutes. She was still shaking. She tried to remember the details. He was tall, wearing light brown or khaki pants and a brown bomber jacket, maybe leather with something on the shoulder. His hair was brown or maybe sandy, the image wasn't that clear. His face was a blur. All she remembered was the sunglasses. It had happened so fast, so frakking fast.

Damn, she'd nearly hit someone. It didn't matter if it was his fault or not, she'd nearly hit someone. As fast as she was going, she'd probably have killed him, maybe her, too.

The radio in her helmet crackled. "Carrie, how far out are you?"

"Just leaving KB6," she answered and pulled out of the parking lot.

"We've got another one for you. Non-emergency MRC53." The code indicated a methadone rehab clinic down on Fifty-third. "Distribution has it ready for you."

"I'm on my way."

She slowed down.

She could have killed somebody.

...

Lee sat in the booth at McGee's waiting for John. He was eight months into his year on the _Triton_ and was home on his second leave during those eight months. During his first leave four months earlier, he'd spent almost all of it with Blaire. He thought they had worked out their problems and were doing fine, but a month ago she had broken up with him. She was dating Billy Keikeya now.

She hadn't told him who she had dumped him for, but her roommate Dee had. Not that he cared who she'd dumped him for. What did it matter? She'd dumped him.

Lee was on his fourth beer when John finally slid into the booth across from him.

"Damn, Lee," John said when he saw the three empty bottles. "I didn't think I was that late. How long have you been here?"

"Thirty minutes."

"You going to slow down or keep going at that rate?"

"Keep going."

"Then I'll make sure you get home. You're not driving, are you?"

"No. I took a transport."

"Yeah, me, too. You don't normally drink like this. What's wrong?"

"Blaire dumped me. She's dating Laura Roslin's pretty boy aide now, the one we saw with her that day at my graduation from the Academy."

"I'm sorry."

"No, don't be. We weren't right for each other. She shouldn't be with a pilot anyway. She wants somebody, _'who's around most of the time'_, to quote her", Lee said sarcastically. "Like she couldn't wait for me for a year. She wrote me a long frakking letter spelling it all out. _Dear Lee. This is the hardest thing I've ever had to do..._ Yeah, right. I've been behaving myself up there on the _Triton_, passed up a couple of opportunities to share a bunk with a hot Viper pilot, passed up another opportunity in the shower because I told Blaire I wouldn't sleep around on her. And the whole time she's probably been back here on Caprica frakking Billy's brains out every chance she got. I feel like an idiot."

"You sound bitter, Lee."

"Do you blame me?"

"Better to find out now than after you marry her."

"I never asked her to marry me."

"Oh? I thought that's where you two were headed."

Lee shrugged. "She's not the one. When I had my accident, when I was in the decompression chamber, I saw the one. She was so beautiful. She kissed me."

"Lee, you were hallucinating."

"Yeah, that's what everybody tells me. I don't remember anything about being in that decompression chamber except the girl."

"Well, look on the bright side. That hot pilot is still there and you've got four more months on the _Triton_. A little friendly advice, keep it to one woman at a time, especially if you're going to, uh, take advantage of the shower."

"What's that mean?"

"A long story, but it's funny in a joke's-on-me kind of way. Want to hear it?"

Lee rolled his eyes. "It always comes down to sex with you, doesn't it?"

"Not always. I was just trying to cheer you up. The shower story really is funny, but I can tell you're not in the mood for it."

"I just keep telling myself that this is for the best. Maybe at one time I thought Blaire was _the one_. Now I know that I haven't found the right girl yet."

"Neither have I. I mean I had the right woman once. Kara's mother. Maybe that's all you get in this life. Maybe you only get one chance with the right person and if something screws that up..." he shrugged. "Who knows?"

"I don't believe that. So Lissa's not the right woman?"

"I don't love her if that's what you mean. I care about her, but I'm not in love with her, not that kick-in-the-gut kind of feeling I always got when I was with Kara's mom. I was stupid to think I could make it be like that with Lissa. Kara's mom was just one of a kind. And now I'm sticking with Lissa because I don't want to get out there and start doing what I was doing a couple of years ago. And before you start feeling sorry for her, Lissa doesn't love me either. She loves her job more than anything else. Hell, we're more like roommates now."

"I don't understand why you're still in it, then. But that's you, not me."

"Give it twenty years, Lee. You might have a different perspective. The older you get, the harder it gets to start over."

"Maybe you two need to take a vacation. Go somewhere together and sit in the sun like Blaire and I did after my graduation. Spend a lot of time in bed. That's good for any relationship. It was for me and Blaire. At least it was at the time."

"I've suggested that. I mean the vacation. Lissa's too busy right now. She's gotten a couple of promotions down at the lab. She's not supposed to talk about it, but she told me that the Cylons are trying to reproduce. Hell, she's down there trying to help them make babies and she can't even find the time or energy to…oh, frak it. I need to stop complaining. You don't need to hear me bitching about my problems."

"Why are they trying to have babies? I thought they just copied themselves."

"Yeah, they can do that, but there's something in their scripture about _being fruitful and multiplying_ and copying doesn't count. So they tried to do it the old-fashioned way with each other and found they can't make babies. That's what they need our research for. Their goal is for a Cylon female to have a child fathered by a Cylon male."

"A pure Cylon child?"

"Lissa won't talk about that part. I think they might be…I don't know, Lee…maybe doing something in that lab that's unthinkable."

"Human-Cylon hybrid?"

"Maybe. That's one of the things Lissa and I have been arguing about for the last couple of weeks, ever since she slipped and said something about it. I've never liked her working for that Cylon doctor or Baltar anyway, and now I find out they're maybe trying to…make a half-breed. To me that would be wrong on so many levels. Lissa doesn't have any problem with it."

"And you're okay with that?"

"No, I'm not. Lissa won't say definitely that's what they're doing, but she won't deny it either. We got into a big argument a couple of weeks ago. I said some things I shouldn't have, mentioned Kara's mom in a comparison that wasn't too flattering to Lissa, and she started crying. I'd never made her cry before, and I felt bad. I'm frustrated with a lot of things right now and I just took it out on her. That's not like me. I stopped the next day and bought flowers from a street vendor. My mind was a million miles away. I didn't even look up the street. I just stepped off the curb and nearly got killed."

"You almost got hit by a car?"

"Motorcycle. Beautiful black Ducarvo. And the damndest thing is that it was a woman riding it. She must have come around the corner down on Market. When she almost hit me she was flying up Sixth like a bat out of Hades. She swerved, missed me, and kept going. That took a hell of a lot of skill at the speed she was doing."

"Damn, John. You've got to be more careful. Did you get a look at her?"

"I didn't see her face at all. She had the sun visor on her helmet down. Her leather jacket was tight enough there wasn't any doubt about her being a girl. She was wearing a little backpack, too. Must be some kind of delivery service. There was something on the side of the bike but it happened too fast for me to see it."

"Too bad you didn't get the name. You could have called and reported her."

"I wouldn't have done that even if I had. It was my fault. Damn, she could ride that bike. When I see somebody on a bike like that, it gets to me. I used to ride the same way. I know what she was trying to so. She was trying to make that green light. She went airborne across the next intersection. It was beautiful. I could almost feel it. I just stood there in the street holding those damned flowers and staring after her."

"Were the flowers worth it?"

John shrugged. "I had to be up at four the next morning so I was already asleep when Lissa got home from work. She's been working until nearly midnight a lot lately. I left the flowers on the table with a note apologizing to her. She didn't wake me up to thank me if that's what you're asking. She did come home from work earlier the next night and dragged me into the shower with her. It had been a damned long time since we'd done that. It'll probably be a damned long time before it happens again, too. How she feels about this Cylon breeding thing is really bugging me. A man and a woman creating a new life, that's a miracle. When Kara was a baby, I'd hold her and just look at her. There's no way I can tell you what it feels like to hold a life that's part of you. It makes me sick to think the Cylons are trying to make something that's half-human. I'm probably going to end up breaking up with Lissa over it."

"If that happens, do you want me to fix you up with Laura Roslin? One time she asked me about you. It sounded like she was interested."

John grinned. "You are so lying to me. Damn it, Lee. Here I thought I was going to make it through a whole evening without threatening to hurt you."

"I already feel like I've had the crap beat out of me so get in line." He finished the fourth beer, signaled the waiter for another one and waited until he brought it. He was really feeling the alcohol now. A couple more and he would be oblivious. A couple of more and he wouldn't care if Blaire frakked Billy on the table in front of him.

During the time it took the waiter to bring his beer, he noticed that Gallagher was staring absently at the wall.

"Thinking about Laura Roslin?" Lee finally asked.

"You're pushing it, Lee. No, I was thinking about the girl on that bike. I was thinking my daughter would ride a bike like that. Just like she rode that skateboard of hers, perfect balance, absolutely fearless. Just let me sit here for a minute and pretend that was my daughter. Let me pretend for a minute that Kara's still alive."

He took a deep breath and looked at the ceiling. Lee realized that John was fighting tears.

"She's alive, John," he said gently. "I know she is."

"How do you know that?" John asked bitterly. "Even Lissa thinks Kara is dead. She said that it's only a matter of time before somebody finds…something, in the woods around the airport or near one of the towns. She thinks I'm crazy to have looked for her as long as I did. Kara vanished without a trace. How can you believe she's alive?"

Lee realized that he was the one who now had faith that Kara had survived all this time, the faith that John once had so strongly, the faith that John now seemed to have lost.

"Because she's the girl I saw when I was in the decompression chamber. She's the girl in my dream or hallucination or whatever you want to call it. I could feel her. That's how close she was. She kissed me, John. She leaned down and kissed me and her mouth was so warm. She was so alive. I know this sounds like a drunk man talking, but Kara is out there, John. You told me once that she was tough as well as beautiful. She survived. She _is_ alive. I know it."

He looked at Gallagher and saw the tiniest spark of hope flare in his eyes.

"You keep telling me that, then. You keep believing for both of us."

Lee nodded. He could do that. He could do that for his friend.

He pushed his beer across the table. "You'd better drink this. I don't need it. Blaire's not worth the hangover."

He'd realized something as he'd spoken the words to John, something he should have realized earlier. The girl he had conjured from somewhere deep in his subconscious, the girl with the athletic body and blond hair and green eyes, was all of the women he thought she was. She _was_ Posiden's beautiful daughter. She _was_ Aphrodite. She _was_ the princess who stepped from a garden pool. She was all of them, this girl who had given him the gift of love.

But she was someone else, too.

She was John Gallagher's daughter.

She was Kara.

TBC…


	18. Cylon Lab

Chapter 18

Cylon Lab

_Once the Cylons had stripped the military and civilians of weapons, they maintained a tight control over the government on Caprica. They watched every area of revenue allocation, but their main interest was in getting funding to several biomedical projects, one in particular run by Dr. Gaius Baltar. Utmost secrecy was maintained on his project even as an increasing amount of funding was poured into it._

_-Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War_

Laura Roslin looked up from the thick document she was reading. Billy Keikeya was standing in the doorway of her office.

Ever since the President had put her in charge of helping the refugee camps, so many people wanted her backing for their special projects. She received several of these non-education related proposals a week, proposals that she at least tried to review before she passed them along to the appropriate source. They all thought she had the President's ear in a much more influential fashion than she actually did. In the long run, it didn't matter who had his ear. The Cylons were the ones in control and no one had their ears.

"Billy, come in. Why didn't you knock?"

"I didn't want to bother you. You looked so deep in concentration."

"You can bother me anytime. You know that. Please, sit down." Laura indicated the chair across from her desk. She took off her reading glasses.

As he crossed the room she glanced at her watch, nearly eight o'clock in the evening, hours past time for him to have gone home.

He sat down and slumped in the chair. She could tell something was troubling him. During the three years he had worked for her, she had come to regard him as more than an aide, not quite like a son, perhaps like a favorite nephew. He in turn asked her advice on personal matters, such as the choice of a birthday gift for one of the young women she knew he occasionally dated. Not that Billy went out that often. He was like her in that regard. He worked too many long hours to have much of a social life.

"What's on your mind?" She asked.

He seemed to be trying to decide how to word his next sentence. Finally he blurted, "Blaire Merric has asked me out on a date."

"Blaire Merric? Lee Adama's girlfriend?"

Billy blushed. He had gained a great deal of poise in his job, but on a personal level, especially in regards to dating, she still felt he was like a teenager, sweet and shy and relatively inexperienced. She stopped short of making another comparison to herself. Not that it would be far wrong. How long had it been since she'd even been on a date? Years, it seemed. She didn't count her business dinners with Scott Michelson.

Now Billy rushed through an explanation. "She said they'd broken up. Lee's on a battlestar now and won't be home for months. She didn't want him to become a pilot anyway. She had a bad experience with another pilot. She's called me a couple of times just to chat and last night she asked me to go out with her."

"Do you want to date her?"

"Yes, but I don't feel right about it. I don't know Lee, but I still don't feel right about it."

"How long has she been calling you?"

"She called me here at work on the Monday after we ate with them at Bonnie Patrice. I guess that would have been the day that Lee left to go to the _Triton_. All she said was that she was going to be getting out of the service in less than a year and to keep her in mind if we had any job openings. I told her that she should put in an application with Human Resources. Then she called my home number on the next Saturday night. She and a couple of her girlfriends were at a nightclub or bar and she wanted me to join them. There was so much background noise I could barely hear her. I think maybe she'd had too much to drink. It was late and I was ready to go to bed so I passed."

"And she's been calling you since then?"

"Not often. I didn't hear from her for a couple of months, maybe four or five, and then she called 'just to chat', she said. She asked about jobs again. I told her we didn't have anything right now but maybe later. She didn't mention Lee and I didn't ask."

"And now she and Lee have broken up?"

"That's what she said last night when she called. She didn't say what had happened or who had initiated the breakup. I didn't say _yes_ or _no_ to the date. I told her we had a lot going on right now and I'd have to get back to her."

"I understand you have no loyalty to Lee…"

"But the Adamas are your friends, especially Commander Adama," Billy blurted. "I don't want to put you in an awkward position."

She finally realized why he had come to her with his dilemma.

"Oh, Billy, thank you for thinking of me, but you can't base your decision on that. My friendship with Bill…and Lee…will survive something like this. I'm sure you had nothing to do with Blaire and Lee's breakup. If you really want to date Blaire, then you should follow your heart. Too often, I think, we…put other things first."

"Thank you. That helps me a lot. I'm still not sure what I'm going to do, but…thank you."

For the rest of the evening Laura couldn't get Lee off of her mind. He had seemed so taken with Blaire that she wondered if he was all right. She knew how much that first heartbreak could hurt. Maybe she was wrong about Lee, but she felt like he would not easily shake off his breakup with Blaire, or hers with him, whichever the case had been.

The next day she called Bill's office and asked him if he could meet her for lunch. He was able to.

They shook hands as they always did, but this time Bill placed his other hand over hers for a moment. They looked at each other. The past still had a claim on her heart.

"Hello, Bill."

"Laura. This is a pleasant surprise."

They sat down at their table. "We haven't seen each other for a month. How are you doing?"

"Fine. I've been busy. So have you, I imagine."

"Always. How's your family?"

"Fine. They're fine. Zak finished high school. His grades weren't the best, but he'll start at the Academy next month." Bill chuckled. "I had to pull a few strings to make that happen, and his mother had to talk to him, beg him, in fact, but Zak needs to settle down. The military will do that for him. Of course Zak's not happy about it. He wants to play soccer. He needs to grow up. Lee was twice as responsible and mature at eighteen."

"How is Lee doing? He's aboard the _Triton_, isn't he?"

"He is. Lee's doing fine as he always does. Nothing but good reports. Okay, Laura, I know you well enough to know you've got something on your mind. Spit it out."

"I'm concerned about Lee. How is he doing since the breakup with Blaire."

Bill looked at her blankly. "They broke up? Where did you hear that?"

_Oh, gods, he hadn't known. His father hadn't known and she'd just told him._

"My aide, Billy…I think…I believe…he spoke with Blaire." She stammered.

"I didn't know that. I'm sorry to hear it. She's a sweet girl. If you want to know how Lee's doing in that regard, you'll either have to ask him or John. John is the one Lee talks to about things like that. Not to me."

"John Gallagher?"

"The same. He and Lee bonded when they were on the _Galactica_ during the three days of fighting. John's part-friend, part-older brother, and maybe part-father to Lee. My son thinks a lot of John, probably more than he does of me. I wasn't much of a father to him as he was growing up."

"You've got to consider, Bill that you're a hard act for any man to follow."

"What are you saying, Laura?"

She felt herself blush. Oh, gods, could he have taken that to mean something else entirely? Is that the way she meant it?

She composed herself. "A hard act for your son to follow. Look at your combat record. Look at the medals and the other decorations not to mention your promotions. Look at what you're doing right now. You advise the President. Just look at all you've achieved. It could be intimidating to Lee. It could make it difficult for him to…approach you with something personal, especially something that might make him look like he failed in an area of his life. He's been so successful in everything else."

"He shouldn't feel like I would regard a breakup with Blaire as a personal failure, but you're right. Maybe he'll always see me as the commander, the father who was never there for him. John doesn't have that kind of baggage with Lee. I usually meet John for coffee once or twice a month, sometimes lunch. I can understand why he and my son have formed a close friendship. John's open and easy-going, exactly the sort of man who can relate to my son. Lee admires the way John has overcome so much adversity in his life. I'm sure with John's help Lee will work through this breakup with Blaire."

"Bill, I really didn't mean to pry or bring up a sensitive subject. I'm just concerned about Lee, that's all. How old is he now?"

"Let's see." She realized Bill was doing the math. She could have done it herself. "He's twenty."

"So young," Laura said. "It always hurts so much when you're that young."

Their eyes met. Why did she keep turning the conversation to them? She shouldn't. What was she trying to do?

Bill had ordered a drink and now finished it. He looked out the window of the restaurant. "It doesn't necessarily hurt any less if you're older."

"No, I suppose not. Age doesn't have anything to do with it."

"No," Bill said. They looked at each other again. He didn't want to go there. At least one of them wasn't always visiting the past.

"What are _you_ doing these days?" She asked a little too brightly.

"Trying to keep the personnel of the battlestars from getting discouraged."

"You're still visiting them regularly?"

"Like clockwork. Someday I'll talk to you about my job, about what I'm doing, the unofficial part that is, but not yet, and not in a place like this. Too public."

"All right."

When they parted company after the meal, he took her hand again.

"Thank you for being concerned about my son, about his feelings. That…means a lot to me. More than you can probably imagine. And thank you for helping me put a few things in perspective. You seem to be able to do that for me."

"If you see Lee, just let him know…let him know that I asked about him. He's on my mind often."

"If I see him I will. But I'm sure he…knows that."

They weren't just talking about Lee, and both knew it.

...

Two weeks later Billy told her that he and Blaire had gone out to eat and afterward had gone back to her apartment _just to talk_. From the way he blushed, though, Laura imagined that something of a more intimate nature had ensued later in the evening.

Before he turned around to leave her office he said, "Blaire has a roommate. Her name is Anastasia Dualla but Blaire calls her Dee. She's very nice…very pretty…"

He had obviously left something unsaid. "And you're attracted to her." She finished the thought for him.

Billy looked surprised. "How did you know?"

Laura smiled. "Call it a woman's intuition. I will say this, Billy, you're on thin ice with that situation. Be very careful. I doubt Blaire will share you with her roommate. Even if they're just roommates and not really friends, I don't think you want to go there."

"It won't be a problem. Blaire told me that Dee has a thing for Lee. So I'm sure she's not interested in me at all."

"Dear gods," Laura said. "Your love life is beginning to sound like a television show."

Billy blushed again.

"I almost forgot," he said. "Adele and I have all the arrangements set for the luncheon next month for you to talk to the administrators of Caprica's colleges. I've emailed you a copy of the menu. Adele and I selected the least expensive items, but it's going to cost more than we allocated. If you approve it, I'll send it back to the hotel. Then we'll have to submit a cost-overrun requisition to the Accounting Office."

"I'll look at it right away."

Laura dreaded meeting with the administrators of the colleges who got part or all of their funding from the government. Cavil and Natasi had trimmed her budget for higher education once again. More and more of her resources were being funneled into one of the research labs. Dr. Baltar's latest project, which was as yet unexplained, had taken a huge amount of her college budget.

Now she was going to have to go before a group of people she had worked with for the last three years and tell them that they were once again going to have to do more with less. She dreaded it. Telling them over a nice luncheon was not going to lessen the blow. She knew she would take some real heat over something she could not control.

She was right. The most vocal of the group was Colonel Charles Winters, head administrator of the Academy. She had met him once before when she had given the commencement speech at Lee's graduation. Colonel Winters was a nice-looking man, late forties or early fifties, trim and fit, a little taller than she was. He simply would not accept the figures when she presented them.

After the luncheon he came up to her. He was polite but adamant, "I'm going to President Adar over this. We're barely making it as it is. Now we'll either have to cut staff or cut out some of the programs, like pilot training. I'm not willing to do that. The Academy doesn't belong under Education anyway. It belongs under the military budget."

Laura was polite to him as well, but just as firm. "You're better off under my budget, Colonel. This year the military is getting even less percentage-wise than I am."

He looked at her like he didn't believe her. "We'll see about that."

Three days later he called to apologize to her. "I talked to Richard. I guess I don't know when I'm well off. I'd like to take you to dinner and discuss options for the future. Maybe you have some suggestions. I refuse to quit training pilots."

"We can discuss business over lunch."

"I'd rather take you to dinner. More time to talk. I'd like to get to know you better, too. I guess you could say I'm asking you for a date."

"I see."

"I'm a no-nonsense kind of man, Ms. Roslin. If you're involved with someone, all you have to do is say _no_."

She thought about her non-existent social life. "Yes," she said.

"Good. I'll pick you up Saturday night at seven o'clock. I'll have reservations somewhere nice. Do you have a choice?"

"Bonnie Patrice," she answered.

"Done. Give me your address."

She gave it to him and he repeated it. "That's in the historic district, right?"

"Yes."

When they hung up, she immediately picked up the phone and called Bill. "Tell me about Colonel Charles Winters."

"What do you want to know about him?"

"What's he like?"

"Personally or professionally?"

"Both."

"Would you tell me why you're asking?" She heard something in his voice. Was it jealousy? Or was she just imagining it?

"He asked me to dinner, ostensibly to discuss the Academy's budget for next year, but he could have done that over lunch. He said he'd like to get to know me better. I'd like to know what sort of man he is."

Bill didn't say anything for a moment. Finally he said, "He's a former Viper pilot, a good leader. He was CAG of the _Solaria_ during the First Cylon War, later their XO. He's been at the Academy for the last five or six years. I don't know much about him personally. I think he's divorced or possibly a widower now. Something of a lady's man, I hear. His son was a Viper pilot on board the _Atlantia _when it was lost over Picon. I saw his name on the list at the memorial service last year. That's about all I know. Lee respects him. Never had anything bad to say about him."

"I see. Thank you."

"Laura…"

"Yes, Bill?"

"Nothing. Just behave yourself. And have a good time."

Colonel Winters looked very good when he called for her on Saturday night. He was wearing an expensive charcoal gray suit and a beautiful light blue silk tie. She decided that he was possibly a bit vain. Not like Bill at all.

She was wearing a V-necked dark green silk dress with narrow straps that was cut just low enough to be fashionable, but not so low that she felt uncomfortable. She was also wearing the small emerald and diamond earrings that had belonged to her mother. She had taken pains with her hair and makeup. When she saw the look on the colonel's face, she decided the extra effort had been worth it.

How long had it been since a man had looked at her like that?

Bonnie Patrice was crowded, but they were immediately taken to a table in the smaller, more private dining room. Apparently Colonel Winters had as much clout as she did. When they were seated, he glanced at the menu, made his selection, and closed it. She never bothered to open hers. She already knew what she was going to order.

"I see you've been here before," he said.

"Yes, I have. You didn't take very long with the menu, Colonel. Have you been here before, too?"

"No. But I generally know what I want. I don't spend a lot of time on selecting. And it's Chuck, not Colonel. What are you going to have…also what would you like to drink? I'll order for both of us."

"If I'm to call you Chuck, then it's Laura." She gave him her dinner order. "And I'll have a straight whiskey."

Winters smiled his approval. "I like a beautiful woman who can order a man's drink."

She smiled, too. He had just paid her a compliment.

They spent the meal talking about his career and never got around to the budget. He was a smart man and had accomplished a great deal, which he didn't mind relating to her.

After the meal as they were waiting for coffee, she excused herself. They were in the smaller, more private dining area. The way to the ladies' room took her through the main part of the restaurant. She saw John Gallagher and his date before he saw her.

He glanced up as she walked over to their table. He was standing by the time she got there. She liked that. It reminded her of Bill and Lee. Her father had always said that when a woman was on her feet, a gentleman was, too.

"John, how nice to see you again."

"Laura," he held out his hand. "I'm told I held your hand for five minutes the last time we met. I promise not to do that this time."

Unwisely, perhaps, and due to two straight whiskeys, she smiled and set the tone of their conversation. "I'm disappointed. I quite enjoyed it."

She took his hand and their eyes met. She saw the surprise before he smiled. Once again the question niggled for her as it had when she had first met him. Where during the last three or four years had she seen green eyes like his?

"Please introduce me to your lovely date."

He nodded. "Laura, this is Lissa Colson. Lissa, this is Laura Roslin, the Secretary of Education. Lissa works for Dr. Gaius Baltar. I believe you two are acquainted."

"Ah, yes, Dr. Baltar. We are. As a matter of fact I'm going to have lunch with him one day next week. I'm going to ask him what he's doing with a large part of my education funding. What do you do for Dr. Baltar, Lissa?"

"I work in one of the labs."

"Would that by any chance be the lab where everything is so secret?"

"I'm not supposed to talk about what we do if that's what you mean."

Laura glanced back at John. Their eyes met again. His look was as appreciative as the colonel's had been. She was shocked to find that something in her answered him. How did a man say that much with just his eyes?

"Excuse me," Lissa said. "I can tell you two want to talk. I'll go powder my nose." She got up and left the table.

"Would you like to sit down?" John asked her.

"For a moment." She sat in the chair that Lissa had just vacated. "I hope I didn't upset her."

"She'll get over it. She thinks every woman who speaks to me is a former girlfriend."

"I'm flattered. How have you been, John?"

"I won't complain. You?"

"Busy. How is Lee doing with the breakup? I've been concerned about him."

She saw the look in his eyes. He cared deeply for his young friend.

"Lee's going to be fine. I saw him last week. He's hurting right now, but he'll be fine. He's got it all in perspective. Time should take care of the rest. Time or a new woman or both. He's a good-looking guy. If he'd lighten up, he'd have women all over him. I'm keeping an eye on him." He smiled.

"Good. I feel better knowing he has someone like you to help him. Please tell him I asked about him. I think so highly of him. I sincerely hope he doesn't hold it against me that Blaire is now dating my aide, Billy."

"I'm sure he doesn't. I'll tell him you asked about him. I know he'll appreciate it. He thinks a lot of you, too."

He picked up his drink. She doubted it was his first that evening. Something was bothering him very much.

"Do you not like where Lissa works? Or is it the man she works for? Or perhaps both?"

Again she got a surprised look from him. "If you're reading my mind, which it seems like you're doing, then please forgive me for…anything else I might be thinking right now." He smiled again. "You look _very_ beautiful tonight, Laura. Who's the fortunate man?"

"Thank you. I'm with Colonel Charles Winters, the Academy's head administrator." She smiled. "He asked me to dinner to discuss his budget, but he hasn't gotten around to that, yet. All we've talked about is his career which, I'll have to admit, has been rather impressive."

"Sitting across the table from you, can you blame him? Knowing Winters he's more interested in impressing you than talking about his budget."

He was still smiling as he took a drink.

"Do you know Chuck?" She asked in surprise.

"I never got to call him Chuck. He was my CAG when I was on the _Solaria_. Of course he was Captain Winters then. If you mention my name, I'm sure he'll tell you a lot of things about me that are only half-true. Don't listen to him. I'm not the same man I was then…in a lot of ways. I need to say _hello_ to him and tell him to keep his mouth shut."

"We're in the other dining room. I'm sure he'll be happy to see you. I'll follow Lissa's example and go powder my nose." She stood.

John stood, too. "If you see her, please tell her I haven't run out on her."

"Certainly."

Their eyes met again. Again she saw something. Again something in her answered. _Don't go there, _she thought. _He's taken._

"Uh, just a friendly warning, Laura. If you ask the colonel in for a drink, he'll assume you're offering him more than a drink...unless of course you want to offer him more than a drink."

Bill had alluded to something similar about Winters. He'd called him a _lady's man_. "And you obviously know the colonel well enough to make that warning."

"I do."

She smiled. "Don't worry, John. I don't sleep with a man on the first date."

He grinned. "In that case I hope you'll consider this our first date. That way I can look forward to the second."

She laughed. "You're an incorrigible flirt. And I've let you tease me long enough. Please tell Chuck I'll be back shortly."

"I will. And you're very kind. I've been called a lot worse."

They stood for another few seconds, eyes locked, unable to move, until she forced herself to walk away from the table. Why was it that when a man really appealed to her, he was taken? Bill Adama, Richard Adar, and now John Gallagher. What would a therapist have to say about that kind of moth-to-the-flame attraction?

Lissa was standing at the sink in the ladies room. She didn't look happy.

Laura said, "John asked me to tell you that he's gone to speak to my date. It seems they knew each other when John was on the _Solaria._"

"John forgot to mention that he knows the Secretary of Education."

"I met him at Lee Adama's graduation and haven't seen him since. I wouldn't say we really _know_ each other."

"Not long ago we ran into another one of his old girlfriends. I could tell she still has a thing for him. It's how good he is in the sack. It gets them every time. But I guess you know that."

"I can assure you I'm not one of his former girlfriends, nor am I acquainted with his bedroom skills."

"I couldn't make it to Lee's graduation. It's not that I didn't want to go. I had to work."

"On Dr. Baltar's secret project?"

"That's my job."

"Let me ask you, then, do you think what you're doing is important enough to be taking away such a large portion of the education funding for Caprica?"

"Gaius does."

"I'm asking you for your opinion. You're young. I'm sure one day you and John will want to start a family. At the rate we're going by that time there won't be anything left for your children's education."

"That's a big assumption on your part."

"It's not an assumption at all. I know exactly how much money we've lost to the biomedical and AI and other projects for the last three years, especially this secret project that no one will talk about."

"No, I mean your assumption that John and I will be starting a family. We've already had that talk. He wants a kid. I don't. Since I'm the one who'd have to put my career on hold to have it, and I'm not willing to do that, end of discussion."

"I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to pry."

Lissa shrugged. "I should get back. Otherwise John will probably think I'm frakking somebody in the parking lot. Not that he would care."

_What was that all about? No wonder John had seemed troubled._

Laura was still wondering five minutes later as she returned to her table.

"So you know John Gallagher," Winters said.

She sighed. Was the colonel going to assume she'd been sleeping with John, too? She said almost wearily. "I met him at Lee Adama's graduation. Lee and John are friends. Bill Adama and I go back quite a few years."

"Gallagher was the best and the most hell-raising Viper pilot I've ever known. Before his accident, that is."

"Accident?"

"Didn't you know? John lost a leg in a motorcycle accident."

"No, I didn't know that."

"He could have stayed in the service, done something else, but he took a medical discharge. He was twenty-four years old and wasn't able to fly a Viper anymore and nothing else would do. He had a rough time afterward, physically and emotionally. I went to see him right after he'd been moved to the rehab hospital. He was angry and bitter. Told me not to come back. Said he didn't want my pity. It was hard to see him in that kind of shape. I'm glad to see's he's fine now. Still flying. That's all he ever wanted to do. That and romance the ladies."

"Yes, I can well imagine with his looks he…did quite a lot of that."

The colonel chuckled. "I'll never forget the time he…how shall I put this delicately?"

"You don't need to put anything delicately for me."

"He had something going on with two Raptor pilots. Both _good-looking_ women. Big rivalry between the two of them even before John was in the picture. One of them caught him in the shower with the other one. Some real fireworks ensued. He tried to keep them apart, got a black-eye for his trouble, and then one of his friends got involved. To sum it up, half-hour later I had seven pilots lined up in my office, in uniform by then of course, not bare-ass naked like most of them were when the scuffle was taking place."

The colonel started laughing again at the memory.

"One caught him showering with the other?" she asked. "I've heard things are different on a battlestar with everyone using the same bathroom, but…"

The colonel was still laughing. "Not showering, Laura. Having sex."

"In the shower? Dear gods, how do you do that?"

"If you want a demonstration, you'll have to ask John. I was told he's damn good at it."

She was still trying to imagine how you did something like that in a shower. She finally came up with a scenario that involved youth, strength, good coordination, some athletic ability and a lot of determination.

"Please continue your story."

"First words out of John's mouth were, _'This is all my fault, sir.'_ I already had a good idea of what had happened anyway. Then one of the Raptor pilots spoke up, said she'd started it. I ended up letting them all off with a warning, told them if anything like that _ever_ happened again, they'd _all_ go to the brig. Then I dismissed the other five and got the whole story from her."

"I had no idea that life on a battlestar during peacetime could be so…exciting."

"It's usually not. I asked John to stay after I dismissed the Raptor pilot. Told him if he couldn't be reasonable about his love life, I'd pull him off flight-ready status for a month so he could think about it. I knew _that_ would get his attention. I asked him if he had learned a lesson. _Yes, sir._ I asked him if he thought he could keep it to one woman at a time from then on. _Yes, sir._ As far as I know, he did. I never had to deal with anything like _that_ again. I'll never forget it, though. That John was a rascal. The ladies loved him."

"I'm sure. He's a very charming man."

"Sounds like I've got some competition."

"He has a girlfriend, Chuck. She looks all of twenty-five and she's very lovely."

The colonel smiled. "Now why doesn't that surprise me?"

When Winters took her back to her apartment, she did not ask him in for a drink. He told her he would call her. She told him that she had enjoyed the evening and would wait on his call. He leaned over and kissed her lightly. She kissed him back. She was fairly certain that she would hear from him soon.

Her social life was looking brighter.

That night as she tried to go to sleep, a plan began to form in her mind. She might have a way to find out what was going on in Dr. Baltar's secret lab.

She was meeting with Gaius on Thursday, and that didn't give her much time. She could postpone their lunch, but it had taken her so long to get this one set up that she didn't want to do it. As soon as she got to work on Monday morning she called Bill and asked him how she could get in touch with John.

"I'm starting to feel like your dating service, Laura. Did things not work out with Colonel Winters?"

"This is strictly professional, Bill. I need John's help with something."

"Anything I can help you with?"

"Unfortunately, no. Unless you know what's going on in Dr. Baltar's secret lab or know someone who does."

"Sorry, I don't. What's this about?"

"Not over the phone. We'll have lunch next week and I'll tell you then."

"I can tell you where John works. They'll give him a message. I'm sure he'll call you back."

When she called the air cargo office she found that John was off that day, but the woman who took the call politely refused to give her John's personal phone number citing company policy. Laura went out to Billy's desk, had him pull up the city's on-line phone directory. John was not listed, but Lissa Colson was. Laura took a chance and called. John answered. So they were living together. It was indeed a committed relationship. Troubled perhaps, but they were still together.

"Hello, John, it's Laura."

There was a moment of silence before he said, "Was it something I said or something Colonel Winters told you."

"Neither. I'm calling because I need your help. It's not something I want to discuss over the phone. I know this is short notice, but I'd like to meet you for dinner tonight unless it will cause problems with you and Lissa."

"She's always late getting home from work. I eat dinner alone most of the time."

She remembered the Colonel's succinct question. "Is that a _yes_ or a _no_?"

"What do you think?"

"One word, John."

"Yes."

"Good. Meet me at Channing's. It's a little restaurant on Baker Street just past the corner of Baker and King's Bay."

"I know where it is. What time? Earlier is better for me. I've got to be up at four a.m. tomorrow. I'm not as young as I used to be. I actually have to sleep a few hours now."

"Six?"

"Perfect."

She left work early that day. She washed her face, brushed out her hair and put it in a pony tail, put on a sweatshirt and a pair of jeans and sneakers. That was about as incognito as she could get. She doubted that she needed to take any precautions, but she also knew she needed to be careful about protecting a source if John was indeed able to help her obtain information about the lab.

She was waiting in a booth when he arrived. He walked past her before he slowly backed up.

"Holy Hera," he said and smiled. "You look about sixteen. I feel like I'm robbing the cradle." He sat down opposite her.

She smiled in return. "Would you like something to drink tonight?" She held up her glass. "I started without you."

"Just coffee. I'll be in the cockpit at six a.m. tomorrow. I never drink before I fly."

"I want to thank you for agreeing to meet me like this. I'm sure you're curious."

"Very."

"Do you know anything about the secret project that Lissa is working on?"

His smiled faded. "I won't do anything to get her in trouble."

"I'm not asking you to do that, but this is important. The Cylons have cut my education budget again. That's twice this year. We were already struggling. I need some ammunition for my meeting with Dr. Baltar later this week. I might be able to get him to agree to make do with the funds he's already getting. I need to know what's going on in that lab. Please help me. Help all of us."

"Sorry, Laura, I'm not your man for this." He got up. "Sorry. It was nice to see you again."

She watched him walk out of the restaurant. She looked for any hint of a limp, anything to indicate he'd lost a leg like Chuck Winters had said. She saw nothing.

She caught her waiter's eye and held up her empty glass. When he brought her another straight whiskey, she drank half, leaned her head back against the booth and closed her eyes. She was out of ideas. This had been her last hope.

She heard a sound and opened her eyes. John slid back into the seat opposite her. "I won't deny Lissa and I are having problems, some of them related to her job, but I still won't do anything to get her in trouble."

"Your loyalty to her is very admirable. I can promise you that neither of your names will ever be mentioned. I just need some ideas. I already have a fear. I first had it during the negotiations. I would be _happy_ to hear that's not what they're trying to do."

"Why don't we do it this way," John said. "You start talking. I'll tell you if you're wrong."

"Have you ever read the treaty we signed with the Cylons?"

"Not the whole thing. But I do know we gave them complete access to all of our biomedical research, genetic, fertility, cloning and AI."

"I was opposed to it. So was Bill, but we were outvoted. My fear is that they've made some strides in possibly creating," she took a deep breath and lowered her voice, "possibly creating a hybrid of some sort, part-human, part-Cylon."

She waited. He didn't tell her that she was wrong.

"Oh, gods, am I right?"

"That's their goal," he finally said. "Lissa and I haven't talked about this in a while. It's a real point of…of disagreement with us."

"Do you have any idea how close they are?"

He shook his head.

"Could you find out?"

"Lissa and all the rest of them down at that lab have signed a confidentiality agreement saying that if they talk about the work they're doing, they will be fired without any recourse and possibly face some kind charges involving the infringement of intellectual property rights. You're asking me to get her to do something that could not only get her fired but also get her charged with a crime."

"I'm asking you to help me. Help all of us, help humanity. Please, John. I don't have anyone else I can ask. You're my only hope."

"I don't know how much I can do without making Lissa suspicious. She knows how I feel about it. If I suddenly start asking a lot of questions, she's going to know something's up."

"I think you feel the same way I do. Creating a new life is a miracle. What kind of aberration would a hybrid be? Half-machine, half-human? A creature with half a soul?"

"You're presuming that everyone believes humans have souls. Some people don't believe there was anything divine in the creation of humans. Some people think we're just _one step_ in an evolutionary chain that started eons ago on another planet in another solar system. Some people think a human-cylon hybrid is the next evolutionary step. Some people see it as an _improvement_ on the human race."

"Is that what Lissa believes?"

"Lissa, Dr. Baltar and most everybody else she works with. Otherwise they wouldn't be working out there."

"Do they believe we originally came from Kobol and before that Earth?" She asked.

"Lissa and I have never discussed it. I think the only ones who believe that are deep into the prophecies of Pythia."

"I've read Pythia. Myths usually have some foundation in truth. Pythia was a real person, an Oracle at Delphi almost twenty-five hundred years ago. She often prophesied while in a trance. One of the most enduring of those prophesies is the birth of a special child and the return of the human race to their original home on Earth. There is supposed to be a tomb on Kobol, the tomb of Athena. It's said that the map to Earth is in her tomb."

John surprised her with his knowledge. "According to the archeologists, Pythia's temple was built near a volcanic vent. At certain times she would have been breathing methane and sulfur vapors. You or I could probably prophesy if we did that."

"So you don't believe there's any truth to the myth?"

He shrugged. "I didn't say that. I don't know that I've given it a lot of thought."

"Does Lissa believe in the gods?"

"No. She doesn't believe in anything she can't touch and see and quantify."

"And you?"

"My beliefs aren't really relevant to this, are they?"

"No, not really. I meet with Dr. Balter on Thursday. I know that doesn't give you much time. Will you do what you can? Please, John. So much is riding on this. If I don't stand up to them now, if I don't stop them now, they'll eventually take everything. The Colony's children deserve a better future. They deserve a chance at an education."

"I'll do what I can. And you're right. I feel exactly like you do. A new human life is a miracle. To hold a baby in your arms and know she's part of you…" he nodded, "…a miracle."

She started to tell him that he sounded like he had done that, but she didn't. There was obviously no child in his life now. Perhaps that was the cause of an underlying sadness she sensed in him. Perhaps at some point in his life John Gallagher had lost a child, a daughter. Some day she might get the opportunity to ask him, but not tonight. She didn't know him well enough to ask him something that personal yet.

She had a last request for him. "One other thing you might try to find out, and this has nothing to do with what they are doing in that lab…does Dr. Baltar have a…I can barely make myself say this…a romance going on with the blond Cylon woman, Natasi?"

"I hope you're kidding me."

"I wish I were."

"You've seen or heard something to make you think he does?"

"I've seen them together. It was right after the treaty was signed. I thought they looked like…lovers. During the negotiations, too, I saw the way they interacted. All I can say is that I think there's something there."

"I've seen her picture. She's beautiful, but she's a machine."

"Exactly."

When they left the restaurant, he offered to call a transport for her.

"I'm walking. I only live five blocks from here."

He walked with her back to her apartment building, an older but elegant brick structure set back from the road on a tree lined circle. They talked about the history of Caprica City. She was surprised at how knowledgeable he was, especially about the historic district where she lived.

Both of them knew she wasn't going to ask him in for a drink.

She stopped outside and took a business card out of her jeans pocket. She handed it to him. "In case you ever need to get in touch with me. No one will ever answer those numbers but me or they will go to voice mail. Be careful about any message you might leave on voice mail, though. The Cylons can get to anything like that. There are also a lot of reporters and possibly others as well who would love to get their hands on that card. So please treat it with care."

"Don't worry. I'll memorize these and then destroy the card." He reached in his jacket pocket and took out a small piece of paper. "My mobile number. It would be better if you called that instead of the other number. It will go to voice mail, too. There are times I won't be able to answer it. Like when I'm in the cockpit. I'm sure you understand."

"I understand completely. Thank you for agreeing to meet me for dinner tonight and especially for agreeing to help me."

He grinned. "So is this our second date?"

She kept up the teasing exchange. "I don't sleep with a man on the second date, either."

"So what's the magic number, Laura?"

She smiled. "I can promise you if we ever reach it, I'll let you know."

"I'll count on that. Goodnight, Laura. I'll see you Wednesday night. Same time, same place. I hope I have something for you."

"Goodnight, John."

He turned and started down the sidewalk.

She called after him, "Someday perhaps you can explain that little shower trick to me."

"Damn," he started laughing and just kept walking. "I'm going to kill Chuck Winters."

TBC…


	19. You Say Terrorist, I Say Resistance

Chapter 19

You Say Terrorist…I Say Resistance

_From the beginning of the Cylon occupation of Caprica, a small but increasing number of humans joined a movement to harass and impede the Cylons who now controlled their lives. Based on the peace treaty, the government was forced to deal with these resistance fighters as if they were an enemy force. They were referred to as terrorists in all official publications. Privately most people, including elected and appointed members of the government, referred to them as the resistance._

_-Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War _

Maybe because the change was subtle or maybe because Karl and Maggie stayed so wrapped up in each other, Kara was the only one to notice the change in Jared. He became more withdrawn. A day or two a week he stayed late at work. Or that's where he said he was.

One night about six months after she went to work for Jack Fisk, Kara called Jared at work to find out if he wanted to meet her and Maggie and Karl downtown and go to a movie. The girl who answered the phone in the computer center told her that Jared had been gone since five p.m. It was almost eight. Kara had already tried his mobile phone several times. He wasn't picking up.

She told Karl and Maggie to go ahead to the movie, and she waited on Jared.

He came in just before ten o'clock.

"Hard day at work?" She asked as he got the plate of food that Maggie always left him out of the refrigerator.

"Yeah. I saw where you had called my mobile phone a couple of times. I couldn't pick up. I was busy."

"What's keeping you so late down there?"

"Network server problems."

"Same server you had trouble with last week?"

"Yeah." He sat down at the table and started eating the food cold.

"What's this server's name?" Kara wasn't jealous, but she didn't like being lied to either.

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"You weren't at work. I called there when you wouldn't answer your mobile. I thought you might want to meet us downtown and take in a movie. Is it a girl?"

"No."

"A guy?"

Jared didn't even bother to answer her. "Leave it alone, Kara."

"No, I'm not going to leave it alone. Are you in some kind of trouble?"

His mouth was full of food so he shook his head.

"But something _is_ going on with you. Why won't you tell me?"

He swallowed. "Because it's dangerous and I'm not going to involve any of the rest of you."

"Dangerous? And what I do is not? How can computer stuff be more dangerous than riding a motorcycle down a street full of potholes in the middle of the night?"

"Who said it was all computer stuff?"

Kara was stunned. What else could Jared be doing? She sat down across from him at the table. "What the hell are you doing? What have you gotten yourself mixed up in?"

He grinned. "Wow, it almost sounds like you care."

"I do care."

"Go to bed with me then."

"I have been going to bed with you."

"All we've been doing is fooling around with each other. I mean let me really make love to you. Go all the way with me. Show me you care about me."

"What does that have to do with what you've gotten yourself into?"

Jared sighed in resignation. "Nothing. Just drop it."

"Are you doing something that could get you arrested or killed?"

He kept his eyes on his plate and wouldn't look at her.

"Gods damn it. I knew it. You're into something illegal, aren't you?"

"That depends on your definition of illegal."

"Tell me."

"You realize if you ever say anything it could get me in a lot of trouble probably dead. Maybe you and Karl and Maggie, too."

"Jared, look at me." He did. "There are exactly two people on this planet that I'd go to the wall for and you're one of them. Do you think I can't keep my mouth shut?"

"The other one being Karl?"

"Of course it's Karl. Who else would it be?"

"It was a toss-up between him and Connelly."

"I'm not even going to say how full of crap you are."

"And Maggie?"

"She and I get along okay, but she really doesn't like me that much. I don't know that I'd lay it on the line for her. Not the way I would you or Karl."

"You can't ever say anything to Karl. I know how close you are, but Karl will tell Maggie and she'll raise so much hell I'd never hear the end of it. She's already afraid that something will interfere with her dream about becoming a Raptor pilot. If she knew about this, she'd just…you've got to swear to me."

"Cross my heart, word of honor and all that," she said.

"I'm what the government calls a terrorist," he calmly said.

"What?"

"A rebel is how I prefer to think of myself. I belong to a group that's fighting the Cylons in small ways, a resistance movement."

"How?"

"Intercepting their communications, stealing from them, communications equipment, stuff like that. We make explosives, too, and bullets. There's some in another group who take it to extremes, but I'm not one of them."

"Holy Hera! Oh my gods! This stuff we've been seeing on the news? That's not small stuff! That's your group?"

He shrugged. "Not all of it. I told you we don't do extreme stuff and that's usually what makes the news. Nobody I know will wire himself up with explosives and blow up a police station or a military convoy because he thinks they're collaborating with the Cylons."

"What difference does it make? I'm sure in everybody's eyes a terrorist is a terrorist. I'm sure people don't make those fine distinctions."

"Well, we do. I made it clear I wouldn't kill anybody except Cylons. I'd kill them all day long but it doesn't matter. They'd just make another copy. They call it downloading which proves they're nothing but a bunch of computers. My father died when their nuclear base star blew up and destroyed the _Atlantia_, and they're responsible for my mother's death. If we hadn't been in the camp she wouldn't have died of the flu."

"If you're not into the radical stuff, what do you do?"

"I guess you'd say I'm technical support which means mostly I'm a hacker. I get into their systems, see their plans, see the routes their vehicles take. They're very dependent on computers. Big surprise. Maybe because that's what they are. Then I pass that information on to others. I've built a computer model that looks like a transportation program that scans their communications for certain words. It's complicated."

"I want to join you. Both my parents are dead because of the Cylons, too."

"I was recruited by a guy at work. It took a long time before I got in, and even now I know only a couple of people, and they know only a couple. And I don't know anybody's real name except the guy who recruited me. Everybody has a nickname. That's all I know. That way the top people in the group are protected. I'll talk to this guy. You have some skills we maybe could use. That deadly aim of yours for one thing. And you've got the motorcycle."

"Okay. But I'll have to be careful about the motorcycle. If something happens to it, Fisk told me I'd pay for it."

Jared looked at her. "Kara, if something that bad happens, that damned motorcycle will probably be the least of your worries. This can't be some whim on your part that you decide later you want out of. Are you absolutely sure you want to do this?"

"I'm sure. The only thing I'm more sure about is killing Zarek someday."

"He's up for parole," Jared said.

"How do you know that?"

"I saw something about it in a communication. I've been keeping track of him for you. I can't be absolutely certain, but I think Zarek is one of us."

"Are you kidding?"

"He's been very vocal inside the prison about the Cylons. I know that for sure. He has a large following among the other prisoners. He knows a lot of people on the outside as well. You maybe should forget about killing him."

"Not a chance."

Jared got up and washed his plate and fork and stuck them in the drainer by the sink. "I'll see what I can do about getting this guy I know to talk to you. I can't make any promises, though. Let me ask you something because I'm sure I'm going to be asked. If it came down to it, could you kill somebody?"

"What do you mean? Like in cold blood or to save my own life or to save somebody else's?"

"All of those."

Kara thought for a while. She was going to kill Zarek in cold blood but that was personal. Zarek aside, could she walk up to someone on the street, someone she didn't even know, and pull the trigger?

"I couldn't kill a human in cold blood. I'm not an assassin. But to save my own life or somebody else's, yeah. I'm sure I could. And I'm like you, I could kill Cylons all day long. That's just the same thing as unplugging a toaster."

"Even the ones that look like humans? Even the skinjobs?"

"Yeah, even them."

"Okay, that's what I'll tell him."

"What's your nickname?"

Jared looked embarrassed. "Harley."

"Harley? Where did you get that?"

"It was the name of a dog I had when I was a kid. You might be thinking about a nickname, too. If this guy agrees to see you, that's how I'll introduce you."

"I already know what my nickname is going to be. Sassy. It's what my father called my mother."

"That's good. That's cool. It fits you. Oh, something else. If you do become one of us, you'll have to take off the dog tags. The ring is okay, but you can't wear the dog tags anymore."

"Why not? Oh, I see. If I got caught or…something else."

"Yeah. I know they're your mother's, but you could still be identified by those dog tags."

"Okay. If I get to join you, I'll take off the tags. The ring can be for both of them."

"Did your father have a nickname?"

"My mother called him Flyboy."

"Too bad I've already got a name. I like Flyboy."

"You couldn't be Flyboy."

"Why not?"

"Flyboy has to be a pilot like my father."

"Great. So first it was Connelly and now it's some pilot you haven't even met."

"Give it a frakking rest, will you? I guess that means you don't want to go play."

He walked over and gently pushed her until her back was against the refrigerator. "If that's all I can get, I'll take it." He leaned in, pressed his body against hers and kissed her.

It felt good. She put her arms around his neck. She really did want to play tonight.

...

Lee finished his tour of duty on the _Triton_ and was posted back to the airbase on Caprica. He would have a two-week leave to get settled into an apartment or some other housing. His parents told him he was welcome to move back into the house, but Lee declined. He'd been on his own since the Academy and didn't think being at home was the right thing for him anymore.

Before he took the two weeks though, he had to report to Major Brandon Parker, his new commanding officer. The major had his Academy and service folders on his desk when Lee walked into Parker's office and came to attention.

"Lieutenant Lee Adama reporting as ordered, sir."

"At ease, Lieutenant Adama. Have a seat."

Lee sat in one of the two chairs across from the major's desk.

"Tell me, Lieutenant, have you thought about what you want to do for the rest of your career in the military? Besides fly a Viper, that is?"

"I wasn't aware I needed to think about anything other than flying a Viper, sir."

"Unfortunately that's not enough these days. We've lost quite a few personnel in the last three years to retirements and people not re-enlisting. Recruitments are also down. A lot of us are doubling up now and doing more than one job."

"What are my options, sir?"

"There are several. I'm going to suggest one. I've looked at all your test scores, aptitude and all the rest. Two things stand out, your intelligence and your desire to excel in everything you do. You're always at the top of your class. I'd like for you to think about training as an interrogator and data analyst while keeping up your duties as a pilot. The Cylons will only allow you to fly one day a week. That leaves four days to fill."

"An interrogator and analyst, sir? Could you be more specific?"

"How well have you kept up with what's happening down here on Caprica while you were on the _Triton_?"

"Not as well as I should have, sir."

"We're dealing with several terrorist cells that have sprung up in the last three years, anti-Cylon terrorist cells, which makes them anti-government terrorist cells. Some analysts think it's all one big loosely organized group, but other analysts think the attacks are too diverse to come from one group. Personally I don't know nor do I much care. Our job is to question anyone who is caught, relay that information to a special task force that is composed of military and government agents and Cylons."

"The military is questioning terrorists?"

"A clause in the treaty we signed with the Cylons over three years ago leaves this sort of…policing up to us. It's our responsibility to keep the peace here on the planet. If we don't, they'll step in. Knowing how the Cylons usually solve problems, none of us want that."

"What kind of training would this job involve?"

"Not much at this point. Mainly you'd be working with men or women who are very experienced in interrogation. Then you'd work with other analysts picking apart any data that is…acquired from the suspects. We know that a lot of it won't be reliable. We need to know what is and what isn't."

"Sir, that wouldn't appeal to me if it involves torture or beatings or drugging someone."

"We don't do that…at least not that I'm aware of and certainly not on my watch. What the Cylons do to prisoners is out of our control. We ask questions. That's it. You'd be learning psychological and verbal techniques. You'd receive basic paramedic training since some suspects are not in good physical condition when we get them. Also to recognize the reactions of a person who has taken certain drugs. Not long ago a suspect's apartment was searched and several anti-anxiety medications were found along with a strong stimulant_._ A group of analysts has theorized that some of the terrorists use these drugs before they go out on a mission, especially if the outcome is death or almost certain death for the terrorist. Unfortunately the suspect whose apartment the drugs were found in died as a result of the injuries he sustained while breaking into a research facility and he couldn't be questioned."

"If I choose not to follow this career path, sir, then what are my other options?"

"I think, Lieutenant Adama, you'll be sitting behind a desk at the airbase up near Sovana, flying one day a week, probably keeping some colonel's budget spreadsheets and scheduling his golf games."

Major Parker had made his point. They wanted him to train as an interrogator and analyst or spend the next few years of his career in a dead-end, boring job. Lee made his decision without any hesitation. He would do what Parker suggested.

After his meeting with the major, Lee walked out into the early January sunshine. He already missed the feeling of sitting in the cockpit of a Viper. What was it the major had said as he'd left the office, to be thankful for one day of flying a week? On the _Triton_ Lee had flown more days of the week than not. He already knew that the days between flights were going to seem very long.

He wondered what his father would think about this turn in his career. He wondered what his grandfather would have thought. His grandparents had been visiting family on Tauron when the Cylons had attacked and nuked the planet. Bill had not even been aware of that until after the negotiations had begun and he had called his father's law office. It was just another emotional blow that all of them had to deal with in a short period of time.

Lee thought of the irony. His grandfather would probably have wanted to defend some of the very men and women that Lee might be interrogating. His grandfather had always been fascinated by what made people commit the crimes they did. In some respects Lee shared his fascination.

He walked to the cafeteria on base, bought a newspaper, got a cup of coffee and began to look at the _Apartments for Rent_ section.

Even as he circled several ads, he couldn't get his mind off what the major had just told him. What made someone become a terrorist? Hatred? A desire for revenge? Were they mentally unbalanced? Was there ever a good enough reason to strap explosives to your chest and detonate them? Was there ever a good enough reason to kill the innocent in order to get at those you hated, or to kill the innocent to make some kind of protest statement?

Maybe some people hated the Cylons enough that they thought anyone's death was worth it if it hampered their activities. How did you defend against someone who felt that much hatred?

Maybe he would like this job better than he thought he would. Maybe he could make a difference. Maybe he could actually stop some of the senseless deaths and save lives.

...

That same evening Laura Roslin sat in the booth at Channing's. It was a quarter past six and she began to think that John Gallagher wasn't going to show up. Her lunch meeting with Dr. Baltar was the next day.

At twenty minutes after six John finally slid into the booth. His face was flushed.

"Sorry, sorry I'm late. Long line in the grocery store."

"You do the grocery shopping?"

"Lissa works all the time. I don't. I fly three or four days out of the seven. I got back in at four-thirty this afternoon. I thought I'd have time to get the shopping done and still be here by six. Sorry. I'm not flying tomorrow, so I'll take that drink tonight. I don't guess you do any grocery shopping."

"I have a housekeeper. She grocery shops, runs errands, takes my clothes to the cleaners, leaves dinner for me if I'm not going out. I couldn't survive without her. Twelve and fourteen hour days don't lend themselves to housework."

He grinned. "Don't I know that?"

"You do the housework, too?"

"When it gets done."

She had no idea if he was teasing her about doing housework or was telling her the truth. "You have something for me?"

"More than I thought I'd get. It's bad news, but not the worst news."

"The worst news being?"

"That they had succeeded in making…creating…whatever you want to call it…a human-cylon hybrid that grew to term. They've started them in test tubes or whatever they start them in, but they can only grow them that way for so long before they have to be…implanted. They've done that, too, but they won't continue to grow for long. The surrogates…that's what they call the women who get the implanted hybrids…can't carry them."

"They miscarry?"

"Yeah." The waiter brought his drink and John waited until he had walked away before he continued. "No one's managed to carry a hybrid longer than eight weeks. The woman's body always rejects the implant at that point or sooner. Some won't implant at all. They're working now on the theory that it's some genetic abnormality caused by…mixing human and Cylon DNA. They're still trying to find just the right combination of everything to make it work. Lissa mentioned two things after that, spontaneous mutation and gene splicing. I understand the spontaneous mutation, but gene splicing is way over my head. I know that they can control the gene splicing but not the other one. Lissa still thinks they're making progress. Apparently so do Baltar and Simon."

"You're right. This is bad news but not the worst news. Did they ever try having a Cylon and a human," she felt herself beginning to blush and took a deep breath, "having a Cylon and a human have sex? I'm assuming they can…actually have sex. I'm trying to ask if they tried it the…normal way first."

"They've apparently got all the right parts, but it didn't work for two Cylons. That's the reason they decided they needed us. This particular project has been going on for almost two years, but it hasn't been until the last year that they actually got a successful…fertilization there in the lab. They tried the other way first, but Lissa wasn't involved in that. She told me that she's particularly good at doing the fertilization procedure…putting the egg and sperm together. Damn, that just makes me sick. I didn't know that until she told me last night. She said when the first one worked, when the cells actually started dividing that Baltar grabbed her and kissed her like she'd somehow personally made it happen."

Laura made a face at the thought of being kissed by Gaius Baltar.

"Yeah, my reaction, too. Apparently Baltar promised the Cylons a long time ago that he could do what they were asking and now two years have gone by and still no hybrid baby. He's getting desperate. Lissa said Simon observes everything they do and won't allow an implantation unless he knows its half-Cylon. She thinks he's afraid Baltar will sneak a human one in there, get a successful implantation and try to pass it off as a hybrid."

"During the treaty negotiations, Dr. Baltar assured me that human and Cylon DNA couldn't be mixed. I believe he used the analogy of trying to mate a cat and a dog. He made me feel ignorant for having thought it and now you say they've achieved it."

"That's what Lissa says."

"Are the women aware of what they are being implanted with?"

"No. They think they're guinea pigs for new implantation techniques. They're being so well paid they aren't asking questions. They have no personal stake in it. Lissa said all of them had carried at least two healthy pregnancies to term without problems. All of them were screened very carefully for physical, psychological and financial conditions. None have any religious beliefs. They all really need the money. They're being told that any child that results will go to childless couples who are trying to adopt. I doubt that. I think the Cylons will take them."

"So even if these women suspected something they would probably keep quiet?"

"Probably."

"Are they using human surrogates or a Cylon surrogate, one of the Natasi models?"

"Human is all Lissa knows for sure, but she did drop another little bombshell. There's maybe another Cylon."

"What do you mean another Cylon?"

"A fourth one, fourth model or whatever. Lissa saw a dark-haired woman, young, oriental features in one of the rooms where they do the implantation procedure. She's not certain, though. Simon has personally done all the procedures on this girl…or girls since if she's a Cylon there could be multiple copies of her. He's got all the records, too. He won't put anything into the computer. Lissa said that's strange since all the others' records are in there. But none of that is any kind of definite proof. Lissa won't try to find out because she's afraid of losing her job. She's suspicious…but she doesn't have any real proof. She just thinks it's odd they're treating this one girl…or girls…differently from the others."

Laura shut her eyes for a moment. Another one of her nightmares might be reality. She had always feared there were more than the three Cylon models they had seen. There might be dozens of them.

"The other thing you asked. Lissa is certain there's nothing going on between Dr. Baltar and Natasi. She got very upset when I suggested it so I think she knows something and is covering for her boss. I doubt Baltar would want it getting out that he's frakking…sorry, having a relationship with a machine."

"Don't apologize, John. I think your first description more closely describes anything that might be between Baltar and Natasi. Do you know how many people are working on this project?"

"I've heard her mention Baltar, the Cylon Simon, maybe five or six other names. There's not many. That's one reason she works all the time. They all do. But the small number helps keep it secret. Natasi comes in from time to time and talks to Baltar and Simon, but she's not actually working on the project that Lissa can tell."

"John, this is an amazing amount of information. You outdid yourself."

He smiled. "It cost me the last of my Siren's Kiss, but once Lissa started talking, I just kept asking questions and it all came out."

"Siren's Kiss?"

"It's a mix of ambrosia, aged whiskey and peach brandy. You can't get peach brandy anymore. Nobody's making it. I brought three bottles from Picon. Now it's gone. You can't even find peaches in the grocery store anymore."

"We imported all of our peaches from Saggitaron. Something about the climate in the South there. Peach brandy is very strong. Your drink sounds…potent."

"Better than truth serum. But I gladly sacrificed it for the cause."

"As I've said, you're amazing."

"There's one other thing I should probably mention. The lab where Lissa works is in that big research complex north of the city. Last week somebody was caught and killed trying to break into the complex. There are several other labs in there so no one can be certain that Baltar's lab was his target, but Lissa said nothing else is going on to warrant anyone breaking in."

"I must have missed that on the news."

"It never made the news."

"That's strange."

"Isn't it? Lissa said everybody's really on edge now. The guards shot the guy before he got very far into the complex."

"Shot him with rubber bullets?"

"Real bullets. It seems the guards at that complex get to carry the real thing. She's sure of that because she said they were still cleaning up the…mess the next morning when she got to work. The guy was carrying explosives. Homemade, not much, but enough to take out a room…and make a real mess of him. After he got shot, he blew himself up and injured a couple of the guards. If he had made it to their lab, Lissa said they would be a year or more recovering from the damage."

"And none of the employees saw it? What time did it happen?"

"About 2 a.m. was what she heard. A lot of the time they'll work until midnight so she knows it was after that."

"Who was this person?"

"No one knows. I mean I'm sure someone knows, but no one has told any of them. She said Baltar has been like a cat on a hot stove since then…jumps out of his skin if someone so much as drops a paper clip."

Laura looked at John. "Terrorist?"

"Yeah, I'm thinking, yeah, a terrorist, resistance, whatever. You know what this means, don't you?"

"They know about the lab."

"How do you feel about them?"

"Are you asking me for my official stance as a member of our government or as a human?"

"I guess that means there's a difference."

"As a _government official_, I view all acts of terrorism or rebellion or whatever term you wish to use, as illegal and wrong."

"But as a human?"

"Please understand that I don't in any way condone the taking of a human life, even to achieve a higher goal, but personally, I wish he had succeeded and blown up the lab."

She saw what she took as approval in his eyes.

"I'm sure you're worried about Lissa now," she added.

"I've tried a hundred times to get her to quit that job and get something else. And not just for that reason either. I might as well be talking to a wall. Gaius Baltar has her believing she's making history. They all believe it. Lissa is smart, but I think she has a morality gene missing."

"Perhaps it's her youth."

"She's thirty. Old enough to know better. The worst part is that she doesn't even understand why it upsets me so much. I wish that guy had made it. I agree with you. I don't want anybody to get hurt, but I really wish he'd blown up that damned lab."

"I'm sorry. I can tell how much this bothers you. I wish I'd had some other way to get the information I need."

"No, I'm actually glad. I'm going to have to make a decision about something soon. This has helped me. So now my question for you is…how are you going to confront Baltar with this information? I'm really against what they're doing. I really hate that Lissa is part of it, but I still don't want to see her get in trouble. And I don't want to see you put yourself in danger, either."

"I'm not sure yet exactly what I'm going to say to Dr. Baltar. Now that I know some facts I'll decide that tonight. But don't worry about my revealing anything that could identify Lissa...or you. You have my promise that I'll protect both of you. I have an ace that I haven't played with him or anyone yet. I know a reporter, D'Anna Biers. I'm sure she would love to get her hands on this."

"You're going to blackmail Dr. Baltar?"

"If I have to."

"You play hard ball, Laura."

"When the future of the human race is at stake, is there any other kind? I have a horror that as soon as they've achieved their goal they'll start forcing women to bear half-Cylon children."

"If they were paying enough they probably wouldn't have to force anyone to do it."

"You're right. There goes the rest of my education budget."

"You need to be careful, Laura. Something tells me they won't take your interference lying down."

"I don't expect they will. I'm prepared for that."

After dinner he again walked with her back to her apartment. The day had been warm for a winter day, but the evening was much colder than two days previously. She had not brought a coat, and he took off the bomber jacket he was wearing and put it around her shoulders.

It smelled of leather and aftershave and him. It smelled so good that it made her dizzy. "Now you'll be cold," she said.

"I'll be fine. I grew up somewhere that it's cold...was cold."

"Where was that?"

"North of Virgon. On the coast."

"Did you have family there when the Cylons attacked?"

"No, my family was gone by then. I lost my dad and my four older brothers when I was fourteen. A really bad storm. He had a fishing trawler. They almost made it back to port. They were less than ten miles out. Three of my brothers eventually…their bodies were recovered. Never found my dad or my oldest brother. My mom…you have to understand how much my mom and dad loved each other…thirty some years together and they…she didn't make it quite a year after he died. I came home from school one day. She'd left a note on the kitchen table asking me to forgive her. She…went up to the cliffs overlooking the harbor…joined my dad."

"Oh, John. Oh, I'm so sorry, so very sorry."

"That was a long time ago. Twenty-five years."

"Time doesn't always heal some losses. We just learn to hide them even as we live with them."

"It sounds like you had a similar experience."

"My parents and my brother were killed by a suicide bomber on Tauron a little over twelve years ago."

"Your father was Ambassador Roslin?"

"Yes."

"I'm sorry. That was so tragic. Useless and tragic. A woman I loved very much was wounded on Tauron about seven years after that. She was a Marine. She died on Picon when the Cylons attacked."

They walked in silence for a while. Did that help explain some of the deep sadness she felt right now in John Gallagher? A lost child, a lost family…and a lost love?

"I hate the Cylons," John finally said. "They cost me a lot...more than I can talk about."

"They've cost all of us a lot."

When they got to the entrance of her building, she came very close to asking him in for a drink, but decided that would be a mistake. He wasn't married, but he was living with a woman. Having dinner with him was pushing it, but she could justify that to herself. There was no way she could justify having him in for a drink. She slipped the jacket off her shoulders, handed it to him and waited while he put it on.

"Thank you. You can't know how much I appreciate all you've done."

"I hope it helps you…us."

"It will. Thank you again. Would you let me hug you?"

"What do you think?"

"One word, John."

In answer, he gently put his arms around her. She put hers lightly around him and they stood that way for a few seconds just breathing the crisp, cold air and each other.

She suddenly felt a strange kinship with this beautiful man, a man Bill Adama had called open and easy-going, a man Chuck Winters had called a rascal, a man she had called an incorrigible flirt. He was all of those things, but he was also a man who went to a lot of pains to keep anyone from seeing that he had a broken heart. That part of him she understood very well. Oh, how well she understood hiding a broken heart.

"Thank you," she whispered against his shoulder and her own broken heart was in those words.

Something happened to her in that instant, something that she couldn't comprehend. Had she finally let go of a piece of the past? Had just saying those words to him exorcised part of her pain? Or was it merely being in his arms that was affecting her so much? They mutually ended the embrace and stepped back, and for a long time neither of them spoke. The air between them was so charged that she could hardly breathe.

"If I can…do anything else…" he finally said. His words broke whatever spell she had been under.

"I'll call you." she said and turned to go inside.

"That shower trick you asked about. I'm not sure I can explain it very well. I'd probably have to show you."

She started laughing. He was going to have the last word this time just like she'd had it two nights earlier. "I'll keep that in mind. Goodnight, John."

"Goodnight, Laura. I guess three's not the magic number either."

They were both back in familiar territory with broken hearts tucked neatly away.

...

Dr. Gaius Baltar was fifteen minutes late for their lunch. He also looked to Laura like a worried man. He had appeared extremely confident and polished during the negotiations. Now his collar-length dark hair looked unkempt, there were dark circles under his eyes and he had missed a small spot on his jaw as he had shaved that morning. There was a button missing on his shirt, or he had missed buttoning it.

"Dr. Baltar," she leaned across the table and shook his hand.

"Madame Secretary. Can I ask what is so important about meeting right now? I'm a _very_ busy man."

"I'm sure you are. I won't waste any time, then. I want to talk about funding. A big portion of my education budget has been taken away from me by your Cylon friends and given to you."

"My project has become quite costly. We're succeeding, but it has cost a lot more than we originally thought."

"What are you be doing that is costing so much?"

"I can't discuss that with you."

"Because it's a _secret_, right?"

"That's right," he said like she was a child.

Some of his former arrogance was beginning to return. Her father had always told her that arrogance is often a cover for uncertainty, the ultimate bluff.

"You know what I think, Dr. Baltar. I think your secret project involves something you told me couldn't happen. I think it involves the creation of a human-cylon hybrid. Cats and dogs was the analogy you used in an attempt to make me feel ignorant. Not possible, you said. And yet you've done it."

"That's ridiculous, utterly and completely ridiculous."

She smiled. "Ridiculous? The truth is written all over your face. Tell me what you're doing, then."

He drew himself up. "I don't have to tell you anything. Simon and Natasi said…"

"Oh, how brave you are, hiding behind your Cylon collaborators. Tell me, Dr. Baltar, how does it feel to be a traitor to the human race? Was it their idea to create a half-breed or was that yours? Do you really think you will receive the credit for it when it happens?"

"Of course I will. They have no desire to get credit. They don't care about anything except the end result. And it will happen. This is the next step in our own evolution. This is science in its purest form. What we've achieved to this point is nothing short of a miracle."

He seemed to realize suddenly and with horror that he had just confirmed what she had said. "That is, of course, assuming you're right about all this…which you're not. Nothing like that is happening in my lab. We're just doing further experimenting with artificial intelligence which was banned, of course, following the First Cylon War. That's why we aren't talking about it. That's the big secret."

"Then what is costing so much?"

"It's very…very expensive to pay so many programmers to work on these AI programs. Testing and simulation costs are…astronomical."

"Then why are you thinking right now about the high cost of paying human surrogates? How much do you pay them each time you do one of your implantation procedures? How much for all the testing to find the perfect subjects and surrogates? How much for harvesting the eggs and sperm you use in your procedures. That's what's costing so much, isn't it?"

It had been an educated guess on her part, but apparently she was correct. His eyes confirmed what she'd just said. She had guessed right twice. She wouldn't try again. She had made her point.

"I want my budget funding back, Dr. Baltar. I want to educate the Colony's _human_ children. Get the money for your traitorous and unholy project from another source. Or go private for your funding. I'm sure there are some wealthy entrepreneurs out there who will back you. Some humans have no more scruples than you do. Do I make myself clear?"

"Are you threatening me?" He asked, but his voice was weaker than it was before.

"Yes, I am. I have sources within the government. I know that there was a bit of…unpleasantness at your facility a short time ago. How safe do you think you would be personally if word of what you're doing is leaked to the press? I happen to know a reporter, someone who was not afraid to go up against Cavil himself. What do you think she would do if I were to give her a call?"

"You wouldn't dare?"

"Are you willing to take that chance? I want my funding back."

"There might be something I can do about…your _funding_."

"I expect you to do it, then." Laura Roslin smiled. "Now, shall we order lunch?"

"I'm not hungry," Baltar said and stood. "I think I'll pass on lunch today."

"Hurry back then and report our conversation to Simon and Natasi. You have until the end of next week. If I don't see my budget restored by then, a certain reporter is going to get a call."

"You'll regret this."

"No, I won't. Oh, and in case something were to happen to me, this goes to the press immediately. My mobile phone has been on during our entire conversation. Everything we've said is being recorded. I personally don't see how you can sleep at night knowing what you've done, what you're trying to do. You're a traitor to the human race, Dr. Baltar."

He turned and left without another word.

Laura breathed a sigh of relief and picked up her phone. "Did you get all of that, Billy?"

"Every word," Billy answered. "I'll make copies of the audio right away."

She smiled and ended the call.

That night she went to the basement of her apartment building and used her key to open the storage area that was allotted to her unit. It took her nearly twenty minutes of moving dusty boxes around, but she finally found the one she was looking for, one of the boxes that had been moved from her parent's house before it was sold following their deaths. She opened the box. Among the other bottles of liquor were two bottles of peach brandy. She smiled and took them upstairs. One of them was destined to be a gift. The other she would keep just in case…just in case she ever invited John Gallagher in for a drink.

The following Monday she got a call from someone in the Accounting Office. Funds that had _erroneously_ been shifted to another account had been restored to her education account.

Before she could pick up the phone again, Adele buzzed her and asked if she would take a call from Colonel Charles Winters. She would. He asked her to go to dinner and the theater with him on Saturday. She kept her answer to one word. _Yes_.

She called Bill and arranged to meet him for lunch the next day.

She called John and arranged to meet him for dinner the next Wednesday night. She had a gift for him.

She suddenly felt like a social butterfly.

After so many years spent in the cocoon of her job, it felt good to spread her wings.

TBC…


	20. The Hot Blond in the Tight Black Jeans

Chapter 20

The Hot Blond in the Tight Black Jeans

_During the third year of the Cylon occupation, one of the best planned and most devastating of all the terrorist attacks destroyed a Cylon lab run by Dr. Gaius Baltar. Rumors began circulating about the nature of the work being done in the lab, alleging it had to do with efforts to produce a viable human-Cylon hybrid; however no confirmation was ever forthcoming. Dr. Baltar steadfastly maintained that their work dealt with Artificial Intelligence. _

_-Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War_

Lee was already one drink past the point he should have stopped. He wasn't drunk yet, but he was getting there. He was sitting in a nice bar near his new apartment and watching the rerun of a pyramid game on the television above the bar as he sipped his fourth, or was it fifth, drink of the evening. Not that it really mattered. They were getting the job done, moving him closer to oblivion one sip at a time.

On the screen Sam Anders was dominating the play. He was captain of the Buccaneers now and also their star player. Lee hadn't seen Sam except on television since that night at McGee's two years ago. He still felt bad about the way things had gone that night. Lissa had dumped Sam for John, but it happened to the best of them. Blaire had dumped him for Laura Roslin's aide. What did Billy Keikeya have that he didn't have except that he was around all the time? He refused to believe that Billy might be better at anything else. Or treat her better. The thought that Billy might be better in bed made him laugh until he started thinking about it. Had Zak been telling the truth about that night at his graduation party? Did Blaire really want to go upstairs with him?

Lee had been doing fine about the breakup with Blaire until tonight…until he'd started unpacking some boxes he had stored at his parent's house.

He had moved into an apartment earlier in the week, a nice one-bedroom in a new building in a good part of the city, near the theater district, near the historic district, near the park, near everything he enjoyed doing. He liked everything about his new place, the location, the view, and the layout. This morning his furniture had been delivered. He would be paying for it for a while, but it was worth it.

Zak had helped him get the four boxes from the attic of their parent's house. They had loaded them into his car and carried them into the building and up the elevator. But Zak hadn't hung around afterward. Ever since the fight things between him and Zak had changed. They had moved in different directions, the close camaraderie of childhood had vanished like contrails behind a Viper. Lee wanted to make things better but he didn't know how to go about doing it. He knew Zak was unhappy about being at the Academy. He also knew Zak blamed him as much as he blamed their father.

Earlier that evening Lee had sat down to unpack the boxes, mostly personal items he'd had at the Academy and while he was in Flight School but didn't have room to take to the _Triton_ with him…CDs, books and some pictures. He'd done fine until he'd gotten to the photograph album that Blaire had made for him after his Academy graduation and their trip to the island.

He should have just put it back in the box. Instead he had made the mistake of opening it. Maybe even then he would have been all right if he'd stopped at the first photo, but he had looked through the whole thing, each page causing the fist around his heart to tighten a little more. There they were at the spring dance and at his Academy graduation and the party and on the island. There was Blaire looking so cute and hot in her bikini. She was smiling and looking so happy and he looked so happy, too. Damn. He didn't think it could still hurt that badly.

He'd done exactly what John had thought he'd do when he'd gone back to the _Triton_ for his last four months of duty. Before that first week was over he had shared a bunk with another Viper pilot. She was enthusiastic and physically he'd done fine, physically he'd enjoyed it, but afterward there was an emptiness he hated, an emptiness that had never been there with Blaire. Maybe John was okay having mindless sex with a woman, but it didn't work for him at all.

He never did try it in the shower. He couldn't muster the enthusiasm.

He threw the album across the room and suddenly the walls seemed to close in on him. He grabbed his jacket. His hair was still damp from his shower, but he took the elevator down to the street, went out into the cold night and started walking. He found the bar less than two blocks away. The 6:00 news was coming on when he took his first drink. Blaire would be on her way home.

He looked at his watch. Almost 7:30. Blaire would be home, should have been home an hour ago. He had gotten a mobile phone two days earlier. He took it out and punched in her number. Dee answered the phone. Dee always answered the phone. What did she do, sit on top of the frakking phone all the time?

"Let me speak to Blaire," he made a point to pronounce each word carefully. It wouldn't do to have Dee go tell Blaire he was out getting drunk over her.

"Are you drunk, Lee?"

"Just put Blaire on."

"She's not here."

"Where is she?"

"I don't know. Where are you?"

"I'm at…" he looked at the bartender and asked, "What's the name of this place?"

"Zeno's Tavern."

"I'm at Zeno's Tavern. When Blaire gets back tell her I'm at Zeno's. That's Zeno's Tavern, not to be confused with the electronics store. She needs to come down here and face me. She should have the guts to break up with me in person, not write me a damned letter."

"Okay, Lee. I'll tell her, but I wouldn't hold my breath waiting if I were you."

Lee ended the call. He almost said the word _bitch _out loud and then realized that none of this was Dee's fault. But she would give Blaire the message, he was sure of that.

For the next thirty minutes he watched the door. He knew Blaire wasn't going to show up, but he watched anyway. That's why he was watching when the blond came in with the two guys, the hot blond girl wearing tight black jeans, a long-sleeved black turtleneck and a black down vest. He wasn't close enough to get a really good look at her, and the lights in the bar weren't the brightest, but he could tell that she was beautiful and hot. There was a confidence about the way she walked, a frak-you attitude in the way she carried herself. A girl like that would never write him a letter to break up with him. She'd get right in his face to do it. A girl like that wouldn't be afraid to face him. She wouldn't be afraid of anything.

She was obviously with the younger guy, a little taller than average, dark-hair, wearing glasses, not bad-looking. They went toward the back on the other side of the room and sat in a booth. The girl slid in first, closest to the wall and the young guy slid in beside her. The older guy sat across from them. He was in his forties, crew cut, tough-looking, still in good shape, probably ex-military.

Lee watched the waiter card the girl and the younger guy, use a pen light to look at their IDs. They were at least nineteen because the waiter returned in a few minutes with three beers.

How do you meet a girl who's with two guys when one of them looked like he could and would kick your ass as soon as look at you? You wait for her to go to the restroom. That's what you do. You wait. She'd have to come right past him to get to the restroom.

The girl hardly touched her beer, though. Both guys drank theirs, and then the younger guy took the girl's beer and finished it. They looked like they were in a deep discussion when Lee realized that someone had sat down on the barstool beside him.

"Hi, Lee."

"What are you doing here, Dee?"

"Blaire's not coming."

"I didn't think she would. Are you her messenger?"

"She doesn't know I'm here."

"What are you doing here, then?"

"I thought since you were drinking alone you might want company."

"Who says I'm drinking alone?"

"I don't see anybody with you."

"Actually I'm with the blond in that booth. I know she's sitting over there and I'm sitting here, but she's the one I'm drinking with tonight."

"That's not very funny. How much have you had to drink?"

"Look, Dee, you shouldn't have bothered coming down here. I never thought Blaire would show up. I mean she wrote me a damned letter. Why would I think she'd have the guts to face me now?"

He glanced at the booth. He could see the blond girl's hands as she gestured to the older guy across from her, not angrily, more like she was explaining something to him. She pointed to her arm. It looked like she pantomimed holding a gun against the younger guy's head. Then all three of them started laughing. While they were still laughing, the girl put her right foot on the edge of the table, pulled up the leg of her jeans and took something out of the side of her boot. She was wearing black lace-up style motorcycle boots that covered her ankle.

She handed the item to the older guy and Lee saw the sudden flash of a blade in the dim light. The girl had just given him a switchblade knife. The older guy examined it, closed it, gave it back to her and she stuck it back in her boot before she put her foot back on the floor.

A hot blond in tight black jeans carrying a switchblade in her motorcycle boot, obviously telling some story related to the knife. They all laughed again. He tried to get a better look at her face, but the younger guy was in the way. He realized he really wanted to meet her.

"I know you still have feelings for Blaire," Dee said. "You wouldn't be here getting drunk if you didn't, but I thought…maybe you and me could…you know the way you used to talk to me at the apartment, I thought maybe there was something there…I mean now that Blaire is dating Billy Keikeya."

"You already told me she's dating Billy. I know it. You don't need to keep pointing it out to me that she's dating Billy." He was slurring his words now.

He ignored the rest of what she had said. She had obviously mistaken casual conversation for something else. There was no way he was going to get involved with her. She was nice, but he had no interest in her like that. No interest at all. In some ways she was too nice, too meek and soft-spoken. Besides it would only be a rebound thing, and everybody knew how most rebound things worked out. It wouldn't be any different to him than sleeping with that Viper pilot on the _Triton_. It wasn't even worth it to get back at Blaire. He'd just wind up hurting Dee and then he'd have that on his conscience on top of everything else.

"What do you say, Lee?"

"I say drop it, Dee." He kept his eyes on the girl and the two guys.

The discussion in the booth looked like it had turned serious. Now the older guy was doing the talking. He emphasized a point by tapping his forefinger on the surface of the table. The younger guy and the girl were listening attentively and nodding occasionally. Finally the older guy reached out and shook the girl's hand. Some kind of deal had just been struck.

They had been there maybe thirty minutes when they got up and left. The younger guy got out of the booth first, but as the blond slid out, the older guy got up and obscured Lee's view of her. The next view he got was of her back as the three of them went out the door.

"Do you know them?" Dee asked.

"Know who?"

"Those people. You haven't stopped looking at them."

"No."

"You were looking at the girl, weren't you? The one you said you were drinking with? The blond in the tight jeans?"

"You can't blame me for looking at her. I don't think I've ever seen anybody that hot."

Lee signaled the bartender for another drink at the same time he realized he'd probably hurt Dee's feelings.

"Haven't you had enough?" Dee asked.

He didn't answer her right away. Finally he said, "Look, Dee, it was nice of you to come all the way down here, but I really want to be left alone right now. Go find some nice guy like Billy to date. You and me…it's not going to happen."

She slid off the barstool. "I'm not like Blaire. I don't want a nice _boy_ like Billy. Call me when you're sober."

"Don't hang around waiting for me to do that."

His thoughts were already back on the girl in the tight black jeans. He wondered how he could be so interested in her if he was still that much in love with Blaire. Maybe he wasn't as hung up on her as he thought he was. Maybe he was getting drunk for no reason. Maybe it wasn't losing Blaire so much as the fact that he'd failed at something that had gotten to him so badly tonight. Lee Adama. Bottom of the class when it came to love. A big failure. Was that what had gotten to him so much?

He decided that he would have to start coming here in case the hot blond ever came back. He might even give up McGee's for this place. He wanted to meet her. One night with her and he would forget Blaire Merric even existed.

A girl like that might make even a rational guy like him believe in love at first sight.

She might even be the girl in his dream.

...

Kara and Jared walked the three blocks from Zeno's Tavern to the subway entrance. Jared's contact, nickname or codename, Frogman, had gone in the other direction. He probably had a car parked somewhere nearby.

"Well, you passed the first test," Jared said to her.

"What next?"

"Since you're going to be in the field, you'll be notified to do something. It won't be for real, it'll be just another test. One day you'll get a real assignment. You're not supposed to know when they stop being tests and start being real. It may be as long as a couple of months before you get a real assignment or it might be in the next couple of weeks."

"Who do these assignments come from?"

"Me, since I'm now responsible for you. I brought you in. Someone else will give them to me and I'll pass them along to you. You screw up or give them any reason to think they can't trust you, and they'll burn us both."

"Burn us?"

"You don't want to know."

"Yes, I do. Kill us?"

"Probably. Not to put any pressure on you or anything like that. That's one way they insure commitment. You bring somebody in, you're putting your own life on the line."

"I'm not going to screw up. So what do you think my first assignment's going to be?"

"I already know."

"What?"

"We go back to the apartment and play. Frogman's orders."

Kara started laughing and pushed him. "Liar." Their breath was frosty on the night air as he chased her, laughing, to the steps leading down into the subway.

He grabbed her and pulled her against him. Arms around each other they went down the steps.

"I don't know if you noticed, but there was a guy at the bar tonight who was really checking us out. He looked drunk. I think he was just trying to get a look at you, but you never can tell for sure."

"It's the tight black jeans," she said. "Gets them every time."

"And the blond hair," Jared added.

"Yeah, the tight black jeans and blond hair."

"And the fact that you're so damned beautiful. You didn't notice him?"

"I saw some people sitting at the bar. Which one are you talking about?"

"Some black chick came in and sat down beside him while we were there. It looked like she was trying to pick him up. He was too busy trying to get a look at you to pay much attention to her."

"Oh, yeah, him," Kara said. "He was hot. The whole time Frogman was talking all I was thinking about was frakking that hot guy at the bar."

"Why don't we go back and see if he's still there?" Jared said, anger flaring in his usually easy-going voice. "Is that what you want to do? Maybe you want to go home with him tonight. Maybe you even want to go all the way with _him_."

"Lords of Kobol, Jared. Take it easy. I'm just screwing with you. I didn't notice anybody at the bar. I was paying attention to Frogman. Isn't that why we were there tonight?"

"You really know how to push my buttons, don't you? You enjoy it too."

"Jared, I'm sorry. I was only kidding. You're too serious."

"Well, this is serious stuff. If you're going to do this sort of thing, you're going to have to start being aware of your surroundings all the time."

"Bummer," she said. "That takes the fun out of life. Maybe I'll let you handle that part of it."

She started to use her subway pass to get through the turnstile when Jared stopped her and handed her a token. He had one for himself, too.

"That's another thing. We were never here, tonight."

"Gods, this _is_ serious stuff, isn't it?"

"You can't be careful enough."

...

Kara was still waiting for her next test when Jack Fisk called her into his office a few days later and asked her if she wanted to start riding shotgun on one of the trucks. There had been another attempted robbery, one of his most reliable drivers was threatening to quit, and he'd finally gotten Cylon approval to add guards and guns with rubber bullets.

She told him she wasn't interested if it meant giving up delivering on the bike.

"We do trucks deliveries to the clinics between seven and nine in the morning. One motorcycle rider can cover other deliveries during that time. At least consider taking either the morning shotgun run or the one where we pickup between six and seven in the evening. It'll mean a little more in your paycheck, double if you're able to take both."

Kara thought about it. She owed Fisk. He'd taken a chance on her. Besides, if she moved out and got her own place, the extra pay would come in handy. "Yeah, I'll do it as long as I get to keep riding the bike."

"Good. That's one less guard I have to hire. You'll have to pass a short training course on the guns with the rubber bullets to get certified and get the permit. Half day at a range outside of town. I doubt that will be a problem for you. You can take the bike."

"Okay, sign me up."

Fisk smiled. "You go next Monday morning."

Kara grinned. "You really think you know me, don't you?"

Fisk was still smiling. "Got out of here and back on that bike."

...

The instructor at the gun range spent the first half-hour explaining about the guns and the rubber bullets. He told them that the older style solid rubber bullets had proved almost totally ineffective and had been replaced by a rubber bullet with a hard plastic core.

"I mention this because the newer bullets will travel farther and are potentially deadly if they strike the subject in the head. They won't pierce clothing but have been known to pierce bare skin. Any questions?"

"Fatal anywhere on the head?" Kara asked.

"Let me put it this way, I wouldn't aim for the head unless I thought my life were in danger. Aim for the torso in the chest area. It's the largest area of the body and the one you'll stand a greater chance of hitting. Any more questions?"

No one else had any. They moved to the indoor target range which reminded Kara of a series of long, divided bowling alleys with a big computer screen at the end of each alley.

"The target area is like a touch-screen computer," the instructor said. The front screen is made of a tough plastic polymer that will send a signal to the computer screen behind it. It will register the effectiveness of your hits."

Even though the guns didn't make a lot of noise because the charge that fired the rubber bullets was smaller than a conventional bullet, he made them all put on ear protection and plastic glasses.

"The screens are angled to deflect the bullets downward, but we won't take a chance. I can tell you that it hurts like a son-of-a-bitch to get hit with one of these things bouncing off that screen even through your clothing." He looked down at his roster of the eight people in the class. "Since Carrie Warner had the question, we'll let her go first."

Kara stepped up and took the rifle. It looked like a conventional assault rifle except that the barrel was shorter. The computer screen flickered and came on. There was the outline of a human torso magnified by the front screen so that it looked life size. Different color areas on the body indicated the effectiveness of the shot. The entire head and neck area was the color of blood. The distance to the target was about sixty feet. She raised the gun, used the sights and fired at the chest. The hit registered several inches to the left of where she had aimed.

"Your sight's a little bit off on this one. Either that or your computer's wrong."

Compensating for the difference, she quickly hit each shoulder, then each knee and finished with one to the head. _That's for you, Zarek_, she thought. The hit registered directly between the eyes. She grinned and handed the gun back to the instructor.

"Come see me if you ever get tired of working for Fisk," he said. "We'll mail your certification to him as well as your permit to use the weapon as approved in your job. You can go."

Kara went out into the sunshine, put on her helmet and started the bike. It was a beautiful January day. She had officially added another skill to her resume if she ever needed one. Besides riding a motorcycle, she could kill a computer target with a rubber bullet.

...

Laura met Bill for lunch the day after her budget was restored. She was very happy about the outcome and still feeling so triumphant over her small victory that she was beaming.

"You look awfully happy," Bill said. "Does Colonel Winters have anything to do with it?"

Of all the things that could have made her happy, he had zeroed in on one she would never have thought of, but which must have been on his mind.

"Oh, no, Chuck has nothing to do with this."

"So it's _Chuck_ now?"

She smiled. "I call you _Bill_, not Commander."

"You have a point. I just hope we're better friends than you are with the colonel."

"We are. _Much_ better friends. I can assure you the colonel and I haven't taken _that_ step…nor do I think we ever will…although I am seeing him again Saturday night."

Bill looked serious. "I wasn't trying to pry."

She smiled. "Yes, you were. But you're forgiven."

"And John? How are things going with him?"

"I'm not _dating_ John."

"I thought you needed his help with something, something you were going to tell me about if I recall."

"Yes, he did help me. He confirmed the very thing we feared during the negotiations. The Cylons are trying to create a human-Cylon hybrid, unsuccessfully at this point, but making progress."

"How could John confirm that?"

"The woman he lives with works in Dr. Baltar's secret lab, the lab that took a large part of my education budget. Money I now have back thanks in a big way to the information John was able to provide for me. That's why I'm so happy. I got my education funding back. We can continue to educate the children and train pilots as well."

"I knew John was living with someone and that she worked in a lab, but he's never said exactly what she did. So he betrayed his girlfriend for you?"

"You make that sound so negative...and so personal. He didn't do it for me. He did it because he believes like I do that a hybrid child would be an abomination."

Bill looked out the window of the restaurant. "I doubt he'd have done it for anyone else."

"I think you're wrong."

"I don't. You're playing a dangerous game, Laura, and now you've involved him. I doubt that Dr. Baltar and his Cylon friends will remember you with kindness. You're already on their dradis for your efforts with the refugee camps. You should have let the money go."

"And then what, Bill? Next year when they take more and then more again should I just forget about education on Caprica? Let them take it all?"

"Maybe it won't be an issue next year, certainly by the year after next."

"What do you mean?"

"I _will_ talk to you about what I mean. I've promised to do that. I just can't do it here."

"When? Where? My office? Yours?"

"When the time is right I'll come to you, privately, and tell you everything. Before then, I won't take the risk. You've put yourself in enough danger as it is. I wish you'd talked to me before you confronted Baltar. I could have helped you."

"I'm not accustomed to asking a man to do my job for me. The education of what's left of humanity's children is _my_ responsibility, Bill, _mine_, not yours."

His eyes softened. "You still want to better us, don't you? Better humanity?"

"_Humanity_, yes."

"And yet you didn't hesitate to ask a man to betray his lover to help you. Did that better John's humanity? Did it not occur to you that he'll have to live with what he's done? He's a good man and you used him, Laura. Don't you find that ironic?"

"I did what I did for the greater good of all of us."

"Like the terrorists are doing? They think what they're doing is for the greater good as well."

"Are you comparing what I did to what the terrorists are doing? I didn't force John to do anything. He could have told me _no_. In fact, he did at first and then thought about it and came back. And Baltar really does believe that I guessed the purpose of his work with the Cylons. He has no idea I knew all about it before I met him for lunch."

"I'm _not_ comparing you to a terrorist."

"Good. What do you think of them, the terrorists…or the resistance as some people call them?"

"Resistance. Yes, I've heard them called that. You know my official stance. I'm sure it's the same as yours."

"I'm sure. Unofficially, though."

"Even as a soldier, I can't condone killing innocent civilians."

"You know I can't either. In general, though, do you approve?"

"My concern is that they're going to go too far and bring the wrath of the Cylons down on all of us. That would mess up…something that a few of us are working hard to bring about. I can't say any more than that right now. You aren't mixed up with them, are you?"

"Gods, no…nor will I ever be. I'm an educator, Bill. Violence in any form is abhorrent to me."

"War is unavoidable sometime."

"Coming from a warrior?"

"Coming from a man who's spent his life trying and failing to protect humanity."

"You're being too hard on yourself."

"No, I'm not."

"But you're attempting to do something about that now?"

"I am. And one day you'll know what. I promise you that."

...

When Laura got back to her office she had a message on her private office number from John. He asked for a rain check on their dinner the following evening. He said his schedule had been changed for the next few weeks and that he would be flying nights while they trained a newly-hired pilot. He said he'd be in touch the following week. He apologized a second time and told her how much he looked forward to seeing her again.

She was disappointed but knew he would be as good as his word. The bottle of peach brandy would keep.

On Saturday night Chuck Winters took her to dinner and then to the opening of a new musical production in the theater district, a story of star-crossed lovers that actually had a happy ending. She knew the story of Olliver and Esmari well, had read the trilogy when she was a teenager and had been enthralled by the adventure and especially the romance of the two main characters.

She had heard tickets had been sold out for months and wondered if the colonel planned that far ahead or if he knew someone. Her biggest surprise of the evening came, however, as they went out during intermission to get drinks and she saw Gaius Baltar with D'Anna Biers.

She took Chuck's arm and nudged him toward them.

"Dr. Baltar," she said. "What a surprise. Apparently you don't work all the time."

"Madame Secretary," he sniffed. "I believe you know my _good friend_ D'Anna Biers."

"Indeed I do. I'd like for you both to meet a friend of mine, Colonel Charles Winters. He's head of the military's Academy. Chuck, this is Dr. Gaius Baltar and D'Anna Biers. D'Anna is the reporter who helped me very much a few years ago."

The colonel shook hands with both of them. "I'm an admirer, Ms. Biers. You've done some astonishing work, you and that photographer of yours."

"Thank you, Colonel Winters. I need to come interview you soon, and I'd like to bring my photographer. I've wanted to do a piece for a long time on how our pilot training is going…an honest, in-depth interview I might add. I'd like your assessment of skill levels and commitment of the pilots we're training."

"Call me Chuck," he said. "And I'll be glad to speak with you. Just call the Academy. I'll tell my aide to put your call through any time."

Dr. Baltar looked directly at Laura. "The colonel will have to wait. D'Anna is busy right now doing a story on my _secret _AI project. She's already done her first interview with me and next week she'll be interviewing some of my staff. I'm also going to allow her photographer inside my lab."

"How interesting. Which lab would that be? The real one or the one you're setting up right now to show her? Whose idea was the interview, yours or Simon and Natasi's?"

For just a second there was a flicker of some emotion in his eyes. She'd guessed right again. He glanced at D'Anna, and a look passed between them. This woman who had done so much for her during the crisis with getting food to the refugees had clearly aligned herself with Baltar. She was and astute and savvy reporter. She couldn't have been taken in by him. That meant only one thing to Laura. D'Anna Biers was a Cylon sympathizer. Could it all have been a setup? Could D'Anna have been that smart? Could she have used Laura and Bill three years ago to get an inside track with Laura's fellow government officials? Could she have been used to give credibility to a Cylon lover who would now use that credibility to cover up Baltar's real project?

Laura felt dizzy at the thought. She leaned against the colonel's arm.

"Are you all right?" Chuck asked.

"Fine. I'm fine. Shouldn't we be returning to our seats?"

"Good evening then, Madame Secretary," Baltar smiled. "Enjoy the _rest_ of the show. I understand the _second act_ is better than the first." He wasn't just talking about the musical and she knew it.

"I'll call you soon, Chuck," D'Anna said. "And of course I'm going to call you, too, Ms. Roslin. I need to interview you about how well you're educating the Colony's children…since the camps have been shut down."

"Certainly," Laura said automatically. The fact that D'Anna had just used the same words, _educating the Colony's children_, that she had said to Baltar was not lost on her.

She had to tell Bill. And she had to tell John, too.

She felt so sick that it was not a lie when she told the colonel that she wasn't up to having him in for a drink. Again he kissed her. She returned the kiss automatically. She knew he could tell.

"Is it me?" He asked. "Or is there somebody else on your mind right now?"

She put her hand on his arm. "Oh, no, Chuck. It's just…please, be careful if you speak with D'Anna Biers."

"Why? I thought she did you and Bill Adama a big favor. I understand she's the government's favorite reporter."

"She is, but something has happened recently to make me wonder at her…trustworthiness. I can't explain at the moment, but please be careful how much you tell her. Treat her like…treat her more like someone who doesn't have our best interest at heart right now."

"All right. But I expect an explanation of that someday."

"Someday you'll get one. I promise."

"Good enough," he said. "I'll say goodnight, then."

"Goodnight, Chuck."

Thirty minutes later she was dressed in her nightgown and robe and was curled on the sofa with a drink when she realized that he hadn't mentioned calling her again. She found it didn't upset her at all.

She barely slept that night. The next morning she was up by six o'clock. She made coffee and read the paper. She knew she would have to wait until Monday to talk to Bill. She wouldn't chance calling him at home, and Bill refused to carry a mobile phone. She would try to reach John today. After lunch she dialed his mobile number. He answered on the second ring.

"Can you talk? This is important," she said.

"Sure. Lissa went into work today. Do you want to do this over the phone?"

"No."

"I was just getting ready to go out for a walk. Would you like to join me?"

They agreed to meet at the south entrance to Caprica Park. Again she put on the jeans and sweatshirt, put her hair in a pony tail. This time she added sunglasses.

The day was beautiful and sunny and cool. He was waiting for her at the park's entrance when she got out of the transport.

As they strolled down one of the paths, she told him everything about meeting Baltar both for lunch and at the theater and about the secondary lab she thought they were setting up to show D'Anna Biers.

"I'm sure that's why Lissa went into work today. She said they were moving some equipment. So you got your education funding back?"

She smiled. "All of it. I'm sure the Cylons will take it from somewhere else. Someone else's budget will suffer. But education on Caprica is safe for a while at least."

John smiled. "I wish I could have seen the look on Baltar's face when he you _guessed _the truth about his project."

"It was almost comical. To be such a genius about science, he's certainly naïve about human nature. But that's not all I have to tell you."

She took a deep breath and told him her suspicions about D'Anna.

When she finished he was silent for a few moments. "Are you sure about her?" He finally asked.

"I can't be a hundred percent sure, but I believe she knows what Baltar is doing and approves."

"So D'Anna Biers is a Cylon lover. Who'd have ever thought? Many of her articles have had a subtle anti-Cylon bias. She hides her loyalties well. But that's the mark of a good spy, isn't it?"

"I threatened Baltar with going to her over his project. I never mentioned her name, but everyone knows about the standoff at the Caprica Airbase and who broke that story. I'm sure Baltar feels like he's neutralized my threat now. In a very real sense he has. I'm also sure his Cylon friends not only approved his interview but probably suggested it as well."

"That figures. But if you're right about this, and I trust your instincts, then the Cylons are actually putting one over on him, on all of us. Well not all of us, just most of us."

Laura sighed. "You're right. You're absolutely right. If D'Anna is a Cylon sympathizer, then she already knows everything that's going on in that lab. She used me three years ago to help establish her credibility and now she's going to use that credibility to cover what Baltar and that Cylon doctor are really doing. I wanted you to know this, John. For Lissa's sake, too. This has moved into more dangerous territory. If nothing else it shows how desperate they are to keep this quiet."

"I realize that. Thank you. We'll have dinner soon. I've just got to get these night flights and a couple of other things behind me. You still okay with that?"

"Of course. One other thing, D'Anna's going to interview Colonel Winters."

"Why?"

"She said she wants to talk to him about pilot training. I just hope Chuck knows when to stop talking because everything she tells him, even off the record, will go straight to the Cylons. You know him better than I do. Will he tell her too much?"

"Chuck Winters is no fool. Of course if she's a woman…is she attractive?"

"Very."

"Uh-oh."

"I tried to warn him, but he may have taken it the wrong way. He may have thought I was jealous."

"And you're not?"

"No."

"As soon as he figures that out, it'll break his heart."

"I doubt it. He didn't even mention calling me again."

"You'll hear from him. He's just playing it cool. Once he sets his sights on a beautiful woman, he's persistent. He won't stop until one of two things has happened."

"I can guess what one of those might be. What's the other?"

John grinned. "Making it clear to him that the other one won't ever happen. You haven't done either one yet, have you?"

She smiled. "Not that it's any of your business, but no. We're still at the awkward goodnight kiss stage."

"Then you'll hear from him again." John's voice turned teasing. "You _kissed_ him? On the _second date_?"

"Actually we kissed on our first date."

"We're on our _fourth_ date and you haven't kissed me, yet. My feelings are hurt."

Her voice took on a teasing tone as well, "I certainly don't want you to leave here with hurt feelings so perhaps you'd better kiss me."

"What?"

"You heard me. Kiss me."

She saw something in his eyes that she wasn't able to read. The moment stretched. He didn't move.

"I thought so," she said. "You didn't think I'd call your bluff, did you?"

"I…Are you saying that because you really _want_ me to kiss you? That makes a big difference to me."

"What do you think?" She turned one of his favorite phrases back on him.

"I'm not thinking too clearly right now."

She smiled. "Then I guess four's not the magic number, either. I need to get back, John. I brought some work home with me. Enjoy the rest of your walk."

"If you were serious a minute ago, I'm going to shoot myself for not taking you up on it."

"Please don't." Her voice was just as teasing as his had been earlier. "We'll never make it to our fifth date if you do _that_. You just never know when we're going to get to that magic number. Call me when you're free for dinner. I really do have a gift for you. I think you'll like it." She smiled again. "And you won't have to kiss me for it, either, although I suppose you could say it does involve a kiss."

She smiled thinking of the peach brandy and the drink he had mentioned, Siren's Kiss. She had gotten the last word this time. What was left for him to say? She turned and walked toward the entrance of the park. She was still smiling. Perhaps the incorrigible flirt had met his match.

...

Jared was waiting on Kara when she got in from work at 7:30 Monday night.

"Let's go for a walk," he said.

"I'm hungry. I missed lunch today. Non-stop deliveries."

"We'll walk down to the deli on the corner and get something to eat." He gave her a look that said he needed to talk to her without Maggie or Karl around.

"Okay, let's go."

They were barely in the elevator that the landlord had finally gotten fixed, when Jared said, "You just had to go and show off at that frakking gun range, didn't you?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You told the instructor his gun sights were off, which they were, and then you shot his target between the eyes. The target didn't even have frakking eyes. Frogman came to see me today. They've picked you for a mission on Thursday night."

They got off the elevator and neither spoke as an older couple got on.

When they were down the steps and on the sidewalk she asked, "I guess that means the instructor's…one of us? What kind of mission are you talking about?"

"A mission that's apparently been in the planning stages for a long time and got pushed up for some reason. It's on for Thursday night. They want you."

"For?"

"They need a sniper to function as a lookout."

"Meaning?"

"You'll watch from some vantage point while some other…uh, operatives perform some sort of mission. You'll have a high-powered weapon with real bullets, night vision scope, goggles, the whole thing. Frogman wants you…us to meet him at Zeno's tomorrow night and he'll explain exactly what you'll do. I don't like this, Kara. I told him you hadn't passed one test, not one frakking test yet, and he said actually you had. That you could hit what you aimed at and right now real marksmen are in short supply. I don't like it."

"What about the instructor?"

"He's got a family and won't do missions like this. Believe me. I've already quizzed Frogman about why they picked you."

"I won't be near the…action or whatever?"

"I don't think so. But you realize you might have to shoot somebody."

"Humans?"

"Maybe. Maybe more than one. Frogman will explain it, but that's what a lookout sniper does. This mission is to be a silent mission. Everybody knows his part going in. Nobody speaks. Hand signals only. Wherever it is I think they have an audio detection system that can hear human voices whispering at nearly half a mile, speaking aloud at over a mile. What they do is voice print everybody who works there. The system then ignores them. Anyone else sets off bells and whistles. It's _really_ expensive, but whatever is being guarded is apparently worth it."

"What are the other operatives going to do? What will I be covering them for?"

"I think they're going to blow the place up."

Kara felt his words in her gut. What had she gotten herself into?

They reached the deli and Kara told Jared to turn around. They walked back to the apartment. She wasn't hungry anymore.

...

The next night Frogman was waiting outside Zeno's and asked them to come with him. They walked four blocks to his car. He told Kara and Jared to get in the back seat. Next he handed them blindfolds and said to put them on. Then he told them to lie down on the seat.

Jared asked her if she wanted to make out. She knew he wasn't serious. He was trying to help her relax, but she was still so up-tight that she almost punched him. She could hear Frogman laughing as he pulled away from the curb.

Frogman drove for twenty minutes or more. When he stopped and told them to take off the blindfolds and get out, Kara had no idea where they were. His car was parked inside a building that looked like a small warehouse or maybe a former garage. The light from a streetlamp came though a dusty, grime-streaked window.

"Follow me," Frogman said, and they went over to some wooden stairs against the brick wall and up to the second floor. He used a key to open the metal door at the top of the stairs.

They went down a narrow hallway. Frogman tapped seven times on another metal door, two short taps followed by two seconds of silence and then two more taps, two seconds and then three taps. Kara heard the door being unlocked and several bolts scraping. A crack appeared and whoever was inside saw Frogman. They were allowed into the room. The two windows were covered with thick, black cardboard that was taped securely around all the edges. There was a large table that took up half of the room. There were also several assault-style weapons propped against the wall on the far side of the room. She felt certain they weren't loaded with rubber bullets.

A tall heavy-set man stood on the other side of the table. He didn't lower the automatic pistol he was holding until they were all in the room and the door locked behind them. The man who let them in was the only other person in the room. She didn't know what she had expected, but both men were just average looking guys, like she had seen leaving construction sites and factories.

Frogman made the introductions. "Sassy and Harley," he indicated her and Jared. "Scarecrow and Reno," he pointed to the taller guy on the other side of the table and then the guy at the door.

No one said _hello_. They all just nodded at each other. Scarecrow said, "Kind of young, isn't she?"

"She can hit what she aims at. That's what counts," Frogman said. "Now explain the op to them."

"What's the boy's part?" Scarecrow asked.

"He'll poke holes in the op if there are any. He's smarter than all the rest of us put together."

Reno did most of the talking after that. The target was a research complex north of the city, one lab in particular that had to be taken out. The other operatives who would be participating would be briefed separately. They would all meet for the first time on the night of the mission. All would be wearing black clothing, black ski masks and night-vision goggles. No one would speak.

The lab complex did indeed have the new audio detection system. They would communicate with hand signals and do their parts in silence. She was shown a set of photographs of the place and told to memorize them. On the night of the mission, she would be given a high-powered rifle with a long-distance scope. Her job was to cover the ingress and egress of the two operatives who would plant explosives that would blow up the lab.

"What's in the lab?" She asked.

"Don't know. Don't care," Scarecrow said. "Someone above us has made the decision that it's to be taken out. They wouldn't have done that without good reason. That's all we need to know."

"Will there be people inside?"

"Not our concern," Scarecrow said. He looked at Frogman. "I thought you said she was okay with this."

"I am," Kara answered quickly. "I'm just curious."

"Well, don't be," Scarecrow said. "The less we know the better."

"Study these photographs," Reno said. "You'll be at a vantage point on the hill above the back of the lab. You'll have a clear line of sight to the fire exit where our guys will be going in. You've got one job. If anyone, guard, or anyone else comes around the corner of that building while our guys are visible, you'll take them out. Our guys will both be carrying weapons, but they're going to have their own jobs to do. You'll be their main protection while they're on the outside of that lab. Do you understand that?"

"I understand," she said. "How does this involve Cylons?"

"It's a Cylon lab," Frogman said. "That's all you need to know."

"The fence with the razor-wire around the complex," Jared asked. "Is it electric?"

"Not yet. They're working on that. That's one of the reasons we have to go now," Frogman said. "That and they're installing security cameras everywhere. According to our inside source, nothing's operational yet but it will be by next week. A couple of weeks ago somebody jumped the gun on this op and got himself killed. Now they're expecting us. They're beefing up their security."

"Why don't they just guard the place with centurions?" Kara asked.

"Why not put a big flashing sign outside that says _Cylon Lab?_" Reno asked sarcastically. "The point is to hide their involvement, not announce it to the world."

"Interior security system?" Jared asked.

"Not yet. They're working on that, too. They have installed key card access, but somebody has obtained a master key card that will allow our guys through all the right doors."

"How many operatives going in?" Jared asked.

"Two. One knows the layout of the lab, exactly which room to target to do the most damage, the other one is the explosives expert."

"What are the phases of the moons that night?" Jared asked.

"Quarter full for Thyone," Reno said indicating the larger of Caprica's two moons. "Elara will have already set by one a.m. It's not the best, but it could have been a lot worse. Moonlight's not going to matter down at the building, only in the woods up there on the hill. There's five big security lights along the back fence. That's why our guys will be so visible while they're cutting the fence and until they get in the building and when they're leaving. Those lights are almost as bright as daylight."

Kara was listening to them but at the same time she was intently studying all the photographs Reno had handed her.

"How far away will I be?" She asked.

"About two hundred yards. The vantage point in the woods above the lab has already been checked out. The rifle has a powerful scope and a bipod stand. You'll be lying on the ground. With luck, you won't have to do anything."

"I don't get a chance to test fire the rifle first?"

"Sorry, no," Frogman said. "Somebody else will have done that for you. It'll work."

"That's a long way," Jared said, "almost an eighth of a mile."

"It's the best we can do. She has to be above the fence with a clear line of sight."

"I can do it," Kara said with more bravado than she felt. "No sweat."

"What kind of timer on the explosives?" Jared asked.

"That will be up to the explosives guy. He may not make that decision until they're inside."

Jared said. "The minute that lab blows those guys had better be outside the fence if not before then. If the guards haven't already been alerted, all Hades will break loose the minute those explosives go off."

"Yeah. She only has to cover our guys until they get back into the woods behind the lab. Then she can go. If they're not out of the building when it blows, she can leave then. There won't be any egress to cover."

"What do I do with the rifle?"

"Leave it. We'll recover it later if we can. If you don't have to fire it, then we hope nobody will realize it's up there. The other part of your job is not getting caught."

Reno pushed a set of aerial photographs of the lab and surrounding woods over to her. They had obviously been taken recently because the trees were bare, but the quality wasn't the best, definitely not high-resolution satellite or anything that sophisticated…an amateur working from a low-flying plane or helicopter with a good digital camera probably. He pointed out a small dirt road to her.

"If you were going to the front entrance of the lab, you'd stay on the I-6. It's ten minutes outside the city, but you've got to get up behind the lab and that takes a more circuitous route. Memorize these directions. Come in on this dirt road. Turn off your headlights, use the night-vision goggles. Then take this track through the woods. It's been marked by three rocks at the road that will fluoresce in the goggles. You'll have to leave your car on the dirt road. It's an access road for a mobile phone tower farther up in the hills. There shouldn't be any traffic on it."

"I'll be on a motorcycle," Kara said. "A black one. It's quiet, too."

For the first time she saw the hint of a smile on Reno's face. "Even better. Leave it just off the road on the track. It's barely more than a path. You'll meet up with the other two guys here," he showed her a small clearing in the trees marked with a red 'x'. "It's approximately half a mile from the road. They will go down to the lab here, you set up over here." He pointed to other marks on the photograph. "Study these photos well. Memorize everything. You can't take any of this with you. You'll need to be at the rendezvous point at midnight. The mission is set for one a.m. It's our understanding there should be no one in the lab by then. If there is, then that's too bad for them."

They gave her half an hour with the photos. She studied everything including a sheet of paper with crudely drawn hand signals that they should all use. _You, me, listen, look, stop, go, freeze, enemy, vehicle, I understand, I don't understand, crouch or drop._ There were several dozen of them. She concentrated on the ones she might need to use or someone might use to her.

By the time she and Jared were once again blindfolded and lying on the back seat in Frogman's car, her brain was buzzing with the amount of information she'd just had to memorize.

She started to wonder if she'd done the right thing in getting involved with these people, if Jared had done the right thing. If she knew what they were going to blow up, it might make a difference. The mission was two nights away.

Frogman let them out near Zeno's.

"Do you want to go in and get a beer?" Jared asked her.

"Not tonight."

"Go home and play?"

"Not tonight."

"I don't blame you. I'm sorry I got you into this, Kara."

"You didn't get me into it. I volunteered."

"I never dreamed they'd pull you in this fast or for something this serious."

She shrugged. "I just hope whatever we're destroying is worth it."

"It is," Jared answered.

"You know? How? What?"

"As soon as Reno said it was a lab, I think I've figured it out. I hack around a lot on some government email servers. When I was working at the camp, I got everybody's account and password. Nobody's bothered to change them since them. I have my own accounts set up so it doesn't matter if they change them now or not. I have a program that filters through certain people's emails looking for certain words. One of the email accounts I monitor is a guy named Simon. He's the Cylon doctor who works at the lab. _Hybrid_ is one of the words that keeps popping up in his emails to Cavil, another Cylon. They think their emails are encrypted, but I cracked that a long time ago."

"Hybrid? Meaning?"

"Come on, Kara, think about it. What would that word mean to Cylons? Maybe the word half-breed has more meaning to you."

The realization of what he was saying hit her. "You mean they're doing something in that lab with humans and Cylons…they're making…half-breed babies or something?"

"Trying to."

"This mission is so worth it. Whatever I can do to stop that is worth it."

"You will be careful, won't you? If something happened to you, Kara, I couldn't live with it. I wouldn't…"

She took his hand as they walked toward the subway entrance. "Nothing's going to happen to me."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

TBC…


	21. Three Heroes

Chapter 21

Three Heroes

_As part of the Colonial Day celebration during the third year of Cylon occupation, the leading newspaper, _TheCaprica Tribune_, sponsored an essay contest. The subject was 'Colonial Heroes'. The essays were limited to five hundred words. Thousands of entries poured in. The winning essay, written by Umo Tacasari, a student at Caprica University, was read by President Adar during his Colonial Day speech. The essay began, "All of us have passed a hero in the street without realizing it. All heroes are not larger than life, all heroes are not celebrities, and all heroes don't have their names written in history books or in the pages of a newspaper. The potential for the heroic exists in all of us and is realized when character, circumstance and conviction come together to produce the extraordinary act of courage, the resolution to stand up for beliefs, or the choice of sacrifice for others."_

_-Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War_

"How is interrogator training coming?" Bill Adama asked Lee.

"I've found a true cure for the worst insomnia," Lee answered, "watching tapes of interrogators at work." He and his father were having lunch at a small restaurant near the Capitol. "The only thing that can put me to sleep faster is reading the transcripts."

"You haven't gotten to sit in on an interrogation, yet?"

"Apparently captured terrorists are in short supply right now. They tend to blow themselves up before they make it to custody. I've watched through a two-way mirror as your garden-variety criminals are questioned. That's as close as I've come. The basic paramedic training course I'm doing is a hundred times more interesting."

"It's only been a month. You need to give it more time."

"Instead of flying a Viper, I'm learning eighteen ways to ask somebody where he was on the night of the crime." Lee knew his father could hear the frustration in his voice.

Bill sipped his coffee. "I'm sorry, son. Do you want to come to work for me? I could probably request you as an attaché on my staff. I think I could arrange it so you would still get to fly one day a week."

"No offense, Dad, but the only thing I can think of that would be more boring than what I'm doing is politics."

His father smiled. "Welcome to my world."

Suddenly Lee felt a wave of sympathy for his father. Bill had given up the command of a battlestar for a job that was, in Lee's opinion, only slightly more exciting than watching wet paint dry on a wall…at least the job that any of them knew about.

"I guess we can't always get the dream jobs, can we?"

"No, Lee, not always. Your mother wants you to come over for lunch on Sunday. Think you can manage that? Zak's going to be there."

"I'll try. How is Zak doing at the Academy? I saw him at McGee's last week but he was throwing darts with some of his friends and generally having a good time. He and I didn't have much of a chance to talk."

Lee didn't tell his father that since the fight, he and Zak had avoided one another, especially now that he and Blaire had broken up. Zak had helped him move the boxes from the house to his apartment, but the rift was still there. Neither one of them knew exactly how to go about repairing it.

"Zak's not doing as well as I'd hoped," Bill said. "His end-of-terms were low. He's on academic probation for the second semester."

"You know he didn't want to go to the Academy."

"I know all about how much he didn't want to go to the Academy. His mother was the one who finally convinced him to try it."

"He and mom were always closer than I was to her. You know Zak wanted to try out for a professional soccer team. He said it would get him more girls. The way a couple of female cadets were hanging all over him when I saw him at McGee's I don't see how he can handle any more girls."

Bill chuckled. "His mother caught him last year with one up in his room."

"I'll bet they were studying," Lee said wryly, "each other's anatomy."

"You got it."

"What did mom do?"

"It upset her. She shut the door and called me. I told her to leave it be. I talked to Zak when I got home, made sure the girl was at least sixteen. She was eighteen like him. Also made sure he was…being careful. He said he was. Then I told him he should probably be more considerate when his mother was at home. From then on he was as far as I know. I didn't want to make too big a deal out of it. I thought that would be a real…mistake."

Lee shook his head. In a way he had seen that coming. At least his mother hadn't walked in on Zak with a girl in the shower. That would probably have totally freaked her out.

Bill gazed out the window of the restaurant. "I'm glad you were such a good kid. Don't get me wrong. It's not that Zak's a bad kid. He just doesn't have your drive or your high ideals. In some ways he's probably more like me."

"No, Dad. He's not like you. You had a purpose when you were Zak's age. You wanted to learn to fly a Viper and defend the Colonies. Zak doesn't seem to have much of a purpose of all, unless it's to see how many girls he can...romance. He reminds me of John in that regard. Although I'll admit after John started living with Lissa, he settled down. If he's cheated on her, I don't know about it."

Bill smiled. "I mentioned the situation with Zak to John when we were having lunch not long after it happened. I wanted his take on whether he thought I'd handled it correctly. He said once kids are eighteen that all you could do was hope you'd done your job while they were growing up. He told me that even if Zak was a handful that I was lucky I still had you and Zak. I was sorry I'd mentioned it. I'd forgotten about John losing his daughter. He never talks about her."

"He thinks Kara's dead," Lee said. "I tried to tell him not to give up hope, but I don't think it worked."

"She probably is dead. I wouldn't try to give him false hope if I were you. Most of the time when someone vanishes without a trace that's what has happened unless they're trying to disappear, and I don't think that was the case with her and her young friend. You've got to consider there were three days of bombing around where he left her. Anything could have happened to them."

"I know how much he wanted to believe he'd find her. It just seems so unfair. After all he did to save her life, it just seems so wrong that now he's got to accept losing her."

"I know, Lee, and I agree it's not fair. That sort of thing never is. John will never get over it either, son. You can't expect him to. No father ever gets over losing a child. It would leave a hole in your heart that nothing could fill."

"The last few times I've seen John he's seemed preoccupied. I don't know what it is. I know he and Lissa are having some problems, but there's something more going on with him than that."

Bill looked out the window again. Finally he turned back to Lee and said, "Laura used John to get information about Dr. Baltar's lab. She seems to have justified it to herself, but I'm having a problem with what she did. A problem with what John did, too, but more of a problem with what Laura did. I expect more of her."

"I don't understand."

Bill took a deep breath and told Lee his take on what had happened. When he finished, Lee was stunned. "So you're saying that because Laura asked him to, John quizzed Lissa, got her to talk about stuff she'd agreed not to talk about, and then fed that information to Laura? Why would she ask him to do that?"

"Baltar's project was taking funds away of Laura's education budget. She wanted it back. She appealed to John's _humanity_ is what she told me. She then used her knowledge to bluff Baltar into thinking she would go to the press. She got her funds back, but there was a cost. I had lunch with Laura yesterday. Apparently Baltar has one-upped her by letting D'Anna Biers interview him and some of his staff. Laura thinks they've set up an alternate lab that is concealing what they're really doing."

"I know John doesn't agree with what Lissa's doing at her job, but he's still living with her. I can't believe he helped Laura by betraying Lissa like that."

"I can. Laura is a beautiful woman, and John has a weakness for beautiful women. You know that. A lot of men do…especially one like her. And she appealed to another one of his weaknesses, his hatred of the Cylons. You can't forget what an intelligent and determined woman Laura is. That determination along with her courage made her a hero when it came to the refugees. Without her a lot more of them would have died of starvation and disease, but she's stirred a hornet's nest by going against Baltar and his Cylon friends."

"You think she's personally in danger."

"I do. There's already talk among some people inside the government of asking Laura to run for President when Adar's second term is up. Adar's re-election next year is a given, but in four years it's up for grabs. Of course there's always the chance that Adar won't seek re-election. I know these last three years have been hard on him. Laura may get a shot at the Presidency next year. I doubt the Cylons, especially Cavil, would ever allow Laura to be elected."

"What do you think they'll do?"

"I don't know, but you can bet it won't be something that can be traced directly to them. It would hardly help keep the peace if the Cylons assassinated the Secretary of Education, especially if she's a Presidential candidate. So as you interrogate suspects, keep that in mind."

"You think they'll use someone inside the…uh…resistance to do something to her?"

"What better way to point the finger elsewhere. Think of the kind of damage that would do to the resistance. Laura's a hero to a large number of people for standing up to Cavil over the refugee camps. And now she's gone up against them again over education funding. The Cylons could eliminate her as a potential Presidential candidate and strike a blow at the resistance at the same time. Just keep that in mind, will you?"

"You'd better believe I will."

"Good."

"You still care about her, don't you, Dad?" Lee could hardly believe he had just asked his father that question, but it had been on his mind for a long time.

"What do you mean _still_?"

"I overheard my grandparents talking one night. I know you were in love with her once."

Bill tried to hold his son's gaze but couldn't. He looked out the window again. "That was a long time ago."

"Not long enough, apparently."

"That'll do, Lee. It's not your concern." His father's voice had an edge for the first time.

"Does Mom know how you feel? Does Mom know you're living a lie with her?"

His father's voice was low and sharp-edged. "My personal feelings about your mother are not your business, either. She's forgiven me for being gone so much while you and Zak were growing up. She's forgiven me for a lot of things. And I can damn well guarantee you that the nature of the feelings I have for Laura Roslin are none of your concern. You of all people should understand that sometimes we have…obligations we need to honor. Sometimes we have to put aside our personal feelings for the greater good of all of us. How do you think the President would look at me if I left my wife and took up with his Secretary of Education? What do you think that would do to _her_ career and how her colleagues and the people view _her or_ her chances at the Presidency? Do you think the people would still want her if the press labeled her a _home wrecker_, and that's exactly what would happen. Believe me. Even if I _could_ do something like that, I don't know that Laura would still have me. She's dating Charles Winters now."

"Laura's dating Colonel Winters?"

"A lot happened while you were on the _Triton_."

"You're right. It's none of my business. I won't mention it again."

"Good," his father said. "Now I've got to get back to the office. I've got to make a report on something to the President this afternoon. Boring political stuff."

"As boring as reading interrogation transcripts?"

"Not even that exciting, but even boring jobs have their demands and pressures."

"I understand, Dad. Every time I pick up one of those transcripts I feel the pressure…to stay awake."

"Well at least you get to fly a Viper one day a week," Bill said. "I don't even have that."

"Why don't you come out to the base one afternoon? We'll take a Raptor up. I'm sure I can arrange it for us."

"Maybe I'll do that. And try to come to lunch on Sunday."

"I will," Lee said.

Maybe it would be an opportunity to talk to Zak and try to start repairing the rift between them.

...

Kara tapped lightly on the open door of Jack Fisk's office. He looked up.

"I need a big favor," she said.

"What? Are you finally going to ask for a day off? You're the only person I have working for me who never asks for a day off."

"I need to borrow one of the bikes tonight. I have an errand I need to run."

"You know that's against policy."

"I thought you were the boss. Who makes policy?"

"Our insurance carrier does when it comes to the bikes. They're not insured for personal use. What are you trying to do? Impress a guy?"

Kara grinned. "You've got no idea."

"How about this, then…I'll pretend you didn't ask and if something happens to the bike, I'll fire you."

"Deal," she said. "You know that bike is my true love. I'm not going to let anything happen to it."

"You'd better not. Be careful. I'd rather lose the bike than my best rider," he added.

"I'm always careful."

...

Kara met Jared at Zeno's after she got off work at seven. She was such a bundle of nerves by then that it was a struggle to sit still. She took off the black leather jacket because it had the MediFirst logo and name on it and swapped it for a plain black ski jacket that Jared had bought in a thrift store. The jacket was too big, but she could wear the black down vest under it. She told him she couldn't give up the leather pants. The night was too cold to ride in just her jeans, especially once she got out of Caprica City and up into the hills.

Jared gave her a small black backpack that contained the night-vision goggles and headgear for them as well as the black ski mask.

"Do you need to look at the pictures again? I printed them. I've got them in my pocket."

Kara tapped the side of her head. "They're all up here."

The night before Jared had pulled up some pictures on his laptop computer and had shown her the Cylon doctor called Simon. She'd seen his picture before in the newspaper, but it helped to see him again. He had also shown her pictures of the other two Cylons, the blond woman and the older man. Then he had shown her Gaius Baltar's picture. His hair was longer and his face thinner and more stressed-looking, but it was the same man she had seen on the television three years earlier when she and Karl were at the little stone house.

"Okay, better give me your mother's dog tags now," Jared told her.

Kara pulled the chain with the dog tags out of her turtleneck and snapped it open. She slid the tags off and handed them to him. The chain now had only the silver ring she'd taken from the dead Viper pilot. She always thought of the ring as her father's wedding ring even though he and her mother weren't married. It symbolized both of them now, their union, their love, and her, their child. She closed the chain and dropped the ring back down the front of the black turtleneck.

"This hasn't been off my neck in over three years. It's my good luck charm."

Jared put the dog tags in his pocket. "I'll keep these safe."

"You'd better," she said. "What time is it?"

"Not even eight o'clock. It won't take but thirty minutes to get there, probably twenty the way you ride. You don't need to leave for another three hours."

"I can't sit still," Kara said. "Let's go walk."

"You need to eat something."

"Are you kidding? It would probably come back up at the worst possible time." She eyed his beer. "I wish I could drink something."

"You know you can't take that chance."

"I know. If it was warmer, I'd just go ride around. That always settles me down, just me and the bike."

"You know I'm jealous of that bike," Jared said. "Just seeing the way you sit on it gets me going. It makes me think about…"

"Oh, holy Hera," Kara said suddenly. "MediFirst's name is on the bike. What if somebody sees the bike?"

"Oh, frak, you're right. Frak, how could I have overlooked something that obvious? Something that damned obvious? Come on. We've got to go get something, some black poster paint or something, and cover it up."

"Are you nuts? I can't paint the bike."

"Let me think. Oh, frak. Let's go. We'll ride over to that big discount store on Third that stays open all night. I'll find something."

"I don't have another helmet with me."

"I'll just have to take my chances. You can ride slow. I'll look for cops."

They made it without incident. Jared finally settled on some black crepe paper and water-based glue. Back outside he tore the paper and glued it over the name and logo.

"I hope this stays on," he said. "If we ever use the bike again, we'll have to find something else to cover it up. Let me think about it. I'll come up with something easy to put on and take off."

"What time is it" Kara asked again.

"A little after nine."

"I'm going. I can't wait any longer. I'll find a place to hide once I'm there."

"No, you can't. The longer you're at the location, the greater the chance of getting caught. You're not supposed to get there until midnight. Let's go down to the park and watch people ice skate."

It was a good idea. They got hot chocolate, sat at a little table inside and drank it. Kara watched a young boy help his smaller sister put on skates. She thought of Connelly. His little girl would be eight or nine months old by now. It didn't seem like that long since she'd been at the camp. She wondered what Connelly was doing, where he was since all the camps had been shut down. She wondered if she would ever see him again.

She went to the restroom. While she was washing her hands, she glanced at her reflection in the mirror over the sink. It made her think of the night over three years earlier when she had looked in the mirror over the sink at Singer's airfield and cut her hair. She was keeping it shoulder-length again and had it pulled back in a pony tail like she'd had that night, the night Zarek had taken her father away from her. She pulled the elastic off her pony tail and ran her fingers through her hair before she refastened it just like she'd done that night. Three years, it had only been a little over three years and yet it seemed like another lifetime.

She looked into the reflection of her eyes, her father's eyes. He loved her so much that he'd stolen a ship on Picon to save her life. He loved her so much that he'd taken Zarek and his men off Caprica to keep them from hurting her. He loved her so much he'd given his life to save hers. She was here tonight only because of his sacrifice. Her father was a hero to her. "I love you, Dad," she whispered to the eyes in the mirror. "We'll be together again, maybe even tonight if things go wrong."

She and Jared walked outside to the rail and watched a surprisingly large number of people skating around the big outdoor rink.

"You'd never know we were terrorists to look at us, would you?"

"We're not terrorists, Kara. We're resistance fighters."

"Whatever. I just hope I don't have to…you know."

"Pull that trigger?"

"Yeah."

He wrapped his arms around her and held her. She heard his voice soft against her ear. "If you have to pull that trigger, just think about your mom, and your dad, too. If it weren't for the Cylons, you'd still have both of them just like I'd still have my mom and dad. If you have to pull it, just know you're doing it for all of us, for you and me and Karl and Maggie and everybody else who lost loved ones to the Cylons. That's probably most of the people on this planet. That's why all of us are doing this."

What he said suddenly put everything into perspective for her. She nodded and said, "Yeah, thanks. I never thought of it exactly like that. Thanks."

He pulled back and took her face in his hands. "I love you, just remember that, too."

She nodded again. It seemed like the most natural thing in the world when he kissed her. Even as she kissed him back, she wondered why she couldn't feel the kind of love for him that he felt for her, why she cared so much for him, but couldn't love him the way he wanted her to. How could she let him touch her the way she did and still not give him her heart?

The kiss was reckless and passionate for where they were. Was she trying to make sure it was a good one in case it was their last? In case something happened and she didn't make it back? She was sure if anyone skating by looked at them that they didn't look like two terrorists at all.

Reluctantly Jared ended the kiss. "You'd better get going. It's almost eleven o'clock. Ride slow. I'll take the subway back to the apartment. I'll wait up for you. Be careful. Please be careful."

She went to the bike, put on the helmet and turned the key in the ignition. She looked back at Jared one last time. The love and fear on his face made her want to cry.

...

She took the I-6 Motorway north out of the city. Four miles and she passed the main exit to the research park where the lab was located. Two more miles and she exited onto the S-52, a four-lane secondary road. She stuck to the speed limit, even a little bit under the speed limit. Seven miles up the S-52 she turned onto a narrower two-lane secondary road, the S-419. It wound into the hills over the city and to the woods overlooking the lab. She watched the miles click off on the odometer. Ten point four and there was the dirt road, service access road 1192 or SA-1192 as the small blue signpost read. She turned onto it and rode slowly until she was around the first curve. Then she stopped the bike and got the night vision goggles out of the backpack. She decided to take the helmet off and put the ski mask, goggles and headgear on. She strapped the helmet onto the back of the bike and turned off the headlight before she pulled the night vision goggles over her eyes.

Looking through them was disorienting, but if she rode slowly enough she could manage. The path or track marked by the three rocks was farther down the dirt road than she thought it would be, almost two miles. She backed the bike down the track until she was sure it wasn't visible from the road.

She didn't realize how cold she was until she got off the motorcycle. She was almost stiff from the cold. Her breath vaporized in the night air. It looked funny in the night vision goggles, like smoke. She began walking along the narrow path. A quarter-mile in she startled a fox that was feeding on something near the path. Its eyes glowed for a second in her goggles before it ran in the opposite direction. She stood and waited for her heart to slow down and her breathing to return to normal. She had to settle down. She had to. She pushed back the cuff of her jacket and looked at her watch. Eleven forty-five. She was on time.

When she got to the clearing, one of the men was already there, kneeling down with a small bag open on the ground in front of him. He glanced up. Actually both of them were already there, but the taller one was behind a tree and didn't come out until she had stood there for a minute. He holstered a pistol before he walked over to her. She understood his caution. She would have done the same thing.

The other man stood up. The agreed upon sign was that they all approach and touch the knuckles of their right clenched fists. They did the bonding ritual, three black-gloved fists touching. _We're in this together_. Could they tell she was a girl because her fist was smaller than theirs?

She knew that she looked as weird to them as they looked to her with the night vision goggles over their black ski masks, like some kind of big exotic insects. She clenched and unclenched her fists several times. Her hands were really cold.

She wondered briefly who they were. At first she though the taller of the two was Scarecrow, but realized that he wasn't heavy enough. The padded black vest he wore had momentarily fooled her. This guy was slimmer and better built than Scarecrow. The other guy was about Reno's size, but she didn't think it was Reno. He had to be the explosives expert because he had a backpack as well as the bag on the ground.

The taller guy took her by the arm and walked her twenty-five or thirty paces through the trees to where the rifle was setup. She didn't know if he had picked the spot or if someone else had done that ahead of time, but it was as good as it could be all things considered. The rifle was already on the bipod stand. She noticed that it had a sound suppressor at the end of the barrel. That was good. If she had to fire it, the quieter, the better.

Kara shook her arms several times and flexed her hands again. She started to take off her gloves, but the guy grasped her wrist and shook his head. What was she thinking? Of course she should leave the gloves on. Otherwise she would leave fingerprints on the rifle. She made a sign to him by touching her forefinger and thumb in a circle and extending the other three fingers straight up. _Okay, I understand_.

She knelt and then lay prone. She nestled the rifle's fiberglass stock into her shoulder. Then she lifted the night-vision goggles and looked through the scope. It was an excellent scope, better quality than the goggles. Slowly she scanned the complex. She saw the lab building and the fire escape. She didn't see anyone at all on the back side of the building. She looked at the roof of each building and saw the stacked, dish-like monitoring devices for the audio detection system. Jared had drawn a rough sketch for her of what they would look like.

The guy knelt on one knee beside her and she saw he had a piece of paper. She pulled the goggles back down and looked. _Rifle tested, scope accurate_ was written on it. She nodded. He zipped the paper back into a pocket of his black vest and stood. Had he test fired the rifle or had someone else given him the piece of paper when they gave him the rifle?

Kara looked at her watch again. Five minutes after midnight. They had nearly an hour to wait. She stood. She was still cold so she hugged her arms to herself and hoped the guy understood why she was going to walk around the clearing. It would help her nerves, too.

Kara began pacing and shaking her arms and hands. She knew she had probably spent a colder thirty minutes, but she didn't think she had ever spent a longer thirty minutes before both guys starting getting ready to begin their descent of the hill to the back fence.

The quarter-sliver of the moon Thyone had moved in the sky. The faintly visible shadows of the bare trees were a few inches longer than when she'd arrived.

Right before they left, the taller one came over to her and took her right hand, the hand that would pull the trigger if she had to. He massaged it gently between both of his hands for nearly a minute. It really helped get the blood flowing and warm it. He put his hand on her shoulder and then made the sign to her, the thumb and forefinger circled, the other fingers extended. _I understand._ Was he telling her that he understood her apprehension or that he understood she might have to kill before this night was over?

Whatever he was saying, he was putting his life in her hands and they both knew it. She nodded once to him and put her hand on his shoulder. Then she crossed her wrists over her chest and pulled them tightly against herself. She had just made up a sign, but she hoped he understood it. _I'll protect you._ He nodded back to her. He understood. Then he looked at his watch. She did the same. Twenty minutes until one. He signaled the other guy and they left the clearing.

She was back on the ground watching through the scope before they got out of sight down the hill. There was still no one in the back of the buildings until two security guards walked around the corner. Five minutes until one, right on time, they circled the building and headed back toward the front of the complex. As soon as they disappeared around the front of the next building, she saw movement at the fence. There must have been two pairs of bolt cutters hidden close by because she saw both of her guys start cutting the chain link. They were through the fence, across the thirty or so feet of concrete and up the fire escape in twenty-five seconds. So far so good.

Then a mistake. Whichever one of them had the access card for the door dropped it through the metal rungs of the fire escape. It must have been the shorter guy, because he started down the steps two at a time. The taller guy followed him and they both crouched underneath the steps and started looking for the card. From where she was, it looked like dead leaves from the trees along the fence had accumulated under the fire escape. She wondered if they would be able to find the card.

Reno had been right. The five bright security lights above the fence illuminated the area almost like daylight. If anyone came back there, both of her guys would be seen immediately.

Kara began taking deep breaths and willed her racing heart to slow down. It didn't work.

Movement toward the front of the complex caught her eye. Two men came around the front corner of the building next to the lab and started walking toward the back. She looked at them through the rifle's scope. One of them was a black guy in a white lab coat. She recognized him as Simon, the Cylon doctor, but the man with him was…no…it couldn't be. The man with him was Leoben, the man from the refugee camp. Kara took a deep breath, shut her eyes tightly and opened them again. It was definitely Leoben. Her heart rate climbed.

What was a man from the refugee camp doing with the Cylon doctor at a Cylon lab? No, that wasn't possible. No frakking way. He couldn't be a Cylon, too, could he? Leoben ran a book store near Caprica University, Conoy's New and Used Books. A sign in the window said that he specialized in books on religion and mysticism, especially the monotheism that the Cylons preached. She knew that's what he was doing since the camp was shut down because she had ridden the motorcycle by his place dozens of times on her deliveries over to University Hospital. Several times Leoben had been outside, putting books on a sale table on the sidewalk. He had glanced up at her once but hadn't recognized her because she had the sun visor on her helmet down. Another time she'd started to stop and browse, but changed her mind. He'd helped her at the camp, but there was still something about him that gave her the creeps.

Simon and Leoben stopped walking for a minute and engaged in a discussion that looked like it was escalating into an argument. Leoben was gesturing angrily to Simon. Simon was shaking his head. She briefly looked at the fire escape. Her guys were still looking for the card. It seemed like minutes had passed, but she knew it had only been thirty or forty seconds. She should be able to hear Simon and Leoben's raised voices, but the only thing she could hear was the blood pounding in her ears against the ski mask.

Her guys heard them, though. She glanced at them again, saw both of them freeze and stop pawing through the leaves.

Simon walked off and left Leoben. Leoben caught up and was still trying to convince Simon of something. In ten seconds they would round the corner and her guys would be seen. It would take only seconds after that for them to alert the guards. Without another thought Kara put the cross-hairs of the scope in the middle of Simon's forehead and pulled the trigger. Then she nudged the barrel to the right and shot Leoben, too. The rifle's silencer was good, but her guys still heard it in the quiet night. They knew she'd had to do her job. If the complex's sound detection system picked up gunshots, then guards would be on the way soon.

The taller guy stood up. He had reached the corner of the building, pistol drawn, when the shorter guy found the key card. They were back up the steps in seconds and this time they made it inside. She waited, freezing there on the ground and sweating, too. She felt sick. She was glad she hadn't tried to eat anything earlier. Even without the rifle's scope, she could see the bodies of Simon and Leoben sprawled on the concrete. How long before someone else came around the corner and saw them, too? Apparently the sound detection system didn't recognize gunshots. No one came to check it out.

She started slowly and silently counting. She had reached a hundred eighty-seven when the fire escape door swung open. The shorter guy came out first followed by the taller guy. The shorter one was on the ground and the taller one over halfway down the steps when the explosives detonated. The windows blew out with a roar. Both men went down. The shorter one was just knocked over. The taller one went over the fire escape's metal handrail and hit the concrete hard.

Reno had told her the explosives would be the incendiary type. They not only wanted to blow the place up, they wanted everything inside to burn, too. The inside of the building was immediately engulfed in bright, orange flame. An alarm under the edge of the roof started shrilling.

_Come on, get up, get up, get up, come on, get up!_ She almost said the words out loud. The shorter guy scrambled to his hands and knees, made it over to the taller guy and shook him. The taller one was probably unconscious because he didn't move. _Oh, gods, don't let him be dead. Please don't let him be dead._

Kara saw three guards carrying assault rifles coming down between the two adjacent buildings at a run. Scarecrow had told them that the guards carried guns with real bullets. If they spotted her guys it was all over for them. She shot at the concrete near the guards' feet. They stopped and scattered for cover. Carefully she took aim and methodically shot out the five security lights above the back fence. At least her guys were now in the dark. They could see with their night vision goggles but they could no longer be seen.

Kara chanced a quick look at them. The shorter one had managed to get the taller one on his feet. They were both limping, but they made it to the hole in the fence and through. She should go now, she should go, but she watched them until she couldn't see them anymore. Before she left, she fired several more shots into the concrete around the guards. They had just started cautiously coming out and scattered for cover again. Another minute. It might give her guys another minute to escape, maybe two.

She left the rifle. She had no idea how her guys were going to get away until she had almost covered the half-mile back to the motorcycle and heard the faint, high-pitched whine of a helicopter engine coming to life and then the thumping of the rotors as they started spinning. Through the goggles she saw it rise above the hill. It was small, painted black and it was flying low, fast and without lights. It was soon lost to the night.

Once again she thought of how her father's ship had disappeared into the sky that night at Singer's airfield. What would he think of her now? What would he think of his daughter, the resistance fighter, the daughter who had just shot and killed a Cylon and maybe a human, too? The daughter who had saved the lives of two men who had destroyed a Cylon lab?

_I did it for you, Dad, for you and Mom both._

She tore off the night vision goggles and put them in her backpack, but she left the ski mask on before she put on her helmet and started the bike. She was going to have to ride fast and she couldn't do that looking through the goggles. She pulled out onto the dirt road and switched on the headlight. She was halfway to the S-419 when she met the car and knew she was in trouble. The hill rose steeply on one side of the road and dropped off steeply on the other. There was nowhere to go, nothing to do except stay on the road. She saw the driver's arm extended outside the window and saw the pistol in his hand.

She had one thought. _I'm sorry, Jared._

What saved her life was that the car hit a pothole in the road just before it reached her. It knocked the guard's arm up and then back down. He slammed on the brakes. She never heard him fire the gun. The muzzle flash was her only indication that he had pulled the trigger. She was past the car before she felt the pain in her thigh. For a split-second it felt like a bee sting. Her next sensation was of a red-hot poker laid across the top of her leg. She gasped, sucking in the frigid air and kept going. When she reached the S-419, she opened up the bike. She was soon so cold that she could mercifully feel almost nothing.

Once she got on the straighter S-52, she kept it at sixty-five until she got to the I-6, and then took it to eighty-five until she made her exit. Back in the city she slowed down and did the speed limit until she got back to MediFirst. She pulled the bike into the garage and examined it. It looked fine. Her leg didn't look that bad, either. There was a small hole in the leather pants halfway between her left knee and her hip. She didn't even see much blood. There was no hole on the other side of her pants, though. She realized immediately what that meant. The bullet was still in her leg. As she began to warm up, the muscle on the front of her thigh started going into a painful spasm when she put her weight on the leg. Yeah, the bullet was still in there.

She pulled the bike over to the drain in the floor and got a bucket of water. She took a sponge, soaked the black crepe paper, pulled it off and stuffed it into the backpack. She wet the glue and rubbed until it dissolved. The bike looked fine, not a scratch on it. She parked it in its normal place and made it into the locker room without being seen. The night delivery guy was out on the other bike and the dispatcher was in another part of the building. She put her helmet in her locker and stuffed the black ski mask into her backpack with the night vision goggles. She tucked her hair up under a black ball cap and pulled it low over her forehead. She exited through the garage and carefully locked the door behind her.

The subway was a block away. She looked at her watch. Two twenty-five in the morning. The ride to the apartment was ten minutes. The rest of the time was spent walking slowly and carefully, trying not to limp but keeping as much weight off the leg as she could and at the same time avoiding the cameras on the subway and in the stations. If she couldn't avoid one, she looked down. All anyone looking in a monitor could see was the black ball cap. When she got back to the apartment it was nearly three a.m.

Jared was waiting up like he had said he would be.

By now the adrenalin had worn off and the endorphin-fueled high was gone. She was in pain. She was also dizzy. Jared had the door open a few seconds after he heard her key in the lock. He knew something was wrong as soon as he saw her face.

"I've been shot," was all she managed to whisper. If he hadn't caught her, she would have gone down. He got her to his and Karl's bathroom, locked the door and helped her get the backpack and jacket off before he unzipped the leather pants down both sides of the legs. She had bled more than she thought. The left leg of her jeans was soaked from mid-thigh down to her knee. The leather pants had kept the blood on the inside.

By now Jared was as white as she was. "Oh, gods, oh frakking gods," he said. "I've got to get you to a hospital."

"No, there's still a bullet in my leg. Hospitals have to report bullet wounds. You want me to be arrested?"

"What are we going to do then? I'm not a frakking surgeon. That bullet is going to have to come out."

She leaned back against the wall and carefully slid down until she was seated on the floor. It was either that or pass out. She unzipped her jeans. "Take my boots off and help me get these jeans off."

As he started easing the jeans down her legs, the pain got so bad that she had to get a towel and stuff part of it in her mouth to muffle her moans. She nearly passed out before he finished. He threw her bloody jeans into the tub on top of the leather pants.

She could see the entrance wound now on the side of her thigh. It was a small hole that had mostly closed and was barely bleeding any more. Jared wet a washcloth and she cleaned as much of the blood from her leg as she could. She handed it to him to rinse in the sink. By now he wasn't doing well at all.

"Hey," she hissed, "don't you dare pass out on me. And don't you puke on me either."

He swallowed hard and shook his head, then quickly turned and knelt over the toilet. The sound of him retching and the smell was almost too much for her. After a minute he stood up at the sink and put cold water on his face and washed out his mouth.

"Sorry," he mumbled. "I'm okay now."

The pain had eased. She felt better, too. At least she didn't feel like she was going to pass out or throw up anymore. Gingerly she began feeling the top of her leg.

"Small caliber bullet. It's got to be or it would have gone through. Oh, oh frak, there it is." Pain radiated as she felt a small lump. The bullet had entered high on the side of her thigh and traveled diagonally. It rested in the muscle about three inches above her knee. "It's maybe an inch deep. It's got to come out. You've got to do this."

"With what? A kitchen knife? It'll have to be done with a scalpel and then you'll have to be sown up. You'll need antibiotics. Kara I've got to take you to the hospital."

"No. I'll take the damn thing out myself," she said irrationally. "If I go to the hospital, I go to jail. How long do you think it will take before someone links me to what happened tonight? Bullets mean ballistics."

"You can't cut a bullet out of yourself."

"Okay, okay. You're probably right. What time is it?"

"Almost 3:30."

"We've got time before Maggie wakes up. Bring me the phone."

"What are you going to do?"

"Call Jack. He was a medic when he was first in the Marines, and we've got a big first aid kit down at work, the kind we take to the clinics. I know it's got a scalpel and sutures and stuff. One of the drivers cut his hand and he didn't want to go to the emergency center. Jack sewed up the cut."

"You trust him that much?"

"I trust him more than some emergency doctor. Jack won't call the police. He'll probably fire me, but he won't call the police. I'd rather be out of a job than in jail."

There was a knock on the bathroom door. She heard Karl's voice. "What's going on in there?"

"Oh frak," Jared said.

"You might as well open the door," Kara said. "Just go get the phone."

Jared unlocked the door and opened it. Karl was standing outside in his flannel pajama pants and a t-shirt. He looked half-asleep until he saw her sitting on the floor and the bloody washcloth in the sink. "What the hell?"

"Hi Karl," Kara looked up at him.

"She's been hurt and not one word from you," Jared hissed as he went around Karl toward the kitchen where they kept the cordless phone.

Karl came into the bathroom. "Hurt?" The sleepy look had vanished. "Hurt how?"

"Shot," she whispered, "and keep your voice down. We don't want to wake Maggie up."

"Shot?" His tone was incredulous.

Jared came back with the phone. She put her finger to her lips to tell Karl to be quiet. Kara had Jack Fisk's home number as well as his office number programmed into it. He answered on the second ring.

"Hey, Jack, it's Kara…Carrie, it's Carrie."

"What's wrong?" He suddenly sounded like he was completely awake.

"It wasn't an accident on the bike. The bike is fine. I'm not. I need your help."

"What happened?"

"I've, uh, got something in my leg that needs to come out. Kind of like a metal splinter. It's deep. I need you to go by the office and get the big first aid kit."

"You need to go to the emergency room if it's that bad."

"I can't. They'll ask too many questions. Please, Jack. Please. I wouldn't ask if this wasn't important. Please."

"Where are you?"

"I'm at home."

"Where's home?"

She gave him the address.

"It'll take me about twenty-five, thirty minutes to get dressed and get by the office. You'll be okay until then?"

"Sure. Hey, don't get a speeding ticket getting here."

"That's what I'm supposed to tell you, remember?" He clicked off the call.

Kara handed the phone back to Jared. "He'll be here in thirty minutes."

"What happened, Kara?" Karl asked.

"I've got a bullet in my leg. Jack's going to have to take it out."

"Holy frakking Hera," Karl said. "How did that happen?"

"Long story," she said.

"I'm listening."

Jared shut the door. With her sitting on the floor, the little bathroom was really crowded.

Jared sat on the edge of the tub and said to Karl, "If we tell you and you breathe a word to Maggie, we'll probably all die for it. You've got to swear."

"I'm listening," Karl said again.

"Kara was helping me with…something I'm involved in."

"What?" Karl's voice was soft but Kara could tell he was furious. "What the hell are you involved in that got her shot?"

"I'm involved in it, too. This was my choice," Kara said.

"Oh, no! Oh gods, no!" Karl said. "Oh, please gods don't tell me you two are mixed up with some terrorist group."

"Resistance. Not terrorists. Resistance," Jared said.

"There's a difference?"

"We're fighting the Cylons," Kara said. "That's all you need to know."

"And when the police break down our door and haul you two away do you think they won't take me and Maggie, too?"

Neither Kara nor Jared answered him. They looked at each other. Yeah, she should have thought about that. Jared probably had.

"Maybe Jared and I should think about moving out," she said.

"And how do you think Maggie and I will afford this place? We don't earn the big paychecks like you two. You've got to quit. That's all there is to it. You've got to quit."

"We can't," Jared said.

"Why not?"

"A number of reasons. The main one being that we both believe in what we're doing."

"Not good enough."

"Our comrades won't like it." Jared said.

"I ought to beat the crap out of you for getting her into this."

"Hey, Karl, lay off Jared," Kara said, "I told you I volunteered for this."

"And it got you shot."

"Yeah, well it was worth it." She looked up at Jared, pride glowing in her eyes. "It was beautiful," she said. "Just gods damned beautiful."

"They did it?"

"Like fireworks on Colonial Day. Boom. Cylons won't be making any half-breeds in that place for a long time. Maybe never."

"Did the…others get away, too?"

"Yeah, they got away."

"No injuries?"

"One of them got knocked out when it blew, but he was on his feet and okay the last time I saw them."

"Did you have to…do what we talked about?" Jared asked.

"Yeah, I did, but I'm okay with it. We'll talk about it later."

"What are you two talking about?" Karl asked.

"Tell him," Jared said. He looked at Karl. "If you tell Maggie, I'll borrow Kara's gun and shoot you myself. I'd better go downstairs and wait for Jack. I don't want him buzzing the door and waking Maggie up."

"Before you do that, bring me that bottle of ambrosia from the kitchen. My leg is really hurting."

"I'll go get it," Karl said to Jared, "You go wait on Fisk. You're right. We don't want him waking Maggie up."

When Karl returned with the bottle, Kara took a long swallow. It burned all the way down. Karl lowered the toilet seat and sat. She drank again and told him everything, everything except the part about Leoben possibly being another Cylon. She wasn't going to mention that to anyone until she was sure. Karl kept shaking his head. Through her whole story he kept shaking his head.

"You could have died," he finally said. "You could have frakking died! How the hell do you think I would have felt if you'd died? It would have been a hundred times worse than losing Marie."

She shrugged. "Well, I didn't die. I'm okay."

"No the hell you're not okay! You've got a frakking bullet in your leg! Damn, Kara, I don't know what to say. Aren't we friends anymore? Why didn't you talk to me about this before you got involved?"

"Because you'd have told Maggie. You tell Maggie everything and I don't trust her. You've got to swear to me that you won't tell her. She's so straight-arrow that she'll probably turn us in herself. All she'd look at would be how it would screw her chances of going to the Academy if one of us got caught. Promise me, Karl."

"Hey, what if she wakes up while Fisk is digging a bullet out of you? What am I supposed to tell her then? Huh? Just tell me that?"

She never got the chance to answer him. Jared opened the bathroom door. "Fisk is here," he said.

"Tell him I'm in my underwear," Kara said.

Fisk heard her. "I've got two daughters. I've seen girls in their underwear before."

Karl got up and let Fisk come in. "I can't do anything in here," he said. He turned to Karl, "Get her to the kitchen and on the table. You're probably both going to have to hold her. I looked all over down at the office. I couldn't find any local anesthetic. I'm going to have to take this, uh, splinter out without it. I can't believe I've got employees stealing my drugs."

Karl knelt beside her. "Put your arms around my neck." She did and he gently lifted her and carried her into the kitchen.

"Just remember all the times we stuck together," Kara whispered to him. "Remember everything we've been through."

"I'm going to kill Jared for this," Karl said softly. "I'd die if something happened to you. You're all I've got left."

"You've got Maggie," Kara said.

"That's different. You and me…that'll never change."

Fisk cleared everything off the table. "Have you got any disinfectant?" He asked.

Jared rummaged under the sink. Maggie kept the cleaning supplies under there. He came up with something that satisfied Fisk. They cleaned the laminated surface of the table.

Before Karl sat her on the table, she whispered to him, "No matter what I'm doing for the resistance, I'd die before I let anybody hurt you. I'll always feel that way. You're right. You and me…that'll never change."

Karl put her down and went over and shut the kitchen door.

Kara still had the bottle of ambrosia in her hand. She took another swallow.

"I'm not going to ask how this happened," Fisk said. "I'm guessing it wasn't a lover's quarrel. Do you know where this…splinter is?"

Carefully she located the spot again and put her finger over it. He began to feel around the area. She clenched her teeth and squeezed her eyes tight shut. It was all she could do not to cry out. Finally Fisk stopped.

"Give me that towel," Kara managed to say to Jared.

Fisk put the big first aid kit on the counter beside the sink and opened it before he rolled up his sleeves and washed his hands and arms. He pulled on some latex gloves. As gently as he could, he swabbed the area over the bullet with something strong smelling and cold, but Kara still bit into the towel. She knew she left her fingernail impressions on the edge of the table.

"You're both going to have to hold her," Fisk said. "One of you behind her, arms wrapped around her holding her wrists, crossed like this. I can't take a chance she'll hit me or move when I start cutting. The other one will have to hold her legs. I had a Marine knock me out one time when I started picking some shrapnel out of his leg and it wasn't as deep as this splinter is."

"Karl's the strongest," Kara said. "Let him hold my legs."

Jared stood behind her and wrapped his arms around her. She crossed her arms over her chest and he took her wrists like Fisk had shown them. Jared pulled her tight against him. "I'm so sorry," he whispered. "I wish it was me."

"No you don't."

Karl held her legs just below the knees. Fisk took the scalpel and cut swiftly over the bullet, a short vertical cut straight toward her knee. It felt like he'd sliced her with red hot acid. Blood welled up and ran down onto the paper towels Fisk had put under her leg. Karl did okay. Kara could feel Jared turn his head to the side, though. She bet he had closed his eyes. Fisk held the small cut open. He'd done a good job. He didn't have to probe for the bullet. He took a pair of forceps and lifted it out.

"There's your splinter," he said. "Looks like maybe a twenty-two caliber splinter."

Then came the worst part. Fisk used a sterile saline solution to irrigate the wound track and then some kind of strong antibiotic solution. It's a good thing Karl was strong. Jared, too.

The short incision took three stitches. By that point getting the stitches put in was almost nothing. Fisk didn't sew the bullet's small entrance wound. "It'll heal from the inside out," he said. "I'm just going to bandage it, and I'm going to give you an antibiotic shot."

"Does that mean you get to see my ass?" Kara cracked.

"I ought to kick it," Fisk retorted.

When her leg was bandaged and he'd given her the shot, he peeled the latex gloves off and sat down on one of the chairs they had slid back from the table. He picked up the bottle of ambrosia and turned it up.

"How much blood did you lose?" He asked Kara.

"Partway down the leg of my jeans."

"You should probably be on a saline IV, but I don't have one handy so you're going to have to take it easy for a few days. Drink plenty of liquids and not just ambrosia. Your body will replace the blood, but you need to take it easy. Eat well, too." He looked at Jared and Karl. "You make her do it, understand?"

They both nodded.

Jared lifted Kara off the table, put her in a chair beside Fisk, and without a word he and Karl began cleaning up, stuffing the bloody paper towels into a garbage bag and wiping the table down again with the disinfectant. While they were doing that, Fisk and Kara shared the bottle of ambrosia.

"Thanks, Jack. I owe you big time. I guess I'm fired," Kara said.

"I'm going to have to think about it," he answered. "Did you use the bike in this?"

"Yeah."

"Did anybody see it?"

"No, I covered the logo with black paper. It washed right off back at the garage."

"I covered it," Jared said. "This is all my doing. I got her involved."

"Let's not go through that again," she said.

"Did this have anything to do with Cylons?" Fisk asked.

"I thought you didn't want to know anything," Kara answered him.

"I don't. Was it worth it?"

"Oh, yeah," she grinned for the first time since he'd gotten there. "Oh, yeah."

"Am I going to see this on the news in the morning?"

"Probably." Jared answered him. "I'm guessing the fire was probably four alarms."

"Maybe five or more," Kara added. "It depends on whether it spread to the other buildings."

"Lords of Kobol," Fisk said. "Put everything in that garbage bag. Everything. The bloody jeans, too. I'll take it with me and throw it in the incinerator in my apartment building. I'll watch until I'm sure it's burned. I'll throw the, uh splinter off the middle of the King's Bay Bridge."

"The leather pants have a small hole in them. They're bloody on the inside."

"Then trash them, too. Take a week off. I'll have you a new pair by the time you get back. Where did you say the old ones got stolen?"

For a moment Kara was confused and then she caught on. "I was trying on some jeans at Maximillian's. Somebody swiped the leather pants from my dressing room. So I'm not fired?"

"If you ever use the bike in something like this again, I swear I will. I'm a respectable, law-abiding business man." For the first time that night he smiled.

Jared left the kitchen with the garbage bag. When he came back it was tied up. Kara knew her jeans and the leather pants were inside.

"I'd better get going," Fisk said. "I'd rather take the garbage to the basement of my building before too many people start stirring. I'm leaving you some extra bandages. Hell, I might as well just leave the whole first aid kit here. We might need it again. Watch the leg carefully for redness, swelling, any sign it's getting infected. I'll come back later today and bring you some antibiotics."

Kara stood up. The leg wasn't too bad if she didn't put any weight on it. She put an arm around his neck. "Thanks…Doc. You saved me from going to jail, probably saved my life."

"You're a tough one. I'll give you that. Tough as any Marine I ever knew. Just take it easy on that leg for a few days. Don't get it wet for a couple of days, either. And I don't want to see you back at work for a week. I may have to keep you off the bike for a few days after that. You don't want to undo what's healed by then."

"I don't guess we can say the bike was stolen, too, can we? Let me have the old one?"

"Holy Hera," Fisk said. "You don't know when to quit, do you?"

Kara grinned. "It was just a thought."

"Talk to me in a week. I've got an older bike at home. It's just sitting in my apartment building's garage. My wife doesn't want me riding it any more. Maybe we can get Chief to work on it and tune it up. Maybe I'll sell it to you. Maybe. Let's see how impressed I am by what I see on the news later on."

After he was gone, she turned to Karl and Jared and pointed to her leg. "I had a little accident on the bike, understand? When Maggie asks, a sharp piece of metal stuck me in the leg and I had to have a few stitches. Fisk is taking care of it because he doesn't want to file the worker's comp insurance."

They both nodded. "Put everything back on the table like it was, or Maggie will spot it in the morning and put the chairs back, too. And one of you help me to my room. I'm going to bed."

Maggie was still sleeping soundly when Jared helped Kara pull off the black turtleneck and the sports bra. He got a clean t-shirt out of the laundry basket by her bed. "I need a shower," she whispered but he shook his head.

"Fisk said not to get the leg wet," he whispered back.

"Help me to my bathroom." He did and she took a washcloth and bathed as best she could at the sink. She washed the rest of the blood off her leg. She let Jared wash and dry her back before she put on the clean t-shirt. He helped her lie down on the mattress and gently covered her with the sheet and a blanket.

He knelt on the floor beside her, leaned over and kissed her forehead. "Hero," he whispered to her before he went out and quietly shut the door.

Despite the fact that her leg was throbbing with every heart beat, she was surprised at how sleepy she soon was. Maybe it was the ambrosia. Mentally she replayed her favorite image, the way the lab had looked just after the explosion, the bright orange flames engulfing the inside, and another image she liked, of touching her fist to the two guys' fists there in the clearing. _We're in this together_. She thought of the tall guy massaging her hand to help warm it and get the blood flowing, the small kindness of his act. She thought of shooting out the security lights at the fence and cloaking them in darkness, of keeping the guards away from the back of the building until her guys were on their feet and through the fence. She had returned his favor. She had protected him like she'd promised, protected both of them. They had all done a good job. They had all done a really good job tonight. Score one for the humans.

She thought of the small black helicopter lifting off and disappearing into the night sky. Was one of the two guys a pilot or did they have a pilot waiting for them? She would never know.

She thought of her father again. She thought of John Gallagher who had saved her life three and a half years ago. Had that happened so that she could help take out a Cylon lab tonight? So there would be no half-breeds coming from there for a while? Maybe the gods had a purpose for her after all. Maybe her destiny was to help stop the Cylons, to help destroy the Cylons. Maybe her life had been spared for a reason. Maybe that's why she had spent time in the refugee camp, why she had met Jared, why the real Carrie Warner had died, so that Kara Thrace could take her place and help fight the Cylons. Maybe there was something to Fate after all, to the Fates that Zarek had spoken of that night, the night her father had taken her off Picon and saved her life, the night her father had disappeared into the sky with Zarek and his men and saved her again, the night that had set her on this path.

She touched the ring on the chain around her neck.

"I love you, Dad," she whispered to the dark. "I hope you were proud of me tonight. You and Mom both."

TBC…


	22. The One That Got Away

Chapter 22

The One That Got Away

_The involvement of the military in the search for and questioning of suspected terrorists was not fully realized until the attack in which a Cylon lab run by Dr. Gaius Baltar was targeted. As the citizens of Caprica became more aware of the role of their own military in working with the Cylons, the popularity of the military and enlistments in the military declined sharply. Little regard was given to the fact that the military personnel who performed their often thankless jobs kept the Cylons from stepping in with much harsher alternatives._

_-Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War_

The mobile phone on the nightstand beside Lee Adama's bed trilled. He reached for it in a fog.

"Hello," he said as he looked at the clock. It was 4:10.

"Parker here, Lieutenant Adama. Get down to the base immediately. There's been an incident. All interrogators and analysts are being assembled. Meeting at five a.m. sharp. Classroom near my office."

"Yes, sir," Lee said, but Parker had already ended the call.

He got there with ten minutes to spare. He sat down in a desk beside one of the other interrogators. "What's up?" Lee asked him.

"Don't know. It must be big to get us all out of bed."

Major Parker walked in with a civilian Lee didn't recognize. The man behind them was Bill Adama. He nodded at Lee but didn't speak. Everyone in the room stood and came to attention.

"At ease," Parker said. "Be seated. Since we're all here, let's get started. This is Special Agent Vladimir Darren," he indicated the dark-suited civilian, a medium-height man with silver showing in the temples of his dark hair. "He's in charge of the anti-terrorism task force. He'll be briefing us tonight. And we're honored to have Commander William Adama with us. He's the President's envoy. He will be reporting our findings, if any, directly to President Adar. And before any of you ask, Lieutenant Lee Adama calls him _Dad_. The rest of you will address him as _Commander_."

There were several low chuckles from the room. Lee felt the heat rise in his face.

Agent Darren took over the meeting. "Tonight at approximately one ten a.m. a research lab north of Caprica City was destroyed in an act that has been established as terrorist in nature. The story being given to the press is that a gas leak caused the explosion and fire. At this point we know only that there were at least two terrorists involved, one on the hill above the lab with a high-powered rifle which has been recovered, and one who planted the explosives. There may have been more. You have been divided into teams and will get your assignments in a moment. What we're going to do is go down to the lab and talk to everyone who was there tonight. All the guards, employees, anyone who might have seen or heard anything. Our agents are keeping everyone there. Facts are sketchy at this point, but I'll take a few minutes for questions before Major Parker goes over your team assignments."

"I don't suppose we have either of the suspects, do we?" One of the other interrogators asked.

"Not at this point. We know that one of them escaped on a motorcycle. The woods are being searched right now for any clues about the other or others."

"Anything on the rifle?" The same man asked.

"Not yet. Our lab boys have it."

"How did they get in?"

"Cut the fence behind the building and apparently went up a fire escape. Since that door was key card access only from the outside, we're going on the theory that they either had a card or were able to bypass the security system somehow. There's always a slim chance that someone was on the inside and let them in, but according to the gate guard's log, everyone who worked in the building was gone by then. Security guards all vouch for each other. They travel in pairs or threes."

"Cleaning crew?"

"Comes in at five a.m. Needless to say there was nothing to clean this morning."

"What was being done at that lab that would have made it a terrorist target?" Lee asked. He very carefully avoided looking at his father.

"We've been told it was some kind of Artificial Intelligence research."

"Helping the Cylons, then?" Lee continued.

"At this point we don't know enough to say with any certainty. Dr. Gaius Baltar is head of the project, and although we haven't spoken directly to him yet, we have a tape of an interview he gave to a reporter named D'Anna Biers just last week about what they were doing or attempting to do. Our analysts are looking at it right now."

"Any fatalities or injuries?" One of the woman interrogators asked.

"Two fatalities. The marksman on the hill above the lab apparently shot and killed the Cylon doctor called Simon as well as another unidentified male. Of course I'm sure it won't be long until the Cylons get another copy of Simon down here. And I say it was apparently the gunman on the hill because at this point all we can do is make an assumption. Cavil had his centurions take both bodies. I doubt we get a chance to do an autopsy so ballistics is probably out. One of the guards who saw them said they were both head shots. One shot apiece which means their marksman was highly-skilled. The distance hasn't been measured exactly but it's about two hundred yards from where they found the rifle to where the bodies were. Of course the guard is basing that on not much more than a glance. No one got the chance to do a more thorough examination before Cavil showed up with the centurions and kept everyone away from them."

"So should we be looking at current or former military or police snipers?"

"We can't rule out any possibilities at this point."

"What about fatalities inside the lab."

"We don't know about that yet. Last I heard the firemen were still putting out the fire. As I said, according to the gate log everyone had left the lab for the night. We're waiting on a personnel roster to start making calls. We're also waiting for our arson investigators to do their job. There's always the possibility that whoever set those explosives didn't make it out. I understand there's already been a problem with Dr. Baltar over allowing access, but since this is a government-funded lab, I don't think he'll have a choice. The Cylons want this solved as much as we do."

"If I might speak up at this point," Bill said. "The President is very concerned about what happened tonight. Our treaty with the Cylons puts the responsibility for keeping the peace squarely on us. I don't need to tell anyone in this room what might happen if incidents of this nature are allowed to go unchecked. We need to find out who is responsible for this and put a stop to it. The well-being of _everyone_ on Caprica right now depends on it. I'm sure all of us have personal feelings about the Cylons, but we can't let that get in the way of doing our jobs."

He made a point not to look at Lee. He didn't have to.

"Thank you, sir," Major Parker said. "As the commander has reminded us, we all have jobs to do. Let's keep that in mind. I'm going to assign you in teams of three. After you get your assignment, grab a cup of coffee and meet outside. We'll be leaving for the lab in fifteen minutes."

When he got outside, Lee noticed that his father had a car and a driver. Before he left, Bill came over to him. "First big investigation, son. Try to stay awake," he smiled.

Lee smiled, too. "Are you going to the lab?"

"No, I've got to get back to the President. I'll depend on Darren to keep me apprised of how the investigation is progressing today. When you have an opportunity, you and I have some talking to do. I'll probably be making another phone call or two this morning."

Lee nodded. He knew exactly who his father meant to call…Laura first and then John.

He watched Bill get in the car and his driver close the door. Sunrise was still a promise over the horizon. Vapor rose from his cup of coffee into the freezing air as he hunched his shoulders against the cold. It penetrated his winter jacket, and he tried to imagine how it must have felt for the terrorist riding a motorcycle through the night. For the briefest moment he thought of the blond girl in the tight black jeans and motorcycle boots. Were the boots just for show or did she really ride a motorcycle? He didn't envy anyone who had to ride in the cold of this winter night, even a terrorist.

The transport bus pulled up and they all got on. At least it was already warm inside.

Lee sat with the other two people on his team, both of them seasoned interrogators.

"Your job is to pay attention to everything while Sergeant Ackerman or I ask the questions," said Captain Jill Hadrian, the lead of his team. "Watch the guards and employees closely as we question them. There's _always_ the chance that the terrorists had inside help getting in."

"Since we're dealing with a Cylon lab, then I'd say anybody out there would be a suspect. I'm not aware of the Cylons having any real fan clubs on Caprica unless it's the one headed by Gaius Baltar."

"You sound like you know more than you're saying about that lab," Ackerman said.

"I don't know why it would it have been targeted otherwise, and the Cylons sure showed up fast enough." Lee realized he was about to get himself in trouble. "I just remember when the treaty was signed my father said the Cylons wanted to work with Dr. Baltar personally. I'm just going on the assumption he was working with them."

"We never assume," Ackerman said. "We wait for the facts."

"But don't discount your gut when it comes to questioning someone," Hadrian said. "Sometimes it's all you've got to rely on."

There were only four guards who were able to provide any more information. Each of the five teams talked to each of the guards in turn. One told them that he had been in a group of three guards that had been on their way to the back of the building when the terrorist on the hill had shot at them, forcing them to seek cover. He was also the one who told them that the gunman had shot out the five security lights along the fence.

"He was good," the guard said, "one shot per light, just popped them right out. Fast, too."

"Why do you think he did that?" Hadrian asked.

The guard shrugged.

"Could he have been covering someone's exit from the building?" Lee asked.

Ackerman shot him a look. _Shut up._ It was clear that Hadrian was going to ask all the questions this time. Lee knew they still regarded him as a rookie interrogator.

"I don't think so," the guard said. "The building was already on fire by then. Nobody would have been coming out at that point. We waited a minute after he shot at us, then we tried coming out and he shot at us again. We waited a couple of more minutes and that time, no shots. He was gone by then."

"Why do you think he didn't shoot you? You've said he was good."

"I guess maybe he was just trying to keep us away from the back of the building," the guard said. "As good a shot as he was, he could have killed us easy."

"Why do you think he was trying to keep you away from the back of the building?"

"Because one or more of them was still back there," the guard finally said. "That's where we found the fence had been cut."

"So after killing two men a few minutes earlier, this terrorist shot at you, not to kill you but to keep you away from the back of the building. Then shot out the security lights, and then shot at you again but without hitting any of you."

The guard nodded. "That's about it."

The other two guards confirmed what he had said.

The fourth guard they spoke with had been in a car that had passed the terrorist on the motorcycle as he had made his escape. He couldn't tell them anything except that the rider had been dressed in black on a black motorcycle. He couldn't tell them the make or model of the motorcycle, but Darren had someone assembling pictures of every kind of motorcycle that had been manufactured in the last ten years to show him.

"Why didn't you call it in as soon as you passed him?"

"I tried. I wasn't getting a signal. There's a dead spot along part of that road. You have to go higher up to get a signal. That's what I did. By then he'd had more than five minutes head start. I know he made it to the paved road before that. I don't know how long it took the guys back down at the lab to get it called in to the police."

"Too long, apparently," said Ackerman. "Your motorcycle rider got away."

It was nearly ten o'clock and they had been at the questioning non-stop since six that morning with only one short break. Lee looked at the guard and noticed a pack of cigarettes in his pocket.

"Can we take a break?" Lee asked Hadrian and Ackerman. "I need to stretch my legs. Let this guy have a smoke."

"I guess we're through here for a while," Hadrian said.

Lee walked outside with the guard who offered him a cigarette. "No thanks," Lee said. "I just had to get out for a minute. Those two," he shook his head. "They're driving me nuts. I can't open my mouth."

The guard lit the cigarette and inhaled deeply. Lee thought of John. John was flying nights for several weeks. He guessed John would be at home right now, but he doubted he'd be sleeping. Employees had been called and told not to come in today which meant Lissa would have gotten a call. John and Lissa were probably watching the news. There were several news vans and crews still outside the fence even though the fire was now out. Lee's mobile phone was turned off. He bet he already had a message from John.

"Thanks for getting me out of there. I needed a smoke bad. How'd you get stuck with those two?" The guard asked.

"Luck of the draw, I guess," Lee answered. "I didn't get a choice. When was it you met the guy on the motorcycle? What time?"

"I was on the service road by one thirty-five. About five minutes after that."

Lee's gut told him there was something the guard hadn't yet mentioned to any of them. "Big guy, small guy?"

"On the smaller side. I told one of the other teams. Slim. Wearing black pants and a black ski jacket. Like I told the others, he was either a black guy or maybe had on a black ski mask. I just caught a glimpse. I think it was a black ski mask under his helmet. It just looked, I don't know, too black to be skin. It didn't look like skin either, maybe too featureless."

"So you can't even be absolutely certain it was a guy?"

The guard took another long drag on the cigarette. "No, I guess not. But I mean, what are the odds?"

"Something's bothering you about this motorcycle rider, isn't it?" Lee asked.

"Oh, hell," the guard finally said. "If you ever catch him it'll come out. I think I shot him."

"You think you shot him?" Lee repeated. He was stunned but quickly recovered. "With what?"

"We're issued assault rifles to guard the lab, but I knew I couldn't get it out of the window fast enough. I have a little twenty-two caliber pistol that I carry. By the time I spotted the motorcycle's headlight coming at me, I only had a couple of seconds. I grabbed the twenty-two. It's my own personal weapon. If my boss finds that out, I'll probably be fired. I've got four kids."

"And you shot the motorcycle rider with it?"

"Shot at him, one shot as we were passing each other. That's the only chance I got. I hit a bump about then, so I'm not sure. It all happened so fast, just a few seconds. He kept going, so I must have missed."

"But you might not have."

"No, I might not have. We were so close I could almost touch him. That's what makes me think maybe I hit him. I couldn't turn around and chase him right there because the road drops off too steep. All I could think about was getting higher up so I could call it in."

"You did the right thing," Lee said. "Let's go back inside. You've got to tell them about this. I'm sorry. If it turns out you did hit him and that helps us catch him, then I doubt you'll lose your job."

Lee knew that hospitals had to report anyone coming in with a gunshot wound. If the guard had gotten lucky and had actually hit the guy, and the guy sought treatment somewhere, then it would be reported. He was sure Darren could easily get the reports from the hospitals.

He thought of the motorcycle rider again and wondered if he had ridden back to Caprica City through the freezing night with a bullet in him or if he'd gone the other way, up into the hills. Even if the wound wasn't too bad, there was little chance he would survive without some kind of medical care.

After lunch they all reconvened in the classroom and went over every bit of intelligence that had been gathered that day. They knew only a little more now than they knew early that morning. One of the new pieces of information was that one of the guards had possibly shot the motorcycle rider.

Lee doubted that he would get credit for it, but after they were told to go get something to eat that evening, Parker came up to him.

"Good work, lieutenant. I understand you got the guard to admit to shooting at the guy on the motorcycle."

"Yes, sir. I felt like he had something else to say. I just didn't feel like he was going to say it in that room. He opened up after we went outside so he could get a smoke."

"I knew we'd made a good choice in picking you."

"Thank you, sir."

They knew nothing more when they were dismissed to go home that night with the exception that no emergency care centers or hospitals had treated anyone for a bullet wound in the last twenty-four hours. Parker told them all to be in at seven in the morning. They would go over it all again and then split up to question the rest of the lab's employees.

He listened to his voice messages on the way home. He had two from John. The first one at seven a.m. _Got in at six this morning and found Lissa in hysterics. What happened at that lab? _The next one at almost noon. _I guess you're busy right now with whatever's going on. Call me when you can._

It was nearly ten o'clock when Lee got back to his apartment. He knew he needed to grab a shower and go to bed, but he tried John's mobile phone anyway.

John picked up after the first ring. "Lee, where the hell you been?"

"I'm on one of the teams that questioned the security guards at the lab, and then we had to go back to the base and hash over everything for nine hours. I'm beat."

"Let me call you back. I'm in bed. I need to grab my pants and jacket and get out on the balcony. I can't talk about this in front of Lissa. It upsets her too much. I'll call you right back."

It was nearly five minutes before Lee's phone rang. "So what happened?" John asked.

"You know I'm not supposed to talk about it. The official story is that there was a gas leak and an explosion and fire at the lab."

"But that's not really what happened, is it?"

"No, John, and that's all I can say at this point."

"Resistance?"

"Terrorists. Is Lissa all right?"

"Physically she's fine. She's sort of berserk otherwise. That's mostly her whole life up in flames."

"Maybe now would be a good time for the two of you to take a vacation."

"We'll see."

"You're not flying tonight obviously."

"No, I was supposed to, but I called in this morning after Lissa got the news about the lab. I did something stupid last night, too. I wasn't concentrating on what I was doing. I walked into an engine cowling and hit my forehead. It looks worse than it feels, but I'm going to take a couple of days off. I don't want to leave Lissa by herself right now either. Like I said, she's having some serious problems dealing with losing a couple of years worth of research."

"John, you didn't mention anything about what was going on in that lab to anyone other than Laura, did you?"

"No, I didn't. How do you know I talked to her?"

"My dad told me. She told him."

"Holy frakking Hera." Lee could tell John was angry. "Why didn't I just have it printed in the gods damned newspaper? Who else knows?"

"Just us, you, me, my dad and Laura."

"Well, try to keep it that way, okay. If this gets traced back to me, then it's Lissa who will suffer for it. I know she and I aren't in it for the long haul, but I still don't want to see her go to jail over something I did."

"John, all I care about is that you didn't mention it to anyone else. The terrorists got their information from somewhere. I just wanted to make sure it wasn't you. I know my dad wouldn't say anything."

"I know it didn't come from your dad," John said. "And I know it didn't come from Laura, either. She promised me."

"She used you, John."

"I know that, Lee. I'm not stupid. I know she used me. Every time I met her for dinner, every time I started feeling like she was enjoying my company, like when we bonded over a personal experience we both shared, I told myself that she was just using me. It kept me from making a complete fool of myself. And she did go out of her way to warn me about Baltar and D'Anna Biers and that alternate lab that Baltar is setting up."

"What do you mean _every time you met her for dinner_? Have you got something going on with her?"

"I wish. We met for dinner a couple of times so I could pass along what I'd learned about the lab. Laura's dating Chuck Winters. He's more her caliber."

"My dad mentioned that. Just be careful, John. Now I've got to wonder if Laura said something to anyone but my dad."

"Lee, the resistance knew about that lab a couple of weeks before I told Laura."

"What?"

"Didn't you know that a lone terrorist tried to break in weeks ago and was killed? He had explosives. You mean nobody mentioned that to you today?"

"No. How do you know about it?"

"Lissa told me. It freaked her and everybody else out when it happened. The purpose of that lab got out weeks ago and somebody then decided to be a hero and take it out. All it got him was killed. It never made the news, but somebody is bound to have investigated it. You maybe shouldn't mention that, though. If they haven't told anyone yet, there's a reason. You'll just call unnecessary attention to yourself…and me and Lissa."

"You're right. Listen, they're going to start questioning the lab's employees soon, maybe tomorrow. Lissa will be called in sometime during the next couple for days. I'm telling you so you'll both be prepared. Depending on what she says, they may call you in. Laura's name is on the list to be questioned, too. I don't know why, but I saw it today."

"Damn, I wish they'd leave her alone. She's put herself in enough danger going up against Baltar and his Cylon buddies. I hate to see her get dragged into this."

"We've got to question everybody. Somehow the terrorists found out what the Cylons were doing or attempting to do in that lab. Somewhere there's a connection. I'm just glad it's not you."

"I'd better go. Lissa's standing at the door giving me one of those looks. I'm sure she thinks I'm out here talking to a woman."

"She probably thinks you're talking to Laura."

"No offense, Lee, but I wish I were." John laughed, and Lee saw that he had ended the call.

...

Kara woke up the next morning to a quiet apartment. Despite being up most of the night, Jared must have gone to work. Karl, too. It wouldn't be smart to call in sick today. Maggie must be at the day care. Kara could never keep up with her schedule…not that she really tried.

She sat up and looked at the clock on the floor beside her bed. Five minutes after eleven. Her leg was still painful when she moved it, but it wasn't throbbing like it had been before she went to sleep. She got up and limped into the bathroom and swallowed two aspirin with the help of a handful of water from the spigot. Her hair looked awful, flattened to her head where she had sweated under the ski mask. She knew she couldn't get in the shower because of her leg.

She took her shampoo to the kitchen sink and washed her hair where she could use the sprayer. Maggie would have a fit if she knew, but Kara didn't plan to tell her.

She had a dizzy spell just as she finished and had to sit down at the table. _Drink plenty of liquids_, Fisk had told her. She got the orange juice out of the refrigerator. She was still sitting at the table in her t-shirt and underwear when Karl came in from work at noon.

"How are you feeling?" He asked right away.

"Not too bad. Not too good, either."

"Have you eaten anything?"

"Not yet. I've just been drinking like Fisk told me to." She indicated the container of orange juice. "You're going to need to bring some more home."

"No problem. I'm going to fix us something to eat."

He made ham and cheese sandwiches. After she ate, Kara felt a lot better. She got Karl to make her another one. He made himself another one, too.

"I want you to give up this terrorist thing," Karl said when they finished.

"Resistance. Not terrorist."

"That's just semantics. The danger to you is the same no matter what you call it."

"Wow, listen to you and the big word. _Semantics_."

"I guess I've been hanging around Jared too long. I mean it Kara, please give it up."

She shook her head. "It's no use, Karl. I'd do anything in the world for you, but I'm not going to give up something I believe in. Last night…I can't even describe it, but last night I felt like I did something worthwhile for the first time in my life."

"That's not true. You saved my life when I was sick with the flu. You introduced Connelly to Laura Roslin and that helped get the school for the little kids started at the camp. You deliver medicine that saves people's lives. Don't think you haven't done anything worthwhile."

"But nothing like this."

"So saving my life isn't as important to you as taking out some Cylon lab?"

"That's not what I meant and you know it."

"You know you'll get caught eventually, don't you? Or killed. Jared, too."

"Probably. I've been thinking about that while I was sitting here this morning. I should move out and get a place of my own. That way there's nothing to tie me to you if I should get caught…or killed. It might be a good idea for another reason, too. I think Jared is starting to get too hung up on me. I think I need to put some distance between us. I'm just going to wind up hurting him."

Karl didn't say anything.

"So you think it's a good idea, too?"

He shrugged. "It doesn't matter if you move out or not. Don't you see, if they get you, they've got all of us."

"Then why don't you join us?"

"I don't know, Kara. I don't know."

"You hate the Cylons, don't you?"

"Yeah."

"Then what's stopping you?"

"Maggie. If I join you and Jared, then it's not fair to her not to let her know what we're doing."

"You know she'll never go for it. You know she'll probably turn us in. You could never trust her to keep this a secret."

"What about if I wait until she goes to the Academy and starts training to be a Raptor pilot? She'll be eighteen in a couple of months. She's already got her application in for next fall. She'll have to move on campus if she gets accepted."

"That sounds like a plan."

"There's just one thing."

"What?"

"She wants me to go, too. She wants me to go to the Academy and train to be a Raptor pilot, too."

"And you told her _yes_."

"Sort of."

Kara was losing patience. "Either you told her you'd do it or not. Have you put in an application, too?"

"Yeah. But I don't know if I'll get accepted. Maggie found out that if you'd lived in a refugee camp and hadn't graduated from high school that you have to take some kind of test. I don't know if I'll pass it or not. She's smart. I'm sure she'll pass."

"So how come you didn't discuss this with me before you did it? Aren't we friends anymore?" She mocked his question from the night before.

He looked down and didn't answer her.

"Well that's settled then, isn't it? You and Maggie move out and go to the Academy. Jared and I will keep fighting the Cylons. You train in ships with no missiles and no weapons. You join the military that's hunting us. Maybe you can hunt us, too. Maybe you'll get the chance to shoot me with a rubber bullet one day or turn me over to a centurion who will shoot me with a real bullet."

"That's not fair, Kara."

"When is life ever fair, Karl? Was it fair that the Cylons destroyed eleven of the Twelve Colonies and now they're calling the shots on Caprica? Was it fair that all our parents died because of them? Was it fair that you and I spent three years in a frakking refugee camp living with rats and disease? Tell me what was fair about that?"

"I agree with you. Totally. None of that was fair. I'm just saying don't let this come between us. You're my best friend, Kara. I love you." He looked down. "That's one of the problems that Maggie has with you. She'll probably always have it. She's never understood what's between you and me. She thinks we…while we were at the camp…maybe even still."

"What? She thinks we're frakking each other?"

Karl glanced up at her. "Yeah."

"That's crazy. You're like my brother."

"But I'm really not your brother. And you don't do anything to make her think different. It's almost like you barely tolerate her. She thinks that why you won't…you know…do it with Jared. She thinks you're jealous."

"Well that's just too damned bad. What can I say if she's already got her mind made up about everything? If I was in love with Jared, I'd do it with him, but I'm not in love with him. I care about him. I really do. I'm just not in love. What me and Jared do or don't do is none of her business anyway. Jared needs to learn to keep his frakking mouth shut around her."

"He talks to her like we talk to each other. You're going to have to accept that."

"Right. That's why he told her all about what he's doing with the resistance," she said sarcastically. "Because they talk about everything and he trusts her so much."

"You know, it still hurts that you didn't say anything to me about what you're doing."

"I told you why I didn't say anything. But you know now. If you hate the Cylons like Jared and I do, then join us."

"You've got to understand that I do hate the Cylons for what they did. Part of me wants to join you and Jared, but part of me wants to go to the Academy, too. I can't do both. I don't know what to do."

Kara sighed in frustration. "Then don't do anything right now. If you join us it's a complete commitment. There's no going back. Jared made that clear when I joined. You're in it a hundred percent or not at all."

"I realize that. I just…gods, Kara…I see I'm not going to change your mind so please be careful. Please."

"I will. I guess I'd better go back to the room and get some pants on. I don't guess it would do if Maggie came in and caught me in a t-shirt and underwear sitting here talking to you. I don't care what she thinks, but I don't want to make your life any worse."

Karl helped her back to her room and she got a pair of sweatpants. Then they went back into the living room and watched the news. There was a film clip of the lab on fire, of the fire trucks and firemen and the guards. _…and has been attributed to a gas leak…_ the newscaster was saying as the picture came up. There was an aerial shot of the fire burning through the roof.

"You did that? You frakking did that?" Karl asked.

"Not me. They did. The guys. I wasn't even close when it went up."

"But you were part of it."

"Yeah," she said with pride. "I was part of it. Shhh, listen to what the news guy is saying."

_There have been no reported fatalities or injuries in the six-alarm fire early this morning in the government-funded lab headed by Dr. Gaius Baltar. Coming up later excerpts from an interview conducted by D'Anna Biers during which Dr. Baltar talks about his research into Artifical Intelligence._

"What a crock. They didn't mention the two guys I shot and killed, that Cylon doctor and another one. I frakking shot two guys and they didn't even mention it."

"Maybe the news people don't know. So that's where they were making half-human, half-Cylon babies?"

"Trying to is what Jared said. We put a stop to that."

"They'll just start up again somewhere else."

"Maybe, but it will be a while. We'll find them again. Blow them up again."

_Dr. Baltar denies there is any truth to the rumor that the Cylons were conducting experiments on humans and possibly attempting to combine human and Cylon DNA. The level of destruction at the lab makes any kind of confirmation of those allegations impossible._

"Do you think there were any babies in that lab?" Karl asked.

"No. Babies can't grow in labs. Babies only grow in women."

"Then what were they doing in there?"

"I don't know exactly. I'm not a scientist. Ask Jared. I'm sure he understands. I'm going to go rest now."

"I think I'll go take a nap, too. Something woke me up at 3:30 this morning and I never got back to sleep."

Kara went back to her room and on impulse took the book that Connelly had given her, the third volume of the Caprican Prince trilogy, off the shelf on her side of the closet. She briefly glanced at everything hanging in there…black, black and more black. She really did need to expand her wardrobe color choice.

She limped over to her mattress, lowered herself carefully, and tore the brown wrapping paper off the book. She could hardly believe it when she examined it. It was a red leather-bound copy. _The Caprican Prince and the Golden Wings _was stamped in gold lettering on the front cover and on the book's spine. It didn't look new, but it looked very well cared for.

Kara opened it. The name _Laura Roslin_ was written on the inside of the front cover. Had the Secretary of Education sent Kara her own personal copy of the book? A folded sheet of stationery was stuck between the cover and the first page. It wasn't official letterhead, nothing to indicate her title or her responsibilities, just a half-size piece of cream-colored vellum with her name embossed on the top of the page in small script letters. The note was handwritten in black ink.

_Kara, you have my deepest appreciation for introducing me to Hugh Connelly and for your extremely interesting tour of the camp. If you ever make it to Caprica City, please call me. I'd love to take you to lunch. Enjoy this wonderful book. Laura Roslin._

"Take me to lunch?" Kara laughed out loud. She just bet if she called Laura Roslin, the Secretary would say, _Kara? Sorry, I don't know any Kara._ Then she read the last sentence again. _Enjoy this wonderful book._ Kara snickered and wondered what Laura Roslin thought about the prince and his lusty wench. Although looking back on that encounter, Kara realized it was a lot tamer than it had seemed to her at the time.

She left the note in the book. It would make a good bookmark. She hadn't gotten but one chapter into the book three years ago. She started over at the beginning.

_Olliver, the Caprican prince, traveled to the Underworld to meet his father. There he would receive his three tasks, the three tasks he would need to complete in order to win his father's freedom._

She had read far enough the first time to know what those tasks were. The first was to capture and tame the Griffin of Gyron, the creature that had the body of a lion and the wings and head of an eagle. He then had to fly on the back of the Griffin to the island of Hesperides and find the adamantine sword of Perseus with its mythical powers. Last he had to use the sword to slay the Cyclops of Seriphos and free the people of that island.

She read again the part where Olliver found his father languishing in the Underworld, his life ebbing slowly day by day, the tear-filled joy of their meeting as his father acknowledged Olliver as his son, the emotion as Olliver knelt on one knee before his father and asked his blessing, and having received it, bravely left to perform the tasks.

She knew that as Olliver was searching for the Griffin he found his way into the secret garden and saw the golden-haired princess with the emerald eyes, and of course fell instantly in love.

Kara read all afternoon. She was almost to the garden scene when Maggie got home and shortly after she got there, Jared came in. She had to put the book aside.

Maggie believed her when Kara told her about having an accident on the bike and cutting her leg. She told Kara again what a dangerous job she had. Behind Maggie's back Jared looked at her and smiled.

"Yeah, I'll take my dangerous job any day to smelling like a rug rat puked all over me."

When Maggie went to take a shower and change clothes, she and Jared went into the kitchen. "Frogman wanted to meet us at Zeno's tonight until I told her him we had to take a bullet out of you early this morning."

"You didn't mention Fisk, did you?"

"No, Frogman thinks we did it."

"We?"

"Okay, me. I knew we had to protect Fisk and I knew Frogman would never believe you dug a bullet out of yourself."

"Frogman must not know how you get at the sight of blood. You couldn't even watch Jack cut me last night, could you?"

"Hey, I didn't get involved with the resistance to be a damned medic," Jared said hotly.

"Okay, okay. Calm down."

"I told Frogman we'd meet him one night next week. I think he fell in love with you when I told him you took a bullet for the cause and still got away."

"What about the other two guys?"

"He got word late today. Minor cuts and bruises. They're fine. Nothing like a bullet wound. He'll pass the word back about you. He said one of them had specifically asked about you. He knew you had to…do your job. He wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Well, maybe we can all have a reunion at Zeno's one night and compare our war wounds, drink a few cold ones, discuss the finer points of blowing up labs and shooting Cylons."

Jared laughed. "I'm glad getting shot hasn't caused you to lose your sense of humor."

...

Bill sat at the small table in Laura's office.

"I hope I brought something you like," he said to her as he indicated the boxes of takeout food sitting in front of him.

"I'm sure I'll find something." She went to the door between her office and the outer office. "Billy, you can go home now. It's after eight o'clock."

"You're sure," he said.

"Positive."

"Should I make fresh coffee for you and Commander Adama?"

"Thank you, no. I don't think either of us needs coffee tonight."

She had something a little stronger in mind. She walked with Billy to the door of the outer office and locked it behind him.

Returning to her office, she found Bill eating noodles from one of the boxes. "Sorry to get started without you. This is the first meal I've had since a bagel early this morning. It's been a crazy day."

"I'm going to fix a drink. Would you like one?"

His mouth full, he nodded.

She went to a set of cabinets on the far side of the room. From one she took a bottle of whiskey and from another got two glasses. She carried the bottle and glasses to the table. Without a word she sat down and poured both glasses a third full.

She raised her glass to him. "To an extraordinary day."

"One I hope isn't repeated soon. I have to ask, Laura. I have to. Do you know anything about what happened at that lab early this morning?"

"Beyond what I saw on the news? No, Bill, I don't. You have my word on that."

"I've been trying to call John all day. He's not picking up."

"He won't if he's in the cockpit."

"I called my friend who runs the air cargo business. He said John has been off for the last two days. He called in this morning and asked for a couple more days off."

"That's understandable. I'm sure Lissa is very upset."

"I need to know if he told anyone about that lab besides you."

"I seriously doubt it. But someone did know weeks ago. There was an incident where a lone terrorist died trying to blow up the lab. Apparently it was kept very quiet. Whether he was part of the resistance is something none of us can answer without a lot more information."

Bill pushed the carton of noodles aside and took his drink. "It's got to stop, Laura. They're going to ruin everything if they keep it up."

"What are they going to ruin, Bill?"

"Something I've been working on for three years now. I need one or two more years and then we'll have a chance at being free of the Cylons forever."

"And you aren't going to tell me, are you?"

"Not yet."

"After all we've been to each other, you still don't trust me."

"Trust has nothing to do with it. I'm trying to protect you."

She sighed, finished her drink and poured another one. She knew it was probably a mistake on an empty stomach, but she needed the dulling power of the alcohol tonight. There was no use trying to get Bill to tell her. She knew his stubbornness well enough to know he would remain quiet until he was ready to reveal his plans to her.

"Does the President know about your plan?"

"Not all of it."

"Because he wouldn't approve?"

"Probably not. He'd think it's too dangerous."

"Does _anyone_ know about your plan other than you?"

"I'm the only one right now who has all the pieces. There are others involved, but each has only a part."

"I assume there's at least one involved on every battlestar?"

Bill smiled.

She raised her glass again. "Then I wish you luck."

"You realize what the destruction of that lab means, don't you?"

"That we've only stopped this human-Cylon hybrid program temporarily. They are apparently close enough to taste victory. They won't stop. They'll rebuild at whatever the cost."

"Yes, they will. The terrorists or resistance or whatever you call them has only slowed Baltar and his crew down, but they haven't stopped him. He'll start over somewhere else and this time the Cylons will spare no expense at making an impregnable fortress for his work. If they take some of your funding, Laura, let them have it."

"It doesn't look like I'll have much choice, does it?"

"Please be patient a little longer. We're not quite ready to make our move, yet. The worst thing we could do would be to go too early…like that lone terrorist did weeks ago. Whoever planned and executed the operation that took out the lab early this morning knew exactly what they were doing. That's why we've got to wait. I will tell you just one thing. We don't have enough pilots yet to make my plan work. We've got to wait until more are trained and that can't be hurried. Like I said, another year, maybe two. In the meantime we'll have to hope Baltar and crew don't succeed in what they're doing. Of course I agree with Agent Darren. The Cylons will have another copy of Simon down here soon, if not already. They'll be hard at work again somewhere, probably by early next week. "

"There's something I've wanted to ask you for a long time, Bill. On the first day of the negotiations, when I told you that we wouldn't be working with the metal Cylons, that some of them looked like us now, I sensed that you weren't all that surprised. How long have you known the Cylons had _skinjobs_ as some rather crudely call them?"

"I knew they were working on something at the end of the last war. Right before the armistice I chanced on one of the facilities where they had been experimenting with humans. It was horrific. Arms and legs and other…body parts attached to…to…the gods know what kind of apparatuses. At first I thought it was some kind of crude torture chamber, but later…later I started wondering if they weren't doing something else. When you told me there were Cylons that looked like humans, I realized what was happening in that place. They were dissecting those humans, studying all the workings of the human body, trying to duplicate us right down at the cellular level."

"And now they're trying to take it a step further, trying to combine their genetics with ours."

"Apparently so."

"The resistance knows who is working with the Cylons. Baltar will be their next target."

Bill finished his first drink and also poured another. "The Cylons will keep him so well insulated that a flea couldn't get to him."

"I'm sure you're right."

"I need to warn you that someone on the investigating team will be coming to talk to you."

"Why?"

"They're going to investigate everyone who works at the lab. That means John's girlfriend Lissa and John, too. You and John have been…seen together in the last few weeks. Agent Darren called me with that information this afternoon. To satisfy the Cylons, you'll be questioned. They would love to get something on you. Cavil would love to tie you to what happened this morning. Don't you realize that you've given him the perfect opportunity?"

"They need never know that John and I discussed anything about Cylons or a lab. All they will find out is that John and I are having an affair."

"An affair? How could you, Laura? He lives with someone. How could you fall for him knowing how he is with women? How he…"

"How is he with women, Bill? John has never been anything but kind and generous to me…and a real gentleman. He's never tried a thing. If anything he's been more on the shy side. I gave him the perfect opportunity and he didn't do a thing with it."

"You mean you're _not_ having an affair with him?"

"Of course I'm not. But the fact that you believed me means others will, too. Rather they believe that than the truth of what John and I were discussing and know it came from Lissa. I promised him I'd protect him and his girlfriend as well. I intend to honor that promise." She smiled. "I'm not going to volunteer the information when I'm questioned, of course. Someone will have to very skillfully pick it out of me. I imagine I'll be able to blush suitably as I steer them in that direction."

Bill finished his second drink. A smile tugged at the corners of his lips. "I just made a fool of myself, didn't I?"

She was still smiling. "Perhaps I'd better not answer that question. I've confessed my affair with John to you. You'll be able to testify to that if you're ever asked. I guess at some point soon I'd better tell John."

Bill almost laughed. "I'd be careful how and where I told him. You might find him more enthusiastic about this cover story than you are."

"I will. Should I do it before or after I get him to explain that little trick in the shower that he allegedly does so well? That might be a good piece of information to have."

Bill Adama picked up the bottle of whiskey and poured another drink. "You're really enjoying yourself at my expense tonight, aren't you?"

"How rarely does that happen?"

"Too rarely," he said and smiled again.

"Be careful not to leave my office smiling like that or a rumor will get started about us, too."

"Now _that_ would be the nicest thing I've _ever_ been accused of."

"You've been spending too much time with John," Laura said. "You're starting to sound just like him."

"The gods help us, then. Between John and me the women of Caprica City are in big trouble."

It was probably the whiskey, but she and Bill Adama laughed until they were both in tears and nearly breathless.

TBC…


	23. Three Ways of Looking at Snow

Chapter 23

Three Ways of Looking at Snow

_Following the destruction of the lab run by Dr. Gaius Baltar, organized terrorists attacks abruptly ceased for a period of months. Much speculation ensued as to the cause with the main rumors being that all the terrorists involved had either been killed in the explosion and fire or had been captured and quietly executed by the Cylons. No confirmation of either theory was ever found and both rumors were denied by the military who handled the investigation and by the Cylons who insisted that the military keep looking. _

_-Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War_

Four days after being shot Kara felt like she was ready to climb the walls. Four days since Fisk had cut the bullet out of her. Her wound was healing well. Tomorrow would be her last day on the antibiotics. She no longer had the big bandage around her leg, just small ones over the stitches and the entrance wound. Fisk said he would take the stitches out in a couple of days or she could do it herself with the small, sharp scissors in the first aid kit. She thought she could handle that with no problem. Snip and pull. That's all there was to it.

After everyone left for work, she took a shower, washed her hair and got dressed. Then she did something she'd never done since she'd lived in Caprica City. She called a transport instead of taking the subway. She had the driver drop her off a few doors down from Conoy's New and Used Books near Caprica University.

She was wearing a new pair of jeans that Jared had bought for her, blue denim, a size larger than the tight black ones she wore to work. The larger size was more comfortable on her leg. She was wearing a new sweater that he'd bought, too, a red one. She asked him if he had gotten her red so it wouldn't show blood. He told her that was a stupid thing to say, that he'd gotten her a red sweater because it looked good with her blond hair. He wanted her to wait and wear the new outfit when they met Frogman at Zeno's later in the week. She knew she would have to take it off today before Jared got home from work.

She wasn't limping anymore, but she still took it easy walking up the sidewalk. She expected the bookstore to be closed. After all, wasn't that usually what happened when the owner of a shop died or disappeared or whatever? She wondered what had happened to Leoben's body. Did the Cylons have funerals or did they recycle the parts? Jared had told her that they'd sent another Simon to take the place of the one she'd killed at the lab. Did that mean they'd sent another one down to the bookstore? Or was this the one who had been in the camp and she'd killed another one four nights ago?

She got to the edge of the display window. The lights inside the bookstore were on. It wasn't closed. She moved closer to the door, all the while pretending to be looking at the books in the window. She kept her sunglasses on.

Someone was moving around inside. She realized with a shock that it was Leoben. So the Cylons on the basestar had sent another one of him, too. He saw her looking in the window, but did he recognize her? To go in or not to go in? Her hand was on the door handle. She turned it and pushed. A bell over the door made a little tinkling noise. She felt like the bookstore was drawing her in.

She stepped inside and closed the door. It smelled like the school library back on Picon. It smelled of wooden floors and shelves and books. There was the faintest aroma of freshly brewed coffee. Did Cylons drink coffee? Did Cylons need coffee to wake up like humans did? Didn't that mess up their circuits? Were the skinjobs that different from the metal ones? Jared didn't think so. Was he wrong?

"Can I help you with something?" Leoben asked.

"No, I'm just looking," Kara said.

Acting like she was browsing, she moved closer to Leoben. He carried a stack of books over to a counter about halfway back in the store. She saw a register and more books piled on the counter and some papers, an old telephone, a stack of mail, a cup of pens and pencils, a coffee mug, a roll of paper towels. The whole counter was a mess. Leoben started putting some information into the computer.

She took off her sunglasses. He looked up again. There was no recognition in his eyes at all. She couldn't have changed that much in the ten months since she'd seen him at the camp. Why didn't he recognize her?

"You're a student at Caprica U, aren't you?"

"No."

Still no reaction from Leoben. "You look familiar," he finally said. "I thought maybe I'd seen you in here buying textbooks before."

Kara smiled. "Nope, not me. How long have you run this place?"

"Let's see. Almost six years now."

"Six years. You've been in Caprica City for six years?"

"I've lived in Caprica City my whole life. That's a lot longer than six years."

"Do you have family here? Any brothers? Like maybe a twin brother?"

He smiled, a little sadly she thought. "I'm an only child. My parents died years ago. I don't remember them. I was raised in an orphanage."

"Have you ever been to Antioch?"

"I don't travel much. Is that where you're from?"

"No. I just spent some time up there thanks to the Cylons."

"Refugee camp?"

"Yeah."

"Was it hard…living in the camp?"

She shrugged. "I survived. A lot of people didn't, but I did."

"Did it test your faith?"

Kara thought for a minute. How much should she tell this Leoben? He had to be a Cylon. He looked exactly like the one who had come to the camp, exactly like the one she'd killed four nights ago, right down to the sloppy way he dressed, right down to the shape of his ears, and yet this one didn't creep her out like the one in the camp did. He had to be another copy. How could two Cylon copies look exactly the same and yet act so different?

"Sort of," she finally answered him. "Yeah, it tested my faith. Not the camp so much as what happened before I went to the camp. My mom died on Picon and then somebody killed my father. But just recently I got some of my faith back. Maybe I've started to believe that I'm destined to do something."

"I'm sorry about your parents. War is a cruel thing. Humans are a cruel species. We've been waging war against one another since the beginning of time. We kill each other for all kinds of wrong reasons. It's happened before. It will definitely happen again."

"Humans didn't start the war. The Cylons did."

"But humans created the Cylons. We dared to play God. We dared to assume the role of Creator. We created them first to serve us, as mechanical slaves, to work our mines and build our space stations and then someone decided they would make the ultimate soldier, the ultimate killing machine. The Colonies unleashed them to make war on each other. And yet we were surprised when they rebelled and made war on us. We got what we deserved. Only God should create life. Only God is perfection."

"Cylons aren't life like humans are life. They're just machines, computers. They get programmed. They don't think and feel like humans do."

"Are you sure about that?"

"I'm sure."

"My name is Leoben, by the way, Leoben Conoy."

"I know."

"You know?"

"Conoy's New and Used Books," Kara quickly covered her mistake.

"That's me. What's your name and email address? I'll put you on the list of readers I send flyers to each month. I've got a new shipment of religious books coming in a couple of weeks. Besides textbooks, I specialize in books on religion…and destiny, if you're interested in that. It's an interesting subject, destiny."

She almost told him the truth about her name and then thought better of it. "Carrie…and you don't need to put me on a list. I'm reading something right now but I'll want something when I finish that. I'll check back later."

"You do that."

The bell over the door tinkled. Two students wearing backpacks walked in. Leoben recognized them. "Welcome back," he said to them. "Your books came in this week."

Kara left the bookstore and started walking toward the University subway station. He was a Cylon. He had to be, but why didn't he seem to know it? That was the question now foremost in her mind. How could he be a Cylon, though and not know it? Unless he was programmed not to know it. But why would the other Cylons do that, program one of their own kind to think it was a human? What purpose could they have in doing that?

If she told Jared and he told Frogman, someone would come kill this one, too. Did she want that on her conscience? This Leoben seemed harmless, more of a thinker than a threat to humans. But shouldn't someone know there was another Cylon model? A fourth one? If this one wasn't the one from the camp and wasn't the one that she'd killed, were there more copies of him? Were there more models? Was killing the skinjobs really like unplugging a toaster? They bled real blood. She knew that much. She had seen the dark pools of it on the concrete that night under Simon's and the other Leoben's heads. She didn't know why now, but she hadn't expected to see blood.

She suddenly wondered what the other Leoben and Simon had been arguing about the night she shot them. Maybe if she ever went back to the bookstore, she could figure out a way to ask this Leoben what he thought about human-Cylon babies.

By the time she walked the five blocks to the University subway station, her leg was hurting. The subway car was crowded and she wasn't able to sit down on her way back to the station near their apartment. Maybe that was for the best. The pain helped keep her mind off the questions it was now filled with.

...

Lee sat at his desk in front of his computer monitor and got ready to watch the recording of Lissa Colson's interrogation. Major Parker hadn't allowed him to sit in on the interview because he had a personal connection to Lissa and John, but Parker and Agent Darren wanted his take on what she had said.

Captain Jill Hadrian had conducted the interview. Sergeant Ackerman had been in the room, but had not asked any questions.

Lee clicked on the forward arrow and the recording started playing. The camera was focused on Lissa seated at a small table. He could hear Hadrian and Ackerman but couldn't see them.

"Good morning. I'm Captain Hadrian and this is Sergeant Ackerman. We need to inform you that this interview is being recorded. For verification purposes, please state your name."

"Lissa Colson."

"And where do you work, Miss Colson?"

"The North Caprica Research Park."

"Who do you work for?"

"Dr. Gaius Baltar. Why am I here? I've already told some guys that I don't know anything about what happened the other night."

Lee could hear the defensiveness in Lissa's voice.

"We're interviewing all employees who work for or with Dr. Baltar in the lab that burned late last week."

"I said I don't know anything about that."

"How long have you worked for Dr. Baltar?"

"Two and a half years."

"Have you ever spoken to _anyone_ other than your colleagues about your work in the lab?"

"No, I have not. We signed an agreement not to."

"You never spoke about it, then, to the man you live with, John Gallagher?"

"John wouldn't understand what I do even if I printed it in big block letters for him."

"How long have you and Mr. Gallagher been living together?"

"Almost two years. And it's Captain Gallagher. He's a pilot. He flies for a cargo company."

"So in the _two years_ you've lived with _Captain_ Gallagher, you've never said _one word_ to him about your work?"

Lissa shrugged. "He knows we're doing research on artificial intelligence. That's about it. I'm not sure he even understands exactly what AI is. It's a very complex subject."

"So he's never asked you any questions about your work?"

"John could care less what I do. He mostly has two things on his mind all the time. One of them is flying."

In the background Sergeant Ackerman cleared his throat. Or was that a snicker that he tried to cover?

"Are you aware that Captain Gallagher has recently been seen on _several_ occasions having dinner with Laura Roslin, the Secretary of Education? They've met at Caprica Park, too."

Lissa looked at the ceiling and then shook her head. "That lying son of a bitch! That gods damned lying son of a bitch!"

"You don't know of any reason they might be having dinner together?"

"No, hell I do not. But it doesn't take a genius to figure it out. Both of them denied it. I could tell, though, when she walked up to our table that night there was something between them. Just the way John was looking at her gave it away."

"In your opinion, then, Miss Colson, what would you say is the nature of the relationship between Captain Gallagher and Ms. Roslin."

"He's frakking her. That's the only kind of relationship John would have with a woman."

"And you're certain he couldn't have told her anything about your work?"

"He couldn't tell her what he doesn't know."

"Thank you for coming in, Miss Colson. You can go. We'll be back in touch if we have any more questions."

Lissa got up and left the interrogation room. Now there was one angry woman. She'd lied about discussing her work with John and she'd lied about what she was doing at that lab, but there was nothing fake about her anger at finding out John was seen having dinner with Laura.

Before Captain Hadrian turned off the recording, Ackerman laughed and said, "I don't think Gallagher is going to be getting any from her for a while."

"We'll ask him to come in anyway. Let's see if he has the same thing to say."

"I'd be curious to see if he'll admit he's frakking the Secretary of Education. Why would a woman in her position want to get involved with a cargo pilot?"

"You must not have seen him or you wouldn't have asked that question." Hadrian said.

The recording ended.

Lee was surprised at how much sympathy he suddenly felt for Lissa. He didn't like her very much, but some things weren't right. John should have gotten out of the relationship with Lissa before he started seeing Laura. It wasn't fair to either woman. He wondered if his father knew what was going on.

What should he do, though? How much should he tell Parker? Whatever kind of relationship John was having with Laura, he'd still told her about Lissa's work. Should Lee now lie to protect a friend? Protect two of them? Should he tell Parker that John knew what was going on in that lab? That he'd told Laura? Or should he let Parker think John's relationship with Laura was personal. As John was fond of saying, his decision was really a no-brainer.

Major Parker opened the door. "Done?"

"Yes, sir."

"What do you think? Is she telling the truth?"

"Yes, sir. I don't have any doubts about that at all."

"Cavil has had one of his toadies following Ms. Roslin for months, a guy named Aaron Doral. Now there's a wormy little bastard. The Cylons really want to get something on her. I saw the report. She's been seeing Gallagher for a couple of weeks now."

"I just hope they both know what they're doing. I thought John had given up other women when he started living with Lissa. Of course she works all the time. Maybe John got lonely."

Parker looked off into the distance for a moment. "Based on what Darren told me, Cavil thought they had Ms. Roslin this time. He thought he could tie her to this terrorist attack through Gallagher. Darren thinks Cavil has been gunning for her since she stood up to him over the refugee camps. She's the most popular of Adar's Cabinet members with the people. There's even talk of asking her to run for President when Adar's second term is up. Cavil's not too pleased about that. He was really hoping to get something on her. All it looks like now is just an affair between her and Gallagher. It's not the best timing, but it won't get her charged with treason."

"Don't expect John to admit to anything."

"Based on their relationship, we've still got to call him in."

"Sir, if I might make a suggestion, let Ackerman talk to him."

"Why? Hadrian is lead on Ms. Colson."

"No offense to her but she's a woman. John just has a way with women. She won't find out anything useful. I doubt Ackerman will either, but he'll stand a better chance than Captain Hadrian will."

"I'll take that under consideration, but Hadrian is an experienced interrogator. I think you're selling her short."

"I hope so, sir. Who's going to talk to Laura?"

"Darren and I have an appointment to talk to her day after tomorrow. We're going to her office, not asking her to come down here. We don't want it getting out to the press that we hauled the Secretary of Education in and questioned her. We also know the President thinks very highly of her. That's probably why Cavil is sending Doral along with us. He doesn't trust us to ask her the tough questions."

"Does Laura know what's coming?"

"I doubt it. It's always better if your subject is unaware of what she's going to be asked. It makes reactions much more authentic and revealing as you just witnessed. I'm going to have to order you not to mention this to anyone, especially not your father or Gallagher."

"No, sir. I won't."

"We're aware that Ms. Roslin and your father are friends."

"They were on the negotiating team together," Lee said. "They've known each other a long time because my dad's father and her father were close friends."

"Yes. We know. We've had a break on the motorcycle by the way. The guard who was on the road that night has narrowed it to one of several Ducarvos manufactured during the last five years. There're almost four thousand of those models registered in Caprica City. We're going to look at the owners of all of them."

"Sir, that's…that will be a nearly impossible task."

"We got zilch on the rifle and nothing ever turned up on the possible bullet wound, so it's our only real lead at the moment. The other terrorist or terrorists seem to have vanished like smoke. We're not even sure how they got away. We found evidence that someone had landed a helicopter in a meadow close to the woods, but it turns out to have been one of the television crews early that morning trying for a better angle. The guards ran them off."

"Where do we start with the motorcycle riders?"

"Darren has his agents contacting businesses that have one or more of the bikes registered to them. That accounts for nearly ten percent. Most of them are delivery services. We're going to start interviewing the riders since they'll be easier to find than individual owners. We'll be tracking down the individuals and interviewing them as we can find them. Everyone will now be doing solo interviews. We'll record them, of course, but there's too many to interview for us to keep doing it in teams."

"Has anyone stopped to figure how long that will take? Four thousand. That's a nearly impossible task, sir."

Major Parker looked as tired as Lee knew he must be. Parker was almost living at the base now. He put his hand on the back of his neck and squeezed, massaging the tight muscles. "I agree that this is probably an exercise in futility, but Cavil expects us to keep pursing it. If we don't, they will. Do you have a better idea, Lieutenant?"

"No sir, I don't."

Parker smiled, a thin, humorless smile. "Maybe we'll get lucky. Maybe our terrorist will be one of the first ones we interview. Maybe we'll get a confession from him right away."

"I wouldn't hold my breath counting on that to happen, sir," Lee said.

"No. We couldn't be that lucky." Parker left and then stuck his head back in the doorway. "By the way, you probably want to head for home soon. It's started to snow. I heard the roads are already getting slick."

...

"Hey, Kara, put down that book and come here for a minute," Jared called to her.

"I'm just getting to a good part," she called back. "What's so important?"

"You'll see," he answered.

"Where are you?"

"In the bedroom."

Kara put the folded sheet of stationery in the book and closed it before she got up from the sofa where she had been stretched out and walked into his bedroom. Her leg had finally stopped hurting after her visit to Leoben's bookstore that morning.

"Why do you have the lights turned off?"

"Because it's easier to see outside. Come over here to the window."

She joined him and looked down at the building's small inner courtyard with its two lights in diagonal corners. There should have been four, one light in each corner, but two of the special bulbs had burned out and the landlord said he couldn't get replacements. He was too cheap to replace the entire light fixtures.

"Snow," she said. "It's snowing. It never snowed where I lived on Picon. The first time I ever saw snow was in the refugee camp."

"It snowed a lot in Kinsdale where I was raised. My mom and dad used to take me sledding...when I was a kid. We had so much fun."

"The snow in the camp always looked dirty."

"It's beautiful here. Look at it coming down so soft and white. Everything's almost covered." He put his arm around her.

"I wonder if Cylons like snow."

Jared snickered. "Can you see one of those big metal motherfrakkers on a sled going down the steep hill in the park? I'd pay a lot of cubits to see that."

"I didn't mean them."

"There's no difference. Some of them are just covered in artificial skin, that's all. Underneath they're all the same, just hardware and circuits and chips like a robot I made when I was a kid."

"When I shot that Cylon at the lab, there was blood. I could see it on the concrete under his head. It looked just like the blood from the other guy…the human."

"It was oil. The stuff they use to keep their circuits cool."

She knew better, but she decided not to argue with him. "Where did Karl and Maggie say they were going?"

"Ice skating. Busting their butts is more like it."

"I don't know. Karl was really good on a skateboard."

"Different sports entirely," Jared said. He leaned over and nuzzled her ear.

"Don't. I'm still not up to playing."

"I know. I know. I'm sorry. It's just that I'm…" He took her hand and put it on the front of his jeans. He was really turned on.

She angrily jerked her hand away. "What? You expect me to take care of you? I said I'm not up to it."

She pulled away from him and left the bedroom, slamming the door behind her. What was wrong with her tonight? Her anger was way out of proportion to what had just happened. Maybe she was having some kind of withdrawal from being on the motorcycle. She really missed riding that bike. Was she turning into some kind of speed junky? Was she cranky now because she hadn't gotten her speed fix in four days…or was something else bothering her?

She settled back on the sofa but couldn't get back into the book. The incident with Jared had spoiled her desire to continue reading.

He came out of the bedroom and sat down in one of the armchairs. "What's wrong, Kara?"

"I'm just not in the mood to play right now, okay? Give it a rest or go take care of it yourself."

"Are you mad at me?"

"No, I'm not mad at you. Look, I'm thinking about moving out and getting a place of my own."

"Why?" He looked stricken. "Because of what I just did?"

"No, that has nothing to do with it. I just think it might be for the best."

"Why? I don't understand."

"Because of Karl, mainly…and you, too."

"I still don't understand."

Kara struggled to express what she was feeling. "It's just that…since I'm the one most likely to get caught…or…you know…killed, I think it would be better if there's nothing to tie me to either one of you. You can stay here and help Maggie and Karl pay the rent. I make enough that I can afford a place of my own. They can't."

"They'll both be going to the Academy in the fall. They'll be gone in eight months. Then it will just be us."

"That's the other thing." Oh, gods, how could she say this except to just say it? "What if I meet somebody I want to date? I mean how awkward would that be? Or what if you meet somebody?"

"Is that what this is all about? You've met some guy and want to go out with him? Is that why you don't want to…play?"

"No! I haven't met anybody. I care about you, Jared. I really do. I know you think of me as closer to your age because Carrie is…was…whatever. I've even started to think of myself as almost twenty. But I'm not even seventeen years old yet. I just don't want to…to tie myself down. You shouldn't either."

"It's that stupid dream of yours, isn't it? The guy you told me about two years ago. The prince in your story," he gestured to the book. "You really think you're going to meet a guy like that, don't you?"

"Dreams aren't stupid. I don't hear you calling Maggie's dream of going to the Academy and being a Raptor pilot stupid."

"That's different."

"How is it different?"

"Because she can control that. You can't control meeting a guy who doesn't even exist. He's just a character in a book. For the gods sakes, Kara, he's not a real person."

"Why don't you let me worry about that?"

"Please, Kara. Don't move out. Please."

He sounded like he was going to cry. This conversation was going to have to wait. She couldn't handle it tonight.

"Okay, okay. I just said I was thinking about it. I didn't say I was definitely going to do it. But maybe you and me…maybe we should stop…playing so much. It's just going to make it harder on both of us if I ever do leave."

"Whatever you say…whatever. Just promise me you won't move out."

Instead of promising him anything she asked, "Do you think there could ever be any such thing as a good Cylon?"

"A what?"

"A good Cylon. Could there be any such thing as a good Cylon?"

"I can't believe you're asking me a question like that. What is this? Some kind of test Frogman put you up to? Of course there's no such thing as a good Cylon."

"There's good humans and bad humans. Why couldn't there be good Cylons and bad Cylons?"

"All Cylons are bad. All of them. It's in their programming. Are you running a fever or something? Has that leg gotten infected and gone to your brain?"

She shook her head. "Take it easy. It was just a question, okay? Just a stupid question. I know there's no such thing as a good Cylon. Why do you think I'm not upset about killing two of them?"

"Two of them? I thought you said it was one Cylon and one human?"

"It was one Cylon and one human. I'm not thinking straight right now."

"I'll say you're not thinking straight. Gods, Kara, how could you even think a Cylon might be good?"

"No reason. No reason at all. I agree. There's no such thing as a good Cylon."

"Holy frak, Kara. A good Cylon? Read some more about the prince of your dreams. I'm going back to my room and watch it snow."

Kara picked up her book and opened it to the page where she had stuck Laura Roslin's note. She suddenly had a thought. What if she wrote Roslin an unsigned letter telling her there was another Cylon model? What if she told her without telling her who he was? Just so that someone in the government would know. What if there were more than four models? Maybe she would do it. Maybe she would write that letter.

She started reading again.

_Olliver went to the garden at twilight to bid farewell to Esmari. With the help of the Sorcerer he had mastered the spell to tame the Griffin of Gyron. He must leave now to fly on the back of the great beast to the island of Hesperides to find the adamantine sword of Perseus. Then he must slay the Cyclops of Seriphos and free the people of the island._

Kara turned the page. Pressed between the next two pages of the book was a small flower, old and very fragile. It wasn't much bigger than her thumb. The five petals looked liked they had one time been white. Now they were a soft cream color, almost the same color as the page of the book. Golden-yellow dust from the center of the flower had stained the opposite page. Kara had no idea what it was. She was afraid to touch it for fear it would crumble. Had Laura Roslin placed the small white flower in the book at this spot? Why? Kara kept reading.

_"I fear for you," Esmari said to Olliver._

_"I am bound by my pledge to perform the last two tasks and free my father. When I have done that I will return. We will be together."_

_"And if you are killed, if you die on your quest, am I to spend my days languishing, never knowing of your fate?"_

_Olliver listened to her words with pain in his heart. He knew that there was great risk ahead for him. He knew that he might die in his attempt to complete the last two tasks. He saw the tears in her emerald eyes, felt the emotion well in him._

_"I will return to you. I promise. Our fate is to be together."_

_He took her in his arms, breathed in the headiness of the garden's perfume and of her. Her arms slid around his neck. "Then may the gods go with you," she whispered to him. "I will wait for you. I will wait for you forever." _

_She turned her face up to his and at last offered him her mouth in a kiss. He drank in the sensation, the feel of her lips, the honey of her tongue. Through the kiss he offered her his whole heart. She took it and returned hers to him. They were bound now with a cord that he knew would never be broken. The deepest and truest of loves blossomed in their first kiss and was borne into their hearts, into the twining of their fates, to the very depths of their souls._

Kara sighed. Could kissing a guy ever be like that? Could she ever really feel that way? Was Jared right? Was a man like Olliver nothing but a stupid dream? One thing she now understood though was why Laura Roslin had put the small white flower at this spot. Kara felt a bond with the Secretary of Education. One time she had probably dreamed of a prince and true love's first kiss, too. Kara wondered if she had ever found him.

She carefully closed the book so as not to damage the fragile white flower and turned off the lamp. She went over to the window, pulled back the curtains and looked at the snow. There was something magical in those drifting white flakes sparkling in the soft glow of the street lamp. She could almost see white flowers, tiny white flowers no bigger than her thumb. The effect was so magical that it gave her hope that her dream could come true, that someday she would find her blue-eyed prince with the wings over his heart.

...

"Dear gods," Laura said. "What happened to you?"

She stood at the side of the booth in Channing's looking at John. There were two partially-healed half-inch cuts on his forehead above his left eyebrow. The area around the cuts was also the color of a several-days-old bruise.

He smiled. "I'm afraid I'd better not tell you. You'll think I don't have enough sense to walk and think at the same time."

She put the bottle of peach brandy on the table. "Well maybe this will make it feel better."

She saw his surprise as he picked up the bottle. "_Where_ did you find _this_?"

"It belonged to my father. He enjoyed a glass occasionally after dinner. It's yours now. Just a small token of how much I appreciate what you did for me. Now you can mix some more of your Siren's Kiss."

"I can't take something like this from you…something that belonged to your father."

"You can and you will. I have another bottle. I won't take no for an answer. My father would approve. He would have liked you."

"Thank you. This really means a lot to me. Thank you."

She sat down across from him. "Was it painful?" She pointed to her forehead.

"Let's just say my head connected with something heads aren't designed to connect with. But I don't remember a lot about it because it knocked me out. Don't ask me to say any more than that, okay?"

"How is Lissa doing since the incident?"

"They're already back at work. They're setting up temporarily in one of the other buildings at the complex. There's already a new copy of Simon out there with them. I think Baltar is on tranquilizers. Cavil has assigned two centurions to protect him, but Lissa thinks he's more afraid of the centurions than he is of any terrorists."

"I want you to know I didn't breathe a word of what you told me to anyone except Bill. I shouldn't have told him, but I know him well enough to know he would never say anything. He shared my fears and concerns during the negotiations, too."

"I never thought the resistance got its information from you."

"The President is really upset about what happened. Bill is upset, too, because he knows how easily certain plans of his could be ruined if these attacks continue and cause the Cylons to start some kind of retribution…or, gods forbid, do something like pulling all the personnel off the battlestars and destroying them…or just destroying them with the people still on board. I wish there was a way to communicate that to the leaders of the resistance. The Cylons won't allow attacks of this kind to continue without retaliation. This project is too important to them."

"Maybe the resistance will lay low for a while now that they've destroyed that lab," John said. "It would certainly be the smart thing to do."

"Most terrorists are not known for doing the smart thing."

"Some might have enough sense to know when to stop."

"Let's hope so. Has Lissa been questioned yet?"

"Yesterday."

"How did it go?"

John shrugged. "I'm not sure. We'd agreed beforehand that she would act like I wasn't interested in what she did and that I wasn't bright enough to understand it even if she told me. She has more at stake in keeping this thing quiet than I do. After all, she's the one who signed the agreement. When she got back from her interview we had an argument about something and she went out to the new lab soon after. We haven't talked since then. She's been out there since early this morning. She's doing fine now that she's working again so I'm going back to flying tomorrow night. "

"I'm really glad you were able to meet me tonight, then. Bill came to see me at my office on the night after the lab was destroyed. Someone has connected us. I told you I'd protect you as a source. There's only one way I can think of to do that. I'm going to be questioned, too."

"Don't worry about me. You need to think about yourself."

"Actually this will help us both."

"Okay. What are we talking about?"

"There's really only one way to explain why we've been meeting. You and I never spoke about that lab. Neither one of us has a clue what went on out there. We're having a love affair."

He caught on immediately. "Well now, I like that. I like it a lot. Problem is…do you think anybody will believe it?"

"Bill believed it."

"Uh-oh."

"I set him straight of course, but he believed it at first without question."

"Not counting Bill, do you really think anyone else you know will believe you have the bad judgment to get involved with a guy like me?"

"I can't believe you would even ask me a question like that. John, you are…you're _hot_ for lack of a better word." She realized she had embarrassed him. She had embarrassed herself as well. She hurried on. "If anything people will probably have a harder time believing you would get involved with me. You can have your pick of women. I'm thirty-nine years old. I'm not young and beautiful like your…"

"Whoa. Stop right there. Just stop. You've obviously got no clue about the effect you have on men in general and me in particular. So just stop right there. You want people to think we're having an affair then I'll gladly go along. You do realize what this might do to your career, don't you?"

"You mean whatever career the Cylons are going to allow me to have?"

He looked at her for a moment before he said, "Do me a favor, Laura, and put your hand across the table."

"Why?"

"Just do it, please." She did and he leaned forward, took her hand and laced his fingers through hers. "Now look at me the way you would look at a man you're having a love affair with. Relax, come on, relax. Let's not talk about the Cylons tonight. We've talked about them enough." He smiled. "That's not what lovers talk about."

His hand was warm and he took his thumb and rubbed it in gentle circles over her palm. She could hardly believe the almost immediate effect it had on her. She felt herself relaxing.

"That's better," he said.

Something about the way he was rubbing her palm made it difficult for her to think. "What should we talk about then?"

"Each other…things we enjoy doing. Go ahead. You first."

"Tell me about the shower," she said almost in a whisper.

"The shower?"

"You know what I'm talking about. If we were going to…enjoy the shower together…what would we do?"

"I'm not sure I should talk about that right now. This is hardly the time or the place."

"Try. What would we do first?"

He took a deep breath. "Okay…well…first I'd kiss you. That's always how we start…always…nice and slow because we wouldn't want to be in a hurry. We'd kiss until kissing just wasn't enough."

"All right. We kiss…slowly…until that's not enough. Then?"

"Then we add…touching…to the kissing…until that's not enough, either."

"Touching…and kissing," she said a little breathlessly.

"Then I'd get you to put your arms around my neck and I'd make sure your back is against the wall."

"Against the wall?"

He took another deep breath. "The shower wall, Laura. You do realize we're in the shower with no clothes on, don't you?"

"Yes, I do realize that. So we're in the shower with no clothes on and my arms are around your neck and my back is against the wall. We've been kissing and touching. And then?"

"Your arms are tight around my neck, remember?"

"Yes."

"You see the real trick to doing something like this in the shower is not to…not to…engage…not to…what is the word I'm looking for?"

"Consummate?"

"That's it…consummate. You don't want to consummate it before you're both ready. The mistake most people make with the shower is…consummating it before they're both ready. You see it's difficult to maintain…you see you're both…when you're standing like that…to make it really good, you need to be…ready before you start to…before you consummate it… so you kiss…you touch…you get really ready."

"All right. We're both ready…. Then?"

"Then I'd…sorry, I can't keep talking about this, okay? Otherwise we're going to have to go find a wall somewhere and I'll just show you. It doesn't have to be a shower wall…and you don't have to have _all_ your clothes off."

His fingers had tightened around hers. She shut her eyes for a moment. For the first time in years she felt the hot, tight knot of desire in the pit of her stomach. When she opened her eyes she asked him, "Do I look like we're having an affair now?"

"You look like you were right there in that shower with me."

She smiled. "I think I was. I apologize, John. My curiosity took precedence over my judgment. You were right. This was not the time or the place to talk about the shower."

"Oh, I don't know about that. I'm still kind of enjoying the thought." He shifted slightly on his side of the booth and grinned. "Yeah, I'm still enjoying it. Now I'd like to ask you a personal question."

"All right. I owe you one."

"What's the story on you and Bill?"

"Why are you asking me that?"

"I had coffee with him today. He more or less warned me to behave myself with you. I think his exact words were, _If you hurt her, I'll break your neck._ He was smiling when he said it, but I got the point. It sounded like he has a personal interest in you."

"Bill and I go back a long way. He was the first man in my life. I was nineteen. He forced me to choose between my education and my family and him. When I hesitated, he walked out on me. He married shortly afterward. He broke my heart. I was very much in love with him."

"And now?"

"That was a long time ago."

"Weren't you the one who told me that time doesn't always heal some losses…that we just learn to cover them up?"

"Three years ago it could still have gone another way with Bill and me, but Bill chose his family. He's an honorable man. I think he feels…protective of me. We're close, but I'm _not_ having an affair with him. I give you my word on that."

John nodded. "Okay. I just want to make sure our _fictional affair _isn't going to cause any problems in another area of your life…or mine either. Bill is my friend, too. You and I are probably going to have to see each other a few more times to make this look real. Then you can dump me and break my heart."

She smiled. "I doubt I'll do that. Break your heart, that is."

"Oh, I wouldn't bet the farm on that."

As they walked back to her apartment that night, John took her hand again and they strolled slowly, like they had all the time in the world. It was both the easiest and the most difficult thing she had done in a long time, to pretend they were lovers when she knew he was with another woman.

When they got outside the door of her building, she stopped.

"You're not going to ask me in, are you?"

"You know I can't. You're not married but you live with someone. If I ask you in, then this affair will cross the line between fiction and reality. We both know it. I would have a hard time dealing with that…having a real affair with a man who isn't free. It's not who I am."

"I understand and I respect you for it. Come on. Let's walk a little closer to the door. Your doorman is watching us. I want him to get a really good look."

"A good look at what?"

"We're having an affair, remember? Here, hold the bottle of peach brandy for a minute. Don't drop it. Make this look good. I can't make love to you like I want to, but I am going to kiss you goodnight."

He stepped up close to her and gently took her face in his hands. She saw the longing in his eyes for only a second as he tilted her face up to his and leaned down. His mouth on hers was warm in the cold night air and the kiss was as slow as he'd promised, as unhurried, as sensual, yet it wasn't a passionate kiss. The desire was there, but it was more of an undercurrent. Later she would remember the gentleness of the kiss and more than anything else, the yearning, the deep, aching yearning…his as well as her own.

The kiss took her to a time in her life when she felt none of the responsibility and burdens she now felt. It took her to the spring of her sixteenth year, to the embassy on Libran where her father was serving as ambassador, and to a garden that was bordered by blossoming cherry trees. She was sitting on a bench under the trees and was reading a book about a prince and his green-eyed princess who had just shared their first kiss. She remembered so clearly how she had shut her eyes and longed to experience that kiss…that first kiss of blossoming love.

A breeze moved soft and warm through the cherry trees, and the white petals were falling gently around her, so very gently, and the air was full of their perfume. She was still three years away from having to make hard choices in her life, three years away from Bill Adama breaking her heart. There were no Cylons controlling their lives and war had not yet destroyed the beautiful garden and her future was still filled with a young girl's dreams, of handsome princes and happily ever after.

For a few long and unhurried moments of time, John Gallagher's kiss gave her back that carefree, dreamy springtime in her youth, let her experience that rare moment in time when love begins to blossom in a kiss. She was barely aware when he finally lifted his mouth from hers.

"Laura, open your eyes," John said softly. She did and for a few seconds she thought he had somehow magically transported her through time to the garden on Libran, the garden of falling cherry blossoms. And then she realized that it had started to snow, gently drifting crystals of white.

He was smiling at her, a shy smile, a pleased smile, almost like a little boy.

"You know what it means when you kiss somebody and it starts to snow, don't you?"

Still under the spell of his kiss she shook her head.

"It means it'll happen again."

"Is that the truth or did you just make that up?"

He gently took the bottle of peach brandy from her hand. "We must have made that kiss look really convincing, Laura. Your doorman hasn't stopped staring at us."

"His name is Doug and he's been my doorman since I moved here eight years ago and he's never seen me do anything like this before…ever. He must be wondering if it's really me."

John's voice took on the light teasing tone she knew so well. "You mean you and Chuck Winters didn't stand out here kissing like this on your _first_ date?"

"I've never stood out here on the sidewalk kissing anyone before."

"In that case I'll forgive you for making me wait until our _fifth_ date. I hope from now on I'm the only one you stand out here kissing."

"I don't think you need to worry about _anyone_ else kissing me like you just did."

"Laura, if my situation were to change, would I even stand a chance with you?"

"Oh, John, what do you think?" She was certain he read the answer in her eyes.

He smiled and gently touched her cheek where a snowflake had just landed. "Good enough. Goodnight, Laura."

"Goodnight, John."

Doug held the door open for her as she entered the building. She spoke politely to him as she always did. He touched his cap in a little salute as he always did. There was no hint in either of their actions that this night was any different from the hundreds of others when he had held the door open for her. She was quite certain, though, that if he were ever asked, he would remember the expression on her face as she looked back at John Gallagher walking down the sidewalk and saw him turn at the same time and look back at her.

The snow was falling harder now, soft and white, like the petals of cherry blossoms in that long-ago, dream-filled springtime of handsome princes and happily ever after.

TBC…


	24. Interrogation

Chapter 24

Interrogation

_As the third year of Cylon occupation began, shortages on the Colony of Caprica became more evident. Replacement parts that kept air, land and sea transportation running smoothly became scarcer since most parts had been imported from several of the other Colonies. Hand-tooled parts were available but cost-prohibitive for all except the government and the larger transportation companies. Dwindling profits forced many smaller companies out of business and removed a layer of competitiveness from the marketplace resulting in higher transportation costs to the consumer. Dissatisfaction with President Adar and the government reached an all-time high in the polls._

_-Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War_

Kara was early getting to Zeno's Tavern. It was five thirty on Wednesday evening, six nights after they had blown up the Cylon lab. According to the news at noon that day, there were still no leads on who had done it and no group had stepped forward to claim responsibility.

Jared and Frogman were supposed to meet her at six o'clock. It would look like three friends getting together for a beer after work.

Zeno's was crowded for that time of the day. She hadn't thought there would be that many people there. Quickly she scanned the sides of the room. No booths were available. She felt too conspicuous in the blue jeans and new red sweater to sit at a table by herself. She headed for the bar and slid onto the first empty seat she saw.

There was an older guy, old enough to be her grandfather, sitting on the barstool on one side of her. He barely glanced at her as she sat down before his eyes went back to the television screen above the bar and a pyramid game.

The bartender was at the other end of the bar talking to a woman. Kara tried unsuccessfully to catch his eye.

"Well, what do you know," the guy on the other side of her said. "Maybe the gods don't hate me as much as I think they do."

She turned and looked at him. He was young, probably not much older than she was and had dark hair and dark eyes. He had the body of an athlete.

"Are you talking to me?" She asked.

"Actually I was talking to myself, pretty lady, but as long as you're listening, I'll keep talking."

"I'm only here for a few minutes. I'm waiting on someone."

"Pretty ladies are always waiting on someone. Sometimes they're even waiting on me. I know I've been sitting here tonight waiting on you. My name is Zak."

"Nice to meet you, Zak."

He waited a few moments and said, "You don't have a name?"

She smiled. "Not tonight."

Maybe some of Jared's caution was rubbing off on her.

"Isn't it just my luck that on the crappiest day of the crappiest month of the crappiest year of my life I meet the most beautiful girl I've ever seen, and she won't even tell me her name?"

He smiled. He had white, even teeth and a beautiful smile. He was really cute when he smiled, and she didn't mind passing the time talking to him even though she realized that he was trying to pick her up.

"What made today so special for you?" Kara asked him.

"What made today so special for me? Today I got caught cheating on a test and I'm going to get kicked out of school. Then my father will kick my ass and maybe kick me out of the house. I deserve it, though. I am one major frak-up."

"Are you a student at Caprica U?"

"The Academy. My father is one of their more famous graduates. My older brother, too. Top of his class. He's always top of his class. He would have cut off his arm before he would have cheated on a test. That's who I'm waiting on right now. I'm going to see if he'll let me crash at his place for a couple of days until Dad cools down. My bro and I used to be close. He practically raised me. He took care of me when our mom couldn't, and I love him, but I frakked that up, too."

"What'd you do?"

"He had a girlfriend. I said some stuff about her that I shouldn't have. We got into a fight."

"Fist fight?"

"Yeah, a bad one. He doesn't have the girlfriend anymore, but that fight is still between us. I don't know what to do about it."

"Have you tried talking to him?"

"I was too angry at him for a while. I didn't want to go to the Academy. I never wanted that. But he sided with my dad and they ganged up on me and then my mom got involved. She's emotionally fragile. I've done nothing but disappoint all of them. I really wish I could go back to the beginning of the year and start over. I'd try harder."

"Too bad," Kara said. "A lot of us wish we could turn back the clock, maybe do some things different."

The bartender finally came over and she ordered a beer. He asked for her ID and she slid it across the bar face down. He was smart enough to realize why she'd done it like that and returned it to her the same way.

"Sneaky," Zak smiled.

"Careful," she smiled back.

"So how about you, pretty girl? I bet you never disappointed your parents."

"I didn't get the chance," she answered him and turned up the beer. "They're dead."

"I'm sorry. Me and my big mouth."

"No, it's all right. It was an honest question."

"You know something, you're not only beautiful, you're nice, too."

"That's me," Kara said as she sipped her beer. Would Zak still think she was nice if he knew what she'd done six nights ago?

Zak's phone rang. He looked at it. "My brother," he said. "I sent him a text earlier and asked him to call me. Hey."

Kara heard only Zak's side of the conversation.

"At Zeno's close to your apartment…No, I'm not drunk. I've had a couple of beers, that's all…I can't go home. Dad will kick my ass. I only want to stay for a few nights until I can find something else…Yeah, I know I'll have to face him sooner or later. I just can't do it right now…How late?...No, I'll wait for you…..Right this minute? I'm sitting here talking to a beautiful blond…No, she's not wearing tight black jeans." Zak listened for another minute. "See you later, then." He put his phone back in his jacket pocket.

"Your brother is going to be late?"

"About two hours. He said he still had four more people to talk to before he could leave, whatever that means. He's a Viper pilot, but I'm not even sure exactly what he's doing now. I haven't talked to him since I helped him move some boxes into his new apartment. He was supposed to come to lunch last Sunday, but he had to work."

Kara glanced at the door and saw Jared. "My date's here. I've got to go. Will you be okay for a while? Try to slow down on the beer. Eat something. I'll check on you before I leave."

"I'll wait right here for you, pretty lady."

She got to Jared before he got to bar. They were lucky. A booth had just opened and they waited for the table to be cleared.

"So who were you talking to?" Jared asked.

"Just some guy. There weren't any booths when I got here."

"He's still looking at you."

"I can't credit the tight black jeans this time, can I?"

"You want to ask him to join us?"

"No, I don't. Please don't start that crap tonight. I am not in the mood for it."

"You're not in the mood for anything anymore."

"Sometimes you make me want to kick your ass. Give it a rest. Here comes Frogman. You don't want him to know what a jerk you can be."

Frogman slid into the booth opposite them. "Sassy, Harley," he said. Then he looked at her. "You did a great job and we want to thank you for it. I hear there're two guys who also want to thank you. They're alive because of you."

She shrugged. "The guys were the ones who did the great job. Do you know them?"

"No, they're two or three levels removed from me. I understand that one of them is high up in the organization. I was surprised that he took an active part in a mission."

"I'm not," Jared said. "Whenever I want something done right at work, I do it myself."

The waiter came and Jared and Frogman ordered beers. She was still sipping on the one she'd gotten at the bar.

"How's the leg? Jared told me what happened. We have someone in our…group…who's had some medical training. I offered to get him to take a look at it, but Jared said you were doing okay."

"Fine. I'm doing fine. No problems. Could I ask you something?"

"Shoot."

"Does the…group…ever help an individual with something?"

"Explain."

"One day I might need some help with something. It involves a man that I need to…have a private conversation with. I might need to ask somebody's help getting him into a position where I could talk to him."

Jared knew immediately what she was talking about. "Don't even think about it."

Frogman held up his hand. "Let her talk. What do you need to discuss with this man?"

"He killed my father. He didn't pull the trigger. One of his men did that and he's in prison for it for rest of his life. I can't get to him, but this other man let it happen, maybe even told him to do it. He's going to be paroled soon."

Jared looked at Frogman. "This is a really bad idea. I've told her that. She won't listen to me. Maybe if you tell her."

"Who is this man?" Frogman asked.

"Tom Zarek."

A look passed between Jared and Frogman. "Told you it's a bad idea," Jared said to him.

"I realize I'm asking you to breach a rule about no names, but I need to know if I'm going to help you. What was your father's name and what happened?" Frogman asked.

"John Gallagher. And you don't need to worry about names. I don't have my father's last name. He was a pilot. Three years ago they hijacked his ship. He left me behind so Zarek's men wouldn't…hurt me. He never came back for me so I know they killed him. Somebody in the camp where I met Jared told me that one of Zarek's men had been convicted of killing a pilot so I know that's what happened to him."

"Let me do some checking," Frogman said to her. "If what you're saying is true, then I'll see what I can do about getting you some private time with him."

Jared looked at Frogman. "I can't believe you're going to do this."

"I said I'd check into it." The way Frogman said the words made it clear that was the end of the discussion. "Now I've got to go." He finished his beer. "My better half is expecting me home for dinner tonight. I'll be back in touch about this other thing. And again, you did a great job. I know this was your first assignment and it was a big one. I know you're young and green to all this, but you handled it like a pro. All of us in the group are grateful to you."

He got up and left them with a nod of his head.

"I can't believe you asked him to help you kill Tom Zarek," Jared said as soon as Frogman was out the door.

"This is not your concern. Just stay out of it."

"He's one of us, Kara. I told you that. Zarek has important contacts. As soon as he gets out of prison he's going to lead an important mission. It has something to do with Tauron. I haven't been able to find out any more than that. Frogman is not going to help you kill him."

"Maybe, maybe not. Let's wait and see. Even if I don't get to kill him, I still want to talk to him. I want to hear about my father. I want to know what happened to him, where he…his body is. I know my mother is back on Picon. I need to know where my father is. Maybe he's somewhere I could visit and take flowers or something."

Kara glanced at the bar again. Zak was still sitting there and seemed to be engrossed in the soccer game that was now on the television. She looked at her watch. It had been almost half an hour since he'd talked to his brother. Another hour and a half and he should be here. Could she manage to stay that long?

"Let's get something to eat," Kara said to Jared.

"I'm going back to the apartment. Do you want to stay with the guy at the bar, the one you keep looking at…or go with me?"

Maybe she was being too hard on Jared. She knew that ever since the night they blew up the lab and she'd gotten shot, he'd had a hard time dealing with the fact that she could have been killed. Karl had told her that Jared had started having nightmares about it. She also knew he blamed himself for what she'd been through, for telling her about the resistance and agreeing to bring her in. She knew Jared loved her. She knew everything he'd done had always been based on that love, even his jealously, even when he acted like a jerk. She looked at Zak again. He would be okay. He'd have to be. He wasn't her problem tonight.

"Let's go back and go to the deli. I want one of their sandwiches. Then…maybe…we can go back to the apartment…and play."

She saw the relief in Jared's eyes mixed with the love. "You don't want to stay with the guy at the bar? You really want to go home with me, Kara?"

"Yeah, Jared. Tonight I want to go home with you. You can act like a real jerk, but I still want to go home with you tonight, not pick up some kid who got kicked out of school and wouldn't even remember me by tomorrow. Let me go and make sure he'll be okay. I told him I'd check on him before I left."

Jared started to say something and apparently thought better of it.

Kara walked to the bar and touched Zak on his shoulder. He turned.

"It's the pretty lady again. You said you'd come back."

"Me and my friend are leaving. Are you going to be all right until your brother gets here?"

He nodded. "Yeah. If my father doesn't kill me, I'll be in here again. You'll come back someday and talk to me, won't you? Maybe even tell me your name."

She smiled. "Maybe. And quit thinking of yourself as a frak-up. That's part of your problem."

"Beautiful and nice…and wise," Zak said. "I'm in love."

Kara rolled her eyes. "It takes more than that to fall in love, Zak."

"Not for me."

As she walked away, she knew she'd made the right decision to go home with Jared. Zak was just a sweet-talking player, a guy who wouldn't remember her tomorrow. He'd be working on his next conquest before another sun had set.

...

Kara went back to work the next morning, arriving thirty minutes early. Jack always got there at six a.m. He was in his office and looked up when she came to the door.

"How's the leg?"

"I took the stitches out yesterday. I'm doing fine. I'm ready to get back on the bike."

"You sure?"

"Totally. I don't think I could go another day without riding."

"I had a visit yesterday. A guy from the anti-terrorism task force. They want to interview my riders. I had to set up appointments for all of you. I told the guy I had one on vacation. The other three go this week. He gave me a slot next week for you."

"What do they want?"

"I don't know, but I don't feel good about it. Apparently this has something to do with a certain lab that burned last week."

"Jack…if…something should happen, I'll say I took the bike, that you didn't know anything about it, which is the truth. What can they prove anyway? Nothing. Right? They've got no bullet. There's no way that guard could have identified me. I had on a black ski mask under my helmet. I had on a second-hand black ski jacket. The logo on the bike was covered up. There was nothing to identify me or the bike."

"Carrie, I'm not worried about the bike. I'm worried about you."

"I'll be okay, Jack. I just want to get back to riding."

"The guy who came in here didn't mention anything about one of my riders also having a gun permit. I'm hoping that slips by under their dradis. Don't you mention it either unless they find out. Then it wouldn't be good to lie."

"I never thought about that. I'll still be okay. Don't worry. Am I riding shotgun this morning?"

"I put you back on your normal schedule. If the leg starts bothering you, let me know. You can sit behind my desk for a while. I'll ride the bike."

"You're a good boss…Doc." She grinned as she went out, but her cheerfulness belied her real feelings. For the first time since she had been in Caprica City, she felt a little bit of fear.

...

The roses arrived fifteen minutes before Agent Darren's and Major Parker's scheduled appointment. Adele brought them into Laura Roslin's office with a conspiratorial smile. "I'll bet I know who these are from."

"Who would that be?"

"A certain colonel."

"Maybe," Laura answered.

Adele put the vase on her desk. She got all the way to the door before she turned around. "Or a certain commander."

"Oh, Adele, hush. You know better. You might be surprised."

Laura knew exactly who they were from. He was playing his part in their fictional affair to the hilt. She unpinned the little sealed envelope from the ribbon and slit it with her letter opener. She took out the handwritten card.

_For a gentle lady whose heart is as beautiful as she is. John_

She held the card and closed her eyes for a minute. Some things in life were not only unfair, they were cruel. If only this were real for them. If only he weren't with someone else.

Nevertheless she had to play her part. She picked up the phone and punched in John's mobile number. It went to his voice mail. "The roses are beautiful. You can't imagine how perfect the timing or how much they touched my heart. Thank you."

Adele buzzed her. "Agent Darren, Major Parker and a Mr. Doral are here."

"Thank you. Please, show them in and bring us coffee."

She got up and walked around her desk to greet them. She shook their hands.

"Please have a seat." She gestured to the chairs on the other side of her desk. "Adele is bringing coffee."

She was so kind and gracious that both Major Parker and Agent Darren had enough conscience to look guilty. Aaron Doral simply looked oblivious.

She made sure that she touched one of the roses as she walked back around her desk. She took her seat and let her gaze linger on the red, unfurling buds before she looked back at the men who had taken seats across from her.

"What can I do for you gentlemen today?"

She glanced down at the card on her desk, looked back up and smiled. She was going to have no trouble at all playing the part of a woman in love.

...

The first two rings of his mobile phone were part of the dream Lee Adama was having although ten minutes later he couldn't remember what it was. He groped for the phone and finally got his eyes open. His bedside clock said 1:15. He had been asleep less than two hours. Please, not another terrorist attack.

"Hello."

"Lee, it's John. I'm sorry. I know I woke you up. I need a place to sleep for the night. Is your couch available? It's just for tonight."

"Yeah, sure, John. Zak went home yesterday. Where are you?"

"Out in front of your building. Just let me in and you can go right back to sleep."

Lee got up and buzzed the front door. He waited with his apartment door open until John got off the elevator. He had one overnight bag and was wearing the dark brown pants, tan shirt and dark brown tie of the uniform he wore when he flew. It looked like he had come straight from the airport.

"Thanks. You don't know how much I appreciate this."

Lee yawned. "What's up?"

John came in and put the bag down before he took off the bomber jacket and threw it on a chair. He loosened the tie and unbuttoned the top button of his shirt as he went into the small kitchen.

"Where do you keep the liquor?"

"Cabinet over the refrigerator."

John came back tumbler half filled with ambrosia and sat down on the couch. "Go back to bed, Lee. I know you need your sleep."

"What's wrong, John?"

"I caught Lissa frakking Dr. Gaius Baltar tonight."

"You're kidding."

"Do I sound like I'm kidding?" John turned up the drink.

"No. What happened?"

"First, I want you to know I'm not all that upset about it. It makes what I was getting ready to do a lot easier. I signed a lease on another place a couple of weeks ago. I'd already have moved out if this thing hadn't happened at the lab week before last. There's just one thing about what Lissa did that pisses me off. She was frakking him in our bed. That's one of the unwritten rules. You going to frak somebody else, you don't bring it home."

"I can't believe Lissa was that stupid."

"She obviously wasn't expecting me to come walking in at midnight. I was supposed to be on my way up to Antioch, but we couldn't get the damned ship through pre-flight. Problems with both the stabilizers and the hydraulics. Hell, half those ships belong in a damned junkyard. We can't get parts anymore. We've got most of them so pieced together it's a miracle they're still flying at all. We finally had to give up and cancel the flight. They were starting to off-load the cargo when I left. I got back to the apartment, saw Lissa's car in the parking lot. I figured she was already asleep so I was quiet. I heard them before I saw them."

"They were right in the act?"

"Yeah. When she realized I was standing at the bedroom door, what does she say? '_John, John, this is not what it looks like_.' Now I ask you, Lee, if you came in and the woman you were living with was playing rodeo rider to another guy's bucking bronco, what would you think?"

"Do you think she's done it before?"

John shrugged. "Probably. It doesn't matter now anyway. Like I said, it's been over between me and her for a long time. I should already have moved out. You were right when you said that to me months ago. I should have done it then. Of course, if I'd done that, I wouldn't have been able to help Laura so maybe it all happened for a reason."

"You had no clue anything was going on?"

"Hell, she works all the time. Most nights she'd come home too tired to eat, much less do anything else. We've been like roommates for the last six months. I should have guessed she was having her fun somewhere else."

"You think she was doing it with Baltar at the lab?"

"There or his place. You want to know something else? I haven't cheated on her one time, not one damned time in the whole two years we've been together. Not that I haven't thought about it, especially lately."

"What did Baltar do when you caught them?"

John started laughing. "I think he wet the bed. That almost made the whole ugly scene worth it."

"You didn't…hurt him, did you?"

"I never laid a hand on him. He was pitiful, shaking and holding the sheet up to his chin. I didn't even say anything to him. I just started packing some of my stuff. Of course Lissa and I had a few words after she tried to justify what she was doing by starting in on me again about Laura Roslin. Lissa and I had already covered that subject about a dozen times. There wasn't anything left to say about it. I should have just kept my mouth shut. Instead Baltar got to hear the whole thing."

"I saw Lissa's interview. They blindsided her with the information that you and Laura were seen having dinner together. Carrying on with Laura while you were living with Lissa was not smart and not right. It's not fair to Lissa or Laura."

John turned up the drink again. "I told you why I've been having dinner with Laura. And I'm not _carrying on_ with her either."

"Come on, John. How many dinners did it take for you to tell her what they were doing in that lab?"

"A couple. Okay, I want to see her. I'll admit it. I want to be with her. So you just go ahead and get it over with. Laugh at me, or say, '_I told you so_,' or whatever you're going to do. I'm not sleeping with Laura, but I'm sure as hell in love with her."

"Oh, boy," Lee said. "This just keeps getting better."

"Letting people think we're having an affair was her idea. She's doing it to protect me…and Lissa, too, since that's where I got the stuff I told Laura. To be so smart about some things, Lissa is really dumb about others. She can't understand that Laura is laying her career on the line to protect both of us, not just me. Laura and I will keep up this pretense for a few more weeks to make it look good and then she'll dump me."

John's mobile phone rang. He looked at the caller ID and turned off the phone.

"Are you not even going to try with Laura?"

"Right now I don't know what the hell I'm going to do. I've got to get my stuff moved out of Lissa's place and get settled in this other apartment. At least it's furnished. I don't have to go out and buy furniture right now. As soon as I can get another job, I'm giving my notice at the cargo company. I want a job where I don't have to spend most of my in-flight time praying the damned ship will stay together until we get it back on the ground. My life is really frakked up right now. I need to get a few things settled before I try to start a real relationship with Laura."

"How does Laura feel, I mean _really_ feel about it?"

"She and I have a connection. At first I kept telling myself I was imagining it, but now I think she feels something, too. I asked her if my situation were different would I stand a chance with her. She didn't exactly answer me with a _yes_, but I'd just kissed her and that kiss said she wants to give it a chance as much as I do."

"You kissed her? You just finished telling me you weren't _carrying on_ with her."

"I'm not. I swear to you. I kissed her goodnight so her doorman could see us. She just melted against me. Damn, talk about that kick-in-the-guts feeling. That's all I've thought about since then. I might even start believing that I could get lucky twice in my life."

"Where did you get an apartment?"

"In the historic district. A rich old widow has a big house and a separate garage where her husband used to keep a couple of antique cars. There's a nice little apartment over the garage. I'd have gone there tonight but I don't have the key yet, and there's no way I was going to wake the widow or her housekeeper up at midnight."

"Doesn't Laura live in the historic district?"

"Yeah."

"How far from your new place?"

"Six blocks."

"Damn, John, you have got it bad."

"Pathetic, isn't it?"

Without a word Lee went into his bedroom and got the extra pillow off his bed, got a blanket out of the closet and took them back into the living room.

"Get some sleep. Don't sit up drinking all night. And no smoking in the apartment, either."

"I quit."

"You quit smoking?"

"I haven't had a cigarette in almost three weeks. I've climbed the frakking walls a hundred times, but I haven't given in yet. If that doesn't prove I'm in love, nothing will."

Lee smiled. "I'm proud of you. Maybe one day if I ever start dating again, we can go on a double date. I'd really like to see how you act around a member of the President's Cabinet. I mean you being just a cargo pilot. Am I quoting you right on that?"

John started laughing. "Go back to bed, Lee, before I hurt you."

...

Kara sat in the break room at work with several of the other employees. She had stopped buying lunch every day from a fast-food place. Instead she was bringing a sandwich from home and getting a pack of chips from the machine. She'd gotten Jack to help her and they had taken a thorough look at her financial situation. He told her that if she was careful, she could have enough saved in a few months that she could put a deposit down on an apartment, get some furniture and move. She had also decided not to mention it to any of the others until it was done.

Jared would be crushed, but he would have to deal with it. She cared about him, but he loved her and there was a big difference in the intensity of their feelings. In the long run living with him wasn't going to work, especially if Karl and Maggie moved out in the fall and went to the Academy. Then it would be just the two of them. He would probably get even more possessive of her. She would definitely have her place by her seventeenth birthday late in the summer just before Karl and Maggie left.

Saving for an apartment meant she wouldn't be able to buy the motorcycle from Fisk, but he told her that she could borrow it anytime she wanted. He had ridden it in one day and had Tyrol working on it in his spare time. Of course Chief thought he was fixing it up for Jack.

Antwon Trevor, the other day-time bike rider came in, got a drink out of the machine and sat down at her table. He was a big guy, dark-skinned and over six feet tall. She had always thought he looked too big for the motorcycle, but he was a good rider, a good, _careful_ rider. Antwon had a wife and three kids.

"Hey, Trev, how's it going?"

"I can't complain. You have a good vacation?"

"Great. Have you been to your interview down at the military base yet?"

"Last Friday."

"What kind of stuff did they ask you?"

He shrugged. "Not much…my name, where I worked, what I was doing on the night that lab burned. Stuff like that."

"That's all?"

"Oh, yeah, my height and weight. I told them the truth about my height. I'm six two, but I fudged a little on the weight, said two-twenty. It's closer to two-thirty. They didn't put me on a scale. I wasn't in that room five minutes. I got the feeling once they'd seen me they weren't too interested in me anymore, almost like they were just going through the motions for the interview."

"Why do you think that?"

"I don't know. Just a feeling. The guy who talked to me looked fried...like he'd been up for a couple of days or was takings stims or something. His name was Akeron, Ackermon, something like that. You haven't been yet?"

"Not yet. I go next week."

"Good luck. The whole thing is stupid anyway. Like one of us would be a terrorist."

"Imagine that."

She was nearly through with her sandwich when she realized why they had lost interest in Trevor when they saw him, why they asked the questions about his height and weight. He was too big. The guard in the car must have gotten a good enough look at her to give them a rough description of her size. They were looking for a smaller guy. That would be her only advantage. The military was probably looking for a guy.

...

Lee Adama was tired. He had been working ten hours every day for the last two weeks with only one day off. There were three fifteen-minute interviews scheduled every hour for eight of those ten hours with an hour for lunch and another hour for reviewing the day's interviews. During lunch he and the others shared their experiences. So far they hadn't found a single anomaly worth pursuing, nothing worth following up.

The reactions of the riders they had interviewed had run the gamut from fear to obsequiousness to resentment and outright hostility. Most had been fearful but had been co-operative. Eventually everyone had been co-operative when they were made to understand the seriousness of why they were there. So far Lee didn't think they'd found even a potential terrorist. He and the other interrogators were tired and frustrated with having to continue to pursue four thousand motorcycle riders as well as their lack of a lead.

The guard in the car had gotten a good look at the rider in his headlights. He had been certain that the rider was between five feet four inches and five feet eight inches tall, somewhere between a hundred thirty and a hundred sixty pounds. He said the guy had on a bulky ski jacket so weight was harder to estimate than height, that he might have been a little heavier or lighter.

Lee's last interview subject had not shown up so he was standing in the second-floor break room drinking a cup of coffee. He was one of the few still relying on coffee to keep him alert. He was certain most of the others were using some kind of stimulant or stims. He wasn't going to go that route. He'd seen the bad effects of stims on one of the _Triton's _pilots. He'd seen the short temper and the paranoia and the impaired judgment. Lee wanted no part of that.

He was standing at the window looking out when he saw a motorcycle rider stop at the gate, get a visitor pass from the Marine guard and ride up to the parking spaces in front of their building. He was just about to turn around when the rider took off his helmet…or rather _her_ helmet. It wasn't a guy at all. It was a girl, a blond.

His breath caught. She sat for a minute with her feet planted firmly on the concrete on either side of the bike. From his vantage point on the second floor, the image was graphic and sexual to him. He felt the first twinge of desire. He watched as she caught the fingertips of her right-hand riding glove in her teeth and pulled the glove off. Then she did the same thing to the other glove. She folded the gloves together and stuck them in the pocket of her jacket. She pulled the elastic fastener off her ponytail and slid it over the clutch lever before she leaned forward over the bike, almost like she would lean over a lover. He was aroused long before she ran both hands through her hair, sat up and shook her head. Her hair fell around her shoulders.

The minute she swung her left leg over the bike and stood up he was certain she was the girl he'd seen that night at Zeno's, the hot blond in the tight black jeans, only today she was wearing black leather pants and a black leather jacket, a tight black leather jacket. She unzipped the jacket as she started walking toward the front entrance. He recognized the confident walk at the same time he saw that she was wearing a black turtleneck. He must be doing something right in his life. The gods had delivered the hot blond to his doorstep.

He grabbed his clipboard from the table and turned back to the window. He could hardly breathe. He looked at the names of the people he would be interviewing for the rest of the day. All guys. Someone else had the beautiful blond.

He looked back out the window. She was gone. She had already entered the building. Damn. If she got to a room he wouldn't get to see her up close. He struggled to get himself under control. He couldn't go running out into the hall in the state he was in.

_Think of something, think of something not the least bit sexy. Think of something, anything but the beautiful blond. Think of…Zak getting kicked out of the Academy, the shame it had caused their father. Zak's remorse. The long talks he and Zak had before Zak went home . The bond they had begun rebuilding._

It worked. He rushed into the hall and down the steps to the first floor. There was no one in the reception area. He went up to the young corporal sitting at the desk.

"I need to know who's interviewing the rider who just came in, the blond."

"That would be Sergeant Ackerman, sir. I've already sent her back."

"What's her name?"

The receptionist checked the log. "Carrie Warner."

"What room?"

"Twelve."

A slim young man came through the front door and up to the desk. "I'm Roy Hardy. I ride a motorcycle for Mid-Town Couriers. My boss told me to come here today and talk to somebody."

Lee recognized the name. Roy Hardy was his next interview. "He's mine, corporal. I need to speak with Miss Warner before she leaves. If she comes back out before I get back here, please ask her to wait."

"Yes, sir."

"Right this way, Mr. Hardy. You'll be talking to me today."

...

Kara sat at a small table in the interview room looking at Sergeant Ackerman's back. He was a slender man, about her height, mid-thirties, pale skin, blond, thinning hair. She'd seen his eyes when he briefly greeted her and told her to sit at the table. They were blue, but a light blue, a watered-down blue.

Already she didn't care for his attitude or the tone of his voice. She agreed with Trevor's assessment. Ackerman looked fried. He was definitely on stims. He was looking into a small monitor. He adjusted something on the compact video and audio recording device attached to the wall next to the door. She pushed her chair back. Ackerman either saw her in the monitor or heard the chair scrape across the floor.

"Please leave the chair _where I put it_," Ackerman said curtly. "This thing isn't auto-adjusting the focus like it's supposed to. Cylons want us to find out who blew up their frakking lab and they give us crappy equipment to work with."

"They should have given all of you a centurion. I'm sure they can record and play back, too."

Ackerman didn't turn around. "I always get the class clown. I guess you think that was funny."

Kara realized she should probably be nice and keep her comments to herself. This guy was really on edge. When he couldn't seem to get the recording device fixed, though, she finally said, "I haven't got all day. I'm on the job right now. Could we go to another room?"

"No…we…can't." Ackerman clipped each word. "And you'll be here just a long as we want to keep you here."

He kept making adjustments and was finally satisfied with the image. When he turned around, Kara had her left foot on the edge of the small metal table and was polishing a spot on the toe of her boot with the cuff of her black turtleneck.

"Put your feet on the floor."

"Sure. Just trying to put the time to good use." She gave the spot one last buff. "Wouldn't want to scratch this crappy piece of metal furniture."

She couldn't understand why she was baiting this guy. He definitely looked whacked out.

"For the record state your name, age and where you work."

"Carrie Warner. I'm nineteen, and I work for MediFirst Incorporated."

"How long have you worked at MediFirst?"

"Eight months."

"Where did you work before that?"

"I was a waitress for a couple of weeks at DeAngelo's. Before that I was in a refugee camp near Antioch for almost three years. But I wouldn't call that work exactly. It was more like surviving. Of course surviving in the camp was hard work. So I guess you could say my first real job was surviving."

Ackerman took a deep breath and looked at the ceiling before he blew it out. She thought he was going to comment. Instead he asked, "Your height and weight?"

"Five six…and a half…and I don't know about the weight. I haven't been on a scale in a long time."

"Estimate it."

"A hundred, maybe a hundred ten. I really don't know."

"What do you do for MediFirst?"

"I deliver medicine to clinics and hospitals."

"How do you make these deliveries?"

"On a motorcycle."

"Where were you on the night of January 17th?"

"What night of the week was that?"

"A Thursday."

"Let's see," Kara said. "Thursday's are my Bingo nights unless I have to work."

"You work nights?"

"Sometimes."

"Were you working on the night of January 17th?"

"I'd have to go back and check my schedule."

"You don't know when you work?"

"I rotate three days on and three days off so it varies for six weeks and then it starts over. When I work I get off at seven o'clock. I normally work the seven a.m. to seven p.m. shift except once in a while I fill in and work the seven p.m. until seven a.m. shift. I don't remember whether I was working on January 17th or not. If I could go call my boss, I'm sure he'd look it up for me. If you'd sent me a copy of these questions ahead of time, I could already have answered them and saved us both a lot of time."

"You're really trying to make my life difficult, aren't you?"

"Now why would I do that? I really don't remember."

"If you weren't working, what would you have been doing...besides playing Bingo?"

"Hanging out with my three roommates."

"How do you feel about the Cylons?"

"I think they're great. Best thing that happened to the Colonies since the invention of FTL technology."

"You can lose that attitude right now, _Miss_ Warner."

"What attitude would that be, _Sergeant_ Ackerman?"

"That _frak-you_ attitude you've had since you walked into this room."

"Too bad I'm not a _Cylon_. A little adjustment to my programming and I'd kiss your ass like you seem to think I should do just because you're in the military."

"Not only did I get the class clown, I got myself a real smart-mouth, too."

She thought of her father. He had called her a smart-mouth. Right now he would probably tell her to shut up and cooperate. Then again, maybe not.

"Okay, you want to know how I really feel about the Cylons? Here's how I _really_ feel. The Cylons were built to serve _us_. Not the other way around. Just like the military is _supposed_ to serve us."

Ackerman went over to the wall and did something to the device. She saw the blinking red light go dark. He had stopped the recording. She had a bad feeling.

"Do you want to finish what you were just saying? _The military is_ _supposed_ _to be serving us_. Who do you _think_ we're serving?" He walked around behind her.

She didn't say anything.

"Who, smart-ass? Finish it. You had the guts to start it. Now finish it. Who are we in the military serving? Let me hear that smart mouth of yours say it."

"The frakking Cylons," she snarled. "You're serving the frakking Cylons, doing their dirty work for them, hauling hard-working people like me into little rooms and treating _us_ like criminals when _they're_ the criminals. They killed billions of us. We're not the bad guys. The _Cylons_ are the bad guys."

"I'm doing _my_ job just like you're doing _your_ job."

"Yeah, well at least on my job I don't have to bend over every day for some metal motherfrakker."

She was completely unprepared for his reaction. He grabbed the back of her hair and slammed her head into the table. She managed to twist her neck just enough that the blow didn't break her nose. A sharp pain lanced across the front of her skull, and for a few seconds all she saw were dancing red and black dots in front of her eyes. There was a dull ringing in her ears that quickly subsided into no sound at all.

Her head was on the table. She realized that much as she became aware again. There was something wet against her left cheek. The smell in her nostrils was metallic…blood or the table top? How long had she been unconscious? Seconds? Minutes? What was he going to do to her?

Her right arm was hanging by her side. She could almost reach her boot. She put her left hand on the table like she was trying to push herself up. She could hear Ackerman breathing hard. He was still behind her. She moved her foot, got her right hand into the top of her boot and got her thumb and forefinger on the switchblade.

Using her left hand she slowly pushed herself into a sitting position while at the same time she used her right hand to extract the switchblade from her boot and slip it in her palm. She saw the blood on the table, felt it trickling down the side of her face from somewhere above her left eyebrow. She blinked her eyes several times. The room came back into focus.

"That was fun," she said. Her words sounded strange because her ears were still ringing.

Ackerman seemed to realize for the first time that she was bleeding.

"What did you do to yourself?"

She had to get him out from behind her. She put her left hand to her cheek. It came away red.

"What did…I…do…to myself? You're joking. Right? Come on, where am I bleeding?"

He stepped around to her left side. "Just a nick over your eyebrow. You must have passed out and hit your head. Are you on drugs? Do we need to get you to pee in a cup?"

Is that how this was going to go? She shut her eyes and acted like she was getting dizzy again. It wasn't much of an act.

"I'm not on drugs. Can I go now? Is the interview over?"

"We're just getting started. I'm sure you've got something else smart you'd like to say to me."

"Nope, I'm all through talking to you."

"I decide when you're through talking to me, smart-ass."

She opened her eyes and judged the distance to Ackerman. She was on her feet in the same second she thumbed the release on the switchblade. Grabbing the front of Ackerman's shirt with her bloody left hand, she shoved him roughly into the wall beside the table, slid the blade of the knife between his legs and brought it up hard against the inseam of his uniform trousers.

He barely had time for the shock to register on his face before she snarled, "That's a six-inch switchblade. Don't you frakking move a muscle unless you want to kiss your love life goodbye."

"You're dead," he snarled, but he didn't move.

"I don't think so. I'm leaving. I got nothing more to say to you."

She saw the heat and anger in the pale blue eyes. "You're dead," he repeated. "You're on a military base. How far do you think you'll get?"

"I don't care as long as it's away from you."

With the knife still in front of her she backed away from him and grabbed her jacket from the back of the chair. She reached the door, got her hand on the doorknob and opened it. She glanced at Ackerman. He was still standing against the wall, her bloody handprint on the front of his shirt.

She turned quickly. A man was standing in the hall just outside the door, a dark-haired, incredibly handsome man who was wearing a blue uniform instead of a tan shirt and pants like Ackerman. Her eyes met a pair of eyes as startled as her own.

The eyes now locked on hers were blue, as blue as the sky at twilight. Without thinking she glanced at his chest. There were the wings over his heart, the golden wings of a Viper pilot, a Viper pilot like her father. Olliver. She had found Olliver.

A wave of dizziness swept her and she leaned back against the door's jamb. She realized that she was trying to say his name even as she fought to stay on her feet.

Lee could hardly believe what he was seeing. The beautiful blond was holding the switchblade and she was staring at him wide-eyed like she'd seen a ghost. There was blood on the side of her face coming from a cut above her eyebrow. He looked into her green eyes, into John Gallagher's eyes. The girl in his dream…Kara…but not Kara…Carrie…Carrie Warner.

"I'm not going to hurt you", he said gently to her. "I'm going to help you, but first give me the knife. I can't help you until you give me the knife."

Kara closed the knife and handed it to him. Olliver. He was Olliver. She had found Olliver.

Lee stepped into the doorway. "What the hell happened here, Sergeant Ackerman?"

"Little bitch passed out, hit her head and then she pulled a knife on me. She assaulted me. See where she grabbed my shirt. She must be on drugs."

"Go get the first aid kit now. Whatever happened, that cut needs attention."

"Sir, I don't think…"

"Do it right now, Ackerman. Do it or go get Major Parker."

Lee took Kara's arm and lead her back into the room. Ackerman went past them out the door. Lee helped Kara to the chair.

"Is he telling the truth?"

"I'm not on drugs," she answered him.

"Did you pass out?"

"With a little help from him."

"Did you assault him?"

"I…grabbed the front of his shirt. I didn't know what he was going to do to me."

"If I play back that recording what am I going to see?"

"He turned it off."

Ackerman came back with the first aid kit.

"That will be all, Sergeant. I'll take it from here."

"That's not a good idea, being alone with her," Ackerman said. "You saw her. She pulled a gods damned knife on me. _She assaulted me_!"

"I've got the knife, but if you think I still need help, then go get Major Parker."

Without another word Ackerman went out and shut the door. Lee opened the kit and took out a packet that contained an antiseptic-soaked pad. He tore it open.

"I need to clean the cut to see how bad it is. You have some blood in your hair, too."

"That's what shampoo is for."

Lee pushed the hair back from the side of her face and carefully cleaned the blood from her cheek. He made sure there was no wound there and threw the gauze pad into the trash can. He opened another one. She shut her eyes as he gently cleaned the left side of her forehead. When he got to the cut, she winced slightly. She was the girl in his dream and the first time he touched her he was hurting her.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I'm sorry. I know this hurts."

"No, you're doing a good job. Keep going." She thought about the bullet and Fisk cutting it out. "I've had worse. I'm doing all right."

"Do you want to tell me what happened?"

"No."

Lee looked at the blood on the table. "Ackerman did this, didn't he?"

"Look, I have a smart mouth. I said something I shouldn't have, okay. But I'm willing to forget about it if you'll forget about the knife and let me go. I was afraid. I didn't know what he was going to do to me."

That was half-true, anyway. She didn't know what Ackerman was going to do to her, but she was more angry than she was afraid.

Lee concentrated on her injury. "The cut isn't long but it's still bleeding. I don't know if a butterfly will keep it closed. I think it needs a couple of stitches."

Kara opened her right eye and looked at him. "Sew it up, then."

"I'm…uh…let me keep pressure on it for another minute and see what happens."

"Am I your first patient?"

"How could you tell?"

She grinned. "For starters you forgot to put on the latex gloves. We're sharing germs."

"Oh frak! Hold this."

He took her hand and placed it on the square of gauze he was holding tightly against the cut. He pulled a pair of gloves out of the kit and put them on. He put his gloved hand back over hers and she relinquished the square of gauze.

"This doesn't look as bad as I first thought. Maybe a couple of butterflies will close it after all. If it keeps bleeding you've got to promise me you'll go to the emergency center. If it needs stitches, a doctor should do it. You're so beautiful I wouldn't want to see you have a scar from this and my sewing would be kindergarten level at best."

Beautiful? Olliver thought she was beautiful? "Whatever you say. Can I go now, please?"

"Let me put the butterflies on and bandage it. You've got some swelling around your eye. I'm not sure you should ride a motorcycle or operate any kind of vehicle right now. I can get you a ride back to where you work."

"I need the motorcycle for my job. I'll be fine."

"I don't know…"

"I'll be fine." She looked at his chest again, at the wings over his heart. "What's a Viper pilot doing questioning people anyway?"

"Too many jobs to do and not enough people to do them. How do you know I'm a Viper pilot?"

"The wings. My father was…" Damn, she'd almost screwed up. She'd almost told him her father was a Viper pilot. Was it the blow to her head or being so close to Olliver that had her rattled. She had to tell him about Carrie's father, but she didn't know anything about Carrie's father so she improvised. "My father was good friends with a Viper pilot."

"Here in Caprica City?"

She repeated the story Carrie had told her. "Antioch where we lived. My parents and my brother and sister died when the Cylons bombed Antioch. If I hadn't sneaked out of our apartment to meet my boyfriend in the park that night, I'd have died, too. The whole building was destroyed. Nothing left but a big hole in the ground."

Lee felt an unreasonable twinge of jealousy at the mention of a boyfriend. "I'm sorry about your family. Lucky for you that you were disobedient."

She felt him press the butterflies into place and then a small bandage. "That's me. Disobedient. It goes along with the smart mouth and the frak-you attitude."

"So are you still with the boyfriend?"

She repeated another part of Carrie's story. "Nope, he ditched me for some skanky little blond over in B-sector. I spent some time in a refugee camp near Antioch…like almost three years."

Lee had heard from his father how bad conditions were in the camps, about how much worse they would have been were it not for Laura Roslin. Maybe that explained some of Carrie's toughness and her readiness to pull a knife on a guy.

"I heard the camps were rough."

"I survived. So what's your name?"

"Lee Adama."

"Lieutenant Lee Adama. I'll remember you. I'm Carrie Warner. You'll probably remember me, too."

"I will. You, uh, you should probably get some ice on the eye. It'll help the swelling."

"Thanks for the advice. Can I go now?"

He blurted, "Have you ever been to Zeno's Tavern?"

"Maybe. Why?"

"I think I saw you in there one night about a month ago with two guys."

"One was a spare. I can never be sure if I'm going to get dumped for some skanky blond."

He smiled and it lit his blue eyes. He was as handsome as Connelly, maybe even more handsome than Connelly. But then he should be. He was Olliver. She had found Olliver. She was looking at him. He had touched her. He was real. He wasn't a dream anymore. Jared had been wrong.

"I need to go. My boss probably thinks I took off with his bike."

"Would it be all right if I called you?"

"Are you asking me for a date?"

Lee shook his head. "I'll need to follow up on this incident. I'm going to have to report it to my superior. I want to make sure you're okay."

"Sure. Call me."

"You have a number where I can reach you? I, uh, really would like to talk to you again."

"Call MediFirst and leave a message. I'll call you back."

"I've heard that before."

"Maybe I'll see you at Zeno's."

"I'll come over and speak…if you're not with two guys. Come on, I'll walk you out."

She was so beautiful that Lee could hardly think. She was the green-eyed girl in his dream. He'd been wrong about only one thing. She wasn't Kara, but she was the one. And now he knew where to find her. He knew where she worked. He relaxed. When she wasn't so close to him he would be able to figure out what to do next. He would be able to make a plan.

He walked all the way to the motorcycle with her. When she straddled it and put both feet on the concrete, he had to concentrate on her eyes. She zipped the tight jacket, then pulled the elastic fastener off the clutch lever. She pulled her hair back and wrapped the elastic around it before she took the helmet and switched on the transmitter inside. She got the black leather gloves out of her pocket and put them on and then gingerly slid the helmet over her head. He saw her wince as it momentarily came in contact with the bandage.

"I'm not sure I should let you ride away."

"I'll be all right. I'm tougher than I look."

"Be careful."

"You sound like my boss. I'm always careful."

She started the bike. He watched her back it out of the parking space and ride away. He watched her until she was past the gate and he couldn't see her anymore. As he turned to go back inside, he stuck his hands in his pockets. He felt the switchblade. He would need to return her knife. It was a beginning. He smiled at the thought that the girl in his dream might be a terrorist. How crazy was that? This beautiful green-eyed girl couldn't be a terrorist. No frakking way.

Kara handed the visitor pass to the Marine at the gate. As she rode away, her thoughts were on Lee Adama. Why did it have to happen like this? He was in the military, the military that was hunting the resistance. She had finally found Olliver. She had finally found her prince with eyes as blue as the sky at twilight and wings over his heart.

And he was her enemy.

TBC…


	25. What the Hell is Going On

Chapter 25

What the Hell is Going On?

_As the investigation into the destruction of the Cylon lab run by Dr. Gaius Baltar progressed without the identification of any suspects, unconfirmed rumors began to circulate that a fourth Cylon model was in some way involved in the lab's destruction. When confronted with the rumor by the reporter D'Anna Biers, Cavil flatly denied that there were more than three Cylon models on Caprica thus eventually disproving the long-held axiom that machines are incapable of lying. _

_-Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War_

Lieutenant Lee Adama and Sergeant Ackerman stood at attention in front of Major Parker's desk. All things considered, Lee was surprisingly calm. Ackerman, on the other hand, was still visibly seething. Parker looked like he couldn't quite grasp the story Ackerman had just told.

"Let me make sure I understand, Lieutenant Adama. A subject that Sergeant Ackerman was questioning pulled a knife on him, grabbed the front of his shirt, and you let her go."

"There's more to it than that, sir."

"I'm listening. Enlighten me."

"According to the subject, Sergeant Ackerman turned off the recording device before he became abusive in his interview tactics. He subsequently slammed her head into the table opening a bad cut above her eye. She was afraid for her life. She grabbed the front of his shirt because she was afraid he was going to continue his assault on her."

Major Parker looked skeptically at Ackerman. "Is any of that true?"

"No, sir. It's my opinion she was on drugs, something Lieutenant Adama would have recognized if he was a more experienced interrogator. During the interview she passed out and hit her head. I was trying to help her. When she came to, she pulled the knife on me and grabbed my shirt."

"Major Parker, sir, I talked to her while I bandaged the cut. She was _not_ on drugs. I'd like to suggest we look at the recording of the interview. If what the sergeant says is true, it'll be on the recording."

Ackerman quickly said, "I've been having problems with the machine in that room. It keeps cutting off on me."

For the first time since Lee had entered Parker's office, he saw a flicker of doubt about Ackerman's story in the major's eyes.

Parker finally said wearily, "I'm going to table this until I've had a chance to look at the interview. I'll do that before I go home tonight. Sergeant Ackerman, a subject you were interviewing was injured in the process of that interview. Whatever the reason, that bothers me very much. I'll get back to you tomorrow or the next day. Dismissed."

"Sir…"

"That will be all right now, Ackerman." Lee started to follow Ackerman out the door. "I haven't dismissed you yet, Lieutenant Adama."

Lee turned around and waited until Ackerman was gone.

"Close the door." As soon as Lee complied, Parker said. "What the hell is going on? Haven't I got enough problems without having to deal with something like this?"

"Sir, I apologize, but in my opinion Ackerman is the one on drugs. I think he's taking stims."

"I don't doubt that at all. Half my interrogators are on stims. There have been times lately that I've thought about taking them myself. Now tell me about this subject. What's your gut feeling? Is Ackerman telling the truth or is she?"

"I believe her, sir. I bandaged the cut on her forehead. I saw the blood on the table. I saw the fear in her eyes when she came out of the door to room twelve. Something bad had just happened in there. I believe that he slammed her head into the table so hard he knocked her out. I believe she was confused and afraid for her life. Sir, she's only nineteen years old. She was in a refugee camp for three years. She's bound to have had some bad experiences there. She's very attractive. She probably had to learn to fight to protect herself."

Parker leaned his head back against his chair, took a deep breath and shut his eyes. When he opened them a moment later he gestured to one of the chairs in front of his desk.

"Have a seat. I'll look at the interview. I have to follow up on this or Ackerman will probably go over my head. I don't need that right now. What's her name?"

"Carrie Warner."

Parker made a notation in a notebook on his desk. "Check her out. Find out as much as you can about her. Talk to her employer, see what kind of work history she has, see if she has any behavior patterns that would indicate drug use. Run her through all the database checks, see if she's has so much as a speeding ticket. Verify that she was in a refugee camp. If she comes up clean, I'll tell Ackerman I'm putting a reprimand in your folder for failing to notify me of what was going on before you let her go. I'm so stressed and overworked right now I'm sure I'll forget to do it."

"He's the one who should be charged with assault, sir."

"If her version of the incident is correct, then I agree with you, but I can't afford to lose a seasoned interrogator right now. Since we got nothing on that recording, in the end it will come down to her word against his."

"You're right, sir. How far should I carry the investigation of Carrie Warner…a phone call to her employer or a visit?"

"Visit him. We're going to cover all the bases on this one. If something doesn't ring true, we'll check him out as well. Ackerman might have overstepped on this one, but his instincts are good. I can't totally discount everything he said. Something pushed him to do what he did. See if you can find out what it was."

"Do you want me to interview her again?"

"You obviously established a rapport with her. Look at her interview and ask her the same questions. See if she gives you the same answers she gave Ackerman, but don't bring her in here. Do it privately at her place of employement if possible. What happened to the knife?"

Lee felt the knife in his pocket. "I returned it to her, sir, after I cleaned and bandaged the cut. There was no indication she had used it except in self-defense."

Lee could hardly believe he had just lied to Parker about the knife. First he'd lied to protect John and Laura, and now he'd lied in order to keep the knife and return it to a girl he'd just met. To use one of Major Parker's favorite phrases…_what the hell was going on with him_?

Parker looked at him and again Lee saw the fatigue on his face. "The sooner we put this one to bed, the better. I'll tell Captain Hadrian to keep an eye on Ackerman. I agree with you. I think he's over-stressed. Maybe a couple of days off will calm him down. I can't afford to take an experienced interrogator out of the loop right now, but I can't afford another incident like this one, either. I'll see if Agent Darren can loan me one of his men for a couple of days. Get back to me as soon as you can on Carrie Warner. That will be all, lieutenant. You're dismissed."

"Yes, sir."

Lee was at the door when Parker said, "One other thing." Lee turned. "The advice you gave me about not letting Hadrian interview your friend Gallagher. I should have taken it."

"Sir?"

"Look at the interview. You were right. He was in that room for nearly twenty minutes, and she still got nothing useful. Of course I doubt Ackerman would have either. But Darren and I got lucky with Ms. Roslin. It's definitely a love affair. She'd just gotten roses from him. She even stopped while we were chatting with her and took a call from him. She was very discrete and they talked for less than a minute, but she blushed like a schoolgirl when she was thanking him for the roses. She's in love. Even that little weasel Doral left her office convinced."

"John and Lissa have split up. He moved into another apartment this week. Lissa has something going on with Dr. Baltar."

Lee realized from Parker's look that he had finally managed to surprise his CO with something. "Isn't love wonderful? I'm glad some people still have time for it. I'm lucky I have an understanding wife."

"Yes, sir."

Parker smiled his thin, humorless smile. "Well it sure looks like Roslin and Gallagher have found it. I'll bet Cavil is crying in his beer over losing the opportunity to charge her with treason. Now, get back to work and find out about Carrie Warner for me."

As Lee went back to his desk in the large room he shared with the other interrogators, he once again thought that he must be doing something right. Parker had just given him official permission to find out more about the green-eyed girl in his dream.

He brought up the standard background check program on his computer, entered Carrie's Colonial ID number, and clicked _Search All_. He knew that searching all the databases would take longer, but it was the only way to get everything Parker had asked for.

While that was running he opened the software that let him access the recorded interviews. Carrie's would not be indexed by her name yet. Someone in the operations center would do that tonight, but Hadrian had shown him how to access the interviews before they were indexed by the subject's name. All he needed to know was the room number and time of the interview.

He watched Carrie's interview four times trying to get a feel for her. From the beginning it was clear that she didn't like Ackerman and he didn't like her. She had a smart mouth just like she'd said. _Bingo on Thursday nights_? Lee seriously doubted Carrie Warner played Bingo every Thursday night. She was making fun of Ackerman. But why? Was it personal or did the key to her whole attitude lie in her last answer before the recording stopped. Was her dislike confined to Ackerman or did she feel that way about the military in general?

_Okay, here's how I really feel. The Cylons were built to serve us. Not the other way around. Just like the military is supposed to serve us. _

She'd put a lot of emphasis on the word _supposed_. The questions now in Lee's mind were not only what had transpired after the recording had stopped, but also exactly what Carrie Warner had meant. Did she think the military was serving the Cylons? Had she said it? Is that what had caused Ackerman to slam her head into the table? Or had something else transpired before he did that.

The database searches were still running. To pass the time until they were finished he pulled up John's interview. It had taken place two days after Lissa's interview, almost a week before John had caught her with Baltar. Hadrian had conducted the interview without Ackerman being present. Lee wondered if she had done that on purpose. He zoned out during the standard questions that he had come to think of as _name, rank and serial number_. It took John about five seconds after that before he turned his charm on Jill Hadrian.

"I don't know why, but I feel like I've been called to the principal's office."

"We're just here to establish some basic facts. How long have you known Lissa Colson?"

"Let's see. I met her three, more like three and a half years ago, but we lost touch. We didn't start seeing each other until about two years ago."

"At which time you started living together?"

John smiled. "Yeah, about then. Speaking of the principal's office, when I was in the seventh grade I had to go to the principal's office because I got caught behind the gym kissing a girl. You remind me a lot of her. Her name was Rebecca. She was the prettiest girl in the seventh grade. I had the biggest crush on her."

Lee rolled his eyes. Surely Hadrian wouldn't fall for that one. Apparently she didn't. Maybe he _had_ sold her short.

"We're not here to discuss events that far in the past, Captain Gallagher."

"Call me John. It'll make it easier for me to answer these personal questions."

"How did you get the injury over your eye, Captain?"

Hadrian didn't call him by his first name, either. Lee had really misjudged her. John was having no luck at all charming her. He knew John had no interest in Jill Hadrian. The whole interview was like a game to John and Hadrian was part of the challenge.

"How is that pertinent to Lissa? She didn't do it."

"Answer the question, please."

"It'll make you think I don't have enough sense to walk and think at the same time. It would really embarrass me to talk about it."

"Give it a shot. How did you get injured?"

"Do you know what happens when you're not paying attention to where you're going and walk into an engine cowling?"

"Tell me how it would look, Captain Gallagher."

"I think it would look very similar to the injury over my eye."

"How often do you and Miss Colson talk about her work?"

"We don't talk about her work."

"You've lived together for two years and you expect me to believe that the two of you have never talked about what she does."

"I know she works in a lab. I know she works for Dr. Baltar. I know she thinks he's a genius. I know their work has something to do with artificial intelligence, and that's all I know. Besides the fact that she signed some kind of confidentiality agreement, Lissa never talks about her work with me because I wouldn't understand it. That stuff is way over my head. You see I never even finished high school. Not many people know that about me. I'm not real proud of it."

Lee was shocked. John had never told him that. He wondered if his father knew. John was clearly very intelligent. He understood exactly what was going on in that lab and it wasn't research into artificial intelligence, either.

Hadrian continued. "Your military record indicates that you were a Viper pilot, which means you went through Flight School and Officer Candidate School at the very least. I'm not aware that they take high-school drop outs into either one of those programs so why do you expect me to believe that?"

"It's probably in my record somewhere, but I'll just tell you and save you the trouble of looking it up. It means going back into the past so I hope you'll bear with me. By the time I was fifteen I'd lost my entire family so I got sent to a foster home. That didn't work out too well. I ran away when I was sixteen, signed onto a fishing trawler, and spent what would have been my last two years of high school learning how to survive on the North Sea of Virgon. And because I was a tall, skinny kid and got picked on a lot, I learned how to use my fists. That was the sum of my education for two years."

"Captain…John, you don't have to go into anything that personal."

For the first time Lee heard Hadrian's tone of voice soften. It wasn't John's good looks and charm that had gotten to her, it was the rough years he'd spent after he'd lost his family.

"No, you asked. I don't mind telling you. Just past my eighteenth birthday I was in port while our ship was undergoing some repairs. I happened to walk by the window of a recruiter and saw a poster with pilots on it. The First Cylon War had been going on for almost nine years by then and we weren't doing too well. I thought, hell, why not? I'd rather die fighting Cylons than go down on a trawler like my daddy and my brothers, so I signed my name and a couple of days later I was on a military transport to Picon. I took a couple of tests and next thing you know, somebody put me in a Viper simulator, and I knew what I'd been born to do. At that point they needed pilots so bad nobody cared that I didn't have a piece of paper showing I knew how to conjugate verbs or use pi to figure the circumference of a circle or whatever else it is they teach you in high school. I could fly a Viper and that's all anybody cared about.

"I went through OCS and then Flight School and six months later I was sitting in a real Viper, getting launched off the _Solaria, _fighting real Cylons. So yeah, I was a Viper pilot. I never did finish high school, though, never learned anything about whatever kind of research it is Lissa was doing in that lab." John smiled. "I guess you could say she's not really interested in me for my mind."

There were a few long moments of silence during which Hadrian apparently decided he was being truthful and moved on.

"What kind of relationship do you have with Laura Roslin?"

"She's an incredibly beautiful and compassionate woman…determined and courageous, too. A lot of people who were in the refugee camps owe their lives to her. I'm a big admirer of hers."

"You didn't answer my question, John."

He smiled. "No offense, Captain, but you just got the only answer you're going to get from me regarding my relationship with Laura."

"So you're not going to admit that you're having an affair with Ms. Roslin?"

"I'm not."

"You're not going to admit it or you're denying having an affair with her?"

"What does my relationship with Laura Roslin have to do with why I'm here? I thought this was about Lissa."

"We're just covering all the bases. So you never discussed Miss Colson's work with Laura Roslin while you were having dinner with her?"

"I was never able to discuss Lissa's work with _anyone_ during dinner or anywhere else because I don't know what it is she does. You can keep me here all day asking me the same questions as many times and as many ways as you want, and I'll be happy to sit here talking to you. But I'll keep giving you the same answers because they're the only ones I've got. Of course after a point I'm going to start thinking you're keeping me here for another reason…Captain. I'm going to start thinking that you just enjoy talking to me. And judging by the way you keep looking at me, I'd be right, wouldn't I?"

Lee saw John smile again, that easy-going, charming smile. He'd decided to finish the game. It had been over for five minutes anyway. He knew John had realized the minute he'd gotten to her. Lee would have given anything to have been able to see the look on Hadrian's face at that moment. He clearly heard the change in her voice, though as she finished the interview and tried to regain the control she had obviously lost.

"You can go, Captain Gallagher. Understand we can and will call you to come back in if we have any more questions."

The recording ended. Lee knew exactly what Parker had meant. They'd learned something about John, but nothing useful for the current situation. And nothing of importance that wasn't already in his military record if anyone had done a thorough check. He'd done exactly like Lee had predicted, too. John hadn't admitted to any kind of intimate relationship with Laura. Yet he hadn't denied it either. He'd played it perfectly. Anyone watching that interview would come to the conclusion that John and Laura were probably intimately involved.

Lee checked his database search. It had finished. Carrie Warner's birth certificate was on file at Central Registry. On March 23 of this year she would be twenty years old. She had a valid Caprican driver's license that would need to be renewed the following year. No criminal record. No traffic violations, moving or otherwise. No utilities in her name which meant they were probably in a roommate's name or a boyfriend's. It was probably the young guy she'd been with that night at Zeno's. No mobile phone registered to her, either. She had a credit card with a small balance from the department store Maximillian's. Her credit history was good so she must make her payments on time.

He found the record of where she had been in the largest of the refugee camps near Antioch. Her parents and a brother and sister were listed as deceased in the bombing. She'd told the truth about that. Then came a big surprise, the only real surprise. Carrie Warner had a gun permit for her job. Why would a motorcycle rider need a gun permit?

Lee accessed his on-line phone directory, got the number for MediFirst and called. After a series of automated transfers he finally reached a dispatcher. When he asked to speak to the person who supervised the motorcycle riders, he was told that Mr. Fisk had already gone home for the day. He looked at his watch. It was almost seven o'clock in the evening. No wonder Fisk was already gone. Lee made an appointment to see him at ten a.m. the next morning. He remembered from the interview that Carrie said she worked three days on and three days off. He wondered if she would be working the next day. He hoped so. For the first time in weeks Lee knew he wouldn't mind getting up in the morning.

...

If Jack Fisk was upset about the cut over her eye, Jared was furious. So was Karl. Kara tried to tell first Jack and then later Karl and Jared that she had been partly responsible, but none of them would listen to her. Fisk told her that no amount of smart-mouthing could ever excuse what the interrogator had done to her. Jared demanded a name. Kara wouldn't tell him. She was afraid he would pass the information along to Frogman and someone would do something to Ackerman. She knew that would just call more attention to something that she shouldn't have started in the first place. If she'd just been nice and answered Ackerman's questions respectfully, none of this would have happened. She just wanted the whole incident forgotten. It was in all of their best interest. She didn't understand why Jared couldn't see that.

She finally had to take the icepack she was holding on her eye and go into her bedroom to get away from him. She lay in the dark on her mattress and thought of Lee Adama…Olliver. She thought of his gentle touch, of the way he worried about hurting her. What would he do if he knew about her? What would he do if he knew what she had done three weeks ago? Would he turn her in? Of course he would. He was in the military, the military that was hunting the resistance.

There was a knock on the door. "Can I come in?" Karl asked.

"Not if you're going to keep fussing at me."

"I'm not."

"Okay."

He opened the door. "Can I turn on the light?"

"No."

He left the door open so he could see in the dim light from the hall. He came over and sat on the foot of the mattress.

"I'm worried about you, Kara."

"I'm all right. You said you weren't going to fuss."

"I'm not. Maggie and I both heard from the Academy today. We go take the test in March, a little over a month."

"Good for you."

"You really sound happy for us."

"How do you expect me to sound? My best friend since I was eight years old is moving on and leaving me behind."

"What do you want me to do, Kara, bag groceries for the rest of my life? You know we'll still see each other. Besides, I might not even pass the test. I might not even get in."

"If that's what you want to do, then I hope it happens. Really, Karl, I do."

"Thanks. Why don't you think about it, too?"

"I can't right now. I'm not old enough. If I ever do that, I'll do it as Kara Thrace, not as Carrie Warner. I'll learn to fly a Viper as Kara Thrace. I'll take my dad's call sign. I'll be Starbuck."

"I understand."

"I met him, Karl. I met Prince Olliver. He's a real person. He has blue eyes like the sky at twilight. And he's a Viper pilot. He has the wings over his heart, the golden wings."

"He's not the one who did that to your eye, is he?"

"No! Gods, no! He's the one who cleaned and bandaged it. But he's in the military."

"So?"

"Don't you understand? He's hunting me…us…the resistance. If I try to get to know him better, then sooner or later he'll figure out what I did. Besides, I can just imagine what would happen if Frogman found out that I was fraternizing with the enemy."

"Who?"

"Mine and Jared's contact, Frogman. Of course he might _want_ me to do it to find out how much the military knows. Then I'd have to make a choice. I'm really mixed up right now. There's something else bugging me, too. That second guy I shot out at the lab, he was another Cylon."

"Are you trying to tell me there's four Cylons? No way."

"The one I shot is the same guy who was in the refugee camp, Leoben. There's another one who runs a bookstore near the University. I went there last week. The one at the bookstore didn't recognize me. He said he'd run the bookstore for six years. He thinks he was raised in an orphanage on Caprica. He said he'd never been to Antioch. He thinks he's a human. If you don't believe me, go by there someday and check him out. I know you'll recognize him."

"Have you told Jared any of this?"

"No! And you can't either. He'll tell Frogman and somebody will go kill him. Promise me."

"I promise. I'm not getting mixed up your resistance stuff. That's between you and Jared."

"I wrote a letter, though. I sent it to Laura Roslin."

"You wrote a letter? Saying what?"

"Just that there was a fourth Cylon. A guy."

"You didn't tell them his name or where to find him?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because I didn't want anybody to do anything to him. He doesn't know what he is. He thinks he's human. He seems nice."

"I don't know, Kara. A Cylon is a Cylon. You should probably have told them who he is."

"I want to talk to him again."

"What could you possibly want to talk to a Cylon about?"

"He seems to know a lot about destiny. I want to talk to him about destiny, that's all."

Maggie walked in. "What are you doing in here with the lights off?"

"Talking," Karl said.

"About what?"

"None of your business," Kara answered.

"You know something Kara, I've had just about enough of your attitude."

Kara sat up. "Would that be my _frak-you_ attitude?"

Karl stood. "That's enough, both of you."

"Whose side are you on?" Maggie asked him.

"I'm not on anybody's side. Why can't you two just get along?"

"Who can get along with her?" Maggie asked him. "She's about an A-1 bitch most of the time. She thinks she's hot stuff because she rides a motorcycle. The only ones she cares about are you and Jared."

"Come on, Maggs, leave it alone."

"No wonder somebody smacked her head into a table. I'm sure she deserved it."

Karl put his arm around Maggie's waist "Let's go. Leave Kara alone."

"Take your hands off me," she snarled. "Take your frakking hands off me."

Karl backed away. "Okay, okay. Take it easy."

"You've always had a thing for her, haven't you? You and Jared both. Eating your hearts out over her and she doesn't care about either one of you. She thinks she's going to meet a _prince_."

"Hey, Maggs," Kara said. "I thought you just said I didn't care about anybody _but_ them. You can't have it both ways."

"Oh, shut up," Maggie said.

"No, I'm not going to shut up. You'll never understand what's between me and Karl because you don't want to understand it. We've been best friends since I was eight years old. That will never change no matter how many times he fraks you."

"Is that right, Karl? Is she your _best friend_?"

"Yeah, she is. She always will be."

"Okay, let's see how you like_ rooming_ with her. I'm moving in with Jared."

Maggie grabbed the pillow off her mattress and stomped out.

"Oh, holy Hera!" Kara said. "This has gone far enough. Go get her. I'll apologize to her just to keep the peace."

"No," Karl said. "No, let her go. I'm tired of walking on eggshells around her all the time where you're concerned. I'm not sure we're going to be a couple much longer. I'm getting really tired of her moods and always having to apologize when something isn't my fault."

Kara lay back down on her mattress. "Won't this seem like old times? Like back in the camp?"

Karl sat down on the edge of the mattress again. "It won't last. She'll be back. Jared snores like a chainsaw."

Kara started laughing. "So do you."

"Do not," Karl said.

"Do too."

"Too bad I don't have a pillow. I'd smack you."

Kara grabbed hers and smacked him. They were on their knees on her mattress, laughing and tugging at her pillow when Jared walked in and turned on the light.

"Maggie's in the bedroom crying. She said she's moving in with me. What the hell is going on?"

Kara and Karl stopped tugging at the pillow and blinked in the brightness.

"Nothing," they both said at the same time and started laughing again.

"I'm living with three nut cases," Jared said as he left the room, "three frakking nut cases."

"And he thinks he's not one?" Kara asked. "We survived the camp. We're all a little crazy."

They laughed again and resumed tugging at the pillow.

Karl was right. When Kara's alarm went off the next morning, Karl was no longer in Maggie's bed. Maggie was back, her face turned toward the wall, a handful of crumpled tissues on the floor beside her.

She guessed that meant that Maggie and Karl hadn't kissed and made up.

...

Laura's private office line rang. She recognized John's mobile number on the caller ID. She picked it up. "Hi."

"Hi to you. Did I catch you at a bad time?"

"No, now is fine. How are you?"

"Good, I'm good. Look, I've got something to tell you and I don't know how to tell you except to say it. Lissa and I aren't together anymore. I've moved out. I'd actually signed a lease a couple of weeks ago, but after the lab burned I stayed because…because I didn't think it would be the right thing to do to leave her then, but it's been over between me and her for a long time, even before I met you, not before I met you, but before we had dinner the first time so I don't want you to think this was your fault. Damn, I'm babbling like an idiot, but you get the picture. So do we…can we…maybe give this thing with us a chance?"

Laura realized that she had been holding her breath. "Then you and I could actually…really…date…for real?"

"I know this might seem like I'm rushing you, but I'd like to take you to dinner Saturday night. Not to Channing's either. Somewhere really nice, not that Channing's isn't nice, but I mean really nice like Bonnie Patrice and I know you have to make reservations…not _you_ have to make them…_I_ have to make them. Sorry, I'm babbling again."

"Oh, John I'd love to have dinner with you Saturday, but I'm going to be in Antioch over the weekend for a symposium. I'm leaving tomorrow. I won't be back until next Thursday. I have a compromise, though, if you're willing. I'd like to invite you to a birthday party next Saturday night."

"A birthday party?"

"Yes. But it's only fair to tell you before you decide that it's black tie."

"Black tie as in a tuxedo?"

"Yes. But please don't let that put you off. There's a nice tailor named Giovanni who has a shop on Third. He used to take care of my father's formal wear. I can call him. I'm sure he'll be glad to…oh, now I feel like I'm babbling."

"Just whose birthday party is this?"

"The President's."

"President Adar?"

"Yes."

"You're asking _me_ to go to the _President's_ birthday party with you?"

"Yes. I'm expected to attend. If you turn me down I'll have to ask Chuck Winters."

"You really do know how to play hard ball, don't you?"

"Is that a yes or a no?"

"What do you think?"

"One word, John." They both laughed.

"Yes, of course I'll go with you. And I can arrange the tuxedo, too. Is this a sit down dinner? Am I going to have to get on the internet and brush up on my etiquette so I'll know which fork to use?"

"No, just drinks and hors d'oeuvres. There will be a band and dancing. I'm sure at some point the chefs will roll out a big cake and we'll sing _Happy Birthday_ to Richard. It's at the Libran Embassy. Eight o'clock. Just come to my apartment about seven forty-five. I'll have a car and driver."

"How many people are going to be there?"

"It's small. About two hundred."

"Two hundred people is _small_?"

"For a presidental party it is."

"You'll know everybody there and I won't know anybody."

"Yes, you will. Bill and Carolanne will be there. Gaius Baltar will probably be there, too."

"Oh, boy. That ought to make things interesting. I should mention that the last time I saw Lissa she was in bed with Baltar. I doubt he'd bring her to the President's birthday party, but you never can tell."

"My gods. What happened?"

" My flight was cancelled. I walked in on them in bed at the apartment."

"And that's why you broke up?"

"No, I'd already leased another place. It was just a bad way to end things. I'd planned to sit down with her and tell her later in the week, but the other thing happened first. I thought you should know since you mentioned Baltar."

"Avoiding Dr. Baltar all evening will not cramp my style. I can assure you."

"I'll feel better staying in the background anyway. Drinking a couple of beers with Lee Adama at McGee's is more my comfort zone."

"John, you'll do fine. We won't stay but a few hours. Then we'll go back to my apartment and I'll let you mix us some of your famous Siren's Kiss."

"I'll be more than happy to do that. Well, I've wasted enough of your time this morning. I'll let you get back to work."

"I'll call you next Thursday night after I get back from Antioch."

"I'll look forward to that call all week. Goodbye, Laura."

"Goodbye, John."

A minute later Adele walked in with the morning mail. Laura was still smiling.

"Would I be right if I guessed that wasn't the colonel?"

"You would."

"The one who sent the roses?"

"Yes. I'm taking him to President Adar's birthday party next Saturday night."

"Do I know this person?"

"No, but I have a feeling you will get to know him."

"I can't wait to meet a man who can make you smile like that."

"Am I smiling?"

"Like a schoolgirl with a crush," Adele said before she left.

Laura absently picked up the mail. On the top was a plain white envelope marked _Personal_ in block letters. Her name and address were printed in a similar fashion. Curious, she slit it with her letter opener. Inside was one sheet of white paper folded in thirds. There were only seven words on the page, also printed in childish block letters, but they sent a chill down her spine.

_There is a 4th Cylon. A man._

Her hand began to shake. She carried the letter and the envelope to the outer office and asked Adele. "Did this come in the regular mail?"

"Everything came in the regular mail this morning. Nothing came by courier. Why?"

She showed the sheet of paper to Adele and Billy. They both looked as stunned as she must have when she opened the letter.

"Do you think this is a joke?" Adele asked.

"We need to call someone," Billy said. "Don't handle it. Put it down on my desk." He got a transparent page protector from his drawer and carefully slid it over the letter.

"Who should we call?" Adele asked.

Laura picked up Billy's phone and punched in Bill Adama's number. When he answered, she said without preamble, "Can you come to my office right now?"

"Nice to hear from you, Laura. What's so urgent?"

"I've got something I think you should see."

Half an hour later Bill stood at Billy's desk looking at the page.

"Whoever sent this didn't give us much, did they?"

"What do you think we should we do with it?" Laura asked him.

"Call Agent Darren. I have his number back at my office."

"I have his business card. He left it when he and Major Parker and Mr. Doral were here last week." She hurried into her office and retrieved the card from her card file.

Bill picked up the phone and punched it in as she read it to him. "Agent Darren, Bill Adama. Can you come over to Laura Roslin's office as soon as possible? We've got something you should see."

"You don't think this a joke, do you?" Laura asked him after he hung up.

"No, I don't."

"Why me? Why do you think someone sent this to me?"

"That I don't know."

Billy said, "A lot of people know your name because of what you did for the refugee camps. You just got the Ketterov Humanitarian Award a couple of weeks ago. Your name and picture have been in the newspapers again."

Bill nodded. "He's got a point. It may simply have been an attempt to bring this to someone's attention and your name was picked because it was known."

"Are you going to tell the President?" Billy asked her.

"Absolutely."

"Cavil?"

"Absolutely not."

Bill said, "For now, let's keep this to as few people as possible. I think we should turn the letter and envelope over to Agent Darren. Let him see what his forensic team can come up with and go from there."

"How could someone recognize another Cylon? There are no tests to identify a Cylon," Laura said.

"I can think of a reasonably sure test," Bill answered her. "When you kill one, another copy shows up to take its place."

The impact of what he had just said was like a small grenade detonating in the room.

"Connect the dots for us, Bill," Laura finally said. "There's a piece of information you have that we're missing."

"This is being kept away from the press and the public at the moment," he said. "I don't need to tell any of you to keep it quiet. The night that lab was destroyed, there were also two men shot and killed, the Cylon doctor Simon and another unidentified male. A new copy of Simon was brought down from their basestar before the end of the next day."

Laura's eyes met Bill's. "Oh, dear gods. You think the other man might have been a Cylon as well, don't you?"

"I didn't until you got this letter. Our mystery man was at a Cylon lab with a Cylon doctor. No one knows how he got in. All personnel, including the guards, were accounted for. Cavil had his centurions take both bodies before any of Darren's men could take a look at them. It makes perfect sense now to think he was another Cylon."

Billy grasped what the commander was thinking before either Laura or Adele. "You think someone saw the second guy after he was shot that night and then saw him somewhere later and he was alive again."

"Either saw him after he was shot," Bill said, "or shot him. The terrorist or terrorists who blew up that lab weren't alone. There was a sniper on the hill above the lab with a high-powered rifle, an expert marksman."

Laura looked at the letter. "Then why not tell us who this other Cylon is?"

"Maybe he doesn't know a name," Adele said. "Maybe he was just an anonymous face in a crowd, on a subway car or on the street."

"Or maybe," Billy said, "maybe he knows him and for some reason is protecting him."

"Then why tell us at all?" Laura asked.

"There are some people who say that the terrorists, or resistance as some call them, are the biggest patriots on the planet. There are some who think we're the traitors for working with the Cylons…even though we're doing it to keep the planet from being destroyed."

"Well, whoever sent that letter has given us a riddle to solve, hasn't he?" Laura asked.

"Indeed he has. Who would shoot and kill one copy of a Cylon and then protect another copy?" Bill mused. "A riddle it is."

"You know," Billy said, "this is going to sound sexist, but that just doesn't sound like something a guy would do, kill one and protect another."

In the silence that followed his remark, Laura had a fleeting memory…a girl with a slingshot in one of the refugee camps and an aim so deadly it had impressed even her Marine guards. Another memory briefly surfaced as well. The girl had John Gallagher's green eyes. That's where she had seen his eyes before, the girl in the camp. She would have to think about that later. Right now there were more important issues. The young girl in the camp was certainly not the marksman on the hill, but that led her to another thought.

She voiced it as a question. "Is it possible, then, that your shooter was a woman?"

"Anything is possible," Bill said. "I seriously doubt that the resistance is a boy's only club."

The door to the outer office opened and Agent Darren walked in. "Hello, everyone. This looks serious."

"About as serious as you can get," Bill said. "Come take a look." He picked up the letter in its plastic sleeve and handed it to Darren.

Darren read it. "Holy Hera," he said. "Wait until Parker sees this. I can hear him now."

_What the hell is going on_?

TBC…


	26. The Prince and the Virgin

Chapter 26

The Prince and the Virgin

_After discovering that the polar regions of Tauron were free of the radiation that had poisoned the rest of the planet, Cavil approved a mission of Colonials and Cylons to access the viability of reopening the tylium mines since Caprica's own tylium resources were limited. Specially modified centurions were programmed to do the heavy work, but humans were needed to run the equipment and keep it maintained. President Adar refused to force anyone to undertake the dangerous assignment, but Tom Zarek volunteered to get enough men from the prison population if they were all granted pardons. Against all advice, Cavil accepted his offer. _

_-Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War_

Jack Fisk's secretary showed Lee Adama to the door of Fisk's office.

"Lieutenant Lee Adama to see you, Mr. Fisk," she said.

Fisk stood up and reached over his desk. He shook Lee's hand. "Have a seat, lieutenant. I hope you're here to apologize for what one of your men did to Carrie yesterday."

"Yes, sir. I very much regret what one of my colleagues did. His actions were inexcusable."

"Damn right they were."

"Is Miss Warner here today?"

"Black eye and all. I can't keep her off that bike. She's my best rider."

"Might I ask why she has a gun permit for her job? Doesn't she deliver medicine on a motorcycle?"

"She does, but she also rides shotgun on one of my trucks during morning deliveries to the clinics. On pickups in the afternoon, too. They go into some very rough neighborhoods. After a couple of attempted robberies I had to add guards. They carry guns with rubber bullets. Carrie picks up extra in her paycheck for doing that."

"Where did she qualify for the permit?"

"Taggert's Gun Range outside of town. It's the only one that can issue permits now." Lee made a note.

"You said she's your best rider. Have you ever had any problems with her?"

"Not one. In fact I had to make her take some vacation a couple of weeks ago. She never asks for days off. She's always on time. She loves riding that bike. She rides without a complaint in all kinds of weather. She's never refused to take an extra shift. A guy couldn't ask for a better employee. Is something wrong that you're asking these questions?"

"I'm just following up on what happened yesterday. I've got to make a report to my CO because of her pulling a knife on her interrogator."

"So that's what happened. She didn't want to tell me the whole story. All I can say is that if she did that, he deserved it. I took a look at the cut. Are you the one who bandaged it?"

"Yes, sir."

"You did a good job."

"I was afraid it needed stitches."

"The butterflies closed it fine. The bruise doesn't look very pretty but the cut should heal without much of a scar."

"One last question and then we're done. Have you ever seen anything to make you believe that Miss Warner uses drugs?"

This brought a laugh from Fisk. "She wouldn't be riding a bike for me if I thought that."

"I wonder if I might speak with her in private before I leave. I need to ask her a few more questions since her interview wasn't finished yesterday."

Jack Fisk picked up the phone. "Denise, where's Carrie? Okay. Bring her back here when she's through and tell her to come to my office." He hung up. "My dispatcher says Carrie's just finishing a run to a clinic down on Sixteenth Street. That's not far. She'll be back here in ten minutes, maybe less."

"I appreciate your cooperation."

Fisk looked at him. "Adama. Any kin to Commander William Adama?"

"My father."

"Son of a gun. I served with your dad years ago on board the _Galactica_. At the end of the First War I transferred to the _Pegasus_. He's advising the President now, isn't he?"

"He is. But I think he'd rather be commanding his battlestar."

"I miss the service, too, sometime. If I'd stayed in I would have probably made colonel by now, but under the circumstances…" he shrugged. "I see you're a Viper pilot like your old man."

Lee smiled. "Trying to be. I got volunteered for the job I'm doing now. It's not my first choice. I was flying once a week until that lab got destroyed. Now all we're doing is this crazy manhunt, interviewing every motorcycle owner and rider in Caprica City."

"My oldest daughter graduates from high school this year. She said something about going to the Academy and training to be a pilot. I hate to admit it, but I've been trying to discourage her."

For the next five or six minutes Lee tried to convince Jack Fisk that he should encourage his daughter. He told her that they needed all the pilots they could train. Fisk felt like all things considered, it was a waste of her potential.

Carrie appeared suddenly in the doorway of Fisk's office. She was wearing the black leather pants and jacket, although the jacket was unzipped. She still had on her gloves. Her hair was in a messy ponytail. She was carrying her helmet. A fresh bandage was over the cut, and the area around her eye was bruised just like Fisk had said.

"Hey, Boss, Denise said you wanted to…see me. Oh…hi, Lieutenant Adama. Out here applying for a job?"

Lee stood up. "Hello, Miss Warner. How are you?"

"Fine." She looked at Jack. "Is something wrong?"

"No. Lieutenant Adama came by to apologize and to check on you. He wants to talk to you before he leaves."

"Oh. Okay."

"Come in and sit down. I'm going down the hall to get a cup of coffee. Ten minutes, Lieutenant?"

"That should be enough. Thank you, Mr. Fisk."

Kara was suddenly conscious of her messy hair. "The helmet," she said. She pulled the elastic off her pony tail. "And call me Carrie. Nobody ever calls me Miss Warner…except Sergeant Ackerman. I don't want to be reminded of him"

"I'll call you Carrie if you'll call me Lee," he said. "The swelling has gone down."

"What?"

"Your eye. It doesn't look swollen today."

"Oh, yeah. I put ice on it last night like you said."

"I just want to tell you how sorry I am about what Sergeant Ackerman did."

"It was mostly my fault. I should have kept my mouth shut."

"Could I ask you to tell me exactly what happened yesterday? I looked at the recording of your interview. What happened after your told Ackerman that the military is supposed to serve us?"

"He turned off the machine."

"I gathered that."

"Then he asked me who I thought the military was serving and I told him I thought you were serving the Cylons."

"And then he slammed your head into the table?"

"Not then. It wasn't until I made a comment about his job involving bending over every day for some Cylon…only I think I said metal motherfrakker."

"Lords of Kobol."

"I shouldn't have said anything. I just resented being called in and questioned when all I'm trying to do is earn a living. I mean just because I ride a motorcycle I'm suddenly being looked at like a criminal. The criminals are those Cylons who are calling the shots on Caprica."

"I _can_ see it from your point of view, Carrie. I don't care for the Cylons, either. Believe it or not, neither does Ackerman. None of us do. We're not doing this because we want to."

"But you're in the military. You're co-operating with them."

"Believe me. The alternative would be a lot worse, and I joined the military to fly a Viper."

"I've always wanted to fly a Viper."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Then you should put in an application to the Academy. I was just telling Mr. Fisk that we need all the pilots we can get."

"That's what one of my roommates told me."

"Girls or guys?"

"One girl, two guys."

"I guess one guy is the spare?" He smiled.

"No. I was joking about that. We were all in the refugee camp together. One of the guys is my best friend since I was eight years old." She realized she was getting near the limit of what she should tell him.

"And the other guy?"

"Sort of a boyfriend. Mostly a roommate."

"What is _sort of a boyfriend_?"

"He likes me more than I like him."

"Is he the one you were with at Zeno's that night?"

"Yeah."

"But it's not a committed relationship?"

Kara shrugged. "Not for me. What about you?"

"Not even the hint of a girlfriend at the moment. Look, I want to ask you for a date, but until we get this thing cleared up about what Ackerman did, I really can't. But if you just happened to be at Zeno's Saturday night, I don't think I'd get in trouble if I sat down and talked to you."

"Maybe I can manage that. I'm not making any promises."

"I understand. Oh, here," he took the switchblade out of his pocket, "I think this is yours."

"Thanks. I didn't think I'd ever see that again." She leaned over and slid it into her boot. "Never can tell when I might need to threaten some guy's love life with it."

"Is that what you did to Ackerman?"

She grinned and nodded.

"Damn, no wonder he was so crazy mad. I thought you'd just threatened to cut his throat or something."

"Most guys don't value their throats near as much as they value their…you know." She realized she was starting to blush. What was wrong with her?

Jack Fisk came to the door. "Finished?"

"I believe we are. Thank you, Carrie, for talking to me."

"Sure, lieutenant…I mean Lee."

"And thank you, Mr. Fisk, for giving me the opportunity."

Kara watched Lee walk out of the office.

Fisk sat down at his desk. "Somebody's got a little crush."

"Yeah, I think he does."

Fisk grinned. "I wasn't talking about him."

"You really think you know me, don't you? He asked me to meet him at Zeno's Saturday night, but I don't know if I should do it or not."

"Do you want to?"

"Yeah."

"I don't know, Carrie. Just be aware that there may be a…conflict of interest with this other thing you're involved in. At some point you may have to make a choice. Just keep that in mind…before you go falling head over heels in love with him."

"That won't happen. And thanks, Jack. I can always count on you to keep me straight. A beer and some conversation, that's all. I don't see anything wrong with that."

"It's not always that easy, Carrie. Something else you should know about him. His father is Commander William Adama. He used to command a battlestar. He's now an advisor to the President. I guess you could say Lieutenant Adama is well connected. You've got more than yourself and him to think about when it comes to Lee Adama."

"Wow." _He really was like Olliver. Sort of like the son of a god._

"I just thought you should know. Now get back on that bike. You've planned enough of your social life on company time." He smiled.

"Sure thing, Boss. Hey, you should know I can't fall in love with a guy. I'm already in love with the bike."

"Get out of here," Fisk laughed.

...

Lee left MediFirst and drove to Taggert's Gun Range outside of Caprica City. The instructor who always conducted the classes on the rubber bullet guns said he didn't remember a Carrie Warner. When Lee pointed out that he had issued a gun permit to her in the last month, he still shook his head.

"I issue a lot of those permits."

"She's young, blond, very attractive."

"Yeah, maybe. There was a young blond in one of my classes about a month ago. She must have qualified or I wouldn't have issued the permit. I don't remember anything specific about her though."

"Thank you," Lee said. "That's all I need to know." His gut told him that the instructor remembered more about Carrie Warner than he was saying, but he didn't push it. He'd gotten the answer he hoped for. The answer he wanted to report to Major Parker.

He was ready now to get back to the base and write his report. Carrie Warner was a good employee. There was nothing in her behavior to indicate that she used drugs. Fisk was sure of it. As Parker had said, the sooner they put this to bed, the better. Maybe it would be settled before the weekend. He knew that he would be at Zeno's on Saturday night whether it was settled or not. Maybe he was going to get a real chance with Carrie Warner, the hot blond in the tight black jeans, the green-eyed girl in his dream.

...

"I can't believe you volunteered to work on a Saturday night," Jared said as Kara started to leave the apartment.

"I'm just covering until midnight. I'll be home before one. Don't wait up for me. What are you doing tonight?"

"Nothing I guess. I had thought we might go out."

"I'll make it up to you. We'll go out tomorrow night. I don't have to work Monday. I've got to get going."

"Be careful."

"I'm always careful."

She took the subway to work and went to her locker. She felt bad about lying to Jared. She should have told him that she was meeting someone, but she was afraid he would freak out or worse yet, follow her. If he found out that Lee Adama was in the military, she didn't know what he would do. Right now this was the only way she knew to handle the situation.

She keyed in the combination and opened her locker. Inside were a new pair of jeans and a dark green sweater still in the bag from Maximillian's. She took the bag into the women's restroom, stripped off the tight black jeans and black turtleneck and put on the new jeans and sweater. She pulled the elastic off her ponytail and brushed her hair. She couldn't believe how nervous she suddenly felt.

Even the walk to the subway and the ride to the station near Zeno's didn't calm her down. It was almost as bad as the night they'd blown up the lab.

Despite the fact that Lee was wearing jeans and a dark blue Academy sweatshirt, she spotted him as soon as she walked through the door. He was sitting near one end of the bar and was watching a pyramid game. She slid onto the seat beside him. She had thought of what she was going to say to him for two days now.

"Hey, flyboy, could I buy you a drink?" Oh, gods, it sounded trite and dumb when she said it out loud to him. She wished she'd said something else…anything else.

The look on his face when he turned to look at her was worth it, though. Shock and surprise…and then genuine pleasure. It was all there in his blue eyes.

"You…really showed up."

"You didn't think I was going to?"

"No. Does your sort-of-a-boyfriend know where you are?"

"He thinks I'm at work. I'm moving out. I'm saving right now to get my own place."

The bartender came over to her. He asked for her ID and she thought of the last time she'd handed it to him. She had been talking to a guy named Zak. She handed it to him face up this time, ordered a beer and told him to bring Lee another one.

"How's your investigation of me going?"

"I got everything settled with my CO yesterday. You came up clean in all the database checks. You've got a clean work record. Major Parker said to close the book on you."

"What did Sergeant Ackerman say?"

"He's been off the last two days. Some much needed vacation. He won't be happy when he gets back on Monday and you're not behind bars, but that's tough."

"Being off a couple of days isn't going to help him. He needs a few months of intensive therapy. He's really on the edge."

"Ackerman takes his work too seriously. We've all been under the gun about what happened at that lab."

"Bad, huh?" Kara had trouble looking at him as she said it.

Lee shrugged. "It's consumed my life for weeks. I haven't been in a Viper since it happened. I really miss flying."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. I was on vacation for a week and I really missed being on the bike. I like speed. I know I ride too fast."

"You'd like launching off a battlestar in a Viper. Zero to two hundred in three seconds."

Kara glanced at the door. Frogman had just come in with a woman, his wife she assumed.

"Oh, frak."

"What?"

"That guy who just walked in works with my, uh, roommate-boyfriend. I can't let him see me. He'll tell Jared." That wasn't the only reason she didn't want Frogman to see her. Lee was so clean-cut that she was sure Frogman would recognize him as military even if he didn't notice the Academy sweatshirt.

"What do you want to do?" Lee asked.

"Get out of here."

"We could go to my place. It's two blocks away."

"Yeah, anywhere but here."

As they slid off the barstools, Lee put his arm around her and pulled her close to keep himself between the man and woman she had just indicated. When they got to the door, he dropped his arm and opened it for her.

"I hope you didn't mind."

His arm around her had felt good. It had felt right. Kara took a deep breath. "No, that's fine. Thanks."

They walked the two blocks to his apartment and rode the elevator up to the eighth floor.

"Nice," she said when they were inside. She noted the neutral colors and clean lines of the furniture. "Very simple and…very masculine. It's a guy's place."

"It's not much."

"Yes it is. Our place is mostly furnished with junk. We got some of it off the street so it was free so I shouldn't complain. Your stuff us all nice and new."

"Uh, you want something to drink? I think I've got a couple of beers."

"Do you have any ambrosia?"

"If my brother didn't finish it. He stayed with me for a few days last week. He got kicked out of school for cheating on a test."

"Is your brother named Zak?"

Lee was stunned. "How could you possibly know that? Have you been checking up on _me_?"

"I was sitting at the bar in Zeno's talking to him when you called. He was very down on himself about getting kicked out of the Academy."

"So you were the beautiful blond?"

Kara shrugged.

"I wanted to kick his butt for being so stupid," Lee said. "Getting caught cheating on a test. There's just never any excuse for something like that."

"Cheating or getting caught?"

"Cheating. He was flunking Colonial History. That was his excuse."

"What did your father do?"

"What could he do? Cheating is an offense that even someone in my father's position can't _fix_…not that he would have done anything like that...even though he did pull some strings to get Zak in the Academy."

"Why? Zak told me he didn't want to go there in the first place."

"You'd have to know my dad. He thought the military would straighten Zak out and give him sense of purpose."

"Did he throw Zak out of the house?"

"No, of course not. He was just disappointed. He blames himself for not being around much when Zak and I were young. Mom cried a lot and blamed herself for talking him into going to the Academy. She was around when Zak and I were growing up, but she…she had her share of problems. My family is definitely on the dysfunctional side."

"At least you've got a family."

"I sound like I'm not grateful for that, but I am."

"What's Zak going to do now?"

"He's talked about joining the Marines or trying out for a professional soccer team. Right now he's working part-time at Bull's Eye selling sporting goods and athletic equipment. I really don't think he knows what he wants to do."

"Zak told me that he loves you."

Lee was surprised. "He didn't sound that drunk."

"He wasn't. He said he was sorry for saying something about your girlfriend. He told me about the fight, too."

"It sounds like he told you our whole family history."

Kara shrugged. "He was trying to pick me up."

"I don't doubt that. Zak's very successful with girls."

Kara grinned. "Like his big brother?"

"I can't hold a candle to Zak in that regard. He wrote the book. Come on. Let me check on that ambrosia." They went into the kitchen and Lee got the bottle from the cabinet over the refrigerator. "He left me just enough for two glasses."

"I guess he didn't want you getting any girls drunk and taking advantage of them."

Lee smiled. "That's not my style."

"What is your style?"

He shrugged. "I'm not really sure. It's been a long time since I've even been on a date. Zak and I are polar opposites in that regard. He probably hasn't gone two days without getting laid…sorry, without a date since he was sixteen. If he'd put as much effort into his schoolwork as he did into getting girls, he'd have finished at the top of his class."

"Like you did."

"He told you that, too, I guess."

He poured equal amounts of the ambrosia in each glass then handed one to her.

"To flying a Viper," she said and raised her glass.

"To riding a motorcycle," he said. He touched his glass to hers.

"Fisk told me your father advises the President."

"Since right after the negotiations. I've seen him more in the last three years than I did the whole time I was growing up. Before we lost to the Cylons, he was commanding the _Galactica_. That's what he'd really like to be doing instead of advising the President."

"Is there any chance your father might get to go back to his battlestar?"

"Maybe…if we ever fight the Cylons again. But before we could do that, we'd need fuel and ammunition, missiles, bullets, all the stuff the Cylons took away and have locked in our armories under heavy centurion guard. Getting to any of it would be impossible without the very stuff we'd be going after."

"I don't know. There's usually a way if you want something bad enough. Are you following in your father's footsteps, then? Is Lee Adama going to command a battlestar someday? Or advise the President?"

"I haven't thought that far ahead. Right now I just want to fly a Viper. The Cylons are seriously hampering that career, though, ever since those terrorists or the resistance or whatever you want to call them destroyed their lab."

"Those…people who destroyed that lab, they're still fighting the Cylons. The war isn't over for them."

"Yeah, well, they sure made my life hell for the last couple of weeks."

"Why do you think they burned that particular lab?" She asked, curious about how much he knew.

Lee turned up his drink. "I can't talk about that. I'm sorry. Let's talk about you."

"Me? I'm not that interesting."

"Are you kidding? I don't know a single other girl who rides a motorcycle like she was born on it. I don't know a single other girl who rides a motorcycle period. I really don't know that many girls."

"What about the black chick who was trying to pick you up that night at Zeno's?"

"I used to date her roommate who is the girl Zak and I got into the fight over. I mean not over her, over something he said about her. She dumped me, wrote me a letter while I was on the _Triton_. That's another battlestar. I spent a year on the _Triton,_ and Blaire, that's her name, just couldn't wait for me. Do you know who Laura Roslin is?"

Kara was suddenly a little wary. "How would I know her?"

"She's the Secretary of Education."

"I know who she is. She's not a personal friend of mine."

"Blaire is dating her aide Billy now."

"Oh. Is that why you were getting drunk that night?"

"It was a stupid thing to do. So tell me more about Carrie Warner."

She told him the last piece of Carrie Warner's story that she knew.

"There's not much to tell. After my parents died I spent almost three years in the big refugee camp near Antioch. That's where I met my roommate-boyfriend. He has a cousin who's the girl that lives with us. And the other guy is my best friend since I was eight and he was nine. He's like my brother. I mean like my brother was. My brother was named Stephan. He was really good-looking."

"Was the camp bad?"

"It wasn't good. I almost got raped once. The worst time was when the flu went through the camp. My best friend almost died. There was a girl I knew. She died. A lot of other people died, too. The rats got really bad after that. I used to shoot them with a slingshot. Most of the time there was enough food but not always, and it wasn't that great. Sometimes the bread was stale. Sometimes it was moldy. My friend and I used to pick out the mold spots and roll them into little balls. We'd build…we'd build these little pyramids on the table…stupid little pyramids of moldy bread balls. Our clothes were somebody's cast-offs, even the underwear. I was glad when we got to leave and come here."

Lee felt something break inside him when he heard her talk about the camp in a voice devoid of emotion. He couldn't imagine what she'd been through.

"Is that why you hate the Cylons so much?"

"I hate the Cylons because they're responsible for both my parents being dead and my roommates' parents, too. They're all dead because of the Cylons."

"I was on my father's battlestar when they attacked. I thought we were going to die. I thought all of us were going to die. We lost so many pilots during those three days of fighting. So many."

"But you still became a Viper pilot."

"My father was a Viper pilot and my best friend was a Viper pilot."

Kara sipped the ambrosia. "Do you think you'll ever fight the Cylons?"

"I hope so."

"Aren't you afraid of dying?"

"Ialmost died a couple of years ago. When I was in the deep space simulator, my suit started leaking. I spent twelve hours in a decompression chamber. That's where I first saw you."

"_Me_? You saw _me_?"

Lee wasn't sure why he'd told her that because he was sure she would think he was crazy, but he went ahead. "My dad and my best friend told me I was hallucinating, but I saw you. You were so real. I know it was a dream, but it seemed so real to me. When I saw you in the hall this week, I couldn't believe it. You were the girl in my dream come to life."

"I've never been called anybody's dream before."

Lee drank the rest of his ambrosia. He couldn't look at her. "While I was in the decompression chamber, you kissed me."

Kara smiled. "Was it good?"

"The best kiss I ever had."

She drank the rest of her ambrosia. "I've been looking for you for a long time…ever since I was thirteen and I read a book about a prince with blue eyes and wings over his heart." She wasn't sure why, but it seemed like Lee Adama was suddenly blurry. She finally realized that her eyes were filling with tears. "And I was his emerald-eyed princess. That's why I waited…for you I should have known…wings over your heart…I should have known you'd be a pilot. I should have realized you'd be in the military. I sound like I'm crazy, don't I? Maybe all of us who survived the camp are a little crazy."

Lee looked at her green eyes filling with tears. He could hardly breathe. A prince? This beautiful girl thought he was a prince? And then her words caught up with him. "What do you mean you _waited_ for me?"

She blinked. The tears spilled over and she hastily brushed them away. "What do you think I mean?"

"Waited…as in…but you said you have a boyfriend, you're living with him."

"I didn't say I was sleeping with him."

"You mean you're a…a…you're telling me you're a…"

"A virgin. So big deal. Why do guys have such a hard time saying that word?"

Lee swallowed. Carrie Warner, the hot blond in the tight black jeans, the hot blond with the confident walk and the frak-you attitude and the smart mouth and the toughness, who rode a motorcycle like she was born on it and who had survived the hell of a refugee camp, the hot blond was a virgin. As hard as he tried, he couldn't reconcile the two images.

Kara managed to smile. "Thanks for the drink. I can see I've really freaked you out. I'll be going now." She turned to leave the kitchen.

"No, wait," Lee said. He sat his empty glass on the counter beside hers and took three steps. He grasped her arm. "Don't go. Please, don't leave, please." He pulled her to him and put his arms around her. "This is crazy. I just met you and I feel like I've known you for years. You've been with me…ever since I almost died. I've known you were out there somewhere."

Olliver…Lee Adama really _was_ Olliver. He _was_ her destiny. It didn't matter to her right now that he was in the military. All that mattered was that he was Olliver and she was his princess. She was in his arms and tonight this was how it was meant to be. She slipped her arms around his neck and turned her face up to his. They weren't in an exotic garden at twilight, but this was how it was meant to be. She knew the moment his mouth met hers that he had always been her destiny.

The kiss was everything she had dreamed it would be, gentle as a whisper, almost hesitant at first, and then as he felt her response it deepened. Oh, gods, Lee Adama knew how to kiss. Her body, barely touching his in the beginning, seemed to melt against his without any effort on her part. The kiss deepened again as lips and tongues melded.

She had waited for him for a reason. There was only one way this night was going to end for them.

Lee was shaking. He wanted to pull her clothes off and devour her, right there, right that minute, but he knew he couldn't. He had to do this gently. He had to take his time. Slowly, though, and by degrees, by kisses and then by touches, he realized that Carrie Warner might be a virgin, but she wasn't entirely inexperienced. Her knowledge coupled with her innocence was like an added aphrodisiac to him.

They left a trail of clothes as they progressed from the kitchen to his bedroom until they were finally naked on his bed. She was the beautiful, green-eyed girl in his dream, the girl who had given him the gift of love with her kiss, and he wanted her more than he'd ever wanted anyone in his life. And yet at the moment she was ready for him, when her hands and lips and whispered words were urging him to complete the act they had started, he hesitated.

At first Kara couldn't understand Lee's hesitation and then she understood it completely. In the end she was the one who pushed him onto his back and straddled him like she did the bike. He tried to say her name but she leaned over him and put her mouth on his. It wasn't Carrie Warner's name she wanted on his lips at this moment. She was awkward, but she managed to accomplish what he had hesitated to do.

The sharp intake of her breath was involuntary. She stopped and held herself still as she grew accustomed to this new feeling, not quite pain this first time, but not quite pleasure either.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Lee said. "I didn't want to hurt you. I don't want to…hurt you. I would…never…hurt you."

"I know you wouldn't." Kara kissed him again. He was Olliver. She knew he would never hurt her. That's why he had hesitated, but when it came to love, someone had to be the first and for her it was Olliver. She was so ready that she didn't have to move much after that and then it was better than anything she had ever felt before in her life.

Lee tried to wait. He really tried, but this beautiful green-eyed girl had wrapped herself around him, had taken him in all her innocence, and he had waited for her for so long that he couldn't wait any longer. He shut his eyes and surrendered to the feeling. The only thing that even remotely compared to it was the way he felt when he launched in his Viper off a battlestar…the hot, sweet rush of adrenalin when the G-force pinned him against the seat and took his breath before the catapult flung him on that wildest of rides into the stars.

Afterward he couldn't hold her close enough. He couldn't stop gently stroking her hair. He must be doing something right to have found the girl in his dream like this, to have her here in his arms, to be the first man she had ever let love her like this.

"I want to take you out on a date, somewhere nice, next weekend, next Saturday night, a real date. I want you to meet my best friend and my family."

Kara realized as soon as he said those words what she was going to have to do. There was one thing that no amount of wishing could change. They were on different sides. It would never work. They weren't Olliver and Esmari. As much as she wanted them to be, they weren't. They were Lee and Kara and they were on different sides. The military was helping the Cylons. The resistance was fighting them. She reached deep inside herself, to the toughness she had developed early in life and honed to razor sharpness in the camp. She found the strength that had let her say goodbye to her mother and her father and then to Connelly.

"I can't see you again," she said softly.

"What?"

"I can't see you again. I can't. I'm sorry."

"Why? Your boyfriend? Are you afraid he'll find out? Are you afraid of him? Is that why?"

"I can't see you again because I'm the one you're looking for. It was me on the motorcycle that night. I'm in the resistance."

"I don't believe it. You're making it up. You're just telling me that because you don't want to tell me the real reason."

"I was on the hill above the lab that night. I had a high-powered rifle. I shot two men. One of them was the Cylon doctor. I shot out five security lights to cover my guys' escape. And if that doesn't convince you…" She took his hand and put his fingers over the newly-healed scar on the side of her leg. "…here's where that guard shot me with a twenty-two pistol. You're either going to have to take me in or let me go. If you let me go, we can't see each other again because we're on opposite sides. If you take me in, then we won't see each other again because the Cylons will torture me for what I know, which is nothing, and then they'll execute me. So either way we won't see each other again."

Lee was so stunned that for a long time he couldn't speak.

"What was tonight then?" He finally asked.

"Destiny. Fate. Whatever you want to think it was."

"I don't believe this. I don't frakking believe it."

"Tonight was a dream, Lee. Your dream…my dream. That's all it was…dreams. I thought…I thought…maybe…but then I knew it would never work. Sooner or later I'll get caught…or killed. If we're seeing each other when that happens, your career is over, maybe even your life. You won't be flying a Viper anymore. That's certain. And if the resistance finds out we're seeing each other, they'll either kill me or want to use me to get information from you. I would never be able to do that to you. Can't you understand why this won't work? Just remember tonight as a dream. It'll be easier that way."

"Easier? You think that makes it easier?"

"Are you going to take me in?"

"No."

"Then I've got to go."

"I guess you think what you're doing is right. You'd never consider giving it up."

"I believe in what I'm doing. The war's not over for me. It won't ever be as long as there's a Cylon on Caprica."

"You believe that killing people is right?"

"Killing Cylons is right. Keeping them from making half-Cylon, half-human babies is right. Doing anything I can to stop them is right."

"And walking out of here tonight is brave and noble? There's something between us, something strong. You know it. I think you're taking the easy way out. I think you're a coward."

"A coward? Somebody cut that bullet out of me without any anesthetic."

"There's more than one kind of cowardice."

"Maybe."

"What if I'm willing to take the chance?"

"I'm not. You're right. There is something strong between us and I could never let you risk your life to be with me. I'm sorry. It was just a dream, Lee."

He didn't say anything else to her as she got up and gathered her clothes. He lay staring at the ceiling in the dim light. He heard the bathroom door close and later open. He heard the door to his apartment open and click shut. And then he heard only silence and the sound of his own heart.

A long time later he got up and went into the bathroom and stepped into the shower. He washed away all traces that he had been with the green-eyed girl in his dream, with the resistance fighter who spoke of killing in the same emotionless voice she spoke of being in the refugee camp, with the hot blond virgin who wasn't a virgin any more, the proof of which he had just washed from his body. But there was one place that the hot water and soap couldn't touch, one place he couldn't wash her out of and that was his heart. Somewhere deep inside he knew things weren't over for them. He had to believe that Fate wouldn't bring her to him like it had and then snatch her away again. She was a terrorist, but she was also the green-eyed girl in his dream. There _was _a way for them to be together. He wouldn't let himself believe otherwise. He just had to find that way.

...

Kara made it back to MediFirst by concentrating on other things, the number of cracks in the sidewalk, the piece of newspaper that the wind picked up and blew against the curb in front of her, the rumble of traffic on the street beside her and then in the subway tunnel. She took the black jeans and turtleneck from her locker and went into the restroom and changed clothes. She thought she was doing fine until she looked into the mirror to pull her hair back into a ponytail again. She actually thought she was doing fine until she looked into the reflection of her father's eyes.

"You would have liked him, Daddy," she whispered to the mirror. "He's a Viper pilot like you were." And then she fell apart.

She sat on the floor of the restroom, wrapped her arms around her knees and cried. She cried like she had never cried before. She cried the tears she had held inside for so long. She cried for her lost childhood and for the old couple who had killed themselves back at the stone house and for Carrie Warner who had died from the flu. She cried for the dead Viper pilot whose wedding ring she wore on a chain around her neck. She cried for Jared because he loved her and she would never love him like he wanted her to. She cried because her best friend was going to the Academy in the fall and leaving her behind. She cried for her mother's brave and useless death on Picon and for her father's sacrifice that had saved her and for the way Hugh Connelly had broken her childish heart.

But most of all she cried because she loved Lee Adama and she couldn't be with him. She loved a man who should be her enemy but wasn't, who should have arrested her tonight but didn't, who was a gentle and giving lover and who was willing to risk his career, even his life to be with her and whom she had walked out on because she loved him too much to let him take that chance.

She cried until no more tears would come, until she felt dazed and empty and years older, then she got up, washed her face in cold water without looking in the mirror and walked to the subway entrance. She carefully pulled her toughness back around her as she walked through the night and locked her love for her handsome, blue-eyed prince into a safe place in her heart, a place no other man would ever claim. She tried to imagine a time when the war would be over, when there would be no more Cylons on Caprica, a time when she could be with him without fearing their love would cost him his life.

Lee Adama was right. There _was_ more than one kind of cowardice. But there was more than one kind of courage, too.

TBC…


	27. Dance With Me

Chapter 27

Dance With Me

_In a move that was no surprise to President Adar's inner circle, the Libran ambassador to Caprica did not invite any Cylons to the party he hosted for the President's fiftieth birthday. The ambassador, whose wife and two young sons were on Libran when the Cylons destroyed the planet, was well-known for his caustic comments about Cavil and his refusal to acknowledge the Cylons at any official function. Adar's willingness to attend the birthday party was seen by his associates as his first act of defiance against the Cylons. It was later revealed that Adar had already decided not to seek a second term when his first was up._

_-Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War_

"John, it's just a birthday party. Quit making such a big deal out of it." Lee was on his third beer at McGee's on Friday night. John was still sipping his first. He hadn't seen John since the night early the previous week that John had slept on his couch.

"It's not just any birthday party. It's the _President's_ birthday party, and it's tomorrow night. What if I say or do something wrong? What if I embarrass Laura?"

"I can't believe this. You faced Cylon Raiders when you were flying a Viper and you're afraid of going to a birthday party? You need to get over it. Laura will introduce you to Adar. You say, '_Nice to meet you, Mr. President. Happy birthday._' You and Laura will have a drink, dance a couple of times, and then you'll go back to her place and frak. You'll have a great time. And don't tell me you aren't going to try to frak her. Have you ever dated a woman you didn't frak?"

"Lee, I'm going to ask you not to use that word when you talk about Laura."

"What? You don't like me saying _frak_? When did you get so prim and proper?"

"If…and I say _if_…something like that should happen tomorrow night, it will be making love, not frakking."

"Yeah, John, whatever you say. Making love…frakking…what's the difference?"

"There's a hell of a lot of difference and you know it. What's wrong with you, Lee? The last time I saw you like this was when you and Blaire broke up."

"I'm tired. I'm just so damned tired of the long days with no end in sight. I want to fly a Viper again. I want to get out there and put all this crap behind me for a few hours."

"It's more than that. You did a better job of handling strees when you were seventeen years old. Come on, Lee. What happened? Tell me about it. Is it a woman? Some new woman got you tied in knots?"

Lee hadn't planned to say anything about what had happened the previous Saturday night, but John was his best friend and Lee knew he could trust John with anything.

"The girl in my dream or hallucination is real."

"Okay, Lee, what have you had besides the three beers? Have you been out in the parking lot smoking something? You are making zero sense."

Lee started at the beginning and told John what had happened from the minute he saw the door to interview room twelve open and a bloodied Carrie Warner come out through the part about visiting MediFirst and talking to Carrie for the second time. All he omitted were Carrie's name and where she worked. He knew he shouldn't have been talking about the investigation at all.

"Keep going," John said.

"That's it."

"No it's not. Tell me the rest of it."

"I slept with her."

"Damn. That's a big jump from talking to her at her place of work to sleeping with her. Didn't something happen in between?"

"Not much. She met me at Zeno's last Saturday night. We went to my apartment. We talked. We had a drink. We talked some more. I kissed her. We ended up in bed. She was a virgin."

"Holy Hera, Lee."

"Oh, I haven't got to the best part, yet. She won't see me again because she's a terrorist."

"A terrorist? She actually told you she's a terrorist or you just think she's a terrorist?"

"She told me. And not just any terrorist. She said she's the one we're looking for. She told me details only the shooter at that lab could have known, and I let her go. She pulled a knife on Ackerman in that interview room and I let her go then, too. She was in a refugee camp for three years. Her parents were killed when the Cylons bombed Antioch. She said the war isn't over for her."

Lee saw a funny look pass over John's face. "She said she was the shooter at that lab a couple of weeks ago?"

"Yeah. I know I shouldn't be telling you this stuff because it's part of an on-going investigation, but I trust you, John. She even has a scar on the side of her leg from where one of the guards shot her with a twenty-two pistol. She told me somebody had to cut the bullet out of her without any anesthetic."

"Damn. How old is this girl?"

"Nineteen. Twenty next month. I checked her out. Everything about her checks out…her name, where she was born, everything. She's got a gun permit because she rides shotgun on a truck that delivers medical supplies and medicine to clinics in rough neighborhoods. The rest of the time she makes deliveries on a motorcycle…that is when she's not shooting people. She shot two men at that lab. Only one of them was a Cylon."

"No, both of them were Cylons. I had lunch with your dad today. I also talked to Laura last night after she got back from her symposium in Antioch. Someone sent her a note last week saying there was a fourth Cylon model, a male. Your dad and Agent Darren now think the second guy killed at the lab was a Cylon as well. They think that's who the note was referring to. There's a chance your new girlfriend or one of her close associates might have written that note."

"Great. That's just great. She might know of another Cylon model and I let her go. And she's not my girlfriend. She made it clear we wouldn't be seeing each other again."

"Lissa thinks there was a young female Cylon at the lab that Simon was trying to impregnate with a half-human, half-Cylon hybrid. With another male model, that makes a total of five."

"Like the three known models aren't enough."

"The gods only know how many more there might be. Five, ten, a hundred. Who knows? So this girl won't see you again because she's a terrorist."

"Or I'm in the military, whichever way you want to look at it. We're on opposite sides. What I can't understand is why she slept with me at all if she thinks the military is cooperating with the Cylons and she hates the Cylons so much. I mean why did she even meet me that night at Zeno's?"

"I'm afraid I can't help you there. You talked to her. Surely you've got some idea."

"She said she'd read a book about a prince with blue eyes and wings over his heart. She thought I was him. That's why she _saved herself_ for me. How stupid is that?"

"No more stupid than you thinking she's the girl in your hallucination. It sounds to me like both of you had some illusions about the other one before you met and that's why you ended up in bed together. You were frakking your dream and she was frakking hers."

"That's not what it was."

"Frakking…making love…what's the difference?"

"Okay. You made your point. There _is_ a big difference. But you might be right about the dream part. The minute I saw her…I knew she was the one."

"You were careful with her, weren't you?"

"Yes, _Dad_," Lee said sarcastically. "Somebody once gave me this set of rules to always go by when it comes to women. I think his name was John Gallagher. I clearly remember rule number one having to do with taking responsibility for birth control."

"Hey, I was just wondering if I should start looking for a store that sells cigars. You know the ones that say, _It's a boy_ or _It's a girl_."

"Not for me, you won't. Maybe for you and Laura."

John grinned. "Am I going to have to threaten to hurt you tonight? You think I'm going to break my own number one rule?"

"I think I'm in love with her."

"Oh, come on, Lee, you don't fall in love that fast."

"Says the man who fell in love with Laura over a couple of dinners."

John looked sheepish. "Yeah, well, that's different. I've known her longer."

"Just because you met her at my graduation doesn't qualify for knowing her longer."

"Lee, sometimes you meet somebody and you just connect and when it happens, it's just magical and mysterious...and it doesn't matter how long or short a time you've known her. Maybe it's not love, exactly, but it will be if you both give it a chance. That's what happened with me and Laura. That's probably what happened with you and this girl, too."

"It's not magical or mysterious. It's chemical. It's the way your body reacts to hers at a cellular level. It's pheromones and hormones and endorphins. It's chemical. You're attracted to her sexually. You're just hot for her."

"I know what it feels like to be _hot_ for a woman. And yes, I am _hot_ for Laura, but it is _way_ more than that with her. So you call it whatever you want to call it, I'll call it magical and mysterious."

"I told this girl I was willing to see her no matter what. She said she wouldn't take the chance with my career or my life because of what she's doing. I think she feels something for me, too, because if she didn't, why would she care what happens to me? "

"It's chemical," John deadpanned. "You're just hot for each other."

"Okay, okay. Maybe what I'm in love with _is_ an idea, a dream, the girl I saw when I was hallucinating in the decompression chamber or whatever. I had this idea in my head and when that door to room twelve opened and I saw her, I just knew it was her. I lied to Major Parker for her. I let her go when she told me she was in the resistance and the one we were looking for. I don't know what's happening to me."

"You can still have her arrested."

"No, I can't. The Cylons will execute her for treason."

"Don't you think that's what she deserves? She's resistance. I thought you believe what they're doing is wrong?"

"I don't know, John. I don't know any more. I thought I did but now I don't know. This whole thing has really frakked with my head. Before I met her I thought that terrorists were these crazy fanatics who would kill half the population of Caprica if it meant they could take out one Cylon, and now I find out this beautiful girl is one, and she's not crazy at all. I mean no crazier than the rest of us."

"Maybe all those fanatical terrorists out there are not part of the resistance. Maybe the resistance is more disciplined and careful. Tell me. If we were at war, could you kill Cylons?"

"You know I could."

"If you'd lost both your parents to the Cylons and spent three years in a refugee camp, would you maybe join the resistance? Would you maybe think the war wasn't over for you?"

"Probably."

"Then you should understand why you can't make yourself take her in…because under different circumstances you would have done the same thing. I understand why they're doing it. I might not agree with _everything_ they're doing, but I agree with a lot of what they're doing and I do understand it. I understand that in any group as loosely organized as the resistance that you can't always control the actions of isolated cells or a single person. Like the guy who tried to blow up that lab weeks before the other succeeded. That wasn't a sanctioned…I'm sure that wasn't a sanctioned operation. "

Lee looked at his friend. Was John trying to tell him something?

"You think they were right in blowing up that lab, don't you?"

"Yes, I do, Lee. I'm sorry you're suffering for it, but it was the right thing to do. Baltar and his Cylon friends are messing with something that belongs to the gods. They've got no right trying to make something half-human and half-Cylon. A man and a woman making a new life, that's a miracle. If the gods want us mixing our DNA with the Cylons, it shouldn't happen in a test tube. It should happen the way it's been happening for hundreds of thousands of years. I don't think that's what the gods have in mind, but if that happened, I could accept it. I can't accept what Baltar and his Cylon buddies are trying to do."

"I guess you're right. You think she was right to shoot those two Cylons, too, don't you?"

"That's why she was there. She did it to protect…I'm sure she did it to protect the others she was with. That's what snipers do in a situation like that."

"How do you know? Do you plan terrorist missions in your spare time?"

"I read a lot. And your dad and I bounce ideas and theories off each other from time to time. Your dad is one hell of a strategist. So what are you going to do about the girl?"

"What can I do? She won't see me again."

"Aren't you even going to ask her if she knows who the other Cylon is? She must have seen him if she shot him."

"I guess I should do that, shouldn't I?"

"If I were in your place, I would. Just don't expect too much from her. You're dealing with someone tough enough that she survived three years in a refugee camp, who dealt with losing the ones she loved the most. Damn, if she's tough enough that somebody cut a bullet out of her without any anesthetic, she's tougher than both of us. She's not going to be easy."

"No, I realize that. Don't tell my dad about this, okay? Give me a chance to handle this one myself."

"Okay, Lee. She's all yours. Good luck."

"Thanks. And thanks for listening to me tonight. I feel better now. And John, I really hope things work out for you and Laura tomorrow night. When you marry her are you going to ask me to be your best man? Do I need to take my dress uniform to the cleaners and start planning a bachelor party?"

John grinned. "I swear to the gods, Lee, one of these days I really am going to hurt you. I'll be lucky if she kisses me goodnight again."

...

The dress was sapphire blue silk, Aerilon silk, the finest the Colonies had ever produced and once it was gone, once it was fashioned into dresses like this one, there would be no more. The design was beautiful, a long, full skirt with bias-cut bodice and three-quarter length mesh sleeves that were studded with tiny iridescent blue crystals in a lace pattern.

Laura had gotten the dress a year earlier to wear to the Colonial Day Celebration, but had instead been at one of the refugee camps during a food crisis. Tonight she was wearing the beautiful blue dress for the first time to the President's birthday party.

Despite the fact that she put her hair up, changed her mind and then took it down and brushed it out before she did her makeup, she was still ready early. She paced the living room. She had told Doug that when John arrived to send him up. She sat down briefly but didn't want to wrinkle the silk. She took off her heels and paced some more.

At exactly seven forty-five the doorbell chimed. He looked as good as she knew he would. The tuxedo was single-breasted and conservative. The white shirt had tiny tucks and the studs and cufflinks were black onyx and silver. She was almost certain she had seen her father in an identical tuxedo at numerous embassy parties. Was that just a coincidence or had John somehow known? Then she remembered that she'd told him about Giovanni. He must have gone to see Giovanni for the tux.

"Hello, John."

"You look…wow," was all he said for a minute. "I knew you were going to look beautiful tonight, but wow. I'm not usually this speechless. You know I'm out of my league here, Laura. Like I told you, drinking a beer with Lee Adama at McGee's is where I'm comfortable."

"You're going to do fine. How is Lee?"

"Tired. They've been under a lot of pressure ."

"No luck, yet?"

"Not yet."

"Well…shall we go?" She realized that she was as nervous as he was but for entirely different reasons.

He held her hand in the limo, his fingers once again laced through hers. She told him about her trip to Antioch and the symposium. He told her that he had turned in his resignation at the cargo company and that next week was his last of a two-week notice. He smiled and told her that after that he would be flying for the government. He said that he had lost seniority in the change and would be someone's copilot for a while, but he said the government was able to maintain their ships much better than most private companies. He told her he was tired of wondering each time he took a ship up if he would make it to their destination in one piece.

When they got out at the Libran embassy, she glanced at him. He was pale, but he smiled at her. The sooner she introduced him to Adar the better. They were a few minutes early and in luck. Adar wasn't surrounded yet. She took John's arm and they walked over to the President. Adar greeted her like he always did, by taking her hand in one of his and covering it with the other. He pinned her with those blue eyes.

"Laura, you look especially beautiful tonight. And you're with someone I don't know."

"Rick, this is John Gallagher, a very dear friend of mine and also a close friend of Bill Adama's. John, President Adar."

"It's an honor, sir. Happy birthday." Adar released Laura's hand and shook John's.

"Thank you, Mr. Gallagher. You're a lucky man if you can call both Bill and Laura friends. They are two very special people, very important to me and to Caprica."

"Yes, sir, I know they are. They're special to me, too."

"A smart man always knows the worth of his friends," Adar said. "In fact one of my advisors is fond of saying you can get a good idea of someone's character by looking at his friends." He smiled at Laura. "Or _her_ friends as the case may be."

Five minutes later she and John were sitting at one of the small tables enjoying a drink. The color was back in his face. "See, that wasn't so bad," she said to him.

"No," he smiled. "It wasn't bad, but I don't remember a thing we said. Did I wish him happy birthday?"

"Yes, you did."

"Good. The President certainly regards you highly."

"I've been with him, politically speaking, since I worked on his campaign when he was running for the City Council in Delphi. That was the summer before I started graduate school. My first political appointment came when he was Mayor of Delphi."

"I've heard Adar is quite a charmer with the ladies."

She smiled. "Yes, I've heard the same thing."

John smiled, too. "Were you _charmed_ by him?"

"Suffice it to say that the President has not _charmed_ me since he was elected to any public office."

John was still smiling. "I'm impressed. Next thing you know you tell me that you were once _charmed_ by one of his military advisors."

She laughed. "You're terrible, John, absolutely terrible. I've already confessed that one to you. You won't get me to confess to anything else."

"I know. I just enjoy teasing you."

She saw Bill and Carolanne Adama come in, saw Bill scan the room until he found them, and begin making his way in their direction. Carolanne looked lively tonight in a dark wine-red dress. It took them a while to get to her and John because Bill stopped to greet numerous people or they stopped him. He had chosen to wear a tuxedo as well tonight instead of his dress uniform. In a way she was glad. Bill Adama in his dress uniform at a dance would have stirred even more memories of their past.

Due to her trip to Antioch, she hadn't talked to Bill since the previous week when she had received the letter. They greeted each other. When Bill returned with drinks for him and his wife, she asked, "Any word from Agent Darren on our correspondence?"

"Are you two going to talk shop tonight?" Carolanne asked. "We should be dancing and enjoying ourselves. It's a party."

"I agree," John said. "Why don't you and I dance while Bill and Laura catch up with what she missed while she was in Antioch…that is if your husband and Laura don't mind?" He glanced at Laura and winked.

"Have at it," Bill smiled. He waited until John led Carolanne out to the dance floor. "Why don't we dance, too? It will look less like we're talking business and more like we're enjoying ourselves."

"You make it sound like those two things are mutually exclusive."

She let him lead her out onto the floor.

"This takes me back a few years," Bill said. "You were wearing a _white_ dress that night."

"It takes _us_ back twenty years. And yes, the dress was white. And neither one of us wanted to be there. And I fell in love with you that night. Did I miss anything?"

"When I saw you coming down the stairs at your father's house I knew I was in big trouble. I was expecting a dog, you see…a girl who couldn't even get a date. Not a beautiful girl who grew into an even more beautiful woman."

Laura was suddenly aware of where their conversation was headed, of where she had so foolishly started it with the remark about falling in love with him. She couldn't let them go there…not tonight.

"What did you find out about the letter?"

He looked at her without speaking for a moment. Finally he said, "Forensics turned up nothing. The only fingerprints on the letter were yours and Adele's. The only ones on the envelope were mail sorters and carriers. It was standard paper. So basically nothing. A handwriting expert has it now, but Darren doesn't expect much since it was printed in block letters. The only thing the guy noticed immediately was the use of the word _man_ instead of _male_. 'There is a 4th Cylon. A _man_.' Not a _male_. He thinks it means the writer either views this Cylon as human or the writer is possibly young or unsophisticated and didn't think of the difference."

"Another part of our riddle," Laura said.

"Indeed. You do look very lovely tonight."

"Thank you."

"Showing up with John should put the finishing touches on the affair story."

Laura smiled. "Yes, I expect it will do that."

"You know you didn't need to. Darren said Cavil is already convinced you and John knew nothing about that lab. He believes that all you're having is a love affair. How far are you going to take this act?"

"I'm aware you said something to John along the lines of warning him to behave himself with me. Maybe I don't want him to behave himself with me."

"He'll hurt you, Laura."

"He probably will. But at least John hasn't forced me to choose between my career and him."

She saw the pain cross Bill's eyes briefly. "That was the biggest mistake of my life. My next big mistake stemmed from it."

"Which mistake would that be? Refusing to take my phone calls or ignoring the dozen or so letters I wrote begging you just to talk to me?" She had almost forgotten how much that had hurt. Why was she doing this? Why even mention it at all? Did she still want an apology after all these years? She seriously doubted one would be forthcoming. She was right.

"I'm referring to the mistake I made with Carolanne. Surely you've figured out that she was pregnant with Lee when I married her. I was drunk the night it happened. Drunk and missing you."

"But not missing me so much you would call or write."

"You know what your father threatened to do. He threatened to cut you off, quit paying for you education."

"My father calmed down just like I knew he would. If you'd just left quietly and let me talk to him like I asked you to, everything would have been all right. Instead you went out and slept with someone as fast as you could."

"I've already admitted I made several bad mistakes. I paid for them."

"You made the honorable choice, Bill. You always make the honorable choice. It's who you are. And you have Lee. You have a son any father would be proud of. Certainly you can't consider him or his life a mistake despite how it began."

"No, never."

In Bill Adama's arms at another dance, Laura saw what her wounded pride and broken heart had kept her from seeing for twenty years.

"Then perhaps everything happened the way it was supposed to. Let's not talk about the past. Let's put it away now. Let's put it where it belongs...in the past. My life has been very full since you and I were together, but in many ways it's been very lonely. I've spent far too much time looking back wishing I could change the past…wishing I hadn't taken you to my room that day, wishing my mother hadn't caught us, wishing you hadn't forced me to make that choice. I can't change any of that, Bill. All I have is here and now. Even if things don't work out for John and me, I'm going to take the chance. I _want_ to take the chance. I don't want to look back years from now and ask myself _what if_."

"Laura, I…"

"No, don't say it. Whatever you're going to say, please don't say it. We can't do this, Bill. We can't."

He dropped his eyes. "John's a lucky man."

She glanced across the dance floor. John was chatting with Carolanne while they danced, but he seemed to feel her eyes on him. He looked in her direction and smiled.

"I'm a lucky woman," she said and meant it.

There was nothing complicated about what she felt for John or what she was sure he felt for her. Nothing complicated at all. They would go back to her apartment and become the lovers that Cavil and everyone else thought they already were. She would satisfy her curiosity about him. They would have an affair. It would run its course. He would move on to someone younger and prettier. She would be hurt, but as long as she was prepared, it wouldn't hurt nearly as much as her breakup with Bill Adama had hurt all those years ago.

She glanced toward the door. Gaius Baltar had just come in with Natasi. She was wearing a tight red sheath dress and Laura couldn't deny that she looked sexy and beautiful. She didn't look like a machine at all.

"Dear gods," she asked. "What does that man have that makes him so attractive to women?"

"You're asking _me_ what makes John so attractive to women?"

"Not John, Dr. Baltar. A month ago he was dating D'Anna Biers, then John caught him in bed with Lissa and now he's here with Natasi."

Bill immediately looked toward John and his wife. "John caught him in bed with Lissa? Do you think there will be trouble?"

"Oh, no, John would never."

The song ended and John and Carolanne made their way back across the floor and joined them. John put his arm around Laura, his hand cupped lightly on her shoulder.

"Dr. Baltar is here."

"I saw him," John said. "She's the one he should be with…a Cylon-lover with his Cylon. I just feel sorry for Lissa. She worships him."

Bill said, "John, this isn't the time or the place."

"I know that. I'm okay with it."

"I remember how you decked Tom Zarek on board the _Galactica_. I cut you a lot of slack because of the situation, but you can't do something like that here and get away with it."

"If I were going to do something like that to Baltar, I'd have done it when I caught him in bed with Lissa. And we're not on your battlestar now, Bill."

The two men looked at each other. Laura sensed there was more going on with them than a dispute over Gaius Baltar's choice of a date. It seemed almost like John and Bill were getting ready to go toe-to-toe over something.

She put her hand on top of his and said, "Dr. Baltar may not have had any choice about who he brought tonight. I don't think any of the Cylons were invited. Cavil may have insisted that Baltar let Natasi accompany him…his way of having the last word. Look at him. Gaius does not look like a happy man."

John glanced at Baltar. "I don't think I'd be happy either if I'd betrayed the human race, but you know what? Tonight I really don't care. I'm happy about being here with you. That's all that matters. Dance with me."

He led her onto the dance floor and took her in his arms.

"What's this about you hitting Tom Zarek?"

"It's a long story."

"You'll tell me sometime?"

"Yeah. I just don't want to talk about it right now. Tonight I want only good memories. I'm with the most beautiful woman in the room, and I'm still asking myself how I got this lucky."

"It started a long time ago in a garden on Libran," she said mysteriously. "And it involves a princess and her handsome prince, or maybe I should say a pilot and a diplomat's daughter."

She thought briefly of the irony of how she had come full circle, of how the diplomat's daughter was once again dancing in the arms of a pilot.

"I think I'm going to like your story a lot better than you'll like mine."

She leaned up and put her mouth close to his ear, "My story ends with a kiss, or maybe I should say it begins with a kiss and it involves happily ever after."

He pulled her close. "I'm a big fan of happily ever after, but I like the kiss part even better."

She was right. There was nothing complicated at all about what he wanted from her. She had no problem with that. She wanted the same thing from him.

"I wonder how soon after we sing _Happy Birthday_ to Rick that we can leave without being really obvious," she murmured.

"I don't think we should leave before we speak to Dr. Baltar. I know he'll be overjoyed to see me."

"John, you've got to promise me you won't do anything foolish."

"Foolish, no, cruel, yes."

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm not going to _do_ anything. I've just got a comment I want to make to him in front of his Cylon. Didn't you say you think they've got something going on? I'm not going to embarrass you tonight, Laura. I promise."

...

"Siren's Kiss," John said as he handed her the glass back at her apartment. "Take a sip first to see if you like it. It's strong."

She sipped and then took another. "It's good…_very_ good. The peach brandy gives it just the right touch. And it is strong, but that little bit of sweetness keeps it from being too strong."

"Don't be fooled by that sweetness. It doesn't take a lot of this to get you seriously drunk, and we don't want to do that tonight." John raised his glass. "To a wonderful evening. Thank you for inviting me."

She touched her glass to his. "I'm still trying not to laugh when I think of the expression on Gaius Baltar's face when you told him he looked a lot better with his clothes _on_."

John grinned. "Yeah, I couldn't resist. You wouldn't think someone with an IQ as high as his could stammer like that."

"Natasi certainly didn't find it too amusing. I really do think they have something going on."

"I agree with you. If I didn't know she was a machine, I'd say she was jealous."

"I think you probably ruined the evening for both of them."

"What a shame. Of course I think I ruined Bill's evening, too. He acted like he was afraid to get ten steps away from us. He really doesn't know me if he thinks I would have done anything to Baltar tonight."

"I'm not sure he was that concerned about you and Baltar. I think Bill may have a problem with us…with you and me."

"I was afraid of that."

"I basically told him our relationship is none of his business."

"Laura, I'm not like Chuck Winters. I didn't assume anything when you asked me in for a drink. To tell you the truth, I expected you to kiss me goodnight on the sidewalk again and then send me home."

She smiled at him. "Won't you let me take your jacket and hang it up? I'm sure you'll be more comfortable."

He smiled as he pulled the bowtie loose and stuck it in the pocket before he took off the jacket and handed it to her. She took his jacket to the entry closet then came back and lit the gas logs in the fireplace. She had made sure before he had arrived that the lighting was subdued. They had stayed at the party nearly two hours, ample time for her case of nerves to have subsided, but she still felt uptight.

John sat down on the couch and patted the cushion beside him. "Come sit down, take off your shoes and put your feet in my lap. I haven't got a clue how you women stand all evening in those heels."

She gratefully sat on the couch and slipped off the shoes. "You don't need to…"

"Yes, I do. Put your feet up here."

She turned sideways and put her feet up. He finished his drink and sat the glass on the coffee table before he took her feet in his hands and began massaging them.

The sound she made was something between a sigh, a whimper and a moan. "Oh, gods, you have no idea how good that feels."

He smiled. "This will relax almost anyone. I was wound tight before the party. You're wound tight right now. Laura, I can promise you that nothing is going to happen tonight unless you want it to happen. We'll just sit here and talk and I'll rub your feet for as long as you want so just relax."

"I think I'm seriously in danger of being spoiled."

"Don't tell me a man has never massaged your feet before."

"I'm afraid not."

"I'm just racking up all kinds of firsts with you…first kiss standing out on the sidewalk, first foot massage, first taste of Siren's Kiss. Any more firsts I don't know about?"

"You're the first man I've ever dated who's worn my father's favorite tuxedo."

"Your father's friend Giovanni recommended it and I liked it."

"One of my earliest memories is of my father carrying me downstairs to an embassy party when he was wearing a tuxedo. It was almost like a uniform for him. I hadn't thought about that for years."

"I never saw my father in a tuxedo. I rarely saw him in a suit. What I remember most about my parents was how much they loved each other. I used to play in the kitchen when I was a kid because it was the warmest room in the house and I was in there a lot when my dad and my brothers came home from being out on the boat. They always took their fishing clothes off outside the kitchen in the mud room, and I can remember my dad coming through to go to the shower in his shorts and t-shirt, and my mother's face would just light up when she saw him. He always went over to her and kissed her…always. She never got over losing him. She…I told you what she did."

"What happened to you, John, after you lost her?"

"I was sent to a foster home."

"Good? Bad?"

"Okay at first, but that didn't last. You know you've got to wonder about the wisdom of the people in Social Services back on Virgon. What kind of idiots would place a fifteen-year old boy in a home with three girls? My foster parents had two daughters of their own, an eleven- year-old and a fifteen-year-old and a seventeen-year-old foster daughter."

"That surprises me, too."

"Maybe they were the only ones who would take me. I guess a fifteen-year-old boy is hard to place. Anyway, I did okay at first. The worst part was that it was a couple hundred miles inland and I was used to being at the ocean, but maybe it was better for me to be away from there for a while. Who knows? They had fixed up their attic for me. It was nice. I had my own space. I guess it would have stayed okay, but the seventeen-year-old started coming up to the attic at night after everyone was asleep…and…hell, I hadn't done anything but kiss a girl up until that point. Next thing you know we were…I was getting an education I hadn't dreamed I'd be getting." John stopped talking and leaned his head back on the couch.

"She got pregnant?" Laura asked.

"Not her. She was street smart. She was old enough to go to one of the free clinics and get birth control pills. A girl could do that on Virgon without parental consent if she was sixteen. It didn't last. After a few months she moved on to an older guy. The one I got in trouble with was the fifteen-year-old."

"Oh, John."

"Her name was Amelie. She was sweet and pretty and she developed a big crush on me and I fell for her, too. Her parents were strict. They didn't let her date so I was…I was the first boy she'd ever been with. I was just a messed-up kid who thought he'd gone to the Elysian Fields without having to die first. A couple of months later she was pregnant and a couple of months after that her mother figured it out. I didn't have a clue until one day in the spring when her dad was waiting for us when we got home from school. He beat the crap out of me and when I was unconscious, he started in on her. The only thing that saved us was the little one, the eleven-year-old. She thought her dad was going to kill her sister. She ran to a neighbor's house and they called the police."

"Where was the mother?"

"At the grocery store. Maybe on purpose. Maybe not. I never found out."

"What happened?"

"The police called paramedics. Amelie and I were taken to the hospital. Her father was arrested and taken to jail. I had a bad concussion from where he'd knocked my head into the kitchen cabinets. I had a couple of cracked ribs and a bruised kidney, too. It was two days before I could sit up without getting so dizzy that I threw up. Longer than that before I quit peeing blood. Amelie wasn't much better off. She…lost the baby."

"Was it a girl?" Laura asked wondering if this was the child he had lost, the daughter.

"I don't know. I never got the chance to ask. When I could finally get on my feet and got to her room to see her, she and her mother went into hysterics. All of a sudden everything was my fault. Her husband was in jail and it was my fault. Her daughter was beat up and _ruined_ and it was my fault. The next day I walked out of the hospital, went back to the house, got my stuff and took off. I hitched back to the coast and spent the next two years working on a fishing trawler. Then I joined the military and started flying a Viper. Life was a lot better after that."

"Oh, John, that was a terrible thing for you to have to go through."

"I learned from it. I learned a lot from it, a lot about being…careful. Ever since then I've always been really…careful…in a lot of ways."

"Not to mention kind and considerate and generous."

"Laura, I'm probably not the man you think I am. I don't want you to think you're getting something special and be disappointed. I'm a good pilot, a damned good pilot, but that's it. I don't advise the President or run the Academy. I read a lot, but I don't have any formal education. I'm a simple guy. Flying is the only thing I do really well."

"Is that your way of turning me down nicely?"

"I just want you to be sure you understand who you're getting involved with."

"I'm sure."

He stood up, took her hand and gently pulled her to her feet. "I've thought about this from the moment I met you."

In her bedroom as he unzipped and unhooked the dress for her, he leaned down and put his lips against the back of her neck. She shivered at his touch and learned something about herself that she didn't know. He gently pushed the dress off her shoulders and kissed her there, too.

She turned and put her arms around his neck, and he kissed her finally in that slow, sensual way of his that made her nearly crazy. He really did believe in kissing until kissing just wasn't enough. He kissed her throat and the side of her neck and very quickly found the spot that was so sensitive for her. Her head fell back and she moaned softly.

"I believe I've found a sweet spot," he said and kissed her at the same place on the other side of her neck. "Is this spot sweet, too?"

"Yes," she managed to say.

He brought his mouth close to her ear. "I'll bet if you let me, I can find a spot a lot sweeter than either one of those."

"Oh, please."

"I'll take that as permission to proceed."

Laura was almost embarrassed by the way he seemed to know her body better than she did, by the passionate response he elicited from her, and by how quickly he satisfied her physical hunger that first time.

What she loved the most, though, was the slow and gentle way he finally took her, watching her eyes the whole time, watching her respond to him, waiting to make sure he wasn't hurting her. Maybe he knew instinctively how long it had been for her and maybe he knew that she needed this gentleness from him right now.

There was a moment, just a moment, as she looked into his eyes that she thought their relationship might be more complicated than she believed, but he knew her better than she knew herself and very soon the intense pleasure had crowded every conscious thought from her brain.

Even his considerable self-control had its limit, though, and just before he said her name, just before he gave in and let himself experience the pleasure he had already given her, he brought his lips to her neck, to her second-sweetest spot, and she was again lost, this time with him, in the hot, wild, ecstasy of physical bliss. She had forgotten how very good it could feel to abandon herself completely in the arms of a man.

Afterward she drifted slowly and contentedly through layers of a cloud. That's the only way she could describe how she felt. She was vaguely aware that John got up, barely conscious of the bathroom door closing. She drifted again, and he was back and gently settled her against his body, his arm around her, her head on his shoulder.

"The best part," he said.

"This is the best part for you?"

"The best part after. There's three best parts to making love…before, during and after. This is the best part after. I need to hold you like this for a while."

She nodded and drifted through the cloud layers again. Finally she said, "John, if I'm not saying anything it's because you've rendered me completely speechless. And for a politician, that's saying a lot."

She heard rather than saw his smile. "Speechless is fine, Laura. I can handle that as long as it's the good kind of speechless."

"It's the best kind of speechless."

They lay that way for what might have been minutes or might have been longer until finally he said, "When I was looking for my daughter, I went into a temple up near Antioch. I'd just been to the last of the refugee camps and she wasn't there, and I was already half drunk, on my way to getting completely drunk that night. I was trying to pray and I looked up and there was a priest at the altar. I don't know how she got there because she wasn't there when I came in, but I looked up and there she was. When I was ready to leave, I walked up to put some coins in the bowls. Without looking at me, she said, '_You will find _her_ and she will find _you.' I thought at the time she was talking about my daughter. It gave me all kinds of hope. Now I think she was talking about you."

He stopped. Laura felt him pull her closer.

"I thought you might have lost a daughter based on something you once said but I assumed she had died."

"She is dead. I've accepted that now. Three years ago I couldn't. That's why I was praying in that temple. I looked for her for months, in all the towns around the airport where I'd had to leave her. I went to hospitals and hotels. I even stopped at every farm house I came to outside the towns. I looked everywhere. Finally I went to all three of the refugee camps."

"Why did you think she might have been in one of the camps?"

"Because I wanted to believe that she had survived the bombings. The airport where I'd had to leave her was between Sovana and Antioch. I wanted to think that someone had picked her and her friend up and taken them to one of the camps. They were the last places that I looked, my last hope of finding her…alive."

The memory of the green-eyed girl surfaced again. "How old was your daughter?"

"Thirteen."

Laura's breath caught. "What does she look like?"

"Blond hair, about five six, slim, athletic, beautiful."

"Oh, gods."

"What?"

"Does she have your green eyes?"

"She did. Yeah. Why?"

"Is her name Kara?"

"Bill or Lee told you."

"No. Someone else told me her name. I met her. I met your daughter in the big camp near Antioch."

"You couldn't have. She wasn't there. I know. I went there. She wasn't there. I saw the master list for all three camps. She wasn't on it. I walked around for days. I talked to other kids. Nobody knew her."

Laura propped herself on one elbow and looked at him. "John, she got in my face. She challenged me to go with her out into the camp. She wanted to introduce me to a teacher. He told me that her name was Kara. When were you there?"

"Late autumn or early winter...a couple of months after the Cylons bombed us."

"It was over a year later when I saw her…after the flu went through the camp. Sometime that spring. That would have been almost two years ago. She was there John, she was alive then. She told one of my Marine guards that her mother was a Marine and had died on Picon. I asked her about her father and she told me that he was dead, too. That explains why she hasn't tried to find you, John. She thinks you're dead."

John sat up and put his face in both of his hands. "Oh, gods. Lee told me not to give up hope. Lee told me that she had survived. I didn't believe him. I gave up. I quit looking for her."

Laura put her hand on his back. "John, I'm going to get up and put on my robe and then I'm going into the kitchen and make us some tea. You need to put on your clothes and come in there. Then we'll talk about what we're going to do next. Will you do that?"

"Yeah. I just need a minute to get myself together."

Laura got up and went into her closet and slipped into her heavy winter robe and a pair of bedroom slippers. When she came out of her closet, the bathroom door was closed. She went into the kitchen, filled the kettle with water and put it on the stove. She got two tea bags and put them in mugs. She was standing there, lost in thought, waiting for the water to boil when John came up behind her and put his arms around her. She leaned back against his chest.

They stood that way for a while without speaking until she said, "You know I can get access to the camp's records. I'm going to help you. We'll find her."

She felt his lips against her hair. "Thank you…for tonight…for everything."

"Will you tell me the whole story?"

"I'll tell you anything you want to know."

The kettle began to whistle and she poured the hot water into the mugs. They sat at her kitchen table and he told her everything starting with the night he stole a drug runner's ship to get his daughter off Picon until the time he left the last of the camps in the early winter after trying for months to find Kara.

Then he went back and told her about Kara's mother. He told her about his motorcycle accident and meeting Socrata in the rehab hospital, about their love affair that had spanned more than a decade, about her decision to remain behind with her Marine unit on Picon.

"Wasn't that hard to accept?"

"Yeah, but I understood it. It's who she was. She had always loved being a Marine more than anything else. More than she loved me, probably more even than she loved Kara. She didn't want a child. She told me later that she'd almost had an abortion. The only thing that stopped her was not knowing whether the baby was mine or her husband's. She said she couldn't kill what might have been part of me. She broke up with me when she found out she was pregnant because she didn't know. She didn't even tell me she was pregnant. If the baby had been his, she'd never have seen me again. As it was, I didn't see her for almost a year…until after Kara was born. One of my biggest regrets is not being with her while she was pregnant. I think pregnant women are beautiful. Making a new life like that is a miracle."

"We don't do it all by ourselves, you know."

"What did I contribute to making Kara? A couple of seconds, that's all. Sassy carried her and nurtured her for nine months."

"You weren't…careful obviously."

"I didn't need to be with Sassy. She was fanatic about her birth control patches. I'm still not sure what happened. She told me her doctor said it might have been an antibiotic she had to take for a strep throat that weakened the effect of the patch, but the truth is we don't really know what happened…except that she got pregnant. It's one of those things that I finally decided was meant to happen, destined to happen, something I never questioned."

"Were you there after Kara was born? Did you get to know her?"

"I was around Kara a lot when she was a baby. Sassy would bring her over to my apartment. I look back on those times now and they were some of the happiest in my life. She finally had to stop when Kara was about three and was getting confused about me and Sassy's husband. I wouldn't let her call me 'Uncle John' like Sassy wanted. When I couldn't see Kara like that anymore, it was like having part of my heart ripped out. I love Kara more than I've ever loved anyone in my life. She's…she's…" Laura could see him struggling with the emotion.

She put her hand on his. "She's your child, John. You're supposed to love her like that. We'll find her. Monday morning I'll get Billy to request access to the camp's records. He's very good with the computer. He understands how to do these searches."

"How did she look? When you saw her, how did Kara look?"

Laura debated about how much to tell him and decided to be completely honest with him. "She was a little thin like most of the people in the camp, but not malnourished. Her eyes…her eyes are beautiful, but they were hard. Yet there was still an innocence about her. She's a tough young woman. She's a survivor. She had a slingshot. She shot a very large rat in the head from nearly twenty feet. One of my Marine guards was so impressed I think he wanted to take her to their recruiter right then."

John looked at her and she saw the emotion he was struggling with, but she saw something else, too. She saw the pride, a father's pride in his daughter.

"John, she's like you. You survived some terrible things when you weren't much older than she is now. She's tough. She's your child."

"She's tough like her mother. Kara didn't even know I'm her father until the night I took her off Picon. She didn't remember me. She's sixteen years old now. Where could she be? What could she be doing?"

"The last of the camps has been shut down. Everyone has been resettled. She's either here in Caprica City or in Antioch since those are the two places that the government housing was built. She's probably in school somewhere. There were special provisions made in the housing for…orphans. She should be easy to find."

"All I ever wanted was the chance to be a father to her."

"John, I think you're going to get that chance."

He squeezed her hand. "It's almost two in the morning. I need to go so you can get some sleep."

Laura got his jacket and walked with him to the door. He wrapped his arms around her again and held her against him. Words weren't necessary. They seemed to understand each other without anything being said. Once again she wondered if their relationship was more complicated than she'd first thought.

"I'll call you Monday as soon as we know something."

"Thank you." He kissed her forehead.

"And John, flying is not the only thing that you do really well."

"I assume you're referring to the foot massage?"

She smiled. "What do you think?"

TBC…


	28. Hope

Chapter 28

Hope

_After a frustrating month with no success in finding the terrorists who destroyed a lab in the North Caprica Research Park, the President's anti-terrorist task force caught a break in the form of an anonymous tip. The information led them to an apartment in Caprica's seedy south quadrant. Although agents recovered terrorist literature, several weapons and detonators of the type used in the incendiary devices that destroyed the lab, the suspect proved elusive. Later he was also found to be the registered owner of a motorcycle of the type seen fleeing the scene. _

_-Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War_

Monday morning Lee once again stood in front of Major Parker's desk.

"You sent for me, sir?"

"At ease, Lieutenant. I've got some good news for you. You and my other two Viper pilots are going to get to fly this week. Orders from Fleet Headquarters. In fact I've been told you're to resume your weekly flights so pick a day and work it out with Air Command and with the other two pilots. I can't have but one of you off on any given day. You can take first pick. Just let me know what day you want from now on. You can have today if you want it."

"Yes, sir. I'd like that very much. I'd like to fly every Monday."

"Good. Head out to the airfield, and when you're through, take the rest of the day off. You deserve it. You did a good job on the Carrie Warner follow-up. Your report is comprehensive without being verbose. Did one of the others tell you that I don't like two hundred words when a hundred will say the same thing?"

"No, sir. That's just my style."

"Well, good job. You've become a valuable member of my team in a very short time."

"Thank you, sir. Have you talked to Sergeant Ackerman yet?"

"Not yet. I'm not looking forward to it, but I'll do it today. It will probably be a good thing that you won't be here. I doubt he'll be happy about how this turned out."

"No, sir, I don't expect he will."

"Let me know if you have any problems from him."

"Yes, sir. I will. Isn't it going to make the interviewing of motorcycle riders go slower with me and two others out one day a week?"

"I don't think we'll be interviewing much longer. I can't elaborate right now, but Agent Darren and his men have a suspect. They're going to arrest him this afternoon in a surprise raid. But you didn't hear me say that and keep it under your hat. Now go fly your Viper, lieutenant."

"Yes, sir."

All the way out to the airfield Lee thought about what the major had just said. They have a suspect. They're going to arrest _him_. It couldn't be Carrie Warner they were going after. Was some innocent person going to be arrested? He wondered how long it would be before they found out. He thought about it until he got to his locker and began putting on his flight suit. The excitement of getting into the cockpit soon pushed other thoughts aside.

Getting to fly his Viper was like a gift from the gods to Lee on that Monday. As he pulled the nose of his ship up and started skyward, the frustrations of the past few weeks began to unspool behind him. He watched the altimeter. Thirty thousand feet and the girl should be with him. He should be able to feel the green-eyed girl of his dream, but she wasn't there. Thirty-three thousand feet, thirty-five thousand feet and still he didn't feel her with him. Then he realized why. She wasn't a dream any more. She was real. She was real and she wasn't up here, she was down on Caprica. If he wanted the green-eyed girl, he was going to have to go back to the planet's surface.

John was right. He hadn't made love to a girl that night, he'd made love to his dream and in so doing his dream had become his reality.

The discipline of a year on the _Triton_ kicked in and he cleared his mind and put his Viper through the training exercises with his usual precision and thoroughness. Later he would think about Carrie Warner, but right now his concentration was on what he had wanted to do for weeks…fly his Viper.

Off his starboard side he saw the Cylon Raider. It would be his ever-present companion on these maneuvers, shadowing his every move, reporting any deviation in the regulation exercises. This is what he had to contend with to fly, what all of them had to contend with. He knew that as long as he stayed within bounds, there was nothing to worry about. But if he did something out of the ordinary, broke for deep space for example, the Raider would be on him, guns blazing and take him out in a matter of seconds.

Somewhere high above him in orbit over the planet was a Cylon base star. Their resurrection ship orbited an ice planet on the edge of the solar system. The others were constantly monitoring their remaining battlestars to make sure they did nothing out of the ordinary either. As Lee completed the high-altitude training exercises and pointed the nose of his ship toward the planet in order to finish the low-altitude exercises, he wondered what it would take to destroy the base stars, how much firepower and how many ships. If they hadn't been able to destroy them three years ago, how could they hope to do it now when the battlestars were disarmed and their pilots without weapons?

His father had once alluded to a plan he had to free the Colony of the Cylons but he had refused to divulge any of the details. Lee now wondered how many of them would die if his father's plan were ever put into action. He didn't see how there was any hope that they could win. He wondered if the plan that his father was hatching was like the green-eyed girl had once been for him…just a dream, a dream that sustained his soul, a dream that gave him hope, a dream that was getting him through the long days of the Cylon occupation.

...

As soon as she heard Billy's voice on Monday morning, Laura went out to his desk. "Good morning, Billy. Did you have a nice weekend?"

"I did. How was the President's birthday party?"

"The party was nice. I enjoyed myself very much." She glanced over at Adele. They had already discussed the party.

Adele smiled in an all-too-knowing way.

"I could have told you that she had a good time just by looking at her when she walked in this morning. Chuck Winters never left her looking that happy."

Laura knew she was beginning to blush. Billy looked clueless for a moment and then he blushed, too. Laura hurried on. "I need you to do something for me as soon as you get your cup of coffee."

"Sure," Billy said. "What do you need?"

"Could you call your friend in the Data Center and get him to give you access to the records for the refugee camps?"

Billy picked up his phone. "I'll do that before I have my cup of coffee. It will take him all of about five minutes." He punched in a number and waited. Finally he hung up. "His voice mail says he's out of the office on vacation. I'll have to call their main Help Desk number and go through proper channels if you want it done today."

"I do. Tell them when you call that I want that access this morning. Do whatever it takes."

"Yes ma'am. What do I do after I get access?"

"Come get me. We're going to look for someone."

Two hours later she went out to his desk. "Anything yet?"

"Not yet. I told them who it was for. I told them we needed it ASAP. But it's the Help Desk. You get a number and go into a queue. A request for data access does not get a high priority. That's why I always call Todd directly."

"I'll give them until lunch. If you haven't heard anything, I'll call the supervisor."

Just before lunch Billy called her. "I'm in."

She got up and went out to his desk. "Here's the name and date of birth I want you to search on." She put a small piece of paper on his desk with Kara's name and birth date on it. She also had the name _Karl_ written on the paper.

"I'm sorry about the other name. It's not much, but this is the first name of a friend of this girl. Get me all of the males with this first name and their dates of birth. Search only the records for the big camp outside of Antioch first. I think that's where you'll find her records."

An hour later Billy brought several sheets of paper into her office. "This is in an old database that hasn't got any indices that I could find except an id number and of course you have to know the number to use that. So I had to do sorts to get to any of the data. There are so many records and the server is so old and slow that each sort took a long time. I got nothing on Kara Thrace. Nothing under Thrace at all except adults and younger children, so I sorted by first name and look at this."

He put the first page down in front of her. He had taken a yellow highlighter and drawn it through a line. The name that Laura saw was _Kara Agathon_ but the date of birth was correct.

"Now look at this," Billy said. He put another piece of paper down on her desk. This page had two highlighted lines. There was an _Agathon, Kara_ followed by an _Agathon, Karl_. The relationship was also listed on this page. They were shown as brother and sister. Karl was slightly over a year older than Kara. It fit with what John had told her.

"Billy, you're a genius," Laura said. "This has got to be them."

"There's more," Billy said. "Good news and bad news. This is the check-list for the bus trip of the first group of refugees from the camp to Caprica City last spring. Kara and Karl Agathon were on bus number six. They were checked off and then back on the bus for every stop along the way and the last stop when they arrived in Caprica City. That's the good news. The bad news is at that point they vanished."

"What do you mean _vanished_?"

"There's no record that they went to government housing. When I requested access to the camp's records, I also requested it for the housing. Neither Kara nor Karl Agathon ever made it to any government housing."

"How could that happen?"

"Statistically ninety-three percent of the refugees were placed in government housing for at least a few months after they arrived from the camps. But roughly seven percent opted out of the housing and found something else. It looks like Kara and her brother were in that seven percent."

"They're here in the city, though. She's sixteen. He's almost eighteen. What about school records?"

"Since we have access to all of those, I've already searched high schools in the entire Caprica City school district. Nothing under either of those names. Nothing under Thrace, either."

"There have got to be records of them somewhere. How hard can it be to find two teenagers?"

"It might be harder than you think. I can request information from the utility companies but not access to their records. I can start the process right now, but it might take a couple of days."

"Do it. What else can we do?"

"If either one of them owns property, which is unlikely, or has a driver's license or a vehicle registered in his name, then I can request that, too. I doubt I can get credit information, but I can try."

"Do all of that as well. What about employment and tax records?"

"That data is off-limits now. The Cylons have locked it down."

"Since when?"

"Since last year. I think Cavil was concerned that someone would use that information to obtain lists of employees who worked for certain companies. You understand what I'm saying, don't you?"

Suddenly she got it. "For example those employed by a certain lab? People who might become targets of the…resistance."

Billy nodded. "That's just an educated guess. It's off-limits whatever the reason."

"And there's no way you can get that information?"

"I know how to search almost any kind of database that I've got access to, but I'm not a hacker."

"Do you know anyone who could? What about your friend who works at the data center?"

"I wouldn't feel right asking him to do something that could cost him his job…or worse."

"I agree. You're absolutely right. We'll have to find some other way. _I'll_ have to find some other way. On the utilities and vehicles, have them search on her friend's name as well as hers, both of her names, Agathon and Thrace. Perhaps she went back to Kara Thrace once she got here to the city."

"Will do," Billy said.

"Thank you. I was hoping for more today, but this is a start. At least you found out that she made it to Caprica City. This is a definite start."

"There are a couple of possibilities you might not want to consider, but that should probably be put on the table."

"What?"

"First, they might be living under assumed names, either one or both of them. Second, they might be living on the street. I'm sure you know that Caprica City has had some major problems since the bombings with street people. A lot of them are kids. Third, they might be involved in something illegal, dealing drugs or prostitution for example. Any one of those scenarios would keep them off the grid and make finding them nearly impossible…unless they've been arrested."

"Oh, Billy, let's hope not."

"I know. You don't want to think about any of those, but they are possibilities. Should I add a criminal background check as well as unknowns close to their ages down at the morgue?"

"Do the criminal background checks, but let's not do anything about the morgue yet. I can't let myself think that right now."

Adele walked into her office with another vase of flowers, not red roses this time, but pink ones mixed with small white flowers.

"I think I should retire and go into the florist business," Adele said. "Your new friend could keep me in business."

"His name is John and one day soon I'm going to ask him to lunch and you'll meet him."

"So you've promised."

Laura opened the card. _There are so many reasons—far too many for this little card. I'll have to wait until I see you again. John_

Only John would write something like that. It was both touching and so very much him. She picked up her phone and called his mobile number. She knew he was flying today so it went to voice mail.

"My secretary is threatening to quit and open a florist shop if you'll give her your business. Please tell her no since I need her very much. The flowers are beautiful. You know you didn't have to, but thank you anyway. My apartment tonight at seven. I have some news."

She ended the call and smiled. She had hoped to have better news for him tonight, but she could at least tell him that his daughter was probably among the seven million people in Caprica City right now. She was confident that given enough time, they would find her.

...

Kara was off work on Monday. She had covered for Antwon Trevor on Saturday and Sunday because it was his tenth wedding anniversary and he wanted to take his wife on a weekend trip. Trevor was working Kara's shifts today and tomorrow. She had finished her book about the Caprican Prince. The happy ending was just like she would have written it as far as it went. Olliver completed his tasks. He found the adamantine sword of Perseus and killed the Cyclops of Seriphos and freed the people of the island from tyranny. He took the sword and the head of the Cyclops to the Underworld and freed his father. He returned to Esmari and found her in the garden. He asked her to marry him. Of course she said _yes_. The story's ending left them anticipating their wedding...and wedding night.

At the time she had finished the story, she had felt cheated. She had imagined their lovemaking throughout the whole book and it didn't happen. All she had gotten was the promise that it was going to happen. So Kara finished the story with the ending she wanted. She didn't write it on paper. She wrote it in her heart. It was exactly the way her night with Lee had happened, right up to the point they lay in each other's arms. She stopped her story there. Olliver and Esmari were going to be together forever on the pages of the book. That's where their love story ended. She and Lee weren't that lucky.

Kara tried looking at television but couldn't find anything that she wanted to watch. Finally she took a shower, got dressed and rode the subway to the University station. She walked the five blocks to Leoben's bookstore. There were half a dozen people in the store when she went in. She didn't see Leoben at first, but a few minutes after she got there, he came out of the back.

He carried a stack of books over to the messy counter and pushed some papers aside to find a spot for them. She walked over to the counter.

"Hi," she said to him.

"Hello. Let me see. Carrie. Is that right?"

She was surprised for a moment and then realized that remembering her name wouldn't be that hard a task for a Cylon, for a computer. She was sure he had just stored it in a file somewhere in his memory. Jared had tried to explain it to her, but she had gotten lost when he started talking about their yotta-bytes of storage capacity. He finally said to think in terms of a quadrillion. When that still didn't mean anything to her, he said to think of a billion billion. She realized then that Jared was telling her that a Cylon's memory was practically unlimited…like a human's.

"That's right," she said to Leoben. "I'm Carrie. You have a really good _memory_." She almost snickered at her own words.

"Names and faces seem to come easy for me," he said.

"I'll bet."

"Are you just browsing today or can I help you find something?"

"What do you have on destiny?"

"What are you looking for? Fiction? Religion? Philosophy? Mysticism?"

"Just destiny in general."

"Maybe it will help if you tell me what you think destiny is, Carrie?"

"I guess it means that you're meant to do something."

"And you as an individual are powerless in this process? Some divine force is controlling you like a puppet master controls his puppets?"

"I don't know."

"Why are you interested in destiny?"

"Because I think I'm destined to do something."

"What might that be?"

Kara looked directly at his blue-gray eyes. "Get the Cylons off Caprica."

Leoben smiled like he was amused. "All by yourself you're destined to rid Caprica of the Cylons?"

"Not alone. Maybe I'll have help doing it."

"How?"

"I don't know yet. I wondered if you have any books that might help me figure it out."

"I don't think so. You're not interested in destiny in a theoretical or philosophical sense. You're interested in destiny in a personal sense, in your own destiny. You're not going to find what you're looking for in the pages of a book. There's an Oracle who lives down by the waterfront, near the pier at the end of Fifty-Third Street. She was a priest in Delphi until the Cylons bombed her temple and blinded her. Now I hear that she tells people their fortunes, their destinies for a few cubits. Her name is Yolanda Brenn. Ask for her. Everyone down there knows her. Anyone can direct you to her."

"Do you not believe in destiny?"

"I believe humans have free will."

"But that doesn't mean your choice isn't part of your destiny."

"Carrie, philosophers and theologians have been debating this subject for thousands of years…tens of thousands of years. No one has come up with a provable answer yet. In the end it's really a personal belief. It's part of your entire belief system."

"How do the Cylons feel about destiny?"

"Why would you think I know that?"

"I just thought you probably read a lot. I mean you sell books. Hasn't someone written a book on Cylon beliefs?"

"The Cylons believe in one God, not many. I have a number of books on monotheism if you're interested."

"Isn't that considered blasphemy or something? There's another word but I can't think of it right now."

"Heresy?"

"That it."

"I'm sure many do consider it heretical. But Natasi believes in the one God, so the books are published. The monotheistic scriptures have actually been one of my best sellers. People are curious, I suppose."

"Have you read it?"

"Yes, I have."

"What do you think?"

"It's an interesting concept…maybe not as heretical as some think. The God of the Cylons is a perfect being without the flaws of our many gods. In some ways our gods are all too human. How can we worship beings that embody our numerous sins?"

Kara shrugged. "Do you think Cylons and humans should…date?"

"Aren't you really asking me if Cylons and humans should procreate?"

"You mean make babies?"

"That's what _procreate_ means."

"Right. Do you?"

"If a human and a Cylon were to fall in love, then yes, I think it would be acceptable for them to have a child."

"What about making them in labs?"

Leoben frowned. "Producing children in labs? Isn't that done for humans now in cases of infertility? An embryo is started in a lab and then implanted in the mother?"

"I guess. I don't really know. Science wasn't my strong subject in school. So you think that's okay, too, for a hybrid to be created in a lab?"

"I'll have to give that idea some serious thought. My first feeling is that it would be wrong. I think either the one God or the many gods would frown on a hybrid child being created in that manner. It's not natural."

She thought about his answer. Was that what the other Leoben had been arguing with Simon about? Did the other Leoben also believe what Simon was doing was wrong? And she'd shot him.

Two students brought some books to the counter and Kara stood watching while Leoben rang them up. When they were gone, she said, "My father didn't believe in destiny. He said that we make our own destiny…like you said humans have free will."

"Perhaps your father was right."

"I know who ordered his death and I always thought I would kill him someday, but now I'm not so sure."

"His death won't bring your father back so your concern has to be with what it would do to you. Even if you get away with it and don't go to prison, you're still very young to live the rest of your life knowing you killed someone. Revenge is rarely the satisfying panacea the avenger thinks it will be. I sense you're very troubled right now. Is that what's bothering you?"

How could a Cylon sense anything? He was a godsdamned machine. The thought angered her…that he could stand there and tell her she was troubled…that he could read her like that. What was he… some kind of lie detector or something?

"I've got to go."

"I've upset you."

"I think I was upset before I came in here. I've got to go." She turned.

"Do you want the book on the one God?"

"Not today."

"I'll see you again, Carrie. You'll be back."

She turned around. "Is it my _destiny_?" She asked sarcastically.

"You'll make that choice of your own free will," Leoben said.

...

Lee went back to his apartment after his Viper flight, showered and put on jeans and a blue sweater, nothing as obvious as the Academy sweatshirt. He took the folded piece of paper from the top of his dresser and looked at it again, Carrie Warner's address, obtained from her department store credit card record. He knew it was the correct one. The one on her driver's license still listed an address in Antioch. He had looked up the Caprica City address on his street locater software back at the base. She lived about five miles from him in an older, more run-down section of the city. He looked at his map of the subway, noted exactly which route he'd take to her place.

He had called MediFirst before he'd left to go fly that morning and had found out that Carrie was off today. The secretary had offered to leave her a message, but Lee had declined. He had another idea. He left his apartment and started walking toward the nearest subway station three blocks beyond Zeno's.

...

Kara left Leoben's bookstore and walked toward the University, but instead of taking the subway, she walked through the campus. She wondered what it would be like to be a student there. She had never seriously considered something like that. All she had ever wanted to do was go to the Academy. Maybe that would still be possible. Maybe. Maybe when she was eighteen she could ever leave Carrie Warner behind and become Kara Thrace again. But that meant leaving her involvement in the resistance behind. That meant becoming a member of the military that was cooperating with the Cylons. Could she do that in order to fulfill her dream of becoming a Viper pilot? She thought of her father. He had been in the military. What would he want her to do? She didn't know any more. She just didn't know.

She kept walking, past the University and through Caprica Park into the busy downtown area. Finally tired of walking she found a subway station and took the subway back to the station near their apartment. It was almost three o'clock in the afternoon and she hadn't eaten lunch. She was hungry.

She let herself into the apartment. Karl was working the early shift now, five a.m. until one p.m. and was already home. He was watching a pyramid game on the television, a game he was apparently very much into. She heard him shouting at the screen as she went into the kitchen. She made a sandwich and took it into the living room.

"Who's winning?" She asked him.

"The Buccaneers are down by one point. Anders is off his game today. Damn, if they lose this one, they're out of the playoffs and I've got some cubits on them in the pool down at the store."

Kara looked at a close-up shot of Anders in the replay as he missed the block of his opponent's shot and the man went around him. "He's almost too good looking to be a pyramid player. He should be a model or an actor or something."

"I hadn't noticed," Karl said. "So where have you been?"

"I went back to the bookstore."

"What for? I don't see any books."

"Leoben and I had a talk about destiny."

"Kara, I really don't think you should keep going down there."

"Why?"

"I just don't think it's a good idea to be hanging out with a Cylon."

"I told you he doesn't know he's a Cylon."

"Yeah, but you do."

"Leoben told me I should go down to the waterfront and ask for an Oracle named Yolanda Brenn. She was a priest and got blinded when the Cylons bombed Delphi. I don't know why she's not a priest anymore unless she turned her back on it. Being blind doesn't keep you from being a priest. My mother used to take me a temple back on Picon and there was an old man there, a priest, and he was blind. When I was little I was afraid of him because his eyes looked like milk."

"Why would you go to see an Oracle?"

"She tells people their destinies, their futures."

"Nobody can predict the future. It's just a scam, a way to get your cubits. If they can predict the future, why didn't one of them warn us the Cylons were going to attack us? You aren't going, are you?"

"I don't know. You and Maggie still on the outs?"

"Yeah. I tried to talk to her last night. She's still mad at me."

"Over me?"

"I'm not sure what it is. Jared said he was going to talk to her. I think me and her are over as a couple whether we talk or not, but I don't want her hating me. We're both going to be at the Academy. I won't be able to avoid her. I'd like for us to at least be friends."

"Maybe you'll meet somebody at the Academy."

"Maybe." Karl sounded down. "September can't come soon enough for me. Not that I want to leave you, Kara, but it's time to get on with my life. I'm sick of the grocery store. I'm sick of fetching a can of sliced beets because somebody was yacking on a mobile phone and picked up whole beets. I'm sick of mopping up the spills when some mother lets her kid run wild and pull jars of olives or jelly off the shelves. I'm sick of standing in one place bagging groceries for four straight hours. I'm really sick of all of it. I'm ready for a change."

"I'll have my own place by then. I've been saving for it."

"Good. I'll come stay with you during breaks and holidays."

"That would be nice." She took a deep breath, "I slept with somebody."

"Yoy what?"

"Duh, Karl. I slept with a guy. We made love."

"No kidding? When did that happen?"

"Last Saturday night."

"I thought you had to work last Saturday night."

"I lied to Jared so I could meet Lee at Zeno's."

"Lee?"

"Lee Adama, the guy who bandaged my eye."

"Your prince?"

Kara shrugged. "Yeah."

"I should have known it would be him. Damn, you didn't waste any time, did you? How long did it take you and him to hop in the sack? A whole couple of days?"

"Look, I didn't go to his place that night thinking I was going to sleep with him. It just happened. But I'll never see him again. I can't. He's military and I'm a member of the resistance. It would never work. We just can't be together…ever."

"You don't sound too happy about it."

"It doesn't matter how I feel. That's the way it's got to be. I made it really clear to him that we can't see each other again."

There was a knock at the door.

"Who the hell could that be?" Kara asked irritably. "The first chance I get to talk to you alone in over a week and somebody knocks at the frakking door."

"It's somebody selling something," Karl answered. "I'll get rid of them and we can keep talking."

He got up and went to the door. Kara watched Sam Anders tie the score in the pyramid game. "Anders scored," she shouted. "It's tied now."

"You've got a visitor," Karl said.

Kara turned. Lee Adama stood bedside Karl in the doorway to the living room.

Kara jumped up from the sofa. "What are _you_ doing here?"

His hands were shoved deep in his pockets. "I came to see you."

"How did you find me?"

"That's not important. I need to talk to you."

Karl looked at her and grinned. "The prince?"

"Shut…up," she said through clenched teeth.

Lee looked at Carrie. She was blushing.

"I'll go to my room so you two can talk."

Kara said to Karl. "No, you were looking at the game. We'll go to the kitchen and talk."

Karl shrugged. "Okay. Suits me."

Kara motioned for Lee to follow her down the hall and into the kitchen. When they were inside, she shut the door. "What are you doing here?"

Lee was almost overwhelmed by how he felt when he looked at her. She was so beautiful. He took a deep breath. "I came to see you. How are you?"

"I'm fine. You shouldn't have done this."

"Why not?"

"I told you why the other night. We're on different sides."

"Then why didn't I take you in? Why didn't I have you arrested?"

"I don't know. Why didn't you?"

"Because I know why you did it. I _understand_ why you did it. If I'd been through what you've been through, I'd have done the same thing. Is that your roommate-boyfriend?"

"No, he's my best friend."

"Why didn't you introduce us?"

"It's better if you and him don't start getting chummy. It's better if you don't even know his name."

"Is he resistance, too?"

"No, gods no. None of my roommates are. They don't have a clue about what I did…am doing." She had to stop his questions. She was afraid she would reveal something without meaning to. "Would you like something to drink?"

"What are you offering?"

"Beer, orange juice, milk or water. That's all we've got." There were several bottles of ambrosia in one of the cabinets, but she wasn't going to offer him that. She couldn't handle them drinking ambrosia together.

"I'll take a beer if you'll have one with me."

Kara went to the refrigerator, took out two beers and handed one to him.

Lee smiled. "Maybe you open beer bottles with your teeth, but I need an opener."

"Oh, yeah, sure." She got it from the drawer and handed it to him. This was so awkward. She'd slept with this man. She'd been naked in his bed with him and now here he was in her kitchen watching her with those twilight blue eyes and smiling at her. She would give anything to know what he was thinking.

Lee looked at Carrie, watched the color rise in her cheeks again. For all her toughness there was still an air of innocence about her. He opened his beer, took hers and opened it before he handed it back to her. He put the opener back in the drawer. Even as he turned up his beer and drank, he knew he was stalling for time just so he could be with her a little longer.

"I flew my Viper today."

"Good for you."

He sat down at one end of the table and she sat down at the other end.

"There's always a Cylon Raider that flies with me. I don't know if it's the same one every time or a different one. They all look alike to me. We have a standing joke down at the base. We think they should paint their call signs on their Raiders only they'd all still look alike because all of them would want to be called _Red Eye_."

That got Kara's attention. "No kidding. A Cylon Raider follows you each time you fly?"

He took another sip of beer. He noticed that she hadn't touched hers yet. "Yeah, even though we're _cooperating_ with them, they still don't trust us. A Raider flies with every pilot who takes a ship up on a training mission. If we were to do anything not in the flight plan, the Raider would take us out."

"Raptors, too?"

"Every military ship no matter what the size or the mission…also every commercial ship that flies above the Kármán line."

"What's that?"

"It's an imaginary line that's generally accepted as the place the atmosphere ends and space begins. It's a hundred kilometers above sea level. A little over sixty-two miles up."

"I guess you learn stuff like that at the Academy."

"That and a lot more. You really should apply."

"Maybe someday when I'm…if I'm ever ready. Why are you here?"

"I need to talk to you about the Cylons you shot."

"Only one of them was a Cylon…the doctor called Simon."

"And the other one? The other Cylon?" Lee watched her closely. She held his gaze, but there was a change in her posture. She had been leaning forward and now leaned back in her chair. His gut told him she was going to lie to him.

Kara picked up her beer and took a sip before she looked back at Lee. "Why did you say he was a Cylon?"

"Some intel has come in that leads us to believe that he was."

"Intel? Like what?"

"Someone sent a letter to a politician saying there was a fourth Cylon model, a man." He watched her closely. She didn't seem surprised.

"Who cares how many there are," she said nonchalantly. "They're governing Caprica. Adar is nothing but their puppet."

"Is that what your resistance buddies think?"

"It's what everybody on Caprica thinks who has half a brain."

"What did he look like, this other Cylon that you shot?"

Kara shrugged. "I didn't get a good a look at him. It happened too fast."

"Oh, come on, Carrie. Those security lights lit that place up like it was high noon. The scope on that rifle was top-quality. You shot him in the head so I know you got a damned good look at him. How long did you watch them before you pulled that trigger? Did you know he was a Cylon before you shot him or did you figure that out later?"

Memories from that night flooded back. She momentarily saw Leoben in the cross-hairs of the scope, saw the shock on his face as Simon went down beside him a second before she pulled the trigger a second time. He probably never heard the shot that killed him, but he heard the one that killed Simon. She got up, took her beer over to the sink and looked out the small window. He was a machine, nothing but a godsdamned machine. It wasn't like she took a life.

Lee could tell that he had gotten to her. He could feel her distress. He got up, went over and stood behind her. He put his hands on her shoulders.

"Don't," she said, but she didn't try to move.

"Did you write that letter to Laura Roslin?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Carrie, if you know who he is, you need to tell me."

"He thinks…he thinks he's a human," she managed to choke out. "He's nice. I'll never betray him to you or to anyone no matter what you do to me."

"I'm not going to do anything to you…or him," Lee said gently. "We just need to know so we can watch him."

"Why? He doesn't know what he is."

"Why do you think he doesn't know?"

Kara took a deep breath. "I don't know unless the others…the others programmed him to think he's human."

"Why do you think they would do that?"

"I don't know. I _really don't know_."

"Let me give you a scenario that some of our analysts came up with over a year ago, long before we knew there were more than three Cylon models on Caprica. The men and women who proposed this idea spend most of their time analyzing data and projecting possible scenarios. Many of them are geniuses. They postulate that if there were unknown Cylons on Caprica, they would be programmed to think they're human in order to blend in without so much as a hint they're different. They also postulate that these Cylons would have something in their programming that will wake them up, either when a signal is sent from one of the base stars or when some external event occurs or when a certain date and time are reached."

"Wake them up?"

"Activate them as Cylons."

"I don't understand. Why would they make one think it was human and then wake it up so it knows it's a Cylon?"

"To perform a function for them. What if your Cylon is…say a Presidential aide for instance…and one day he activates as a Cylon and then shoots President Adar? What if that was his sole purpose in being put on Caprica?"

Kara shrugged. "That's just a theory. It doesn't mean it will happen. And this guy is not a Presidential aide."

"What does he do? What line of work? How did you meet him?"

She shook her head. "You aren't going to get that from me."

Lee turned her around so that she was facing him. "Look at me." She did and the impact of those green eyes nearly took his breath. In some ways she looked younger than someone almost twenty years old. There was something else about her. Something familiar that he couldn't place. Something besides John's green eyes.

"Are you around this Cylon every day?"

She shook her head.

"Will you promise me that if he does or says anything to make you believe that he knows what he is, you'll call me? Promise me. You might be in danger. The thought of that…bothers me a great deal."

She nodded. "You'd better go. My other roommates will be home soon. It wouldn't be good for either one of them to find you here. Please don't come back. It's just best if you don't come back."

"Promise me something else. Promise me that you'll think about giving up the resistance and applying at the Academy. The way you ride that bike, I think you would make a great Viper pilot."

She nodded again.

He knew he shouldn't. Why make this even tougher than it was? But he couldn't stop himself. He placed his hands on the sides of her face and kissed her. For a few long moments she softened with the kiss, her lips parted, she leaned into him. He felt the first stirrings of desire, heard the trembling intake of her breath. And then she stiffened and pulled back. He saw the anguish in her eyes before she pulled away from him.

"Go," she said.

"Carrie, I…"

She turned her back on him, he saw her hands gripping the edge of the sink, her knuckles white. "Go, godsdamnit, go."

He dropped his hands in defeat. "You'll call me if…"

"Yeah, if he says or does anything that makes me think he knows what he is, I'll call you. You have my word on that. Now go."

She heard the kitchen door open, heard his footsteps going down the hall and then heard voices in the living room. He was talking to Karl. Then there was nothing but the sound of the television.

She waited, staring out the window at the brick wall across the alley. She could still feel his lips, could still smell his skin. The trembling subsided. She took her beer and walked into the living room.

Karl was smiling. "They won. The Buccaneers won. They're still in the playoffs."

"Good," Kara said.

"Lee seems nice."

"He is, but I told you we can't be together right now."

"Oh, so you went from _we can't be together ever_ to _we can't be together right now_?"

"What did he say to you?"

"Nothing much. Just told me to take care of you. He really likes you, Kara. Even I can tell."

"I know. I really like him, too. Don't say anything to Maggie or Jared about him. Please."

"I won't. Jared is going to be devastated when he finds out you slept with him, though."

"How is he going to find out? It's none of his business! I'm not going to tell him. Are you?"

"Gods, no, Kara. I just thought…I mean are you going to…you and Jared…are you going to just keep on with him like nothing happened?"

"I haven't let Jared touch me since Lee and I…since last Saturday night. He thinks I'm in one of my moods."

"You're going to have to talk to him sooner or later."

"I know. I hope I can get a place and move out soon. That will make it easier."

"I could move with you, help out with the rent until I go to the Academy. I mean now that Maggie and I are...not together."

"Yeah, that might work. That would definitely work. Damn, why didn't we think about this before? I'll start looking for a place right away. Gods, it will be great."

Karl grinned. "Just like back at the little stone house. Well, not quite like that. You won't be shooting rabbits with a slingshot."

"You remember when we almost got into a fight when I shot the first rabbit?"

"Yeah, and I ran off into the woods and started crying like a little wimp."

"And later I cried about wanting to see my father again. We've…been through a lot together. Stuff most people will never understand."

"I know."

"I've been thinking about my father a lot lately. Jared told me that next month Tom Zarek is up for parole and this time it should go through. I asked Frogman to see if he could find a way for me to talk to Zarek."

Karl looked at her skeptically. "Just talk? You aren't still dead set on killing him?"

"I don't think so. Killing is…it's not as easy to live with as I thought it would be. And I know all I did was kill two Cylons, but still, one of them was…I'm not sure I could do it again. I'm not sure this resistance thing is where I belong. I think maybe next year I'll apply to the Academy. You can tell me about what I'll have to know to take the test. Then I can start reading and studying, maybe learn enough that I can pass it. If I get in, I'll quit my job and leave Carrier Warner behind."

"Did Lee Adama have anything to do with you changing your mind?"

Kara shrugged. "Maybe. Did you know that a Cylon Raider flies with every military ship, even on training missions?"

"You're kidding?"

"Nope, that's what Lee told me. See what you've got to look forward to?"

"It still beats stacking cans of peas on a shelf and bagging groceries for the rest of my life."

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

Kara heard the door to the apartment open. She turned. Maggie stuck her head into the living room, saw her and Karl and quickly went down the hall toward the bedroom without speaking.

"Now's your chance," Kara said to Karl. "Go talk to her. Good luck."

Karl got up from the couch. "Yeah, thanks."

He followed Maggie down the hall. She heard the bedroom door close. She stared at the television and watched the sportscaster interviewing Sam Anders. His shot during overtime had won the game. She touched her mouth where Lee had kissed her and suddenly felt like crying.

A red banner flashed across the bottom of the screen and a news announcer cut into the after-game interview. Kara turned up the volume. "Breaking news from CCNN. Government agents surrounded the Waverly Apartment Building early this afternoon in Caprica City. Sources indicate that their target was a suspected terrorist whose name is currently being withheld. The suspect was not apprehended but literature and several weapons were found in the apartment that allegedly could tie him to the recent fire at a research lab. Although we have been assured there is no danger, the building's residents were quietly evacuated prior to the raid and the bomb squad is currently in the suspect's apartment. Our reporter on the scene has indicated that neighbors say they rarely saw the suspect and several descriptions of him varied widely. No one knew his name. We go now to a press conference at the Government Center."

Kara turned up the volume again. She realized that her heart was beating faster. Was this the apartment of the guy who had supplied the rifle for her that night?

The newscast switched to a room inside the Government Center. A man in a dark blue suit stood at a podium. "Good afternoon members of the press. I'm Special Agent Vladimir Darren of the President's anti-terrorism task force. As many of you are aware, we have been diligently searching for a number of persons who were responsible for a devastating fire a little over a month ago at the North Caprica Research Park. This afternoon's raid on an apartment in the southern part of Caprica City failed to net the suspect that we were after, but evidence was recovered that we believe will tie him to the act of terrorism that destroyed the lab. Now I'll take a few questions."

"Agent Darren, can you reveal the identity of the suspect?"

"Not at the moment."

"What evidence was recovered? We've already heard they found terrorist literature and several weapons. Anything else?"

"Yes, but I can't elaborate at this time. All recovered material is on its way to our forensic labs."

"What led you to this suspect?"

"Good intelligence work and a tip."

"An anonymous tip?"

Darren smiled for the first time. "Is there any other kind?"

Kara heard the door open again. Jared walked in. "Come here and listen to this."

"I already know. Frogman came to see me earlier."

"Is he one of ours?"

"He doesn't exist."

"What?"

Jared sat down beside her on the couch. "That apartment was a safe location, a safe house. It was rented in a fake name. It was only used a couple of times. They'll never find this guy because he doesn't exist."

"What about the stuff at the apartment, the weapons and literature?"

"Planted to make it look convincing, just like everything else they found there. This was a setup, Kara, to make Cavil and the other Cylons think the investigation was going somewhere. Orders for this came down from the top."

"Why do it now?"

"It's been a month. Apparently something happened last week that spooked somebody, somebody high up and he or she decided that the only way to protect you and the other two guys was to give the investigators somebody. Frogman said there's a fake motorcycle registered to the fake person who had rented that apartment, too."

"What do you mean a fake motorcycle?"

"Not fake, really, one that had been damaged in the bombing and sold for scrap, a three-year-old Ducarvo. They'll never find the bike because it's been melted down for scrap, but the registration says it still exists. Like I said, Kara, this was handled from the top. They always do things right."

"Then do you think that means they're going to stop looking for me? I mean not me specifically, but for the rider who got away that night?"

"They'll keep looking, but for a person who doesn't exist, who never did. What you want to bet, though, that someone will give Agent Darren and his men a description that could fit the general size of the motorcycle rider…of you...only it will be a guy."

Kara drew a deep breath as the impact of what he had said hit her. It fit with her idea of her destiny. The Fates were protecting her…just like they had from the beginning of this war…from the night her father had gotten her off Picon…just like they had that night on the road when that guard had hit a bump just before he shot her. The Fates were saving her for something bigger, for a part in whatever it was that was going to rid Caprica of the Cylons. As long as Lee Adama kept his mouth shut about her, and she believed he would, she was okay.

"Something else," Jared said, "something else Frogman told me. It seems what happened to you, getting shot and how you made it back and didn't get caught, and had to have the bullet cut out without any anesthetic, that made its way to the top, too. Word came down. Frogman is not to put you in harm's way again."

"Then what good am I to the resistance? What can I do now?"

"You can't do what I do. There aren't many other low-risk assignments. All that leaves is being a courier."

"A courier? You mean like what I do on my job? I'd deliver stuff?"

"You'd probably carry information instead of weapons and explosives. Nothing is ever written. You'd memorize stuff."

"Oh, great! That's just frakking great! That's worse than being in school."

"Are you saying you won't do it? Are you saying you want out?"

"No. Not right now. It's just not what I signed on to do."

"Yeah, but I feel better about it. You don't know what it was like for me the night you guys blew up that lab. I couldn't live through any more of those assignments for you. Before you got back here I was a wreck."

"You weren't much better off after I got back."

"Yeah, because you had a bullet in your leg. You don't want to go through something like that again, do you?"

"No, but I don't want to think that all I'm going to do for the resistance from now on is carry information."

"A courier is an important job."

"Frak being a courier! I don't want to be a courier."

"So what do you want to do? Keep shooting people?"

"No. I don't want to do that either?"

"Well, there's not much choice left. Look, I'm hungry. Let's go get something to eat. We'll go to the deli. Where are Maggie and Karl?"

"In the bedroom talking."

Jared snickered. "Yeah, I'll bet they're _talking_. They aren't interested in dinner. Let's go."

Kara started to turn off the television when another news bulletin flashed on the screen. The announcer said something about a standoff that afternoon at Caprica University.

"Wait a minute," she said to Jared. "I walked through the campus this morning. I want to see what this is all about."

"I can tell you. It was all over the internet an hour ago. We watched it at work."

"What happened?"

"Laura Roslin went toe-to-toe with Cavil on the steps of the admin building."

"Laura Roslin? The Secretary of Education?"

"Yeah. It looked for a few minutes like she was going to get caught between some crazy student and Cavil's centurions. If they had opened fire, Roslin and a hundred others would have died. She's a brave lady. Brave or crazy. I'm not sure which."

"What happened? What was it about?"

"Come on. I'll tell you on the way to the deli."

Kara followed him out of the apartment. So the leaders of the resistance were going to reward her by making her a courier. Damn. She realized that was just one more indication that she should think about going to the Academy next year.

And if she went to the Academy, she and Lee could see each other. Maybe being a Viper pilot was her destiny after all. Maybe Starbuck _was_ her future. Maybe in a year her destiny would lie not with the resistance but with the military. Maybe it was the military and _not_ the resistance that was going to rid Caprica of the Cylons. That thought, once planted in her mind, began to grow and from that tiniest of seeds sprouted hope.

...

Lee rode the subway back to his station. When he got to Zeno's, he went inside. He sat at the bar and ordered a beer. He hadn't been able to stop thinking about Carrie. Something had happened between last Saturday night and today, something that had caused a change in her, however slight, but a change nonetheless. He sensed a softening in her about going to the Academy, a softening about them being together. He'd give her a week or two and then he'd find a way to see her again, just to talk, just to stay in touch. He wouldn't push her, he wouldn't take any chances on pushing her away, but he would see her again. He'd find a way. He'd find a reason to see her.

For the first time since Carrie Warner had walked out of the door to his apartment, he felt a glimmer of hope.

TBC…


	29. Posiden's Green-Eyed Daughter

Chapter 29

Posiden's Green-Eyed Daughter

_The misguided move on the part of the Cylons to force the teaching of monotheism as a required course at Caprica University backfired when so many male students enrolled in the class after it was announced that the Cylon Natasi would be the teacher that even the largest auditorium-style classroom would not accommodate all of them. The large class was broken into several smaller ones. Natasi lost her enthusiasm for teaching after a semester and Cavil was unsuccessful in convincing her to continue. The class was quietly dropped from the curriculum._

_-Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War_

Laura Roslin had just returned from lunch on Monday when Adele buzzed her. "I have a call from Chancellor Enwright at the University. He says it's urgent."

"Put him on." She heard the soft click as Adele switched the line. "Hello, Frank. What's going on?"

"We've got a situation over here, Laura. Cavil and a dozen centurions showed up just before lunch and told me we had to start requiring students to take a course on the Cylon's monotheistic religion. He said the course would be necessary to graduate. One of the other Cylons will be teaching the class. He forced my secretary to send out an email to all the students. Before he left my office, fifty or more students had gathered outside the administration building. There must be several hundred here now. I had to call in all my campus security to keep order. Right now we've basically got a standoff. The students won't back down and neither will Cavil. I would never have called you, but Cavil says he won't discuss the situation with anyone but you. He said you two have a history of negotiating. I swear, Laura, he sounded sarcastic when he said it. He's adamant that he won't talk to anyone but you."

"I'm on my way." Without stopping to grab her coat, she went to the outer office and told Adele, "Get me a car and driver immediately. There's some kind of situation out at Caprica U. I've got to go."

Billy stood up. "Should I go, too?"

"No, I need you to stay here and work on getting those records on Kara and Karl. I don't know how long this will take. I hope I can talk some sense into either Cavil or the students. The last thing we need is a confrontation that gets out of hand and results in bloodshed. He's got his centurions with him."

"He doesn't go anywhere without them now," Billy said. "At least a dozen of them."

Laura respected Chancellor Frank Enwright immensely. He had been a philosophy professor when she was a student at Caprica University, and he was known for his sense of fairness and his ability as a teacher. She knew he would have calmly explained to Cavil the folly of what he was doing. She also knew how much Cavil's demand would have rankled with him.

By the time she arrived it looked like the entire quad in front of the administration building was filled with students. Word had quickly spread about the standoff through mobile phones and text messages. Cavil had refused to leave and stood resolute at the top of the steps surrounded by his centurions.

Two campus policemen met her car and got her through the crowd of students who were not being allowed further than the bottom of the steps. Before she got to Cavil she noticed D'Anna Biers and her cameraman in the crowd. He was filming. She was interviewing students.

Laura was allowed up the steps. "It seems we are once again at an impasse, Cavil."

"I prefer Brother Cavil today."

"Very well, _Brother_ Cavil. Since you sent for me, where should we start our discussion?"

"These students refuse to disband and let me past."

"Does that surprise you?"

"I hadn't supposed college students to be that…involved…to care that much. What's one more course out of all they're required to take?"

Perhaps _you_ could compromise and make your new course an elective instead of required. These students are bright and eager for new knowledge and relish being exposed to new ideas. What they are objecting to is having something forced down their throats."

Cavil looked at her. His eyes were not those of a crazy man, yet she saw something there that didn't look entirely sane either. How could that be when he was a machine? Could craziness be programmed or had something gone wrong with him? A computer virus, maybe? If he were infected, were the others infected as well? Did they pass viruses among themselves the way humans did?

"The course _will not_ be an elective. You have lost _this time_, Madame Secretary."

"Is that what this is all about, something personal against me?"

"Of course not. Just like not inviting me to the President's birthday party was not a personal slight."

"I had nothing to do with that."

"Ah, but you attended. Where was your spirited protest over that wrong?" She saw what Frank Enwright had meant about Cavil's sarcasm. It had not abated during their entire conversation.

"Could we go inside and discuss this matter like mature adults? I'd also like to point out that there's a back door to the building. You could exit that way and avoid any unpleasantness."

"I _will not_ go out the back door and we'll discuss the matter _right here_."

"You cannot do this! The Colonies were founded on the principle that religion and government are not to be mixed. The priests do not make our laws or tell us how to govern and we do not tell them how to conduct their worship services. This is a government-supported school. You are stepping across a line that _must not_ be crossed. Caprica University is not the place to do this."

Cavil stepped up close to her. "It's the very place to do it. You thwarted me once regarding the refugee camps and got away with it. You won't do it again. Now either tell your students to disband and go back to their dorms and their classes or tell them that they risk death."

Laura was horrified. "You would have your centurions turn their weapons on unarmed students?"

"They must learn. You must all learn. _You most of all_."

"This has nothing to do with your religious beliefs, does it?"

He smiled. "I have no religious beliefs. I don't believe in the one God as Natasi does or the many gods as you do. I don't believe in any gods. Humans created their gods, not the other way around. Humans created them to keep from despairing over the knowledge that what you experience here and now is all there is."

"You would risk starting a war over something you don't even believe in?" She asked incredulously.

"I would risk starting a war because you are trying to bend me to your will, to make me conform to your human ideas of right and wrong. You think that humans created us years ago to serve you. That is true of these centurions. But those like me were created for an entirely different reason. It's time you learned that we are now your superior beings. We are now _your masters_. You will bend to _our will_."

"There is a group on Caprica that has been held in check by the very fear that you would do something like this. If you massacre these students, you will have declared open season on yourself and the other Cylons and also those who are helping you. The bloodbath will never end."

"I know the group you're speaking of…your resistance. Pathetic fools willing to die for nothing. It doesn't matter how often I'm struck down, another copy will take my place and each will be less and less inclined to put up with you humans. We could take several thousand of the youngest and most fertile humans with us and leave Caprica behind…a dead and wasted cinder in space."

Laura stepped away from him. He was serious. He would really consider destroying the planet over this issue…unless he perceived them bending to his will. She couldn't allow the current confrontation to escalate into the incident that caused the destruction of the last remaining humans. It was now obvious to her that Cavil would not budge.

She took a deep breath. "Then I will speak to these students. Allow me to do that. I will try to get them to disband, but I will not lie to them."

"Fine. Turn your oratory skills on them. See if you are any better at convincing them than you have been at convincing me."

She turned and descended several of the broad stone steps of the administration building. She held up her hand for quiet. "Students and faculty members, many of you know me. I am Laura Roslin, President Adar's Secretary of Education. A small misunderstanding has regrettably grown into a large one. I have just spoken with _Brother_ Cavil and he agrees with me that further talk on this edict of his must be forthcoming. We cannot do this under the present circumstances so I ask you to please return to your dorms and your classes and allow him and his centurions to leave. Your chancellor, Frank Enwright and I will be meeting with Brother Cavil in the near future to discuss the matter further. Please do as I ask and disband for now."

One of the students near the front of the crowd shouted, "Does that mean we don't have to take his frakking class?"

"I cannot answer a question like that under these circumstances or before we have had a chance to discuss the matter. Please think about what is happening here. Please think about the future of mankind before you force this issue."

The student pushed his way to the front of the crowd and started up the steps. The students in front surged forward, pushing past the campus policemen. Behind her Laura heard what could only be the centurions' weapons locking into place. Knowing that if Cavil gave the order and they opened fire that she would be hit first, she still started down the steps to the student and caught him by the arm. He was just a boy, maybe eighteen or nineteen years old and yet he appeared to be the leader of the students at the front of the crowd.

"Please think about what you're doing, please. Don't bring the wrath of the Cylons down on all of humanity because of a rash and thoughtless act on your part. That…thing standing at the top of these steps looks like a man, but he is a _machine_. He commands other machines that have no conscience. Killing to them is like breathing is to us, just another function that they were designed to perform and they do it _extremely_ well."

"They deserve to die, all of them. Their bombs killed my parents on Aerilon. Both of my sisters were in the military. They died on the _Atlantia _and the_ Solaria_."

She held his arm tightly and said softly. "The Cylons killed a great many parents and sisters…and husbands and mothers and children and friends…billions upon billions of them. Your death, my death, the deaths of many of these students…your friends…will not change that. Look at me. Please." She looked him directly in the eyes. "There are other ways."

His eyes locked on hers and focused. Something she had said had finally gotten through to him. The others seemed to be waiting to see what he was going to do.

"Please. Tell your friends to go home. There are other ways. Save that anger and determination for another day, another time when you stand a chance, when _we_ stand a chance. Today we don't." She lowered her voice, "We have a plan, a good plan. We just need a little more time to put it into place. Please give us that time."

_Oh, gods, let Bill Adama have been telling the truth._

She felt the fight go out of him. He didn't speak again, just nodded slightly and turned and went down the steps. It seemed to serve as a signal to the other students. Slowly they began to drift away singly or in small groups. As the area in front of the administration building began to clear, she saw D'Anna Biers and her cameraman off to the side. They had gotten out of the way in case the centurions began firing, but he was still filming. Laura wondered if he had audio on his camera as well. She prayed he hadn't caught her remark to the student about having a plan.

Cavil, surrounded by his centurions, marched down the steps and toward the parking lot and their waiting vehicle. He did not speak to her again. She wondered if he were disappointed at the peaceful outcome of their confrontation. Had he really wanted to give the command to his centurions to fire their weapons?

D'Anna Biers looked in her direction and mouthed, "Well done."

A sudden gust of cold wind caught her hair and blew it across her face. Chancellor Enwright was by her side and took her arm. "Come inside. We'll go to my office and I'll have someone get us some coffee or tea. You're shivering."

"Yes, thank you," she said automatically. Only then did she realize he was right. The shivers seemed to come from the core of her being. Could she call today a victory? Not if it were viewed in terms of Cavil's edict to teach his class on monotheism. He was clearly determined to do that, to teach a class on something he didn't even believe. He had clearly won in that regard, but she had saved lives…she had saved lives. There had to be some victory in that. That had to count for something.

"Ms. Roslin…Ms. Roslin," D'Anna was coming up the steps behind her and the chancellor. "A quick comment for us, please. We're rushing to make the five o'clock news with this."

"How did you know there was going to be a confrontation here today?" Laura asked her.

"I have a lot of sources. I got a call after the students started gathering. I got here about five minutes before you did. What do you think of Cavil's plan?"

"The Colonies were founded on the premise that government and religion are equal but separate. As this is a government-funded institution of learning, there should be no required courses on religion of any kind, unless you are a religion major. They should all be elective for everyone else."

"Do you intend to pursue this issue with Cavil…or Brother Cavil as he has asked us to call him?"

"I do."

"Do you think you will win?"

"I intend to do everything in my power to try. I owe it to these students."

"Thank you, Ms. Roslin." D'Anna signaled her cameraman to stop filming and she turned off her recorder. "I just want to say that was a very courageous thing you did today. Off the record, do you think you stand a chance?"

"Off the record. No. Frank and I are going to talk about that now. How to handle this situation so there isn't the chance it will escalate into a bloodbath in the future."

Frank Enwright looked at D'Anna Biers. "Laura needs to get inside out of this wind and she needs a cup of something warm."

"I'll call you later to follow up," D'Anna said.

Laura let Frank take her arm and lead her up the steps. She really did need to get out of the cold wind or she knew she would never stop shaking.

...

Bill Adama was waiting in her office when she got back after six o'clock. He turned on her with a fury she had only seen from him once before in her life.

"Of all the _insane_ and _idiotic_ things to do, putting yourself between a mob of students and a dozen heavily armed centurions. What were you thinking?"

"I was thinking that if I didn't stop them, those students were going to inadvertently begin our final war. I was thinking that after he massacred them, Cavil would simply take Gaius Baltar and his research team and a few ships of fertile young men and women to experiment on and then destroy this planet like they did the rest of the Colonies. I'm surprised at times that he's left us in relative peace for this long."

"Cavil wants to remain here as much as some of the rest of us do. He likes living in luxury."

"Cavil…_likes living in luxury? _Do you realize what you just said, Bill? You gave him a human trait. Certainly you don't think…"

"What I think is that crazy son of a bitch got you out there today hoping you'd be gunned down along with those protesting students, hoping he could get rid of you and make it look like it was your own folly for getting caught in the middle of a student riot. That's what I think."

"It was _not_ a riot. The students behaved very well, very peacefully."

"It doesn't matter. If those centurions had opened fire, the end result would have been the same. Rioting or peaceful, you would all have been dead."

"But that didn't happen, Bill. I'm all right and the students are all right."

"How can you say nothing happened? Something very major happened there today. The Colony just lost the freedom to educate its students as we choose. Don't you realize what's next, Laura? Cavil will close the temples, he'll force his brand of religion on the people. Then we'll have a religious war on our hands. You think the resistance has its supporters now? Just wait until Cavil takes this a step further and tries to tell everyone how they must worship."

"Cavil is an atheist," she said wearily. "It's Natasi who believes in the one God."

"It doesn't matter what his personal beliefs are. He knows that any attempt on his part to subject us to their will in regards to religion is going to be met with resistance, armed resistance. How many wars in our past have been fought over religion? Not even fifty years ago our predecessors were killing each other in the name of their gods? My own sister got mixed up with some religious extremists and died for it. It would take almost nothing to ignite that same zealotry again in others."

"How long until you can put your plan into action?"

"A year at least."

"I hope we can wait that long."

"So do I."

"We obviously need to talk about this some more, but I'm tired, Bill. I want to go home."

"I'll take you."

"That's not necessary."

"I'm going to do it anyway."

"I need to talk to Billy first. He's tracking down some information for me. John's daughter Kara is alive and in Caprica City. We're trying to locate her."

Bill Adama looked stunned. "She's alive? His daughter is alive?"

"I just said that, didn't I?"

"John actually talked to you about her?"

"I met her in the big refugee came near Antioch almost two years ago. Sometimes this planet we live on can be very large and sometimes it can be very small. She's a remarkable girl. She's a lot like him. Please excuse me for a minute."

She went out to Billy's desk.

"It's already all over the news and the internet," he told her. "D'Anna Biers camera man got it all and there's about fifty mobile phone videos already posted. And President Adar wants you to call him right now."

He handed her a small sticky note with a phone number on it.

Laura shook her head. "I was hoping…I was hoping we could contain this."

"With hundreds of students involved? Not a chance."

"You need to go home. I need to go home. Do you have anything more on Kara?"

"I faxed requests to all the utility companies. I only heard back from the electric company so far. Nothing in either one of their names. Nothing turned up on vehicle registration or property or criminal background. No driver's licenses for either one of them. I checked both names on her in everything, Agathon and Thrace. I'm sorry. I also made a call to a guy I know who works for EquiCredit, the biggest of the credit reporting companies. He couldn't find any credit information on any of the three names. If we could just get at employment or tax information…of course there's always the chance they're working somewhere for cubits, for an employer who's paying them under the table so to speak and not reporting their wages."

"You did a wonderful job getting what you did. I've thought of something else, though. What if they're living with someone who has the utilities in his or her name? What if they work at jobs where you typically find young people, waiting tables or clerking in a store? How would we ever find them?"

"You don't seriously think we can visit every restaurant and store in Caprica City do you?"

"No, of course not. I'm just saying there may be a legitimate reason they aren't in any of the places we've been able to check. They're sixteen and seventeen. Neither could get credit or utilities in their names anyway."

"You're right." He gave her a large envelope. "This is what I've got so far."

"Thank you, Billy. Will you please call down and cancel my car and driver. Bill is taking me home. After you do that, you go home, too."

"Will do," he said and picked up the phone.

Laura took the envelope he had given her, took it back to her office and put it in her briefcase. She looked at her watch. It was nearly seven o'clock. John would probably be there when they got to her apartment. Bill was standing at one of the large windows behind her desk and was looking out at the brightly lit courtyard in the center of the Dressler complex of government office buildings.

She sat down at her desk, picked up the phone and dialed the number on the small piece of paper. "Hello, Richard."

"Are you all right?"

"I'm fine."

"What the hell happened out at the University this afternoon?"

As briefly as she could, she told him.

"Be in my office tomorrow morning at eight o'clock. I've already left a message for Chancellor Enwright to be here. I've also sent a request for Cavil to attend. We'll have breakfast and talk about our options."

"You actually think we have options?"

"We always have options. Goodnight, Laura."

"Goodnight, Richard."

Wearily she hung up the phone and swiveled around in her desk chair to look at Bill. "John will probably be waiting at my apartment," she said.

Bill turned. He had a drink in his hand. While she was talking to Billy he had helped himself to her whiskey.

"I thought he might be," he said.

"I called him today and left a message that I had some news about Kara."

"You don't owe me an explanation."

"I know I don't. It was more of a warning so you wouldn't be surprised if you saw him there."

He walked over to the table where he had left the bottle of whiskey.

"No, Bill. You're driving."

She saw him hesitate and then put the bottle down. "There's nothing I can say that will change your mind about getting involved with him is there?"

"I'm already involved with him."

Their eyes met and she saw the raw pain for a moment before he turned and walked back to the window. He couldn't seem to look at her.

"John is a good man," he finally said. "I didn't mean to give you the impression Saturday night that I think otherwise. I just don't think he's the right man for you."

"I know he's a good man. Bill, I can't talk about this tonight. I'm just tired. I just want to go home. Please."

He walked over and picked up her briefcase. "Let's go."

In the car she asked him what the holdup on his plan was.

"I told you several months ago that I need another year or two. I'm doing everything I can to expedite all the parts of my plan. Some are ready but on other parts I still need a year. The main holdup right now is fuel…fuel and pilots, but we're making progress on the fuel. In a month Tom Zarek is getting out of prison. Cavil is going to put him in charge of a mining expedition to Tauron because the only ones willing to go and work there are prisoners. They're doing it to get pardons."

"Killing themselves with radiation to get pardons?"

"Tauron's polar regions are free of radiation so far. What Cavil doesn't know is that Zarek is part of the resistance. The mining barges that will bring the refined fuel back to Caprica for storage have been specially modified. So have the underground storage containers. Part of that fuel will disappear without the Cylons being aware of it. It's complicated. It took some smart engineers nearly a year to get the designs right and another year to make the modifications to the barges and tanks during routine maintenance. These things just take time, Laura. Everything takes time."

"I didn't mean to push so hard back there in my office, but I sense that Cavil is losing his grip in some ways, if that's even possible for a machine."

"He's not entirely a machine."

"What are you saying?"

They pulled up outside of her apartment. "We'll have lunch soon and I'll tell you more. I know you're tired tonight. He put his hand over hers and squeezed. "Take care of yourself, Laura."

"I will. Thank you for bringing me home."

She got out of the car. John and Doug walked out from inside the glass doors and all she could think about then was feeling John's arms around her. He didn't disappoint her.

She put her briefcase down on the sidewalk and let him hold her. She was starting to shake again. Behind her she heard Bill's car drive away.

"Bill brought you home?" John asked.

"He was waiting at my office to chew me out for my _insane and idiotic _behavior this afternoon."

John kept his arm around her and picked up her briefcase. "Come on. You need to get inside. You're shaking."

"I need a drink."

"I can handle that." In the elevator he kept her tight against him. "Doug and I watched the news on that little television of his behind the desk. That was the bravest thing I've ever seen anybody do."

She smiled. "I doubt that. You were a Viper pilot. You fought in the First War. I'm sure you saw many things that were much braver."

"No, Laura I didn't. I saw bravery. Yes, I saw bravery, but there's a huge difference between being in an armed ship going against an armed opponent and what you did today. Up there in my Viper I at least stood a fighting chance. All of us did. Today, you…I can't imagine what kind of courage it took to stand between Cavil's centurions and those students."

"John, I never even thought about it. It wasn't an act of bravery for me. It was the only thing I could do." The elevator door opened and they got off. She dug in her purse and handed him the keys to her apartment. "I don't want to talk about it anymore tonight, either. It's over."

"No, it's not. Not yet, but we'll let it go for now."

He unlocked the door and held it open for her. She punched in the code for her alarm system and they went through the foyer into her den.

"Siren's Kiss?" He asked.

"Make it a double," she said and sank into the cushions of the couch. She kicked off her shoes, leaned her head back on the cushions and shut her eyes. She heard John moving around and the soft whoosh of the gas logs igniting in the fireplace.

A few minutes later John sat beside her on the couch. She opened her eyes. He had turned off the lights. The room was lit only by the flames dancing in the fireplace. He handed her a glass and put his arm around her.

"Better?" He asked.

"Yes, much better. Just keep your arm around me." She turned up the drink. It burned going down but it felt good. It told her that she was alive, not being zipped into a body bag along with hundreds of slaughtered students. She was alive and that felt good. She leaned against his shoulder and shut her eyes. She was alive. She turned up the glass again. One more swallow, and it would be empty.

"Take it easy," John said. "This stuff is nearly lethal on an empty stomach, especially if you drink it fast. We need to find you something to eat. Does your housekeeper leave you dinner when you're not going out? I could call Channings and have something delivered. Just tell me what you want."

Two large swallows of the Siren's Kiss and she could already feel it. She finished the drink and carefully sat the glass on the coffee table. She was suddenly overwhelmed with the need for physical contact, with the need for him.

"Oh to hell with dinner. I'd rather have you instead."

She put a leg across him, settled on his lap and kissed him. The skirt of her suit slid up around her thighs. By the time he slid his hands up her legs to her hips and pulled her against him, he was already hard. Their kiss, passionate and reckless from the beginning, got more so.

"Here or the bedroom?" He managed to ask a few minutes later.

"Here," she answered. She was in too much of a hurry to make it that far down the hall.

They never even got all of their clothes off, just the necessary ones. He was the one, though, who stopped her in her headlong rush, stopped her just as she was climbing back onto his lap again.

"Laura, Laura, wait a minute. We're forgetting something. Give me just a minute. I've got to get something…in my jacket over there…"

"No, it's all right. Nothing is going to happen."

He grasped the sides of her face, stopped her from kissing him and made her look at him. "You're sure? You're absolutely sure?"

"Absolutely. Yes. Absolutely sure."

Then she had him inside of her and everything was all right. Everything about the whole day was all right. Someday soon they would do this again and take their time, but not tonight. Tonight she needed this wild, adrenalin-fueled, headlong rush of passion. He seemed to know exactly what she needed. His hands were on her hips again, urging her, helping her. She couldn't believe how quickly it was over for both of them. How it took only a few minutes before her fingers dug into his shoulders and she cried out softly even as his hands tightened on her hips.

Their breathing gradually returned to normal, but she didn't move off his lap. He pushed her hair out of her face, pulled her head to his shoulder and kissed her forehead. He wrapped his arms around her.

"Just relax," he told her. "You're safe. It's over now."

"Dear gods where did _that_ come from?" She finally asked.

"From facing death," he said softly. "A couple of times on the _Solaria_ after I'd come back from a mission where I'd almost bought it, I…sometimes you've got to do this to convince yourself you're still alive. You've got to be with somebody, share this, to know you're going to be all right. You're going to be all right, Laura." He kissed her forehead again. "Now tell me about _Nothing is going to happen_. It's a little late to do anything about it now, but I'd still like to know."

She kept her head on his shoulder, glad she didn't have to look at him, glad he couldn't see the pain in her eyes. "We don't need to be careful because I can't get pregnant."

"I'm sorry. Do you want children or did you ever want children?"

"When I was first married I thought I did."

"You were married?"

"When I was twenty-eight. We divorced shortly before I turned thirty. A lot of people don't know about the marriage. I never took his name. He taught at the University. Still does. He was older than me, sixteen years older. The marriage…was a mistake...obviously, but we parted amicably."

He continued to stroke her hair. "I would tell you I'm sorry about you splitting up with him, but I'd be lying. I'm glad because it means you're here with me tonight."

She suddenly thought of why he was there. Kara. She had to tell him about Kara. "Oh, John, I've been so selfish. You didn't come over here tonight for this, to take care of me. You came about your daughter."

"Laura, I…I'm not even going to comment on that. I'd like to think I was here for you when you needed me."

"You were here for me. I just feel guilty now about how I put my need first."

"I've waited for three years for any news about Kara. I've thought for the last two years that if I got any news at all that it would be bad. I can wait a little longer. Now why don't we get up and put our clothes on and go in the kitchen and get you something to eat because if you keep sitting on me like this…" he grinned…"you're going to make me forget I'll soon be forty-two years old and we'll be going at it again like horny teenagers."

Ten minutes later they were sitting at her kitchen table. She was picking at a bowl of pasta that her housekeeper had left her. John had made tea for them.

She had taken the envelope Billy had given her out of her briefcase and had put it on the table. He wouldn't let her open it until she had eaten something. Finally she insisted on taking out the pages and going through them with him. She did it cautiously, not sure how he would react.

He didn't comment at all as she went through what Billy had found. "So to sum it up, she's alive and somewhere here in Caprica City. We just don't know where...yet."

He nodded and got up. "Excuse me for a minute."

He walked out of the kitchen. She picked at her pasta some more and waited. She waited nearly ten minutes but he didn't return. Finally she got up and went into the den. He was outside on her small terrace, standing in the cold without his jacket. She stepped outside and closed the glass door behind her. His hands were on the balustrade and he was looking up at the stars. She went over, put her arms around him from behind and put her cheek against the back of his shoulder. He held the sleeve of his shirt against his eyes for a moment. She heard him take a deep, ragged breath.

"John, please come back inside. It's too cold out here."

"Kara went through hell because I quit looking for her."

"You can't blame yourself. I know you did everything you could to find her. We don't even know where she was between the time you left her at your friend's airport and the time she and her friend Karl were brought to the camp late in the winter, months after you were there. Even if you had gone back it's not likely that you would have found her. She was passing herself off as Karl's sister."

"I don't understand why she would have done that."

"I've thought about it. Possibly so they could stay together. She may have felt safer and more secure as his sister…more protected. The day I met her she was alone so that's just a guess on my part. I'm trying to imagine myself as a thirteen or fourteen-year-old girl again, and I think I would have wanted the protection of an older brother."

"Okay. That makes sense. What I _can't _understand is why they didn't go to government housing."

"I'm puzzled about that as well. Wherever they are, I feel reasonably certain that they're together. Billy and I think they're working in typical jobs for teenagers. We also think they're probably living with someone who has the utilities in his or her name since they're still too young. That's just a guess as well, though. But we're going to keep looking."

He turned and put his arms around her. "She's alive. She's here in Caprica City. I'll do whatever it takes to find her. I know a guy who might be able to get into that database of tax records. I'm going to call him tomorrow morning. I'll find her."

Laura smiled. "John, _we'll_ find her. Now let's go inside. I'm freezing." They went back in and sat on the couch again. She snuggled against him.

"I've thought of something else I can do. There was a teacher in the camp, the man Kara introduced me to, who helped me get a school started for the young children. He had befriended her or she had befriended him. I was never entirely clear on that, but he may know something more about her, maybe even what her plans were after she got here to the city. His name is Hugh Connelly. Tomorrow I'm going to get in touch with him. He's living in Antioch and teaching there now."

"There's no way I can ever repay you for what you're doing for me, no way that I can ever thank you."

"Oh, yes there is," she smiled. "And don't forget how much you helped me find out about Baltar's secret project."

"Let's go away for the weekend. Thursday is my last day flying for the cargo company. I don't start my new job until next Tuesday. Take Friday and Monday off and go somewhere with me."

"Where?"

"Let me surprise you."

"I'll have to check my calendar."

"When was the last time you took a couple of days off?"

She laughed. "I honestly don't remember."

"See there. Doesn't that tell you something?"

"It tells me I need a vacation. This thing with Cavil though…"

"Will wait," John said. "Everything will wait. Four days…Friday through Monday. Will you do it?"

"Yes, yes I will."

"Good. I think this is something both of us need right now."

"Are we going to spend a lot of time in bed?" She asked mischievously.

He grinned. "What do you think?"

...

Kara and Jared sat in a booth in the deli a block from their apartment. Kara wasn't hungry because she'd eaten late that afternoon and she now picked at her sandwich.

"Are you going to eat that or play with it?" Jared finally asked.

She pushed it across the table to him. "Help yourself. I'm not that hungry. I've thought about the courier thing. If that's what it takes to help the resistance, then I'll do it. But I think next year…I think I'm going to apply at the Academy."

Jared looked disgusted. "I see you've been talking to Karl again. If he decided he was going to frak a Cylon, I guess you'd want to frak one, too."

"You can be a real jerk. You know that? A complete and total jerk. Karl doesn't have anything to do with this. I've never given up my dream of being a Viper pilot like my father."

"Oh, here we go again with the I-want-to-be-like-my-father routine. He's dead, Kara. You need to bury him and move on."

"My father was a hero," she said hotly. "He saved my life."

"Calm down. You're calling attention to us. I'm not saying he wasn't a hero, but ever since I've known you, you've been obsessive about him. Hell, up until a month ago all you talked about was how you were going to kill Tom Zarek because you said he was responsible for your father's death."

"He was responsible for my father's death."

"Yeah, well Frogman thinks so much of you that he's going to arrange a meeting for you two sometime after Zarek gets out of prison next month."

"He is? When did he tell you that?"

"Last week. I was supposed to tell you but I forgot about it."

"Yeah, I'll bet you forgot."

"I did. I honestly forgot. What's going on with you, Kara?"

"What do you mean?"

"For the last week or so you've acted weird. You hardly talk to me. You don't want to play. You act like you don't even want me touching you."

Oh, gods. She hadn't planned to tell him like this, but maybe here in the deli was best. He couldn't do anything stupid.

"I've met somebody."

"You've met somebody." Jared repeated her words in an odd-sounding voice. "Meaning?"

"I met a guy, Jared. You knew this was probably going to happen. I tried to tell you after I got shot that someday I might meet somebody. Well I've met somebody."

"Who?"

"That's not important."

"It is to me."

"Look, he's just a guy. I'm not going to tell you his name or anything about him."

"Is he your prince?" Jared sneered.

Kara rolled her eyes and didn't answer him.

"Have you kissed him?"

"I'm not going to talk about it."

"Gods damn it, Kara. Have you slept with him?"

"I told you I'm not going to talk about it. And keep your voice down. People are looking at us."

"Do you think I give a frak if people are looking at us?" He stood up and took some paper cubits from his billfold and threw them on the table.

"I'm sorry," Kara said softly without looking up at him. "It's not like I planned for this to happen. I never wanted to hurt you. I'm really sorry."

"Yeah, I'll just bet you are." He walked out of the deli without looking back at her.

She sat for a long time staring at the table. She didn't want things to end like this for them. She still cared about him. It wasn't anything like what she felt for Lee Adama, but she still cared. She and Jared had been through a lot together, but she knew that he would never be able to accept her as just a friend. She had cried for him once and she knew, as she paid their bill and left the deli, that sooner or later she would cry for him again. She would cry for this man who loved her in a way she would never be able to love him. She knew how much it hurt to love someone who didn't love you the same way. She had once loved Hugh Connelly like that.

...

The next morning Kara stayed in bed until everyone else had left the apartment. Everything in her personal life was so frakked up right now. Tomorrow she would be back on the bike. She would be riding and could keep it at bay for a while, but as soon as she got home it would come back. She was going to have to deal with all of it somehow.

She got up and wandered around the apartment. Maggie had let the apartment go lately and had stopped cleaning it as obsessively as she once had. Not that Kara ever expected that of her. She had just done it. Maybe it had something to do with how dirty a lot of the camp had been. Maybe it had to do with the bugs and the rats and not wanting to be reminded of the camp.

As Kara got some orange juice and a bagel out of the refrigerator, she noticed the sticky spots on the floor where something had been spilled and not wiped up. Karl or Jared? She wondered how dirty the place would have to get before either one of them lifted a finger. She thought of the stone house and what she'd had to go through to get Karl to help her. Guys were just total slobs. And then she thought of Lee's apartment. There was nothing sticky on his kitchen floor. It was neat and clean, the whole apartment. So maybe all guys weren't total slobs.

After she ate she got the mop and a bucket out of the utility closet and mopped the kitchen floor. Then she cleaned the sink and stove and finally cleaned out the refrigerator. It reminded her of being back at the little stone house. The mindless work helped for a while, but she knew that if she hung around until Karl got home he would ask her about Jared. He would ask her why Jared had come in drunk at midnight last night and awakened all of them by accidently knocking the lamp off the table in the living room.

She didn't want to talk to Karl yet. In fact she didn't want to talk to him at all right now. He and Maggie must have worked things out because they seemed to be getting along just fine when she got back from the deli last night. They probably _had_ done more than talk yesterday afternoon just like Jared had said. Guys were like that. A little rolling around between the sheets and everything was right with the world. He probably wouldn't want to move out with her now. Well, frak him, she was going to move anyway. If last night had shown her nothing else, it had shown her that she needed to be on her own.

She showered and dressed and left the apartment. She rode the subway down to the east waterfront station and walked the six blocks from the station to Fifty-Third Street and then three blocks down Fifty-Third to the pier. She looked around. There wasn't much down there, a couple of bait and tackle shops and some seedy looking restaurants. There was a man outside one of them washing the sidewalk with a hose. He glanced up as she approached him.

"We don't need any help," he said.

"I'm not looking for a job. I'm looking for the Oracle, Yolanda Brenn. I heard she has a place down here."

"Two blocks that way," he jerked his head in the direction she had just come. She lives above a shoe repair shop. There's a sign out front in the shape of a boot. Take the stairs up to the second floor."

"Thanks."

She found the shop without any trouble. She went inside the first door. There was another door to her left that led into the shop and a set of narrow, steep stairs straight ahead that went to the second floor. She felt like this place had been here a long time. At the top of the stairs was a metal door with many thick coats of brown paint. She knocked.

A woman opened the door, a robust-looking woman with deep bronze skin and a narrow headscarf that was wound through her abundant dark hair. She was dressed in a colorful, long layered skirt and flower-print blouse. Her dark eyes were bright and intelligent. She was obviously not blind. Kara tried to guess her age. He skin was smooth but she didn't seem that young, either. She could have been thirty-five or fifty.

"I'm looking for the Oracle, Yolanda Brenn."

The woman didn't speak, just stepped aside and allowed Kara to enter. The walls of the room she had just entered were draped in a dark green patterned fabric and there were candles of all shapes and sizes placed around the room. There were no windows. The only illumination came from the many flickering small flames and the ambient light that filtered through gauzy curtains from the other two rooms. There were no couches or chairs, either, just large cushions of many different fabric patterns and weaves. A dark-painted low table sat near one wall. On it were several small statues and stone carvings. A large blue pottery bowl was in the center filled with a clear liquid she took to be water. The air smelled of incense and leather and glue from the shoe repair shop below. The smells were not unpleasant but they were strong.

Kara said, "Shouldn't you go tell her I'm here to see her?"

"She knows," the woman said in an accent that Kara didn't recognize. "Sit…there by the table. Take off your jacket."

Kara sat on one of the large cushions and put her jacket on the floor beside her. She felt strange, almost light-headed. It was probably the incense, but the darker-skinned woman didn't seem to be affected.

"How much is this going to cost me?" Kara asked.

"She does not charge anyone. If you wish, you may leave her a gift. You decide how much her words are worth to you."

"I don't recognize your accent. Where are you from?"

"I am from many places."

"I guess I'm asking where you were born."

The woman laughed, a melodic sound, and gestured toward the ceiling. "I was born in the cargo hold of a freighter somewhere up there among the stars. My mother was a member of the crew. My father," she shrugged and laughed again, "My mother said he was a pirate, a ruthless man, a good _amante_, a good lover. That is important, no? For your man to be a good lover?"

"You take care of the Oracle?"

"Aye, I cared for her even before she lost her sight."

Kara heard a soft rustling sound. The gauze curtain was pulled back and Yolanda Brenn came into the room. She was a small woman, probably in her thirties, with light brown curly hair that was styled similar to the other woman's. It was tied around with a narrow head scarf that wound through the long layers. She was dressed similarly to her companion except her long skirt and blouse were not patterned. They were of solid brown and gray hues. A colorful paisley shawl was tied around her shoulders.

She walked over to the table and sat on a cushion opposite Kara. Only then did Kara see that her eyes were sightless. There were dozens of small scars on one side of her face such as might have come from tiny pieces of shrapnel or even glass hitting her with a great deal of force.

"Give me your hands," she said. Yolanda Brenn had no accent at all.

Cautiously Kara put out her hands. The Oracle's grip was stronger than she had expected.

"Ah," Brenn said. "Posiden's green-eyed daughter. You seek your destiny."

"Isn't that why everybody comes here?"

"Look into the water. What do you see?"

Kara leaned over and looked into the water in the blue bowl. "Nothing."

"Look again."

"I see myself, my reflection."

"You see deception. Your life today is based on a lie."

Kara was stunned. How could Yolanda Brenn know that? "It's…it's necessary right now," she stammered.

"Your destiny is not as the person you claim to be. Come back to see me when you no longer live this lie."

"That may be a while."

"Not as long as you think. Come back then. I cannot help you now." She let go of Kara's hands.

Kara got up and pulled some crumpled paper cubits from her pocket. She didn't feel like she'd gotten much for her money. Yolanda Brenn shook her head and Kara handed them to the other woman.

Before Kara opened the door to leave, Brenn said, "There are six important men in your life. One seeks you. One lives a lie, yet he is unaware of his deception. One loves you with a pure heart. One suffers because he will never have you. One is in your past and in your future. One bears the name of a god. He is your true love. He will help you when you are at your most troubled. Do not hesitate to turn to him. This is very important for he is the only one who will be able to help you."

Kara turned. "How do you…what made you say that?"

Brenn pulled back the gauzy curtain, "I only speak the words. You are the one who knows what they mean." She left the room.

"We will see you again," the bronze-skinned woman said. "Heed her words and come back. You will know when the time is right."

Kara carefully made her way down the steep stairs. No wonder they didn't have any furniture. Who could get anything up this narrow staircase?

She put on her sunglasses and walked out into the bright afternoon sunshine. The breeze was fresh and cool and coming off the bay so she turned and walked to the waterfront and then out onto the pier. She kept walking until she reached the end and stood with the wind in her face. Her head began to clear from the smell of the incense.

She knew who four of the men were. All but the one Brenn said sought her, and the one who was in her past and her future. The others she recognized. Leoben, who lived a lie because he didn't yet know that he was a Cylon. Karl, who loved her with a brother's pure love. Jared, who suffered because he would never have her. Kara firmly believed that Lee was her true love, but why had the Oracle said that he bore the name of a god?

Brenn had also called her Posiden's green-eyed daughter. The sea god's daughter. Why?

Kara walked back up the pier toward the street and looked at the sailboats out in the bay, at the people fishing off the sides of the pier and the sea gulls circling noisily over a man who was cleaning some fish he had caught.

The gulls must have triggered the memory, a sliver of memory, but from when in her life she didn't know. She was being carried, a man was carrying her and there were the raucous cries of gulls. They pulled other slivers of memory to the surface…the ocean, the sun, a small child's footprints on a beach, the sand warm under her bare feet, her mother on a beach towel, a memory from her early childhood…the man, her father, picking her up again and carrying her into the water as she wrapped chubby arms around his neck and squealed with delight…John Gallagher…this man who loved her and had saved her…this man with eyes the color of the sea who had carried her into the ocean like a god who ruled the waves. Posiden. Somehow the Oracle had known.

She was his green-eyed daughter.

TBC…


	30. Apollo and Who?

Chapter 30

Apollo and Who?

_During the Cylon occupation of Caprica an estimated eight thousand people who had been arrested for various crimes or merely detained on suspicion of some crime were taken by the Cylons for further interrogation and simply disappeared. All attempts to learn of their fates were unsuccessful._

_-Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War_

At a small table set in President Adar's office Laura ate breakfast like she was famished. Normally a picky eater, she surprised even herself. Was this delight in a simple meal of toast, eggs and fruit another side-effect of her brush with death?

Cavil arrived in time for coffee although he refused to share a cup with them. "It bothers my ulcer," he said.

Laura didn't think she would ever get used to his sardonic sense of humor. What could possibly give a machine an ulcer?

Adar had given them no clue of what their options might be. He said they would wait for Cavil. Frank Enwright was uncharacteristically silent and subdued. Laura could tell that the previous day had taken a toll on him.

"Have a seat, Brother Cavil," Adar said. "What can the three of us do to help you get your class on monotheism set up?"

"You intend to give in to his demands?" The chancellor asked in disbelief.

"Now, Frank," Adar said soothingly. "I think we're being unrealistic to think this is not going to happen. So Brother Cavil, I ask again, what can we do to help?"

Cavil seemed skeptical, even confused. "Help? What do you mean? And you can drop the _Brother_. This woman knows I have no religious beliefs."

"Does that mean you won't be teaching the class?"

Cavil said. "Natasi will be teaching it. It's her belief. This was her idea although I must admit it's a good one. Something must have activated her proselytizing subroutine. Perhaps it's that godless human scientist she's attracted to."

Laura noticed that Cavil no longer refered to Dr. Baltar by his name. She wondered if Baltar's failure to deliver a human-Cylon hybrid had anything to do with Cavil's change in attitude toward him.

"Natasi. Wonderful. I can't think of anyone better suited to teach the class," Adar said.

Laura was stunned although she managed not to show it. Adar was entirely too enthusiastic about this. She knew him well enough to know that he must have a motive that wasn't yet clear to her.

Adar continued. "Now, Frank, aren't you going to need some information on Natasi's credentials to put in the Course Catalogue? I would imagine you'll want a picture as well since this is a new offering. You'll want to _publicize_ it thoroughly. You'll really want to _market_ this to your students, don't you think? I imagine there will be quite a number of _young men_ who will be eager to try to get in the next semester's class. Young women, too, of course. Tell me, Cavil, what size classroom will we need to reserve. Do you plan to limit the number of students per class? These are things we need to know."

Suddenly Laura realized what he had in mind.

"I think a bit of marketing is definitely in order, Frank," she said. "I think you should ask Natasi to visit the campus and distribute some literature about her class. Yes, I think that would be a wonderful idea. Is it all right with you, then, Cavil, if we contact Natasi and make arrangements?"

"Fine," Cavil said suspiciously. "You don't intend to fight this?"

"Not at all," Laura said. "I had the benefit of having a night to sleep on it and think about it. We should all be open to hearing other beliefs and ideas."

Enwright said, "That's not the point…"

"Listen to Laura," Adar said, cutting him off. "She has the right idea. Laura, since you seem to understand my position on this issue, you should work with Frank and explain it to him. Is that agreeable to you Cavil?"

"It is." Cavil looked like he was still trying to find a hidden agenda in what Adar had just said.

"Good then. Well I'm sure I've taken valuable time out of your work days. Laura and Frank, I leave this in your capable hands. Frank, don't hesitate to employ your best PR people."

They all left the President's office. Two of Cavil's centurions were waiting in the hall and accompanied him toward his own office. Laura asked Frank Enwright to go back to hers with her.

"I can't believe the President caved like that," Frank said when they were far enough down the hall that Cavil couldn't hear them.

"He didn't. Look at Natasi through the eyes of a nineteen-year-old male. You know how she dresses and walks and talks. Can you imagine what her classes will be like? Can you imagine the students taking her seriously?"

"Holy Hera, I must be getting old. I completely missed where you and the President are going with this. She's a college boy's wet dream. Probably some of my faculty's, as well."

Laura smiled. "I think you've got it."

"Let me work on something, a little publicity campaign for the class, a few personal appearances for Natasi, get some good pictures of her for distribution. We'll get this on our web site, too. Distribute a course outline along with her picture through email. We'll market it as a new class offering. We'll put the _required_ part in very small print and only in the course outline, not the marketing piece. When should we get back together?"

"Next week. How about Wednesday?"

"Done," Frank said. He held out his hand. "Thank you, Laura. You and the President have saved my career."

"It isn't over yet, Frank, but we've averted a crisis for now. Let's just hope we can handle the next one that comes along. I'm sure there will be one."

"By the way, your ex-husband said to tell you _hello_. He came by my office last night. He said he was very sorry he had missed you."

"How is Hayden?"

"He's fine. Did you know he accepted the chair of the Education Department?"

"I saw it in the alumni newsletter last month. I sent him a note of congratulations. We may be divorced, but we're not enemies. I still have a great deal of respect for him."

"As he does for you," Frank said.

...

Tuesday night Lee's mobile phone rang. He recognized John's number on the caller ID. "Hey, John, what's up?"

"I just wanted to let you know I won't be able to meet you Friday night at McGee's. Laura and I are going away for a long weekend. She needs it. I need it. A lot has happened this week."

"I saw the news Monday night. I was holding my breath."

"You think _you were_."

"Where are you going?"

"I'm surprising her. I've got a little place on an island off the south coast of Delphi. It's not much. I haven't been there in a couple of months, but it will be warmer than it is here and we can relax."

"What happened to _I'll be lucky if she even kisses me goodnight again_? You didn't waste any time, did you?"

John laughed. "Look who's talking."

"Okay. I went to see Car…this girl…yesterday afternoon. She didn't admit it but I think she wrote that letter. She knows who the fourth Cylon is."

"Damn. Did she tell you?"

"No, I couldn't get her to tell me. She says he doesn't know what he is. All I got was her promise that if he does figure it out she'll call me."

"You need to stay on top of this, Lee."

"I know."

"Did you tell your dad?"

"Not yet."

"You going to?"

"I'm still thinking about it. Now that we've stopped interviewing half of Caprica, I'm actually going to be able to have lunch this Sunday with Mom and Dad. I'm going to talk to him about a couple of things."

"That something about your buddy Agent Darren almost catching a major terrorist."

"_Almost_ being the operative word. Major Parker told us in a briefing today that the detonators found at this guy's apartment were definitely the kind used with the explosives that blew up the lab. Parker said we have some leads on where the detonators came from. One of the weapons, too. This guy has got to be one of them. They're thinking now that he was the explosives' expert and that he got away on the motorcycle. I think he was the explosives' expert, but he didn't get away on the motorcycle. I just can't tell anybody else that. "

"So where does that leave your girlfriend?"

"I wish you'd quit calling her that. She's not my girlfriend. But basically nobody's looking for her any more. We're all looking for this other guy. Tips keep coming in and Darren's men are following up but coming up empty every time. It looks like Cavil's mind is on other things right now anyway."

"I'd like to put one right between that bastard's eyes. Damn, I'd love to do that. Just like your girlfriend did to Simon and the other one. I know they'd just bring another copy down from their resurrection ship, but it would feel so good. Laura's a tough, courageous woman, but when I felt her start shaking from what he'd put her through, damn, I wanted to kill him."

"I'd be careful who I said that to, John."

"You're the only one I'd ever say anything like that to and you know it. I'd never even say that to your dad. I'm afraid he's having a problem with me and Laura anyway, and I hate that, but I'm going to be with her for as long as she'll have me. I'll just have to deal with your dad as best I can."

"My dad made his choice years ago. He can't be upset with you because you're with Laura now."

"He could still have had Laura three years ago. She told me that herself. He chose to stay with your mom and you and Zak. Hell, who am I kidding? She still has strong feelings for him. I can hear it in her voice when she talks about him. I'm just a place-holder for him. He's still got feelings for her, too. If he ever decides he wants her, I'll be history. She isn't looking for love or anything permanent from me."

"You're selling yourself short, John. You have a habit of doing that."

"No, I'm not. What have I got to offer a woman like Laura Roslin?"

"You mean besides the hot sex?"

"I never said I was having hot sex with her."

"Oh, come on, John, you're going away together for the weekend."

"It's the story of my life. Before I met Kara's mother I was hung up on another woman and she married my best friend. Kara's mother loved the Marines more than she loved me. Lissa worships Gaius Baltar. Laura's hung up on your dad. Frak it. Anyway, I called to tell you something else, too. On a happier note, Kara's alive. You were right and I was wrong so I apologize for doubting you. She survived just like you told me she would."

"What?" Lee said in disbelief.

"It's true. Laura and I were talking last Saturday night and she met Kara in one of the refugee camps. I didn't believe it was her at first, but she told Laura that her mother was a Marine and had died on Picon. It's her. There's no doubt now. Laura's assistant Billy tracked Kara and Karl from the camp to Caprica City. She was passing herself off in the camp as his sister. I'd never have found her on the list even if she'd been there when I was there, which she wasn't. They didn't arrive in the camp until late winter. She's here in Caprica City now, though, so it's just a matter of time until I find her. I've been trying to track down this kid who used to work for the cargo company. He's a computer genius and could hack into anything, but I haven't been able to find him. He's dropped off the planet, but I'm going to keep looking. As soon as I find him I'm going to get him to hack that tax database. If Kara or Karl are working anywhere, he'll find them. It's a long, complicated story and I'll tell you next week. We'll get together at McGee's next Friday. I'll catch you up on how the search is going."

"That sounds great. You and Laura have a good time."

"I plan to do exactly that. See you, Lee." He ended the call.

"Kara's alive." Lee said the words out loud and then said them again because they sounded so good. "Kara's alive." He couldn't even imagine how happy that must have made John.

He thought of Carrie Warner. John was probably glad now that Lee had met her first and fallen so hard for her. At least he wouldn't have to worry about Lee trying anything with his sixteen-year-old daughter. Lee smiled when he remembered how protective John had been just talking about Kara back on the _Galactica_ three years ago. Then he remembered Carrie telling him about almost getting raped in the camp. He hoped nothing like that had happened to Kara. He didn't even want to think about what John would do to a man who had touched his beautiful daughter like that. He'd put Tom Zarek on his ass just for grabbing Kara's arm too hard. Any guy who'd done more than that was probably a dead man.

...

Wednesday morning Kara went in to work early. Jack Fisk was in his office as usual. His door was open. She tapped.

"Hi Carrie, come in."

"Hey, Boss. I'm looking for a place to live…another place to live."

"What's wrong? Roommates kick you out?"

"No, nothing like that. It's time I got out on my own. Do you know of anything around where you live? It's a nice neighborhood."

"Apartments in my building are pricier than I think you can afford. And don't ask me for a raise. I'm paying you more than I should right now. But you know something you might want to consider? It's not permanent, but it would get you out and let you keep saving for your own place. My wife told me that one of her friends is looking for someone to apartment-sit for her. She's a legal assistant at a big law firm that's handling some cases in Kinsdale. They're going to be up there for two or three months. She's looking for someone to stay at her place and take care of it. Interested?"

"Yes, definitely. Where is it?"

"In our building. Twenty-second floor, a two-bedroom, I think. We'll give you a good recommendation. She's leaving in a couple of days. This came up suddenly. You wouldn't be able to bring much. That's the downside of apartment sitting."

"Jack, I don't have much. Just some clothes and a few personal things."

"I'll call my wife later this morning. Her friend might want you to come over and meet her tonight. Can you do that?"

"You bet. What's her name?"

"Foster. Tory Foster."

...

"I have Hugh Connelly on the line," Adele said to Laura.

"Put him on." There was the soft click. "Hello, Hugh."

"Laura. This is a nice surprise. You'll never believe that I was just thinking about calling you."

"Were you?"

"Yes. I've applied for a position teaching history at the Academy next fall. Apparently the military is having trouble staffing all the teaching positions with military personnel. They've advertised for several positions. I'm coming to Caprica City for an interview next week."

"That's wonderful. I'm acquainted with the administrator Colonel Winters. Do you want me to put in a good word for you?"

"Would you? I'd like to use you as a reference, too. Even if I don't get this job at the Academy, Stacey wants to move to Caprica City. Antioch has some very unhappy memories for both of us."

"I'll be glad to give you a good reference. I'd love for you to come have lunch with me. There's also someone I'd like for you to meet. Kara's father, John Gallagher."

"Kara's father is dead."

"No, he's not. She thinks he is, but he's not."

"I read about one of Tom Zarek's men killing a pilot. Kara and I talked about it."

"That wasn't him. One of Zarek's men killed the pilot of the _Astral Queen, _not Kara's father."

"I'll bet Kara was glad to find that out."

"That's one of the reasons we want to talk to you. We know Kara made it to Caprica City, but we can't find her."

"What do you mean you can't find her?"

"She and her friends didn't go to government housing. There are several million people here, Hugh. It's a big place."

"So she doesn't know her father is alive."

"Not yet. We're hoping you can help us. Do you have any idea where she might be or what she might be doing?"

"No, I'm sorry. After I…moved out of the camp, I didn't see Kara. In fact during that last year I didn't see her at all. She and I…I'm not sure exactly how to say this…"

"Hugh, I realize she had a crush on you. Even during the brief time I saw you together I could tell that."

"Laura, I'll tell you this but please don't tell her father. Kara and I almost…we didn't, but we almost…I thought she was older…she told me she was older and I was very attracted to her. I was an emotional wreck at the time. My wife and parents had died in the bombing and I'd just lost my little boy. Kara stopped me from killing myself. She was the one who finally had the good sense to stay away from me and to tell me to stay away from her. I honored her wishes."

"Her jealousy over your marriage wouldn't have had anything to do with that, would it?"

"She didn't know I was married until she came to see me on the day before she left the camp. She didn't even know Stacey was pregnant until then."

"How are Stacey and Elaina?"

"They're fine. We're all doing fine. I don't know if I can tell you much about Kara. I know she was leaving with her friend Karl, the one everybody thought was her brother. She didn't mention anyone else, but I ran into Karl one day in the camp a month or so before they left. He was with a dark-haired girl. The way they were holding hands I knew they were boyfriend and girlfriend. There was another guy with them, also dark-haired, wearing glasses, I think. Karl introduced them but I don't remember their names. They weren't brother and sister but I think they were related, maybe cousins. I'm sorry but I don't remember any more. It was almost a year ago."

"Hugh, that's wonderful. It probably means Kara and Karl weren't alone when they arrived in Caprica City. It's another tiny piece of the puzzle. When are you going to be here next week?"

"Thursday. My interview at the Academy starts at nine o'clock. I was told to plan on eating lunch with Colonel Winters and a Major Whitstone who is head of the History Department. So lunch will be out of the question, but I'd like to get together for dinner if you could."

"I'm sure I can arrange that. I hope John can make it, too. I would very much like for him to meet you. You can tell him firsthand about life in the camp. I'm afraid he thinks it was horrible for Kara."

"It wasn't great, but I can tell him that it could have been a lot worse."

"I don't want you to lie to him, Hugh, but I'd like for him to hear about life in the camp with as positive a spin as possible. He's beating himself up very badly over not continuing to look for her."

"I'll see what I can do. I'll call you when I get to Caprica City next week. We'll definitely get together."

They said their goodbyes and hung up. She looked up Chuck Winters' number and placed the call.

"Laura, this is a surprise."

"A pleasant one, I hope."

"Very much so. How can I help you?"

"I understand you're interviewing for several positions at the Academy for next fall."

"That's right."

"I have a recommendation. Hugh Connelly. He's applied for a position in the history department."

"I remember the name from the applications and resumés we received. So you give him a good recommendation."

"I do. He was responsible in a big way for getting the schools for the youngest children started in the refugee camp. I don't know what I would have done without him. He has superb organizational skills and he's a kind and caring man. I'll be glad to put all of that in writing for you."

"Would you do that? An email will be sufficient. How have you been doing, Laura?"

"Fine, Chuck. And you?"

"Fine. Just fine. I gathered you weren't interested in going out again when you didn't return my last call."

"I've been extremely busy, Chuck."

"Not too busy for John Gallagher. I heard he escorted you to the President's birthday party Saturday night."

Laura was silent for a moment. "I apologize for not returning your call. I should have. At the time you last called me, though, my relationship with John was strictly professional. He was helping me with a small project. But we are dating now."

Winters laughed softly. "On my best day I was never able to compete with him when it came to the ladies. If you can clip his wings, my hat's off to you. I wish you the best, Laura."

"Thank you, Chuck. You're a very nice man."

He laughed again. "Not as nice as you think, but I'll accept your compliment. Take care of yourself and stay away from Cavil. He is one dangerous son of a bitch. Pitting yourself against him was not smart."

"Bill Adama told me the same thing. I think all is going to work out well, though. He's getting his way for now. We'll just have to take the future as it happens."

They said their goodbyes and hung up.

Thirty minutes later her private number rang. She recognized the caller immediately.

"Hello, John."

"Laura, how are you?"

"Fine. I can barely hear you."

"I'm in Antioch, getting ready to start pre-flight for the return trip. I wonder if you can get Billy to look for somebody for me, the kid who used to work at the cargo company. I finally got in touch with one of his friends this morning and he says he hasn't heard from him in three or four months. His name is Peter Chen. If Billy has time, do you think you could get him to check? I don't know his date of birth, but I know he's in his early twenties."

She wrote the name on a pad. "We'll see what we can find."

"Is it all right if I call you tonight then?"

"Would you like to come over for dinner? Say around seven o'clock?"

"What do you think?"

"I promise to let you eat tonight."

"I'm sure we'll get around to it eventually. I'll see you tonight."

An hour later a disturbed-looking Billy brought her a single piece of paper.

A Peter Chen, twenty-three years old, was arrested a little over three months ago for cyber crimes. I can't find where he's being held or what specifically he's been charged with. In fact he's no longer anywhere in the system. "

"That can't be good."

"No, it's not. That's what happens when the Cylons take a prisoner out of our police custody. They're usually never heard from again."

"Oh, Billy, that is really not good."

"I'm going to hazard a guess that Peter Chen has been dead for at least three months."

"For cyber crimes? How could the Cylons do that?"

"If he was a skilled hacker, then they had a lot to fear from him, not just his skills to get into their databases, but the ability to plant spyware and viruses there. They wouldn't let someone like that go free. At the very least he's on one of their ships or stuck somewhere here on Caprica in a hell-hole of a prison."

"This is terrible news. John is going to be very upset."

"I think if I were you that I would discourage him from trying to get someone to hack into any of the protected databases. If the person is caught and gives John up, then he will go to jail, too."

"We'll find another way, Billy. There have got to be other ways. Could we do something using the internet? Something like a missing person ad?"

"Do you have a picture?"

"No, John never mentioned having a picture of her."

"Then even if you have a detailed description you're going to be swamped with people who will swear they know where she is. Half of them will really think they've seen her or know her. The other half will be crazies. You might get lucky, but you'd also have to deal with thousands of false leads or possibly con artists who have a personal agenda of their own. I don't think I'd go that route yet."

"I never thought of all that."

"John would probably be better off hiring a good private detective to look for his daughter."

"I'll talk to him about that tonight."

...

On Thursday Kara moved out of the apartment she shared with Jared and Maggie and Karl and moved into Tory Foster's apartment. Tory had left that morning for Kinsdale. Kara had only been able to talk to her for twenty minutes the night before since Tory had been packing for an early flight the next morning. She had seemed distracted and disorganized. Tory had simply taken Jack and his wife's recommendation of Kara's trustworthiness and had given her the extra key and alarm code.

Kara considered it a gift from the gods.

She waited until she knew Karl would be home from work and called the apartment. "I've moved out," she said when he answered.

"You've what?"

"I've moved out. I'm apartment-sitting for someone. You look like you and Maggie are getting along okay again so I didn't think you'd want to move with me."

"Maggie and I had a long talk. We're not…it's not like that with us anymore, but I told her I didn't want us to be enemies. She's okay with it. So you couldn't even talk to me about it, could you? You just moved out."

Kara took a deep breath. "Karl, I had to get out. Jared…I told him that I'd met somebody. He's not handling it too well."

"You think? Like we don't all know that?"

"It should get better now that I'm gone."

"I doubt it. What am I supposed to tell him when you don't come back here tonight?"

"Just tell him I called and said I'm all right and not to worry. I don't want him to report me to the police as missing or something. I'll give him some time to get used to me being gone and then I'll talk to him again."

"Where are you?"

"Somewhere safe."

"You're not even going to tell me where you are?"

"Not yet."

"Why not?" For the first time she heard anger in his voice…and a lot of hurt.

"So you won't be tempted to tell Maggie."

"After all we've been through, you still don't trust me? That sucks, Kara."

"I trust you, but this way I'm not making you lie. When she starts asking, you can tell her you don't know where I am and you'll be telling her the truth. In a week or two when they've quit asking, I'll tell you."

"What if I want to see you or talk to you?"

"Call me at work, or call the dispatcher and I'll call you back. I'm not going to be able to go a whole week without talking to you or seeing you."

"When you get your own apartment, I still want to move in with you."

"That's a deal." She was suddenly overwhelmed with sadness. "I'm going to miss you."

"Me too. Hurry up and get that apartment."

"I will. Take care, Karl."

She hung up and wandered around Tory's apartment. It was done in muted shades of gold and rust and grape. Kara liked lighter colors, but it was still nice. Tory had told her that she should sleep in the guest bedroom and use the guest bathroom. That was okay with her. Having a bed and not just a mattress on the floor was wonderful. Having a sink and tub without rust stains was nice, too. And having a place where they didn't have to spray for roaches twice a month and put out rat poison was better than nice.

She wandered back into the living room. There on one wall was a bookshelf and some books. Kara scanned the titles. There were a lot of books about the law, some textbooks, some history books and some novels. She looked at the titles. It looked like most of them were romances like Karl's mother used to read. She pulled one out. _The Picon Pirate._ She thought of what the woman had said who lived with the Oracle…of what she had said about her own father…that her mother had said he was a pirate and a ruthless man…and a good lover.

Kara sat down on the couch and started reading the book. An hour later she got up. It was entirely too quiet. She missed Karl. She missed having other people around. She even missed Maggie. But most surprising of all, she missed Jared. Things were never going to work for them, but she still missed him. She thought of the way he would come over sometimes when she got home from work and would massage her shoulders if she was tense from being on the bike all day. She thought of the way he would bring her a beer if he went to get one for himself. She thought of all the nice things he did for her. She was definitely going to miss him.

She wandered into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. She and Tory hadn't discussed food, but since Tory wouldn't be back for a couple of months, Kara didn't think she would care if Kara ate anything in there. On one counter was a small wine rack filled with a dozen bottles of wine. Okay, Tory would probably draw the line at Kara helping herself to the wine. She looked at the clock on the stove. Five thirty. She warmed some left-over spaghetti. Time crawled.

She looked at the news. Nothing exciting tonight…not like Monday night at all. She read some more. Finally at nine o'clock she went to bed. She tried to think of the last time she had spent a night in a place completely by herself. Had she ever spent a night entirely by herself? She didn't think so.

The apartment she had shared with Karl and Maggie and Jared was on a busy street. Even at night there were traffic sounds, the occasional horn blowing or a siren. Tory Foster's apartment was on the back side of the building twenty-two floors up instead of three like the other apartment. The quiet was unnerving.

Sometime before dawn the next morning she woke up and didn't know where she was. She had been dreaming, not a nightmare, but something confusing…images of the Oracle in her long skirts and blind eyes and scarred face and the six men who were important in her life. Two of them were faceless.

Kara turned on the bedside lamp and waited for her heart to stop pounding. She got up, went to the bathroom and got a glass of water. She crawled back into bed, turned off the lamp, and finally as the sun came up, she went back to sleep. She didn't wake up until nearly ten o'clock. She didn't go back to work until Sunday. She knew she couldn't hang around the apartment for two more days. She would go crazy spending that much time by herself.

She knew of one thing she was going to have to do. She was going to have to get in touch with Frogman and figure out a way for him to communicate with her directly. She didn't want to take orders from Jared any longer regarding the resistance. The only two things she knew about Frogman were that he worked with Jared and the kind of car he drove. Late that afternoon she showered and dressed and rode the subway to where their computer hub was located. It was underground, like the station, but the parking was above it in a multi-story garage.

She walked through each level until she found Frogman's car and positioned herself where she could see everyone who got off the elevator on that level. Finally at 5:30 she saw Frogman. He didn't seem too surprised to see her.

"Sassy. How are you?"

"Fine. I don't guess this is much of a surprise, is it?"

"Jared called in sick today. He's never missed work before. I wondered what was going on."

"We split up. I moved out. It just wasn't working for us anymore."

"I'm sorry."

"In a way I am too. Jared is a nice guy. He's just not the guy for me. So the reason I'm here is to find out how we're going to work this other thing. I guess I need to get my orders from you now."

"I've got no problem with that. I'll have a talk with Jared about it, too. Just give me your mobile phone number. I'll call you when I need you to meet me at Zeno's."

"I don't have a mobile phone."

Frogman opened the trunk of his car, rummaged around in a box and came up with a phone and charger. "It's no big loss if something happens to the phone. It belonged to somebody who died in the bombing. The group pays for it. Just let me know if something happens to it and we'll quit paying."

She took the phone and nodded. "About the meeting with Tom Zarek…is that still going to happen?"

"If I can work it out. Jared told me you want to kill Zarek. You know I can't let you take any weapons into a meeting with him. He's too important right now to our group."

"I don't want to kill him anymore. I just want to talk to him. I need to know what happened to my father. I need to hear him say it. When do you think it will be?"

"Three weeks, maybe a month. I'll be in touch when the time is right. I may be in touch before then if we need you to do something else. Things are calm right now. There's not much going on."

She nodded again. "Just call me."

It seemed like he wanted to say something else to her but finally he said, "Take care of yourself."

"Thanks. I will."

She left the garage and went down to the station. She didn't want to go back to Tory's apartment yet. Knowing it was probably a stupid thing to do, she went to Zeno's. There was a crowd there watching the last semi-final game of the pyramid tournament. Tonight's winner would play the Delphi Dominos the following Saturday night for the championship. She couldn't get a seat at the bar and had trouble for a while getting close enough to get a beer. She scanned the faces, each of them. Lee wasn't there.

She didn't like being in a crowd of people like that. It made her edgy. She turned to make her way to the outside and almost ran into a guy. He was young, probably not much older than she was.

"Sorry," she said. "It's crowded. There's no seats near the bar."

"You want to join us? We've got room at our table."

"Who's us?" She asked.

"Me and a couple of my buddies. We're all in Flight School right now training to be Viper pilots. I'm Brendan Constanza, call sign _Hot Dog_."

Kara shrugged. Why not? "I'm Carrie Warner."

Hot Dog introduced her to the pilot-trainees or nuggets at the table, Donald _Chuckles_ Perry and Louanne _Kat_ Katraine. He pulled out a chair for her.

"So what do you do, Carrie?" Kat asked her.

"I deliver meds on a motorcycle."

"No kidding," Hot Dog said. "You ride a motorcycle?"

"It's a living. What's it like, Flight School?"

"Fun," said Hot Dog.

"Hard," said Chuckles.

"Fun and hard," said Kat.

They all laughed and clicked their bottles of beer together. Kara sensed a real camaraderie among them.

"My father was a Viper pilot," she said. "He flew in the First Cylon War."

"Cool," said Kat. "So are you going to be a Viper pilot, too?"

"I think so. Next year after I've saved some more money I'm going to apply to the Academy. I know another Viper pilot, Lee Adama, and he told me I should do it?"

All three of them looked at her. "You know _Apollo_?" Hot Dog asked.

"_Apollo_?"

"Lee's call sign. He's a legend at the Academy. He finished top of his class even after missing over a week when his suit leaked during the deep space simulation exercise."

"He's super smart," Kat said. "We get compared to his scores a lot. Our instructor is always saying, _and the score to beat is Apollo's, _right before he gives us something impossible to do."

Kara was stunned. Lee Adama bore the name of a god just like the Oracle had said. Her true love bore the name of a god. And then she thought of her father's call sign, the one she wanted to take…_Starbuck_. _Starbuck_ and _Apollo_. She loved the sound of the two names together.

The crowd erupted in cheers. Sam Anders had scored and the Buccaneers had gone ahead. They maintained their lead until the end of the game and would advance to the finals in one week.

"Sam Anders is so hot," Kat said. "I'd really like to meet him."

"You want to do more to him than meet him," Hot Dog snickered.

Kat rolled her eyes. "You're just jealous. What do you think, Carrie? Is Anders hot or what?"

Kara shrugged. "I guess."

"You guess? What's wrong with your eyes?"

"Maybe she got her eyes on somebody else," Chuckles answered.

"Maybe they're on Apollo," Kat teased. "I'll have to tell Apollo he's got an admirer next time I see him."

When they left that night, Hot Dog asked if they would see her again at Zeno's.

"Maybe," she told him. She thought he wanted to ask her out but didn't have the nerve.

Since she had drunk three beers, she rode the subway back to the station nearest her old apartment before she realized her mistake. She had to backtrack one station and then take another line to get to the station nearest Tory's apartment. But the good thing is that Friday was over. That left just Saturday to get through before she could go to work again.

...

Zak was on his way out the door when Lee arrived at his parents' house for Sunday lunch.

"I've got to go to work," Zak said. "I'd like to stay and talk, but I'll be late."

"Still working at Bull's Eye?"

Zak laughed. "You still in the military?"

Lee laughed, too. "Let's try to get together soon and talk, maybe have a beer."

"Sure," Zak said.

"I…uh met a friend of yours."

"Who?"

"Carrie Warner."

Zak shook his head. "The name doesn't mean anything to me."

"You met her at Zeno's the day you got…the day you left the Academy. She's blond and beautiful."

"Holy shit. How did you meet _her_?"

Lee grinned. "It's a long story. We'll drink that beer and I'll tell you."

"Let's make it soon. Are you dating her, big bro?"

"Trying to."

"She shot me down, too."

"Who says she shot me down, little bro?"

"Naw," Zak said. "You're lying. A hot girl like that. No way. Not my super serious big bro."

Lee laughed. "Go on. You're going to be late for work."

He went into the kitchen. "Hi, Mom."

"Lee. I feel like it's been months since I've seen you."

"Almost. Where's Dad?"

"Where he always is lately if the weather permits…out by the fish pond. I know he'll be glad to see you."

Lee went out the patio door and found his father sitting at the wrought iron table. He was smoking a cigar. "Hi Dad."

"Lee, come sit down. I understand you got to fly this week."

"Finally. It felt good."

"Still have your shadow?"

"The Cylon Raider? Yeah. How was your week?"

"You mean other than Laura taking a few years off my life?"

"I saw that on the news Monday night. Do you think Cavil did that just to get her out there hoping the students would give him an excuse to have his centurions open fire?"

"That's exactly what I think. I told Laura how foolish it was for her to play right into his hands like that, but you know her. I finally calmed down enough that I thought I could talk to her about it again. I called to take her to lunch on Friday, but her secretary said she was out of the office until Tuesday."

Lee stared not to say anything and then realized that Laura would probably tell his dad the next time she saw him.

"She and John went away for a long weekend."

Bill took a deep breath and stared into the distance for a moment. "I know John is your friend, Lee. I consider him a friend, too, but I can't see anything good coming from this affair of theirs."

"John cares about her, Dad. He cares about her a lot. If anybody gets hurt in this, it's going to be him."

Bill got up. "I'm going to fix a drink. Do you want one?"

"Not before lunch."

Bill returned a few minutes later with the drink and sat down. "So how goes the investigation?"

"We had some excitement early in the week but it didn't pan out. We're no closer to catching that terrorist than we were right after it happened."

"That's too bad."

"On the bright side, though, now that we've got a name, we've stopped interviewing the four thousand motorcycle riders of Caprica City."

"That's got to be a relief."

"You know that letter someone sent to Laura about there being a fourth Cylon model?"

"I do."

Lee started to tell his father about Carrie's belief that her Cylon didn't know what he was. And then he changed his mind. He was afraid his father would tell Agent Darren and Darren would tell Parker and then he would be in the hot seat.

"Some of our analysts have a theory that there may be more Cylon models on Caprica that don't know what they are. They think this man might be one of them."

"We don't know enough at this point to even guess." Bill sipped his drink. "Your grandfather was partially responsible for the humanoid Cylons."

"What are you talking about?"

"After he and your grandmother died, someone at his law firm boxed up his personal belongings and papers and sent them to me. I've been going through some of the letters he exchanged with a wealthy industrialist and computer engineer, Daniel Graystone. They both lost daughters in a suicide bombing when a religious zealot blew himself up on a mag lev train. My father thought Graystone could infuse a robotic being with my sister's personality via an avatar that she had created in cyberspace. Apparently that idea was the beginning of the next generation of centurions."

Lee was stunned. "They created the skinjobs?"

Bill Adama shook his head. "If he succeeded I never saw it. What it means, though, based on part of another letter is that Graysone was attempting to raise funds to continue his research by selling the idea of robotic replacements for lost loved ones. Cloning will work for pets, but not for the widow who has lost her husband and is desperate for a copy immediately. I don't know how far the experiments went. There are a great many legal implications that no one thought about. My father was apparently going to look into those when the Graystones disappeared taking the old Cylons with them and ending the First War. They apparently took enough knowledge that they were then able to create the skinjobs."

"So we really did try to play at being gods? What Cavil has said all along is true."

"Yes," Bill said. "In all our misguided folly we unleashed this plague on ourselves. The old centurions retreated after the First War to perfect their creation techniques for the humanoid bodies. i'm not sure if Graystone continued their work or had ideas of his own. I'm sure all the cybernetic consciences they took with them weren't model citizens. Some like Cavil may even have been a little crazy. He's apparently one of the oldest models. I can't think of any other reason they would acknowledge him as their leader, their Number One."

Lee said. "Gaius Baltar has always maintained that the early centurion-model Cylons couldn't have advanced that far that fast without human help."

"He's right. And now you see why I should be the one to implement the plan to rid the planet of them. I owe my father that much."

"Is your plan more than just a dream, Dad? I was thinking about that while I was flying on Monday. I just don't see any way we can hope to defeat them with no weapons."

"When the time comes we'll have weapons. We'll have bullets for our guns and missiles and rockets for our ships. Even as we speak the armories are being emptied of live ammunition and duds are being put in their places, very carefully, a few at a time."

"How?"

"Tunnels. Miles of tunnels running from the big military boneyard outside Caprica City to the main armories. It's taken a long time, son, and it will take at least another year, maybe two, but it will happen. One day we'll fight them again. I'm still working on a way to even the odds. I've got to come up with a plan to take out at the basestar over us without engaging it directly. If we can take it out and the resurrection ship, we would more than stand a chance at winning."

Lee was amazed at what his father had just told him. "And fuel? What about fuel?"

"I've got a plan for that, too. Getting enough fuel for us was one of my biggest challenges. Tom Zarek is going to help us there when he gets out of prison by taking charge of a mining expedition to Tauron. He's gotten prisoners to volunteer to run the equipment that the Cylon centurions can't."

"You've been busy."

Lee saw just the ghost of a smile from his father. "Yes, I have. Visiting battlestars and advising the President is a full-time job."

"Does the President know about your plan?"

"Parts of it. He's given me free reign and a blank check as long as I don't implement anything without talking to him first."

Carolanne Adama opened the patio door. "I've got lunch on the table."

"You mother doesn't know anything about this. It would only upset her so don't mention it."

"I wouldn't think of it."

They stood up. Before they went inside, Lee asked, "Am I part of your plan?"

"You and all the other Viper pilots are a very big part of my plan."

When they sat down to eat, his mother asked him a question his father would never have asked. "Are you dating anyone now?"

Lee shook his head and then said, "But I have met a girl."

"And?" His mother looked hopeful.

"She lost her parents when Antioch was bombed. She's down on the military because she thinks we're cooperating with the Cylons. I'm taking it slow with her."

"Is she in school? Does she have a job?"

Lee smiled. "She rides a motorcycle. She delivers medicine to hospitals and clinics."

"A motorcycle? That's interesting. How did you meet her?"

"While we were interviewing motorcycle riders after Dr. Baltar's lab was destroyed."

"Are we going to get to meet her?" Carolanne asked.

"I hope so. I just don't know when."

"Don't push him, Carolanne," Bill said. "Lee has got plenty of time before he needs to think about settling down. He's barely twenty-one."

"How old is she?" His mother asked.

"Twenty."

"Is she pretty?"

"Beautiful. She's got incredible green eyes."

"Like John's?"

Lee nodded. "Just like his. Maybe I need to ask him if he visited Antioch twenty-one years ago."

They all laughed. Lee knew better. John was too careful.

...

When he left his parents' house that afternoon, Lee rode back into the city and on impulse got off the subway at Carrie Warner's stop. He walked up the steps to the street, changed his mind, went back down the steps, changed his mind again and walked all the way to her apartment before he had a chance to reverse his decision. He knocked on the door and waited.

A young man opened the door, not Carrie's friend but the other one, the guy he had seen her with at Zeno's. He looked like he hadn't shaved in several days and his eyes behind the glasses were bloodshot.

"Whatever you're selling we don't want any." He started to shut the door.

"I'm not selling anything. I came to see Carrie. Is she here?"

The other guy stared at him, door half-open, for a few moments, and then to Lee's surprise he laughed. "This is some kind of joke, right? She put you up to this."

"I don't know what you're talking about. Is Carrie here or not?"

"Not," Jared said. "In fact she doesn't live here anymore. I'm really surprised you don't know that since you're the reason she moved out."

"What?"

"Oh, frak you," Jared said and slammed the door in Lee's face.

He rode the elevator down to the ground floor and walked to the subway station. On his way to his apartment he tried to imagine what had happened to cause Carrie Warner to move out in the space of less than a week. Her roommate-boyfriend didn't look like he was taking it too well. He hoped she was all right. Carrie was definitely a girl who could take care of herself, and then he thought of what Ackerman had done to her. She was tough, but she was still vulnerable. He was surprised at how much he suddenly wanted to make sure she was all right.

When he got back to his apartment he called the number he had for MediFirst. He eventually made his way through the automated messages and transfers until he got to the weekend dispatcher. When the guy said Carrie was out on a run and volunteered to leave a message for her, Lee declined. He'd found out what he wanted to know. Carried Warner was working today, the day shift, seven a.m. until seven p.m.

That evening he rode the subway to MediFirst and waited on the sidewalk outside the building. At seven-twenty she came out. The night was cold and he had forgotten his gloves. He was standing with his hands in his jacket pockets when she saw him.

"I don't believe this. Are you stalking me?"

"No, I just want to see you. I want to make sure you're all right."

"Why wouldn't I be all right? Go home."

Kara's emotions were churning. Hadn't she gone to Zeno's on Friday night hoping to see him and now she was telling him to go home. What the frak was the matter with her?

"I went to your apartment today. Your other friend told me you'd moved out. What happened?"

"You went to the apartment? Great! That's just frakking great! Now he knows who you are."

Lee ignored her. "I'd like to buy you dinner tonight."

"I told you we can't do this. We can't see each other."

"It's just friends. We won't call it a date. Just friends."

"Look, I'm cold and tired. I…I haven't been sleeping too good and I just want to go back to where I'm staying and get a hot shower and something to eat and try to get some sleep. I'm working for the next two days."

"I've got to work tomorrow, too. A quick dinner, that's all. We can go somewhere close by." He smiled. "Please."

The smile did it.

"The only place close by is a little diner two streets over. I'm sure it's not the kind of place you're used to eating. It's cheap, but the soup's not too bad."

"Come on," Lee said. "Show me."

Kara relented and started walking. "If I do this you've got to promise to quit stalking me."

Lee smiled again. "I'm not stalking you."

"What did Jared say?"

"Not much. He didn't look so good, though."

"Damn," Kara said. "It's not like I don't care about him. We've been through a lot together. I just don't have _those_ kinds of feelings for him. I never did."

"Well something must have made him think you did."

"We sometimes fooled around."

The thought of Carrie fooling around with Jared sent a wave of jealousy through Lee. "Is he the one who taught you how to…to…"

"How to _what_?" Kara asked angrily.

"Kiss?" Lee finished tentatively.

"Yeah. Is that a big deal for you? A good-looking guy like you has probably kissed a hundred girls. I haven't kissed but two guys in my whole life…three counting you."

"I haven't kissed a hundred girls. Not even a fraction of that number. Who was the other guy?"

"Somebody in the camp and don't ask me any more questions. We shouldn't be talking about this anyway."

"No, you're right. We shouldn't. So where did you move to?"

"An apartment."

"I didn't have to graduate top of my class to figure that out. Where?"

They reached the diner and went inside. Carrie led him to a booth in the back corner. He noticed that she seated herself where she could watch the door.

"Expecting company?" Lee asked.

"I've got this thing about sitting with my back to a door," Kara said. "I've always been that way."

"So where did you move?"

"Somewhere safe. Look, I've already been through this with my best friend. I just need to stay off everyone's dradis for a while. I'm trying to sort some things out."

When the waitress came, Kara ordered soup and a sandwich and a beer. Lee did the same.

"Are you living by yourself now?"

She ignored his question. "I went to Zeno's Friday night to watch the pyramid game."

"The place you're living doesn't have a television?"

"It's got a television. I was just tired of being by myself. I met a couple of nuggets, Viper trainees. They told me you're a legend in Flight School."

Lee shrugged. "I've got this thing about being top of my class. My brother told me once I needed to lighten up. My best friend said the same thing."

"Hey, there's nothing wrong with being the best. If I ever make it to Flight School, I'll be the best Viper pilot they've ever seen. I'll be better than you. I'll be as good as my father…my father's friend…the Viper pilot."

Lee smiled. "That's pretty damned cocky. One day I'll make you eat those words."

"You're on."

"Speaking of fathers...what did yours look like?"

"Tall and handsome."

"With green eyes?"

"Yeah. Why do you ask?"

Their food and drinks arrived. Lee turned up his beer. "Just curious."

"I look more like my mother, though."

They ate in silence until Lee said, "Back to the Flight School thing. You'll need a call sign. Be thinking about one. If you don't come up with one, somebody will do it for you. That's what happened to me."

"I've already got one picked out. It belonged to my father's friend. He's dead, too, so I'm sure he won't mind if I take it."

"What is it?"

"I'll tell you when the time is right. It sounds good with _Apollo_. Now you'd better eat. The soup is getting cold. If we stay here too long you'll start thinking this is a date." She looked at him and grinned. "Won't you?"

When they finished eating, Lee insisted on paying for their meal, and they walked back to the subway station.

"Don't try to follow me," Kara said to him.

"I wouldn't think of it. I enjoyed tonight, Carrie."

"Yeah, well don't think it's going to happen again."

"I'm sure it's not."

"Thanks for buying my dinner. Now go. That's your train. I've got a few minutes to wait."

Lee stepped into the subway car. As the train pulled out of the station, he looked back at her. By now he knew that it _was_ going to happen again. If he didn't push her, if he was patient, it would happen again. Despite what she had said, he'd seen it in her eyes, those beautiful green eyes. She had enjoyed tonight, too.

He smiled and wondered about her call sign. _Apollo_ and _who_?

Strangely the name that came into his mind was one he'd heard before, John Gallagher's call sign.

_Starbuck_.

_Apollo_ and _Starbuck_.

Carrie Warner would have to do really well to come up with one that sounded better than that.

TBC…


	31. Championship Game

Chapter 31

Championship Game

_With the destruction of eleven of the twelve Colonies, interplanetary sports became a thing of the past. During the first and second years of the Cylon occupation, the Caprica Buccaneers pyramid team went undefeated as rival teams from Antioch, Sovana and Delphi recruited and trained new members. During the third year as the newer teams came into their own, the Buccaneers faced stiff competition for the first time since the Colony came under Cylon control._

_-Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War_

If Laura Roslin had to describe her long weekend with John Gallagher in one word, that word would be _sensual_, and not just in a sexual way. From the moment he picked her up on Friday morning and the transport took them to a small, private airfield outside of Caprica City to the moment he brought her back on Monday evening and kissed her goodnight, the weekend was a feast for all of her senses.

Right away she learned something about him that she hadn't known before…that he owned a small four-passenger ship that he kept in a hangar outside the city. Later she learned that he owned a cozy little cottage on the rugged northeastern shore of an island a hundred miles off the south coast of Delphi.

She was not in the least surprised, however, as they arrived at the small airport to hear him greet almost everyone they saw by their first names. She was not surprised either at his professionalism as he filed their flight plan and checked the ship before they took off. She loved that she got to sit in the co-pilot's seat beside him. It was an experience she had never had before, one that she would add to their growing list of firsts.

When they were in the air and he had stopped talking to the tower, she asked him, "How long have you had your own ship?"

He switched off the transmitter of his headset. "A little over two years. I bought it when I sold the other one, the ship I stole from the drug runner on Picon to get Kara off the planet."

"How could you sell a stolen ship?"

He grinned. "Easier than you might think. I didn't need a twelve-passenger, deep-space worthy ship with N-class radiation shielding. That ship retails out of the box for about a million and a half cubits. Add the shielding and you've got a ship worth more than two million. I sold it for about half of that to a guy who could pay for it without any financing, if you know what I mean."

"Another drug dealer?"

"No way. I made sure of that. He may not be the most upstanding citizen, but he's a legitimate business man. He's also smuggling arms for a group we're acquainted with that starts with an _R_. That's why he needs a ship with the radiation shielding. It prevents cargo scanning. I bought this ship and had enough left for a little vacation place."

"So are you finally going to tell me where we're going?"

"I guess now that we're in the air and you can't back out, I can tell you. I've got a place on the north coast of Mykos Island. The south and west sides of the island are the popular touristy spots. The beaches and coves on the north and east are too rocky for the tourists, but it's great for relaxing in private."

"It sounds perfect."

"It wasn't much when I bought it two years ago, but I've been flying down about once a month and working on it. I'm almost through now. I haven't finished all the interior painting, but the rest of it is done. I contracted what I couldn't do myself. You can tell me what else it needs."

"Didn't Lissa help you?"

"I never took Lissa down there. Not that I wouldn't have. She was just never interested in going. Too far away from Gaius Baltar, I guess." He smiled and winked at her.

"John…"

"I shouldn't have said that. It sounds like it still bothers me but it doesn't."

"How long will we be in the air?"

"About two hours."

"I think we're going to enjoy this weekend a great deal."

He reached over and took her hand, lacing his fingers through hers before he brought her hand to his lips and kissed the top of it.

"I took yours and Billy's advice and hired a private detective yesterday to look for Kara, one who specializes in missing persons, especially young people. First thing he said after I showed him the information that Billy had found was not to get my hopes up for anything happening fast. I guess that was his way of telling me it's probably going to cost a lot of money. He said he wished I had a more current picture of her. The only one of Kara I brought with me from Picon was the one I had in my billfold which was her third grade picture. She was eight years old. I had her other school pictures in a nice frame where you can put every picture from kindergarten through the senior year of high school. Kara's mom was good about always getting me her school pictures. I couldn't bring the big one with me. The night we left Picon was crazy anyway."

"Can I see the picture?"

"The detective took it. He's going to give it back, but he wanted to scan it into some software he has that can age a person. He told me to call him next week when I got back from our trip and look at what he had come up with before he starts using the picture in his search. In the meantime he's going to go over everything Billy found and see if he can pick up some more clues. I wish I felt more hopeful right now."

"It's far too soon to give up. Next week we'll eat dinner with Hugh Connelly and he can tell you about Kara's life in the camp. John, I don't think it was nearly as bad as you've imagined it."

"I hope not. Now you and I are going to put this out of our minds for a couple of days. I've obsessed about this enough since you told me she's alive. I'll let the detective do what I'm paying him to do. We're going to relax and read and walk on the beach."

"That's all?" She asked in her most coy tone of voice.

He grinned. "What did I leave out?"

"What do you think?"

...

The cottage was cozy and beautiful with blue-gray shutters and a slate roof. It was made of light-colored limestone and was set on a low headland overlooking a small bay. The narrow beach was black volcanic sand and the waves crashed over large rocks where the water was shallowest. It was definitely not a typical tourist beach, but Laura found its wild beauty breathtaking.

She and John stood together on the headland before walking down to the water's edge. "It reminds me of where I grew up," he said. "That's why I bought it. The house was in bad shape and it's taken a lot of work, but I've finally got something I'm proud of."

"It's beautiful…everything about it…the cottage, the view, everything."

"The water's still too cold for swimming, and the currents are bad this time of year, but it's fine for wading, and the beach is a great place to relax and read or sleep because it's so sheltered. I don't own the little bay, but I might as well. Nobody ever comes here because the only access is by my property or by boat and unless you know where the rocks are, you'd be crazy to bring a boat in here. We should have it to ourselves this weekend."

"My mother was deathly afraid of water," Laura said, "especially the ocean. Our vacations were rarely spent at the beach. My father insisted that I learn to swim, though. My apartment building has an indoor pool. It's my only exercise now."

"The only time I lived very far from the water was when I was on the _Solaria_. My apartment on Picon was a couple of blocks from South Beach. When Kara was a baby her mother would bring her over. We'd walk down to the beach and spend a few hours. Kara loved the water. She loved it when I'd pick her up and take her out into the waves. She'd hold on to my neck. She…" he stopped and stared out at the ocean.

He was struggling emotionally again. She took his hand and said softly, "We're going to find her, John. You mustn't doubt that. Now, you said we were going to forget our problems for the weekend. Let's go down and walk on the beach. Then we can fix some lunch and…maybe take a nap. I can't remember the last time I took a nap after lunch."

He came back to the present. "A nap sounds good. There's a hammock on the porch that will sleep two."

"A hammock? I don't believe I've ever taken a nap in a hammock."

"It looks like we're going to keep adding to that list of firsts, doesn't it?"

She looked at him, her eyes full of meaning. "And the shower?"

He grinned. "You're not going to give up on that until I show you, are you?"

She shook her head. "You should have realized by now that I'm very persistent when I want something." He didn't say anything for a long time. She finally couldn't take his silence. "What are you thinking about, John?"

He squeezed her hand. "I'm wondering how I ever got this lucky."

...

Laura had always tried to forget some experiences almost immediately, like her experience with Cavil and his centurions on the steps of the university's admin building. But others she committed to her memory in such a way that she could recall them almost minute by minute. Such were the four days she spent with John on the island of Mykos.

They walked on the beach. They waded out into the cold surf as far as they dared. They spent lazy hours talking and reading and dozing.

Each night John built a fire in the cottage's fireplace and they spent hours in front of it talking and drinking wine or Siren's Kiss and making love. How many ways and how many times did they enter that realm of pleasure? She remembered every single one. She loved the way it wasn't always her or always him who was the first to touch or kiss the other.

He finally showed her what happened in the shower when her arms were tight around his neck and her back was against the tiles snuggly enough that she felt secure but not uncomfortable. She could hardly believe how good it felt when he lifted her just slightly and told her to wrap her legs around the top of his hips. Afterward she was so weak-kneed that he had to take her towel and dry her as she stood propped against the wall. It was perhaps the first time that she realized what good shape he was in.

She asked him if he did this shower trick often enough to stay in that kind of shape. He smiled and told her that he worked out at a health club several times a week. She told him that she was almost tempted to believe him.

Sunday night was warm and they went down to the beach and lay together on a blanket and looked up at the stars. Laura snuggled against him.

"We go home tomorrow and I really don't want this time to end. This has been so good for me. I can't tell you how much it means that you shared this place with me."

She felt his lips on her forehead. "We can always come back. Anytime you want, Laura. Anytime."

"Oh, let me just savor that thought for a few minutes."

That thought more than any other was the one that she took home with her the next day and began to cherish. That she could return to this place of wild and untamed beauty where she could temporarily forget the responsibilities of her office and her obligations to those who depended on her. That she could return to a place where she had felt cared for, where she had felt safe, and where she and John Gallagher had made love beneath the stars that night with their bodies so perfectly attuned to each other that the experience had touched her soul.

She finally admitted to herself as she lay in his arms that her feelings for him were a lot more complicated than she had ever thought they could be. But love had always eluded her and for the moment, at least, she was afraid to call her feelings for him _love_.

...

Monday night Kara had just sat down to watch a movie on television when the doorbell rang. She ignored it, hoping whoever it was would go away. No such luck. The person began knocking. She got up, walked to the door and looked out the peephole. A handsome dark-haired man who looked very familiar stood in the hall. While she watched he knocked again.

"Come on, Tory, I know you're in there. Open the door. I'm sorry I haven't called in a while. I've been busy. I brought you a present."

Kara left the chain on and opened the door, enjoying the confusion on his face.

"Oh, crap, I've got the wrong apartment," he said. "No, 22-G. Right apartment, wrong woman. Has Tory Foster moved?"

"She's out of town on her job for a while. I'm taking care of the place while she's away."

"Are you one of her friends? I don't remember meeting you."

"Nope, just the sitter. She's going to be gone a couple of months."

He held up a bottle of wine. "In that case take this and never say Samuel T. Anders didn't give you something."

Of course, that's why he looked so familiar. She didn't take the bottle of wine. "You're Sam Anders?"

He smiled showing perfect white teeth. "In the flesh. And you are?"

"Carrie Warner. My boss and his wife live in this building. She knows Tory."

"Hey, since I'm here, could I come in for a minute? I'm harmless. I promise."

Wondering about the wisdom of what she was doing, Kara unfastened the chain and let him enter. He headed straight for the kitchen. She followed him. He obviously knew his way around Tory's apartment. She stood in the kitchen doorway and watched him get an opener from a drawer and uncork the bottle of wine. He got two wineglasses from a cabinet.

"So if you and Tory are dating why didn't you know she was out of town?"

"I didn't say I was dating her. We just hook up from time to time."

"Sleep together," Kara said.

Sam laughed as he poured two glasses of wine. "That's generally what _hooking up_ means. So what are you, a student or something? You look like you're in high school." He held one of the glasses out to her. "I'm not offering alcohol to a minor, am I?"

She took it but didn't drink. "I'm not in school. I work."

"Yeah, you said that, didn't you? What do you do?"

"I deliver medicine to hospitals and clinics."

"A delivery driver. Not usually a girl job."

Kara bristled. "A _girl_ job? What the frak is a _girl_ job?"

"Sorry. No offense. What company? CapEx?"

"MediFirst."

Sam took another sip of his wine. "Never heard of it."

"We deliver medical supplies to clinics and hospitals. Most of the time I ride a motorcycle and do the emergency runs."

"A motorcycle! Definitely not your typical girl job."

"Yeah, well, I like speed. It's in my blood. My dad was a Viper pilot."

"Was?"

"He's dead."

"In the war?"

Kara shrugged. She didn't feel like getting into the story with Anders.

"I had a pilot snake a girl from me once. She was hot, too. About three times smarter than me, but hot. It left a bad taste in my mouth for pilots. Come on." He went into the living room and sat down on the couch like he owned the place. Kara stood in the doorway. "You can come over here and sit on the couch. I won't bite."

She took a tiny sip of the wine. It was good. She took a bigger sip before she sat in one of the chairs.

"So what do you do for fun, Carrie?"

She shrugged. "Not much. Hang out with friends mostly."

"Boyfriend?"

She shook her head and then said. "I just broke up with one. I met another guy. We're…taking it slow right now."

"Taking it slow." Sam Anders seemed amused. "What happened to liking speed?"

"Not when it comes to guys," she answered. "So are the Buccaneers going to win Saturday night?"

"You bet. Are you and this new guy of yours exclusive?"

"What do you mean?"

"Are you dating anybody else?"

"I'm not dating _anybody_ right now. I don't know about him."

"Would you consider dating me?"

Kara shrugged. "There's a lot going on in my life right now."

"A lot going on in your life?" He laughed. "What are you, eighteen, nineteen years old? What could be going on in your life?"

"Are you making fun of me? Because if you are, there's the door," she said hotly. "You don't know anything about my life or what I've been through."

"No, I'm not making fun of you. Sorry." He downed the rest of the glass of wine and got up from the couch. "Look, if I give you a ticket, a floor-side seat to the game Saturday night, would you consider going?"

A floor-side seat to the championship pyramid game. She wondered what a ticket like that would cost. Probably what she made in a couple of weeks, maybe even a month for a championship game.

"I guess."

"And after the game would you consider going to a big celebration part with me?"

"What if you lose?"

"Not going to happen."

"Okay, send me the ticket."

"What if I bring you the ticket and take you to dinner tomorrow night?"

"I don't do the hooking up thing."

"I'm not asking you to hook up wit me...just go eat dinner."

"I don't own anything dressy."

"Wear your jeans. We'll go somewhere casual." He handed his empty wineglass to her. "I can find my way out. I'll see you tomorrow night about seven."

"Make it eight. I don't get off work until seven."

"Eight it is." He took out his mobile phone and scrolled until he found the number he wanted. "Hey, Janine," Kara heard him say as he headed for the door. "What are you doing tonight? Want some company?"

After he was gone Kara walked into the kitchen and put his empty wineglass in the sink. She finished her wine and put her glass beside it. She couldn't shake the feeling that instead of simplifying her life she had just complicated it.

...

He was late arriving the next night, so late that she thought she was getting stood up. And when he did arrive, he offered her no explanation other than a quick, "Sorry I'm late."

"What happened? Did you stop by Janine's on the way?"

"That's funny. I got hung up at practice. These things happen. I don't have the kind of job where you punch a time clock."

Kara rolled her eyes.

"So do you still want to go eat or not? I'm hungry."

"Okay. I'm hungry, too."

He had a transport waiting and told the driver to take them to _Max and Emma's_. Kara recognized the name of a restaurant she passed occasionally on her deliveries. It was in a very nice part of the city.

Maybe he called the restaurant casual, but she didn't. He fit in fine in his dark t-shirt, jeans and expensive sports coat. Some of the women were wearing jeans, too, but Kara didn't see another pair of sneakers. They were all in stiletto heels and fashionably brief tops. Her red sweater made her feel both conspicuously casual and too covered up. She wished that they had gone to Zeno's. She never felt out of place at Zeno's.

She saw why Anders liked this place, though. Everybody there seemed to know him. Calls of, "Hi, Sam" and "Anders" and "Longshot" followed them as they were seated. Sam greeted them with waves and smiles. He was clearly a star here. She didn't feel like she belonged, not like she did at Zeno's or the deli near her old apartment or even the little diner where she and Lee and eaten.

Lee. Gods how she wished she were with him right now talking about the Academy and flying a Viper. She started to think again about a way she could tell Lee who she really was without wrecking her whole life. He'd kept her secret about her part in destroying the Cylon lab. What would he do if he found out she was only sixteen years old. Would he freak out on her? How far could she trust him? If Jack found out he would fire her because their insurance policy clearly stated the motorcycle riders had to be at least eighteen years old.

"Hey, where are you?" Sam asked.

She snapped her attention back to him. "I'm not used to being in a place like this."

"You don't like it?"

"It's too fancy for me."

"_Too fancy_? At least I didn't take you to Bonnie Patrice. It makes this place look like a rat hole. So where would you rather have gone?"

Kara shrugged. "Have you ever heard of a place called Zeno's? It's a sports bar."

"Can't say I have. Where is it?"

"Not all that far from here. On the other side of the park on West Twenty-third."

"You can take me there some night."

"Maybe."

When the waiter came Sam ordered a bottle of wine. Kara opened her menu and looked at the prices. Each entrée was more than she spent on food for a week.

"Wow."

"What's wrong?"

"These prices," she said.

"I don't expect you to pay for your dinner."

"Still that's a lot of money to spend on _one meal_."

He smiled showing her his beautiful white teeth. "How about you let me worry about that? Order whatever you want."

Their waiter suggested the prime rib and she took his suggestion.

"So, Carrie, how did you get a job riding a motorcycle?"

"It's a long story."

"Is that what you want to do from now on, ride a motorcycle?"

"I want to go to the Academy and learn to fly a Viper."

"There's not much future in a military career these days."

"Maybe more than you think. One day we're going to get rid of the Cylons. I think I'll have a part in that."

Sam was amused. "What would you do? Shoot at them with rubber bullets?"

"I told you I don't like people making fun of me."

"I'm not making fun of you. What you're thinking of doing is impossible. We're stuck with the Cylons. You might as well get used to it and accept it. They're going to be with us from now on."

"If you knew what they were trying to do, you might not be so…so okay with it."

"What are they trying to do?"

"You know that lab that got blown up?"

"The one north of Caprica? It was all over the news for a couple of days. A former girlfriend used to work there. Maybe still does for all I know."

"Well, they were trying to make a baby that's half-human and half-Cylon."

"Oh, right. That's just something that got started on the internet. The Cylons traced it back to some blogger called Simon Templar. He was arrested."

"It's true."

"How do you know?"

"I just know. If you don't believe me ask your girlfriend."

"Former girlfriend. I haven't talked to her in a couple of years. Last I heard she was living with the pilot."

"Whatever."

"You're serious. You really believe that, don't you?"

"Yes, I really believe it."

"That's pretty wild, Carrie."

"So you don't care? You think it's all right for them to make something like that?"

"What would it hurt? As long as they leave me alone, I'm okay with whatever they do. I just want to play ball."

"I'm glad everybody on Caprica doesn't feel like you do. I'm glad some of us still hate those motherfrakkers and want to get rid of them." She realized that her voice had risen slightly.

"Hey, easy, okay. Why do you hate them so much?"

"My parents and my best friend's parents are dead because of them. I spent nearly three years in a godsforsaken refugee camp because of them. Yeah, three years of shooting rats with a slingshot to keep them out of my tent while you were back here signing stupid little autographs for people who didn't give a frak what me and my friends were going through."

"Whoa. I had no idea. I can see why you've got a whole other opinion about them."

"Just forget it. Play your game. Do your thing. Sign your little autographs. Let me worry about the Cylons."

Oh, how she wished she were with Lee tonight. He understood a lot more about the Cylons than Sam Anders did. And he cared a lot more, too.

When they got back to Tory's apartment, Anders stayed in the transport. As she started to get out he put his hand on her arm. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

"What? You think I'm going to kiss you goodnight?"

He laughed as he took an envelope out of his inside coat pocket. "Your ticket to the game Saturday night. You'll have to get your own transportation."

"Oh, right. Thanks for dinner tonight. And for the ticket."

"Just promise me one thing. If you sell the ticket, make sure it's to a hot babe. Don't sell it to a three-hundred pound guy. Okay? My reputation would never survive."

"I'm not going to sell it."

"Good. I'll see you there."

...

Hugh Connelly was waiting for them in the entry area of Bonnie Patrice when Laura and John arrived on Thursday night. Laura greeted him with a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"Hugh, it is so _good_ to see you again."

"Laura, you look wonderful. It that a suntan?"

"John and I spent a few days on an island." She put her hand on John's arm. "John, this is Hugh Connelly. Hugh, this is John Gallagher, Kara's father."

The two men shook hands.

"I'd pictured you as older," John said to Hugh. "When Laura said a teacher, I thought you'd be older."

"You mean I don't look ninety? Some days I feel like it." Hugh laughed, but Laura could hear nervousness and apprehension, too.

She caught the eye of the maître d. He nodded and motioned for them to follow him. She had reserved a table in the smaller, more private dining room and they were quickly seated. They all ordered drinks.

"How did it go today, Hugh" She asked.

"I think it went well…very well. Colonel Winters said he would be in touch as soon as they finished the other interviews. Thank you for your recommendation. The colonel had nothing but nice things to say about you."

"Chuck Winters is a smart man and a very capable administrator. I think you would be happy working for him." She turned to John. "I called Chuck last week and gave Hugh a good recommendation for the teaching position. I think he would make a fine addition to the Academy staff."

"You mentioned that," John said. "So Hugh, Laura tells me you knew my daughter in the camp. I'd like to hear about it."

"That's right. I…She's a remarkable girl."

John took a sip of his drink. "How did you meet her? And tell me the truth. If you lie, I'll know it and we'll have to start over."

Laura was shocked, not only at what John had just said but also at the tone of his voice. "John," she said softly. "Please."

He looked at her. "Laura, Hugh and I are going to have a conversation about my daughter. He knows exactly why. If that's going to bother you, he and I will be happy to step into the bar and talk."

In that moment she saw a side of John she had never seen before. She saw the man who had faced Cylon Raiders and come away victorious time after time. _Single-minded_ and _ruthless_ were the two words that came into her thoughts as she looked at him.

She drew herself up and said coolly, "No, stay here. I just ask that you be _civilized_ about it."

"I'm not going to embarrass you. Now, Hugh, how did you meet my daughter?"

"She saved my life. She walked up on me out in the woods near the camp while I was pointing a pistol at my head. She shouted at me and that stopped me from pulling the trigger. As it turns out it wouldn't have mattered if I had. The safety was still on the gun. I don't know anything about guns. She pointed it out to me."

"Why were you going to kill yourself?"

"John, that's really none of our business," Laura said.

"No," Connelly said. "I'll tell you why. I lost my wife and my parents when the Cylons bombed Sovana. The day before I met your daughter, I'd lost my two-year-old son. I didn't have anything left to live for."

"I'm sorry," John said, and his tone softened. "So Kara owns a piece of your soul."

"Yes, she does."

"Her mother owned a piece of mine. What about your heart?"

"Kara owns a piece of that, too."

"Did you act on it?"

Laura now realized what John had wanted to know from the moment the two men had met. He thought that Hugh Connelly had an inappropriate relationship with Kara given her age at the time.

"No, not that I didn't think about it, especially before I found out how young she was, but no, nothing happened. I give you my word on that."

"Okay," John said. "Now you can tell me what she was doing out in the woods away from the camp."

"She was visiting an ancient Colonial worship site, an old stone altar. She had put things on there. She told me it was her special place. There was a little toy plane that she had put there for you. She thinks you're dead."

"I know," John said. He took a deep breath and let it out.

Laura could tell that he was starting to struggle with his emotions again. "John, maybe we should talk about something else."

"No, I've got to do this. I've got to know. What was her life like in the camp?"

"It was hard. It was for all of us. But there was food every day and we had showers. We could stay clean. She played soccer with her friend Karl and some others. There were a lot of young people in the camp. I used to watch them play occasionally. Karl was _very_ protective of her. She survived the flu epidemic, didn't even get sick. She pulled Karl through it. She helped me, too. She's tough and strong. You should be proud of her."

John nodded. "I am. That's all I can deal with right now." He finished his drink. "Thank you. I'm sorry if I came across rough to start with, but I had to know about you and my daughter."

Hugh smiled for the first time since they had started their conversation. "I know how you feel. I have a little girl now. Her name is Elaina. I'd want to kill any man who touches her, too."

Laura felt the atmosphere at the table change with the mention of Hugh and Stacey's child. Suddenly there was a bond between the two men, the bond of their daughters. She felt at once happy and envious and left out.

John smiled. "Do you have a picture of her?"

Hugh got out his billfold. "How about half a dozen?"

After the meal they said goodbye to Hugh outside the restaurant. His hotel was only three blocks away and he decided to walk despite the cold. He and John shook hands again and this time she felt like there was at least the potential for the two men to become friends.

John got a transport for the two of them. On the way back to her apartment she said to him, "You really were rough on Hugh. He didn't deserve that from you."

"I know. He would have lied to me otherwise…like you told him to do."

"I didn't tell him to lie to you."

"You told him not to tell me anything bad about the camp, didn't you?"

"Not in those exact words, but yes."

"Why?"

"Because you've beat yourself up enough over not finding Kara."

"That wasn't your decision to make."

"John, I was thinking of you."

"I'm a big boy, Laura. I don't like to get the truth sugar-coated. I've already talked to somebody who was in the camp Kara was in. I know what it was like."

"Then why did you put a nice man like Hugh Connelly through an interrogation like that?"

"What I really wanted him to tell me didn't have anything to do with conditions in the camp."

"You wanted to know about his relationship to Kara."

"That's exactly what I wanted to know. She would have been only fourteen or fifteen when they met."

"What made you think he had that kind ofrelationship with your daughter?"

"He was having a hard time looking me in the eyes when we met."

"And from that you deduced…I can't believe…"

"You saw them together. You have a good sense for these things. What did you think?"

"I sensed absolutely nothing between them."

He looked out the window of the transport for a few moments before he turned and looked her directly in the eyes. She heard him draw a deep breath and let it out. Even in the dim light she knew she had made a mistake.

"You know that's the first time since I met you that I know you lied to me. Who do you think you're protecting this time? Hugh or me?"

The transport pulled up outside her apartment. John paid the driver and they got out. She asked him. "Would you like to come in?"

"I think I'll go back to my place. I've got a lot to think about."

"John, I'm sorry. Yes, I did lie. Your daughter had a crush on Hugh. I saw it, but I believe him when he says nothing happened between them. He's a good man, an honorable man."

"What else are you not telling me?"

"Kara lied to him about her age. He thought she was older. And that's _all_ I know. When you find Kara you'll have to ask her anything else you're curious about."

"Why couldn't you have just told me that in the beginning?"

"Because, John, what difference can it make now? If something _had_ happened between Kara and Hugh what could you do about it? Yes, she was too young, but it would have been done and you couldn't change it. You can't protect her for the rest of her life. Hugh saw it. I saw it. She's a very tough, very strong young woman. Even if you find her, suddenly becoming her father is going to be a difficult transition for both of you."

"So now _you're_ giving _me_ advice on being a parent?"

"I'm trying to get you to see the reality of the situation."

"Which is?"

"You left an innocent thirteen-year-old girl at that airport and she's now sixteen going on seventeen. She had her friend Karl to help protect her, but she's basically been on her own for over three years now. You can't expect to find the innocent child you left. Even though nothing happened with her and Hugh, you don't know that she hasn't found someone else. John, she's a beautiful young woman. I know. I saw her. She's tough and smart, but that doesn't mean she couldn't have met someone and fallen for him since then."

"You're right. She isn't going to need or want a father telling her what to do. She isn't going to need me at all."

"John, I did not say that. It might be difficult for you and Kara to work out a relationship that's right for both of you, but she's still going to need you. Every sixteen-year-old girl needs her father. I still needed my father when I was twenty-six, when he was killed I still…" she suddenly felt tears stinging her eyes. "Losing him was one of the worst things that ever happened to me…even when he made me so angry I thought I hated him, I still needed him. I still loved him. I…" The tears spilled over and she was suddenly crying, standing there on the sidewalk shaking and crying. She was horrified and yet she couldn't seem to stop. Where had all this emotion come from?

John had her in his arms in an instant, her face against his shoulder, his mouth against her hair. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I shouldn't take this out on you. I'm sorry. You've done nothing but help me and I've acted like a jerk."

All she could do was cling to him and hope the tears would stop. She hadn't cried about her father in years. What had churned up her emotions right now? Was this some kind of delayed reaction from her experience with Cavil? Had facing the possibility of her own violent death dredged up memories of her parent's violent deaths and the terrible emotional aftermath?

John took her inside and got her up to her apartment, got the door open and got her inside. He got tissues for her and sat with her on the couch and held her until the tears finally stopped.

She went into the small bathroom off the hall and washed her face in cold water. When she got back John had poured them both a drink, but not Siren's Kiss, just straight whiskey. He handed it to her.

"I'm not going to stay. You need to go to bed and get a good night's sleep. It would…just be selfish of me to do anything but leave."

"I'm sorry. I don't know why I fell apart like that."

"Don't apologize to me Laura. I behaved like a jerk tonight. I thought those days were behind me but I guess not. You're right. Everything you said about Kara is right. She's not a kid anymore. And when I find her she and I _will_ have to work hard at a relationship that suits both of us. I envy Hugh Connelly, getting to raise his little girl, getting to be there for her as she grows up. I envy him."

"John, Kara loves you. I know she does."

"She didn't even remember me. I was with her for a couple of hours one night three years ago. How can you say she loves me?"

"Because you're her father."

He downed the rest of his drink. "I go see the detective tomorrow to look at the picture. I'll call you tomorrow night around seven and let you know what he said. I'm meeting Lee at McGee's at eight. Would you like to go to dinner Saturday night?"

She smiled. "If you think you can behave yourself."

He smiled, too. "Now what would make you think I can't?"

...

"Hey, Zak," Lee joked as they climbed the steps of the pyramid arena toward their seats, "I could have gotten a better view if I'd flown my Viper overhead. Do they keep oxygen up here for people who start suffering from altitude sickness?"

"Bitch, bitch, bitch," Zak replied. "If I'd known you were going to bitch like this, I'd have asked Dad instead. It's the damned championship game. What did you expect? How much did you pay for your ticket, huh? Tell me that."

"Just because it was free doesn't mean it's that great. Where did you get them?"

"A guy who buys a lot of stuff at Bull's Eye gave them to me. I've been helping him lately. He works for a company that manages a lot of sports stars like our boy Anders there. I've talked to him about getting a job with them."

They got to their row and carefully stepped across the feet of other fans as they made their way to their seats midway down the row.

"What kind of job?" Lee asked him when they were seated.

"PR or something. I don't know. Anything's better than being on a sales floor all the time, working nights and weekends and holidays. I mean I like the job okay, but the hours suck. I don't meet many girls, either, unless they're jocks."

"What a shame," Lee said sarcastically. "What are you down to now, five or six girlfriends?"

"I'd trade all of them for the one you've got."

"I told you I don't have her yet, but I am working on it. And _you_ can forget about her, little bro, she's mine."

"Give me those binoculars. The players just came out."

Lee took the binoculars from around his neck and handed them to Zak who watched through them for a few minutes.

"That Anders is one smooth dude. If he plays like I've seen him do for the last ten games, there's no way they'll lose tonight."

"Did I ever tell you I met him a couple of years ago before he was quite so famous?"

"You're kidding. You met Sam Anders? Where?"

"John and I were at McGee's one night and Anders came in with Lissa."

"Yeah, I think you did tell me that. So Lissa dumped Anders for John, huh? What could he have that Sammy doesn't?"

Lee started to make a crude remark about Anders' shortcomings and then changed his mind. Instead he said, "They left me sitting in a booth talking to Anders. She and John went out to her car in the parking lot and...repeated what they had done on the _Galactica_."

"No kidding, man. So John frakked Anders' girl in the parking lot at McGee's?"

"I gave him hell about it, too."

"Why? That was righteous. That was way more than cool."

"You don't see anything wrong with what they did?"

"Not a thing. If Anders can't hold on to his woman, that's his problem. Of course Lissa is a slut."

"Why do you say that?"

"That night at your graduation party…if I tell you this you're not going to slug me, are you? It's not about Blaire."

"No, Zak. I'm not going to slug you."

"Lissa…yeah she's hot. I know she's older and all that, but she…when we were dancing she was rubbing her hand all over my butt. She made it real clear what she'd like to do. If I'd had the guts I would have taken her to my room that night. That's no lie. But, man, she wasn't worth tangling with your buddy over. I wouldn't want to get on his bad side."

"What you said about Blaire…"

"Lee, I was lying about Blaire. I should never have said anything about her. Blaire is not a slut."

"John caught Lissa with another guy."

"That doesn't surprise me. Like I said, she's a slut. So what did he do? Take the guy's head off?"

"Nothing. He wanted out of it by that time. It gave him a good excuse."

"Damn, if I'd known he wouldn't have kicked my ass, I'd have taken my chances that night and taken her to my room."

"Zak…" Lee said and then stopped. "Never mind. Just never mind."

"Listen, bro, it's a dog-eat-dog world. Your buddy knew what he was getting into with Lisa. I don't feel sorry for him one bit, especially since he's banging Dad's old girlfriend now."

"You know about Dad and Laura?"

"Mom's drinking again. She and Dad got into it one night. I overheard some stuff."

"Lords of Kobol. I didn't know."

"Yeah, well, if you'd spend some time at the house, big bro, you'd hear them."

"Mom needs to go back to her counselor."

"You drop by someday and tell her that. Why don't you? She can tell you it's none of your business like she did me." Zak put the binoculars up to his eyes again and began scanning the pyramid court. "Damn, I don't believe it."

"What?"

"Damn. This is un-real."

"What, Zak?" Lee heard the irritation in his voice.

Zak handed the binoculars to Lee. "Look on the other side of the court, about midway, floor seats, second row. Is that who I think it is?"

Lee took the binoculars and began scanning the floor seats. It didn't take long for him to find Carrie Warner. He stopped and fine-tuned the focus. There was absolutely no doubt it was Carrie. "Damn," he said under his breath. "What's she doing in a thousand-cubit seat?"

"Is that her or not?" Zak asked.

"Yeah, it's her."

"I wonder who she's frakking to get a seat like that?"

"She's not frakking anybody for it. Somebody must have given her a ticket."

"Oh, come on, Lee. Don't be stupid. People don't give away thousand-cubit tournament floor seats for nothing. She's the guest of somebody big."

"She looks like she's alone," Lee said. He felt sick. Zak was right. Carrie Warner couldn't afford a seat like that. Somebody had given it to her. While he watched the referee cleared the court of the practicing players and they returned to their respective benches. The game was about to start.

The Caprican anthem began to play and they all stood. Lee let the binoculars drop on the strap around his neck, but he kept his eyes on Carrie. She was standing. It looked like her eyes were on the flag of the United Twelve Colonies being raised above one end of the arena. At the conclusion of the anthem, he lifted the binoculars in time to see Sam Anders turn around on the bench and give Carrie a thumbs up. She returned it with a smile.

He felt sick. It looked like she was Anders' guest. How did she know him? Had she known him all along or had they just met?

"Let me look at her again," Zak said.

Numbly Lee handed the binoculars to his brother.

"She looks pretty hot, big bro. That is a radical-looking top she's got on with those jeans. She didn't have on anything that, uh, fit her like that the night I met her. Damn, she has got a perfect pair of…"

"Shut up, Zak," Lee cut him off.

"Hey, after the game let's go speak to her. If she's got an _in_ with one of the players maybe we can meet a couple of them."

"I don't think so."

"Who do you think she's with?"

"Anders."

"Well since you know him…"

"No, Zak. The answer is no. We're not going down there after the game and speak to her."

"Why not?"

"Anders is not going to remember me with kindness. I was the one who sat there keeping him occupied while John was frakking Lissa in the parking lot."

"He won't remember that now."

"I wouldn't bet on it."

...

It was all Kara could do to stop herself from tugging the low-cut knit top up over the top of her breasts. She could kick herself now for going to Maximillian's after work the day before and buying the thing, but she wanted to look like the rest of the girls and women who usually sat court-side at the games. Funny, it didn't look quite that low-cut in the dressing room, and the sales clerk told her about fifteen times how good it looked on her. _Cinnamon is a great color with your hair and eyes, and you've got the body to wear a top like that._ Yeah, right. She knew how to make a sale.

Maybe it looked good, but it made her feel half-naked. She'd had to buy a new bra, too, because the sports bras that she usually wore showed over the top of the scooped neck. The new bra pushed her breasts up into mounds above the clingy top. She decided for the hundredth time that she wasn't meant for girly clothes. But Anders liked the top. She could tell that he liked it just fine. She drew the line at the stiletto heels, though. She'd tried on a pair in the shoe department and had nearly broken her ankles trying to walk. She bought a pair of flats.

She was so distracted worrying about the top that she almost missed Anders' first score. The crowd went wild. He went to the sideline, got a towel and glanced in her direction as she clapped and smiled and gave him two thumbs ups. Maybe she'd been too hard on him at dinner Tuesday night. He was doing what he did best. She could see why he didn't care about the Cylons the way she did. He was a star and this was his universe. As long as they let him play, he was happy.

The Delphi Dominos were a good team, and they came back almost immediately and scored. The game got extremely physical after that and she saw Anders' advantage in his size and strength. She also saw one of the Dominos go after him in a neutral zone and catch him with an elbow to the ribs.

The crowd started booing at the obvious foul as Anders and the Domino both went down hard on the court and came up swinging. It took three referees and several of their teammates to separate them. Both were benched for the duration of the first half. He looked back at her several times and smiled, but she could tell he was in pain from the blow to his ribs despite the fact that the team trainer had wrapped them.

The half-time show cut to a rock band that performed in an adjacent arena because the pyramid court was too small to accommodate their stage. The performance was shown to the sports fans on huge screens that were lowered from the ceiling.

The second half was faster and more furious than the first half. With the championship at stake, the players weren't holding anything back. The score see-sawed until one of the Dominos scored with a minute to go. Despite the Buccaneers efforts, the Dominos maintained their lead until the final buzzer. Kara couldn't believe it. The Buccaneers had lost the championship for the first time in three years. Sam looked totally crushed.

High in the stands, Lee and Zak sat in disbelief.

"No frakking way," Zak kept saying. "There's no frakking way they lost."

"I'm afraid so, little bro."

"Well there goes my next paycheck and then some. Damn, I had a few cubits riding on this game."

"You bet on the game? How much?"

"Six hundred."

"Holy Hera, Zak. You bet six hundred cubits on the game? That was beyond stupid."

"They were supposed to win, godsdammit. Not lose."

"Yeah, well I was supposed to fly my Viper every week and the minute that lab got blown up, I didn't fly for a month. You can't ever count on anything."

"Rub it in. Frak, man. This really sucks." They sat while the stands around them emptied. Zak finally said, "Your girlfriend's still sitting down there. Come on, let's go say _hello_."

"No, Zak, no." But Zak was already out of his seat. Lee caught up with him near the bottom of the steps. On the stage in the adjacent arena the championship ceremony was taking place and was being shown on the big screens. All the players from both teams were there. Carrie Warner was still sitting in her seat, but most of the ones around her were empty.

"Zak, please stop."

"Stay here if you want. I'm going to speak to her."

Kara was watching the ceremony on the big overhead screen when she became aware that someone had stopped at the seat in front of her. She shifted her gaze down from the picture. Zak Adama stood there with Lee right behind him.

"Hi, pretty lady," Zak said. "I know your name now."

"And I know yours. Hi Lee."

"Hi Carrie," Lee said.

"This was my idea," Zak said, "coming down here to speak to you. He didn't want to."

"Why not?" Kara looked at Lee.

"I was afraid you'd accuse me of stalking you again," he smiled sheepishly.

Gods those blue eyes did something to her. She smiled. "Are you stalking me?"

"It just looks that way. You look really good tonight."

"Me and the girls?" She glanced down at her breasts. "Thanks. So this is your little brother?"

"Yeah, this is Zak. Zak, Carrie."

"So Carrie," Zak said, "how did you rate a floor-side seat to this disaster?"

"It wasn't a disaster when I got the ticket."

"How do you know Anders?" Lee asked.

"I don't. He dates a girl I know. I got the ticket because she's out of town."

Zak seemed to accept her explanation without question. "Cool. So do you want to go get a beer with us or something?"

"I'm supposed to go to a big celebration with Anders after the game."

"Some party that's going to be," Zak said. "You'll get to sit around and listen to everybody cry in their beer. Come on and go with us."

"I'd better wait. You go ahead. Have fun."

"Come on, Zak," Lee said. "We need to go. She's waiting for Anders."

He turned and he and Zak began walking toward the exit. He heard quick footsteps behind him. He turned.

Kara caught up with them. She looked directly at Lee. "I'm going to wait for Anders, but I just want you to know I'd rather go with you."

Lee smiled. "Next week, maybe Zeno's one night?"

"Thursday. I'll be at Zeno's on Thursday night."

"I'll see you there."

Zak said, "_We'll_ see you there."

"Who invited _you_?" Lee asked in a half-exasperated tone of voice.

"Hey, I'm your brother. Mom raised us to share. I would like to share this pretty lady's company and a beer with you Thursday night."

Kara smiled and looked directly into Lee's eyes. Then she leaned over and said softly against his ear, "It's all right, Lee. Don't worry. Zak doesn't have blue eyes or wings over his heart."

Lee understood immediately what she meant.

"And Anders only thinks he's a prince," she said before she turned to go back to her seat.

"What the frak did she say to you that put that kind of smile on your face?" Zak asked as they walked out of the arena.

"She said that you and Anders don't stand a chance with her," Lee said.

"No way. She didn't say that. No way you'll get me to believe she said that to you."

Lee was still smiling. "Yeah? The Buccaneers couldn't lose tonight, either, could they, little bro?"

TBC…


	32. A Blue Dog or a White Dove

Chapter 32

A Blue Dog or a White Dove

_Because the city of Sovana was located near the northeastern mountainous region of Caprica, it became a hotbed of resistance activity. Smugglers based in the cavernous area west of the city operated with near impunity, running everything from whiskey to arms for distribution to other areas of the continent. The explosives and weapon used to destroy Dr. Gaius Baltar's lab in Caprica City were eventually traced to a resistance group in Sovana._

_-Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War_

Lee saw the folded note taped to his locker the minute he got back from his weekly Viper flight on Monday. He pulled it loose and opened it. _Call your CO. ASAP. _He didn't even open his locker. He went straight out to the phone on the wall and punched in Major Parker's number.

When Parker answered he said, "Adama here, sir."

"Lieutenant, go home and pack a bag. Prepare to be out of town for several days, maybe a week. I'm putting together a team to fly up to Sovana and question a group of suspects who were arrested last night. We've got a transport scheduled to leave at 15:00 this afternoon."

"What's up, sir?"

"I think we may finally have caught a break. If I don't get to brief you beforehand, I'll do it on the ship."

"Yes, sir."

On his way home, Lee wondered what group of suspects had been arrested the previous night in Sovana. He knew that northern city was quickly gaining a reputation as one of the hottest areas for the resistance. At about the same time the previous week that Agent Darren's men were moving in on the terrorist suspect who had eluded them in Caprica City, a car bomb had been detonated in Sovana in front of the home of a government employee who was thought to be a Cylon collaborator. The man was not at home but his wife and young son were killed in the blast. The two events were not thought related until comparisons were made of the detonators found in the suspect's apartment and the one used to set off the car bomb. They were of identical manufacture.

In a briefing the previous Friday, Parker had told them of that forensic finding. They already knew that detonators of the same make had been used to blow up Gaius Baltar's lab. Darren's agents were working under the assumption now that a terrorist cell in Sovana and one in Caprica City had a common supplier, possibly even some of the same members.

"Find that link and we're one step closer to finding the terrorists and stopping them," Parker had said.

Lee went home, showered, packed and returned to the base by 14:00 that afternoon. He carried his bag in and put it beside his desk. At the moment Sergeant Ackerman was the only other one on their end of the big room shared by the interrogators.

"So Doc Adama gets to go to Sovana. I'm glad I don't have to go up there and freeze my ass off. Weather channel said the wind chill was ten below this morning."

Ever since Lee had bandaged the cut over Carrie Warner's eye, Ackerman had referred to him as _Doc Adama_ when no one else was around.

"I guess that means spring is just around the corner," Lee shot back at him. "Maybe I shouldn't have bothered to pack a coat."

"I guess Carrie Warner's going to miss you?" Ackerman said in a sly tone.

"Why is Carrie Warner going to miss me?" Lee asked as nonchalantly as he could.

"You've been seeing her, haven't you?"

"Why would you think I've been seeing _her_?"

"You're learning fast, Adama. Answer a question with another question. I picked up on your interest in her right away. I hear you did a _fine_ job checking her out. So says Major Parker himself. He rambled on about what a good job you'd done on the follow-up until I thought I would puke. But you mark my words. Not everything about that girl is on the up and up. There's something _off_ about her, something you missed and that something is going to come back to bite you."

"I don't think so, Ackerman."

"Well, I bow to your vast experience. I've been an interrogator for over twelve years and you haven't even been at it twelve weeks. You really think you've got the same feel for it that I have?"

"Then tell me this, Sergeant Twelve-Years-of-Experience, why isn't Parker taking you to Sovana? Why is he taking me instead?"

Ackerman laughed. "Captain Hadrian asked him to include you. She told him you needed the experience. She knows I don't."

"That's odd. This isn't a training exercise. Doesn't Parker want his _best _along on this mission?"

Major Parker stuck his head in the door. "Ready to go, lieutenant?"

"Yes, sir. Coming, sir," Lee said. He picked up his bag.

"Have, fun up there in the cold. I'll keep an eye on Carrie for you."

Lee turned and looked at Ackerman. He couldn't tell if Ackerman was serious or just screwing with him. Ackerman could play mind games with the best of them. Rather than take a chance and make a mistake, Lee kept his thoughts to himself and followed Parker down the hall.

He wondered if he needed to make Carrie aware of Ackerman's threat. Then he changed his mind and decided that if Ackerman was just screwing with him, he didn't need to alarm her. What should he do? He decided to think about it on the flight up to Sovana. Ackerman was stuck at work for the rest of the day anyway. By the time they got to Sovana, Lee had decided that Ackerman was just screwing with him and that he wasn't going to do anything about Carrie. He decided to let the matter ride until he got back to Caprica City and see if Ackerman mentioned it again.

...

"Hey, Karl," Kara said when he answered the phone. "How's it going?"

"Same old, same old," Karl answered. "Maggie and I took the Academy entrance test yesterday. That's about all that's going to make this week different from last week."

"How was it?"

"Hard. It was damned hard. Even Maggie doesn't think she did very good. But you know her. She probably aced it. I guessed on a lot of the questions."

"You probably did better than you think you did. Do you want to come over?"

"To your secret hideout? Sure."

"I miss you."

"Yeah? It took you two whole weeks to figure that out?"

"Hey, I talked to you a couple of times last week. I've been busy. I went to the pyramid championship Saturday night."

"That's cool. You should have called me. I would have gone with you. I told you Maggie and I aren't together anymore."

"I went as the guest of Sam Anders."

"Sure you did."

"I've got an autographed program and an autographed eight by ten glossy photo. Not that I asked for them. He just gave them to me. He took me to dinner one night last week, too."

"So where is your secret place?"

Kara gave him the directions. "Take the subway to the Marley Bone Station. Walk east three blocks to the Fifth Street Bridge, cross it and walk north on Ridge Avenue to the Willoughby Apartments. I'm in 22-G."

"That sounds familiar."

"Jack and his wife live in this building."

"Are you staying with them?"

"No, I'm at the apartment of a friend of his wife's."

"I'll see you in an hour."

When Karl got there she could tell that he was impressed. He made a low whistling sound. "Nice."

"Would you like some wine?"

"Wine? Since when did you start drinking wine? What happened to beer or ambrosia?"

"I don't have any and I'm not going to drink Tory's. This is some wine that Anders left here last week."

"Okay, wine it is," Karl said. He walked to the sliding glass door that went out to the small balcony while she went into the kitchen and poured two glasses of wine. When she returned to the living room, he said, "Too bad you can't see King's Bay from this side of the building."

"Yeah, Jack said these apartments are cheaper than the ones on the other side of the building with the good view. I'd still like to have one. It took me over a week to get used to the quiet."

"Yeah. They're nice. So what does this Tory do?"

"Works for some law firm."

"A lawyer?"

"I don't think so. I think she's a legal assistant."

"They must rake in the cubits."

Kara shrugged. "I guess. She can afford this place."

"So tell me about Anders. How did you meet him?"

"He knows Tory. He came by to see her last Monday night."

"And you let him in? That wasn't smart."

"Hey, Karl, it's not like he's a serial killer or something like that."

"I wasn't thinking about him _killing_ you."

"He's not a rapist, either."

"So do you like him?"

"He's okay."

"The captain and star player of the Caprica Buccaneers is just _okay_?"

"I don't want to complicate my life. Besides he doesn't think there's anything wrong with the Cylons. He said as long as they leave him alone he doesn't care what they do. All he wants to do is play ball. He doesn't even think making a half-human, half-Cylon baby is wrong."

"You talked about _that_?"

"I got mad and told him about being in the camp. At least I think he understands where I'm coming from now."

"I can see why a big sports star like that wouldn't care what the Cylons are doing."

"How is Jared?"

"He's going to work every day now, but he's still moping around and not eating. He's lost weight. Maggie is fussing over him like he was a sick puppy or something."

"I guess she's really angry at me."

"I don't know. Probably. We haven't talked about it. Since we decided to quit being boyfriend and girlfriend, she hasn't talked to me much at all. So are you dating Anders now?"

"We went out after the game to a party only it wasn't much of a party since they lost. And he was in pain from where that Domino player elbowed him in the ribs. Somebody gave him something for it and he fell asleep on the couch. I didn't stay long. I got a transport and came back here. I don't really fit in with those players and their groupies. All they want to do is party. I don't care if I hear from him again or not. He's nice, but…" she let her voice trail off and sighed.

"But what?"

"He's not Lee. I saw him Saturday night after the game. I was waiting on Anders to get through with the awards ceremony. Lee and his brother had been to the game and they saw me and came over and spoke. Zak, that's Lee's brother, asked me to go out with them to get a beer, and I wanted to go, but Sam had given me the floor-side ticket and I felt like I needed to wait on him. I did something really stupid, though. I ran after them when they were leaving and told them I'd rather be going with them."

Karl rolled his eyes toward the ceiling. "Really playing hard-to-get with Lee, aren't you?"

"I told you it was a stupid thing to do. I really like him, though. I did another stupid thing and told them I'd be at Zeno's tonight."

"You're meeting your military lover-boy at Zeno's. That is not smart, Kara, not smart at all."

"I know it. I'm probably going to stay here and stand them up. I'm stupid to think I can see him like that. It's not good for him or for me. I see him, and then I want to be with him, and I start to forget that he's in the military and I'm in the resistance. I wish I could take the test to go to the Academy this fall, but I'll only be seventeen. I couldn't get in."

"You could as Carrie Warner."

"Are they giving the test again?"

"There's one in mid-April and another one in early May. As soon as the May test is scored, they'll take the top two hundred from all the tests. I don't know if I have a chance, but I'm sure Maggie will get in. If you're serious, you need to go on-line and fill out an application to take the test."

"I might do that. I can do that at work. Jack will let me use his computer. Frogman gave me a mobile phone. I'm going to give you the number, but I don't want you to use it unless it's an emergency. The, uh, group pays the bill. I'm sure they also look at all the calls."

"Okay, that's cool. That makes me feel better knowing I could get in touch with you if I had to."

"I went to see that Oracle down on the waterfront."

Karl looked at the ceiling and blew out his breath. "That's another thing that wasn't smart. They just take your cubits. _Nobody_ can predict the future."

"She didn't predict my future, but she knew I was living a lie. She called me Posiden's green-eyed daughter. She's blind. Tell me how she knew either one of those things."

"What did she say exactly?"

"I don't remember her exact words, but she had me look at my reflection in a bowl of water and then she told me that instead of my reflection, I saw deception."

"Almost everybody has something in their life that involves some kind of deception. Everybody's got secrets, Kara."

"Then how did she know I have green eyes?"

"A lucky guess?"

"Quit trying to be funny, Karl. She told me something else, too. She told me there were six important guys in my life. I know who four of them are…you, Jared, Leoben, and Lee."

"And the other two?"

"She said one was in my past and also in my future and that one was seeking me. Any ideas?"

"You're really into this crap, aren't you?"

"Humor me."

"I don't have a clue about the one who's seeking you, but we should be able to figure out who the other one is. We know it can't be anyone who is dead, so that leaves out anybody you knew on Picon. Who have you met since we got to Caprica, who was in your life but isn't anymore?"

"I think she's talking about Tom Zarek. Frogman is going to arrange a meeting in a week or two when Zarek gets out of prison. Zarek fits."

"Aren't you forgetting someone else? Someone who was a lot more important to you than Tom Zarek."

"Who?"

"Hugh Connelly."

"Connelly? You think she means Connelly?"

"I don't know. I'm just trying to help."

"It would be kind of cool to see him again. So who is he? Zarek or Connelly?"

"I guess time will tell. So what did the Oracle tell you about these six men in your life?"

"Nothing. She just said they were important."

"See there. She didn't tell you because she doesn't know. I tell you Kara, she's scamming you. I'll bet she told you to come back."

Kara couldn't look at him. "She said to come back when I'm not living a lie."

"I knew it. Damn it. I knew it. She just wants your cubits."

"She's not like that. I think she knows something and is waiting for me to leave Carrie Warner behind so she can tell me what it is. I think I'm going to play a part in getting rid of the Cylons. I think she's going to help me figure out what it is."

"I really hate to see you get taken in like this."

She shrugged. "What's a few cubits?"

They sat and talked most of the rest of the afternoon. Finally Karl said, "I guess I'd better get back to the apartment. It took me forty-five minutes to get here. If I'm late, Jared or Maggie will figure out where I've been and then Jared will start bugging me for your address."

At the door of the apartment Kara hugged him. She really did miss seeing her best friend every day.

"I don't go back into work until Sunday. You want to get together on Saturday and maybe go to a movie or something?"

"Yeah, let's do that. Call me tomorrow afternoon. We'll make plans."

After he left, Kara poured another glass of wine and went out onto the balcony. It overlooked a small park and more tall apartment buildings. Today was a lot different than the beginning of the week. Early March had brought its usual mixed bag of weather. The cold had given way to a day that was windy but surprisingly warm. She sat down on one of the small chairs on the balcony and sipped the wine. What should she do about tonight? She wanted to meet Lee and Zak, but knew she shouldn't.

As it turned out she didn't have to make the decision. For the first time since Frogman had given her the mobile phone, it buzzed.

His voice asked, "Sassy?"

"It's me."

"We've got something we need you to do tonight."

"All right."

"Go to a restaurant in East Caprica City called Rigby's. You need to be there by seven o'clock. Can you make that?"

"Yeah, I'm off today."

"When you go in ask the hostess for Mrs. Peele. Have dinner with her. She's buying. She will give you some information that you need to pass on to Reno. I'll contact you tomorrow with when and where you'll see him."

"All right."

Frogman ended the call.

She got out Tory's City Directory and looked up Rigby's. It was all the way across town near the intersection of Fiora and Seventy-Ninth streets. She got her copy of the subway map. It would take her three changes to get there. Through rush-hour that probably meant an hour underground, a lot of it spent waiting for a train that wasn't already full. She looked at her watch. Five-thirty. She downed the rest of her wine. Time to brush her teeth, get her coat and go.

...

Lee sat on one side of the interrogation table and looked at the young man across from him. His arrest record said he was nineteen, but Lee doubted that was correct. He didn't look much more than sixteen, seventeen at the most. His hands were cuffed and shackled with a chain that was locked to a metal D-ring on the table. This was the third time this week that he had sat across the table from this kid and tried to get him to talk. Yesterday the boy had finally given him a name, a false one, but it gave him a place to start today.

The boy was doing his best to look defiant and brave, but Lee could sense the fear underneath the bravado. He had a black eye and swollen nose, a souvenir of the struggle at the time of his arrest. Perhaps that was what first made Lee think of Carrie. Either that or the haunted look he had seen in this boy's eyes when they first met. Carrie had the same haunted look from time to time. Life had been hard for both of them for the last several years.

The false name he had given Lee yesterday was Martin Spiller.

"Do you prefer Martin or Marty?" Lee now asked.

The boy shrugged.

"Okay we'll go with Martin. Tell me a little bit about yourself."

The boy shrugged again. Lee looked down at the folder in front of him. "You have an uncle, Luca Spiller. Is that correct?"

"Yeah," the boy finally said.

"We talked to Luca Spiller yesterday and he said his nephew Martin Spiller died in the bombing of Sovana along with his sister who was Martin's mother and her entire family. He said he identified their bodies, all of them, including Martin's. Who are you really?"

The boy looked away and shook his head.

"Did you lose your family in the bombing?" Lee asked him.

"What do you care?"

"I care because of what's it's done to young people like you."

The boy said sarcastically. "Yeah, right. Your Cylon-loving heart is bleeding all over me."

Lee had learned while questioning the motorcycle riders not to take anything personally or let anything a suspect said get to him. He focused on the boy in front of him.

"Life was hard after the bombing, wasn't it? Not enough food or water. No shelter. You did what you had to do to survive. Did you wind up in one of the refugee camps?

The boy leaned over and blotted his nose on the long sleeve of his orange jumpsuit, but Lee saw a flicker in his eyes at the mention of the camp. "Which one were you in…the one south of Sovana?"

The boy shrugged again. This time Lee took the shrug to mean an affirmative answer. "I have a friend who visited that camp looking for his daughter. He said people were fighting over rats. Did you have to fight that way?"

The boy's chin came up and he looked Lee in the eyes for the first time. "A pretty boy like you wouldn't have lasted a week in that camp."

"You did what you had to do to survive, didn't you?" Lee asked softly.

"I didn't do nothing like that. I made it on my own. I didn't do nothing like those other kids had to do."

"What did they do? What was it you were too tough to do?"

The boy shrugged again. Lee felt sick about what he was doing to this young man, but he knew he had a job to do. "They sold themselves, didn't they? They sold themselves for food and water and shelter."

The boy swallowed hard. "Not me. I never did nothing like that."

"How long did it go on before there was enough food in the camp? Weeks? Months?"

"There wasn't ever enough food in the camp. Even after the frakking government started sending food there wasn't ever enough. Nobody cared."

"Somebody cared or there wouldn't have been any food at all. Somebody stood up to the Cylons and got food sent to the camps." Lee thought of Laura and then of Carrie again. "I know that it wasn't the best food. I know the bread was stale and sometimes a little moldy. I have a…a friend, a girl, who was in another camp and she said she and a friend of hers made little pyramids of the moldy spots they picked off the bread."

"I ate the bread mold and all," the boy said without looking up.

"I would have, too," Lee said. "How did you know Martin Spiller?"

The boy wiped his nose again on his sleeve. "He was just a dork who lived in my neighborhood."

"Why did you take his name? Was he your friend?"

The boy shrugged and then said derisively. "We used to pick on him because he was such a loser. He was older and bigger and he'd still run home to his mamma and cry. Godsdamned big sissy crybaby."

"Did _you_ make fun of him?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"Because he was pathetic. He was weak. He was a _loser_."

"Then why did you take his name?" The boy looked down and shook his head. "Is it because in the camp you felt like him? Is it because you felt like Martin Spiller? Weak and powerless? A loser?Because you had to do things in those early days in the camp just to survive?"

The boy's head was still bowed and Lee could see him starting to tremble. "I gave you his name because it was the only one I could think of."

"You know something? I don't like calling you Martin Spiller. I'd rather call you by your real name, the name of the boy who survived a horror because he was so tough." Again Lee thought of Carrie and how tough she had been. "Tell me your real name," he said gently.

"Neil Speigel," the boy said barely above a whisper.

"What happened to your parents, Neil?"

"My dad left when I was little. My mom died in the bombing."

"How old are you?"

"Fifteen, almost sixteen."

"Do you want something to drink, Neil? Maybe a soft drink?"

The boy nodded his head.

"I'll go get you one and we'll talk some more."

He left the interrogation room and walked outside. For a few moments it was hard for him to breathe. This break was more for him than it was for the boy. Nothing had brought the horror of those early days in the refugee camps home to him more than the haunted look in that young boy's eyes. Fifteen. Lords of Kobol. He leaned against the wall and felt sick.

Major Parker came out of the room where he had been watching the interrogation through the two-way mirror. "Good work, Lieutenant Adama."

"Yes, sir," Lee said, trying to pull himself together.

Parker very briefly put his hand on Lee's shoulder. "I know it's hard, taking a kid apart like that trying to get a crumb of information to help lead us deeper into this labyrinth of the resistance, but better you than someone heavy-handed like Ackerman. That's why I brought you along on this mission."

"What's going to happen to him?"

Parker shook his head. "When we're through questioning them, we'll turn him and his fellow terrorists over to Agent Darren's men. They'll go before a Cylon tribunal."

"In other words he's going to be executed. He survived the hell of a refugee camp to die in front of a centurion firing squad."

Parker looked away. "Probably."

"He's just a kid. He's fifteen years old, for Zeus's sake. He was twelve years old when he went to that camp. He deserves a chance."

"I'm sorry," Parker said, "I'm really sorry. He made a choice when he joined these other terrorists. Being young is not a free pass to kill and maim. I saw the photos of the woman and her little boy who died in that blast last week. There are no free passes this time around. Now finish your job, lieutenant. Learn the names of his friends. You've established a rapport with him. He's the only one who's even told us his name. This is the first break we've had in months. We can't afford to screw it up. The Cylons are expecting some real results from us this time."

Lee went to the drink machine and fed it the right number of cubits. As he carried the soft drink back to the interrogation room, he thought of his grandfather and wished he were still alive. Joseph Adama would understand exactly how he felt right now. And then he thought of Carrie again. She would be at Zeno's in a few hours and he knew Zak would be there to meet her. He trusted Zak to carry his message. He trusted Zak to tell Carrie why he couldn't be there tonight. He trusted Zak to behave himself. He hoped he hadn't made a mistake.

...

Kara walked into Rigby's restaurant and went up to the hostess. Several couples and a family stood waiting to be seated.

"I'm looking for Mrs. Peele. Has she gotten here yet?"

"Mrs. Peele, yes, she said she was expecting a guest. Right this way." The woman took a menu from a stack and Kara followed her. She led Kara to a booth near the back where an extremely pretty dark-haired woman was sitting. Kara sat and waited until the hostess had put her menu down on the table and walked away before she spoke.

"Mrs. Peele?"

"Yes. Sassy?"

"That's me."

Kara studied Mrs. Peele. She guessed her to be about the same age as the Oracle, in her mid-thirties, but there the resemblance ended. Mrs. Peele's dark hair was straight and shoulder length and her makeup was subtle but perfect. She wore a a dark-colored business suit, navy or maybe plum. It was hard to tell in the dim light from the little lamp on the table. Her jewelry was understated, small gold hoop earrings, a dainty, expensive-looking watch, a gold pin in some type of knot design on the lapel of her suit, and a wide gold band on the ring finger of her left hand. She was married. Kara wasn't sure why that surprised her.

"You're very young," Mrs. Peele said. "I wasn't expecting someone of your tender years."

"I wasn't expecting a married lady," Kara replied.

"I'm a widow," Mrs. Peele said.

"I'm an orphan," Kara said, though later she didn't know why she had shared that with her. It wasn't relevant.

"I thought as much. Look at your menu. Decide what you'd like. I waited to order."

She hadn't waited to get a drink, though. Kara gestured to it. "I'd like one of those."

"I doubt you're old enough."

"Give me yours and order another one for yourself."

Mrs. Peele smiled and signaled the waiter. Kara noticed her manicure, the beautifully polished nails.

"I'm not sure I should be doing this."

"What happened to your husband?" Kara asked.

"No more personal information. We can't."

"You're right. So what are you supposed to tell me?"

"It's very important that you remember this and repeat it word for word to the next contact. Do you understand?"

"I understand."

"Sentinel and his five friends are being held at the military jail in Sovana. So far no one has broken, but two are possibilities. Sentinel says either a blue dog or a white dove on Sunday morning at three a.m."

She said the three sentences again and then made Kara repeat them several times. "What does it mean?"

Mrs. Peele shook her head. "I don't know. I can guess, but I don't know without a doubt. I really don't want to know. Our jobs just require us to repeat the message precisely."

"Who will know?"

"When this message makes its way high enough up the chain, someone will understand it. Some sort of action will be taken. That's why it's really import to repeat this message word for word."

Kara's phone buzzed. "Hello."

She recognized Frogman's voice. "I'm out front. Come on."

"Frak. You mean I don't even get to eat?"

"Not tonight. We're operating under a tight timeline. I'll make it up to you."

Kara stood up. "I've got to go."

Mrs. Peele held out her beautifully-manicured hand. "I understand. Perhaps we'll meet again."

Kara left the restaurant and stood outside. Frogman drove up on the other side and Kara ran across the street. She was in his car and they were on their way in fifteen seconds.

"We're skipping Reno to save time. Give the message directly to me."

"I always figured you were higher up than we thought."

"Forget what you just figured out."

"Touchy, touchy. Who am I going to tell anyway?"

"Your new boyfriend?"

"Jared ran his mouth?"

"Yeah."

"Damn it. That makes me want to kick his ass."

"I'm not going to ask what this new guy does, but I guess you know I trust you to protect the group at all cost."

"Don't worry. And he's not my boyfriend, okay? I'm not dating him."

"Where are you living now?" Frogman asked. "I'm going to take you home."

"Drop me off at any subway station."

"I trust you with my secret. You've got to trust me with yours."

"You won't tell Jared?"

"Sassy, I've got a lot more on my mind than yours and Jared's love life or lack thereof. I don't involve myself in other people's domestic problems."

She gave him directions. When they got there, he pulled into the parking lot and found a parking place.

"Now tell me what Mrs. Peele said." Kara repeated the sentences. When she was through, Frogman said, "You're sure she said _white dove_?"

"Positive. I couldn't make up something like that. What does it mean?"

"You don't want to know."

"Yes, I do."

"I guess you've earned it. Basically what the group in Sovana is saying is that if we can't come up with a way to get them out, that's the blue dog, then we light up the whole military detention center where the captives are being held. Kill everybody if we have to rather than let our guys be handed over to the Cylons alive. That's a white dove. I want to make damned sure before I repeat that one."

"Kill our own men? Why?"

"Six of the group were taken in Sovana on Sunday night. It was a fluke that they were all caught together like that, some very poor planning on someone's part, but they were and they're being held. One of them, Sentinel, is very high in the group up there. We're hoping they haven't figured out who they've got, yet, but we've got to either get them out or…destroy the prison where they're being held."

"You would do that…destroy a prison and kill a bunch of innocent people to keep six guys from being handed over to the Cylons?"

"We would."

"How are you going to do it?"

"I don't know, yet. I've got to pass this message up the line to my contact. He's only a few away from the top man here in Caprica City. We'll have a plan before tomorrow night."

"I hope it's to extract them."

"So do I. Thank you for your help tonight."

"It was nothing."

"It wasn't _nothing_. You realize why I couldn't be seen having dinner with Mrs. Peele, and we don't do anything like this over any kind of phone, even when it's in code."

"Mrs. Peele isn't her real name, is it?"

"Is Sassy your real name?"

Kara grinned. "She's nice."

"I've got to go."

She got out of the car. "Good luck."

"Thanks."

Kara watched him back out of the parking place and drive away.

She started walking toward the front entrance to the apartment building. She wondered how long it would be before she heard about the results of what they were setting in motion tonight. If the prisoners were extracted they might never hear about it, but if the group had to destroy the military prison, they would all know. She was sure of that.

...

Lee Adama was so drained by his third straight day in the interrogation room at the prison that he barely had the energy to eat dinner and shower that night. He lay on his bunk afterward and tried to clear his mind. For the hundredth time that day Carrie came into his thoughts. He looked at his watch…nearly eleven o'clock. Sovana was a time zone east of Caprica City which meant it was nearly ten o'clock there. He got up and took his mobile phone from the charger and called Zak's mobile.

"Hey, Lee," Zak said when he answered.

"Where are you?" Lee asked.

"Almost home."

"How did tonight go?"

"Carrie never showed up. She stood us up, big bro."

"I'm sure she had a reason."

"Yeah. That reason is probably named Sam Anders."

Lee felt his chest tighten. "You don't know that."

"Why else would she stand _us_ up except for another guy?"

"It could have been a hundred reasons. Maybe she's working. She told me she works at night when her boss asks her to."

"Yeah, well whatever the reason, she didn't show."

"Zak, it wasn't really a date, anyway. I'll try to find time to call her tomorrow at work and make sure she's okay. You doing all right?"

"Yeah, Lee, I'm fine."

"Anything on the new job you're trying to get?"

"No yet."

"Mom and Dad are okay?"

"Yeah, Lee they're fine. Is something wrong? You're usually not this warm and fuzzy."

"No, I…no, nothing is wrong. Are you home, yet?"

"I'm just walking in the door. Why?"

"Is Dad still up?"

"Probably."

"I need to talk to him."

"Okay, wait a minute."

Lee heard some muffled sounds and then his father came on the phone. "What's going on, son?"

"I'm in Sovana, Dad. I'm sure you know why. Is there any way you can talk to Agent Darren and see if he can work out something where he doesn't have to turn the, uh, guys we're questioning now over to the Cylons?"

"It's not my place to interfere with Darren's job, and it's not yours to start feeling sorry for terrorists."

"Dad, one of them is just a kid. I questioned him today. He's only fifteen. He survived a terrible time in a refugee camp."

"I'll talk to Darren if I get the chance, but I can't call him and tell him not to do something he's already agreed to do. If he's already told the Cylons they will get these guys, then I can't stop it. Even the President couldn't stop it."

"I understand, but do what you can. Please."

Lee ended the call. He lay back on his bunk and shut his eyes, the phone still in his hand. He was trying to form a thought that never completely came together. He woke up sometime later, cold. The phone had fallen from his hand to the floor. He left it there, rolled over and pulled up the blankets. He was asleep again before he even got warm.

The dream came, vivid and clear, before dawn, so vivid that he remembered it after he woke up as if it had really happened. He saw himself squaring off in his Viper against his shadow Cylon Raider, firing his missiles at the red eye and watching the Raider explode. When he woke up he was aware for the first time in three years of the small kernel of hatred for the Cylons that had formed in his chest when his long-ago girlfriend had died on Gemenon. He felt it now with a renewed sharpness, honed by his knowledge of what Carrie Warner had gone through and from questioning a boy who had lived through hell. He thought of John and his father, of how many times they had actually opened fire on Cylon Raiders and watched them disintegrate. He thought he understood both of them better.

He sat for a few minutes on the side of his bunk before he got up and went down the hall to the bathroom. He had never understood what drove the resistance better than he did at that moment, nor had he hated his job more.

...

Laura remained seated at the small table in the little tearoom inside the Capitol Building when Bill walked in the door. She waved and he saw her. She had just gotten out of a mid-afternoon meeting and on impulse had called him. He was happy to hear from her, the fury she had experienced from him during their last meeting seemed to be forgotten. They had agreed to meet in the tearoom. As he drew nearer, though, she saw that he looked tired, his face more gray and drawn than she had seen it in a long time, probably since those long days and nights of the negotiations.

"Hello, Bill."

"Laura. You look good. A long weekend at John's place on Mykos must have been just what the doctor ordered."

"How did you know John and I went to Mykos?"

"Lee told me you were going away together and then John mentioned at lunch the other day that he had been down to his place on Mykos for a couple of days. I put it together."

"It was nice. I needed a break, especially after what happened with Cavil. You look tired. Is it the job?"

"The job…and the plan, which is getting more complicated all the time…and my conversation with Lee last night. I didn't sleep much."

"What did Lee say that upset you?"

"He's in Sovana. I knew Major Parker was taking a team up there. I didn't know Lee was on it until he called last night. I talked to Agent Darren this morning. In a nutshell, a small group of terrorists was arrested last Sunday night. Parker's team has been questioning them all week. They haven't gotten much. Darren said Lee had finally gotten through to a fifteen-year-old kid, but the kid doesn't know much about the inner workings or the operation of the terrorist cell. All Lee has gotten from him other than his name is some information about two small operations where the kid was a lookout. It's not much but it's more than anyone else has gotten."

"Fifteen. Dear gods. He's barely more than a child."

"Apparently he lost his family in the bombing and wound up in the refugee camp near Sovana. His situation got to Lee. He wanted me to talk to Darren and see if he would consider not turning them over to the Cylons. No luck with that request."

"Agent Darren is in agreement with turning them over?"

"He doesn't have a choice. These men won't talk. Darren has nothing to give the Cylons. They'll use methods that we would never consider."

"They'll torture them?"

Bill took a deep breath and said tiredly, "Of course they will. And when they think they've wrung every last bit of information they can get from them, they'll execute them via a centurion firing squad."

"You can't allow that to happen. _We_ can't allow that to happen."

"There's no way to stop it this time. It's them or a group of innocents. Cavil has threatened to take an army of centurions into Sovana and randomly take a group of hostages and start executing them publicly until someone gives up the terrorists or the terrorists give themselves up."

Laura was appalled. "That's barbaric. That's…that's…"

"That will be our new reality if we can't get these terrorists to stop. I'm getting very discouraged, Laura. We can't implement my plan yet because all the pieces aren't in place. I need two more years, and yet I'm afraid the terrorists aren't going to give us that long before they bring the wrath of the Cylons down on the entire planet."

"Cavil threatened as much when he and I had our confrontation. He threatened to take Dr. Baltar and several ships of fertile young people for his experiments. I think the way he phrased it was that he would leave Caprica a dead and wasted cinder in space."

"He's crazy enough to do it, too."

"I know he is."

"That's why we've got to let Darren give these men…and the boy…to him."

"Sacrificial lambs," Laura said sadly.

"They aren't that innocent. They were probably the ones who set off the car bomb that killed a government official's wife and child up there last week. They were the innocents, not these men in custody. This is basically a war, Laura, and everyone is a potential sacrificial lamb. It's got to stop. _It's got to!_"

"If only someone could get to the leaders of the resistance and talk to them, actually sit down with them around a table and try to negotiate like we did with the Cylons then maybe that would buy you enough time."

"I think the resistance here in Caprica City has finally seen the light. Nothing has happened here since Baltar's lab was destroyed. Sovana is another story."

"How could you get an appeal to their group? Surely someone here knows someone up there and could take the message to them."

"The big problem is that we can't tell them why we're asking them to stop. I can't say to them, 'Give me two years and we'll rid the planet of Cavil and crew.' I can't say that without jeopardizing my plan. I can count on one hand the number of people who even know I have such a comprehensive plan. I can't risk letting that get out. The Cylons would just execute me and be done with it."

"Oh, the gods forbid, Bill. I couldn't bear the thought of that."

He smiled and she thought she saw some of the tired dejection lift. "You would miss me?"

"Of course I would. I couldn't bear to think of a world without you in it."

He reached across the small table and put his hand over hers. "Now you know how I felt the day you went up against Cavil. I couldn't bear to think of a world without you in it, either."

Their eyes met. She felt the tug of the past. And yet she also knew that at some point in the last few weeks her feelings for John had crossed a line and she couldn't go back. A part of her would always love Bill, though. She couldn't change that nor did she want to.

She felt tears sting her eyes. Dear gods, what was wrong with her lately? She cried now at almost everything whereas before she rarely cried at anything.

"I've got to get back to the office," she said as she hastily wiped at her eyes. "Thank you for meeting me for tea."

"Are you all right?"

"I'm fine. Ever since my run-in with Cavil I've been über-emotional. John told me that facing sudden death changes a man…or a woman. I believe him."

"John should know," Bill said.

"So should you."

"Take care of yourself, Laura. Don't wait so long to call me."

"If I can do anything to help with your plan…"

"I'll be in touch," Bill said. He smiled. "I'll be in touch anyway."

They walked out of the tearoom and Bill turned to go back to his office in the Capitol Building. Laura started to call for a car and driver to take her back to her office in the Dressler Building but changed her mind and decided to walk the half-mile instead. The day was beautiful and surprisingly warm for early March. It was true that she was wearing high heels, but she had walked longer distances in them before.

She had walked two blocks when she came to the small temple situated between two government buildings. It was very old, the only structure left standing when the surrounding buildings had been razed a century ago to build the complex of government buildings where she had spent most of her career. The temple looked out of place, and yet at the same time, it resembled a tiny jewel in a concrete and granite forest of larger, more imposing structures. It had been years since Laura had been inside, not since her parents were alive. She walked up the steps and past the fluted marble columns.

The interior of the small temple had not changed at all. It was stone and glass with the main altar and statues of the gods and goddesses looking exactly like she remembered. There were incense pots and candles burning and small bowls for offerings to each of the gods. She went in and sat near the front and breathed the air. Was there such a thing as holy air as there was holy water?

Why was she here? Why had she walked in today to a place she hadn't visited in fifteen years? She wasn't an atheist. Her faith in the gods was strong, but she rarely attended a worship service.

Why was she here? What question or inner turmoil had propelled her off the street into this sanctuary? She heard a soft noise and looked up. A priest had come from somewhere and was gathering the coins from the bowls.

Laura got up and opened her purse as she went up to the altar. "Here, take this. I know coins are usually placed in the bowls, but I only have a few. This is better." She pulled a twenty-cubit note from her wallet.

The priest turned. She was wearing a turban headdress that Laura remembered from the past, not this woman, but another like her. Her robe was indicative of her profession and status. Her dark skin was smooth, her eyes were kind, her features unstressed.

She took the note. "Thank you. I recognize you. You're Laura Roslin."

Laura smiled, a half-smile. "Yes, I am."

"I'm Elosha, priest of this temple. I've never seen you in here before. You must worship elsewhere."

"I don't worship anywhere. I believe. I just don't worship. I haven't since my parents and my brother died."

"Yet you come here now. Are you troubled? I often find that when someone visits a temple after a long absence that they are troubled."

"Yes. I think I am."

"Your job is a great responsibility."

"It's not my job. It's a man. Two men, actually."

"Ah," Elosha said. "You must choose?"

"I've loved one of them for years. I shouldn't. He's married to someone else. They have two fine sons. He was mine for such a short time and yet…I can't quite let go of him. My heart won't let go of him."

"And the other?"

"New to my life."

"Not married, a free man?"

"No. I mean yes. He's not married. He is free."

"Do you love him, too?"

"I don't know. Maybe. It's just that…"

"You hesitate."

"He's very handsome, very charming. He's been with a lot of women."

"Ah," Elosha said again. "You're afraid. You're afraid he'll leave you for another woman as the other one did."

Elosha had just verbalized what Laura had been unable to admit. She was afraid, so very afraid that if she let herself love John, he would hurt her the same way Bill Adama had hurt her twenty years earlier.

"Yes. I am afraid," Laura admitted.

"Is he good to you?"

"Yes, very good."

"Does he care for you?"

"I think he does."

"The human heart has an unlimited capacity to love. Is there not room in yours for both of them?"

"Both of them? I don't understand."

"My life has not always been spent in the priesthood. In my youth I knew men." Elosha smiled at the thought. "Some might say too many men, but I understand love. I understand that we can keep the love of our youth in a special place in our hearts and still love another in our…maturity. Perhaps there is no need to completely let go of one in order to love the other." She smiled again.

"I will pray for wisdom to make a decision."

"Yes, pray for wisdom, but remember that love is a matter for the heart. Sometimes it's better to let our hearts tell us rather than for us to tell our hearts."

Laura glanced at her watch. Three o'clock on a Friday afternoon. "I need to get back to my office."

Elosha nodded. "I'm here if you have need of a priest."

"Thank you," Laura said. "That's a great comfort to me right now. I will think about what you said to me today."

...

Kara and Karl went to a movie early Saturday evening and she convinced him to go to Zeno's with her afterward. She wanted to show it to him. Zeno's wasn't nearly as crowded as it had been the last time she had been in there on the night of the semi-final pyramid game, but there were still no booths available. Instead she and Karl sat at a small table near the bar.

"So this is the famous Zeno's," Karl said looking around.

"Yep. What do you think?"

"It's nice. Is _he_ here?"

"Who?"

"Your prince. Why else would you drag me halfway across the city to a bar and grill when there are probably thirty just as nice between here and where you live."

"Because I like this place. I never feel like I don't belong here. That place Anders took me was…I don't know…not that it was all that fancy except the prices, but the people were different. Here everybody is just like you and me, not people who only go to a place to be seen or try to see somebody famous."

"Yeah, okay. I'll buy that. So is he here or not?"

Kara looked around. "Not, but we'll stay and eat, have a few beers. Maybe he'll show up."

"And if he does, am I supposed to split?"

"No. I'd just like to see him and talk to him. I'm counting on you to walk me to the subway tonight and make me get on it. I'm counting on you to keep me from doing anything stupid."

"Do you realize how tough a job that is, keeping you from doing something stupid?"

Kara laughed. "Oh, frak you."

Karl smiled. "I've missed you, Kara."

"I've missed you, too."

They were talking when she noticed Zak Adama come in with a tall, very pretty dark-haired girl with oriental features. "That's Lee's brother, Zak," she said to Karl. "He just saw us. He's coming over."

"Okay," Karl said. "Am I supposed to do something special?"

"No. I'm going to introduce you, but I'm only going to do it with your first name. It's not a slight. I just think all things considered it's better."

Zak was smiling as he walked up to their table. "You know you're lucky I'm even speaking to you after you stood me up Thursday night."

"I got hung up on a job. It was too late when I finished."

"You could have called."

"What? Called Zeno's and asked for Zak?" Kara snickered at the way that sounded.

"Called mine or Lee's mobile phone."

"How could I do that when I don't have either of your numbers?"

"I can fix that right now." He rattled off two phone numbers.

"Which is which?" Kara asked him.

"Call and find out. This is Sharon, but the way, Sharon Valerii."

"Hi," Sharon said to them.

"I'm Carrie and this is my best friend Karl. Karl this is Zak…and Sharon. Do you want to join us?"

"Why not?" Zak said.

Karl turned to Sharon. "Did you take the Academy entrance test this past Wednesday?"

"That's where I saw you," Sharon said to him. "I've been trying to figure that out since I walked up."

Kara looked at Zak and saw him roll his eyes as they sat down at the little table. He was understandably not interested in discussing the Academy.

Karl and Sharon immediately started talking about the test. Zak went to the bar and got two beers, came back and handed one to Sharon. He sat down and turned his chair so that it was facing toward Kara.

"Where's your brother tonight?" She asked him.

"In Sovana."

Kara felt a dart of fear. "Oh," she said as nonchalantly as she could. "What's he doing up there?" She knew, oh gods, she knew what he was doing up there.

"Whatever he does on his job," Zak said. "Interviews, interrogates, questions…stuff like that."

For a moment she found it hard to breathe. What had the resistance decided to do? Try to extract the captured terrorists or, as Frogman had said, light up the prison and kill everyone at three a.m. this morning? A blue dog or a white dove?

"Let me borrow your phone," she said to Zak.

"You've got one. What do you need mine for?"

"The battery's dead on mine."

"No it's not. The light is on."

"Give me your godsdamned phone," Kara said.

Karl and Sharon both looked at her with shocked expressions as Zak slowly took his phone out of its belt clip and held it out. "Yes, sir," he said.

She grabbed it and got up. Karl caught up with her outside the door. "What the hell is going on, Kara?"

"Go back inside. I won't be long. What time is it?"

"Nearly ten, why?"

"Sovana is an hour later, earlier, what?"

"Sovana is northeast of here. Later. Yeah, later."

"Then it's eleven o'clock there."

"Yeah. Kara, what…?"

"Kara scrolled down on Zak's phone and found Lee's number. She walked away from Karl. "I'll be back in a couple of minutes. I need some privacy."

Karl turned and went back inside.

On the other end she heard it started ringing. "Answer it," Kara said to the phone, "come on Lee, pick it up and answer it…"

...

Lee had been in his bunk for thirty minutes and was beginning to get sleepy when he heard his phone start chirping. "Damn," he muttered under his breath. He was warm under the blankets. He swung his legs over the side of the bunk, got his phone from the table and looked at the caller ID. He should have known it would be Zak.

"Hey, Zak. There's an hour time difference between there and here. Did you know that?"

"It's not Zak," Kara said.

"Carrie?" Lee said in confusion. "This is Zak's number."

"It's Zak's phone."

"What are you doing with Zak's phone?"

"It's a long story. Where are you?"

"I was in my bunk almost asleep. Where are you?"

"Outside Zeno's."

"With Zak?"

"No. How far from the prison are you?"

"What?"

"How far away from the damned prison are you?"

"Half a mile, maybe a little more. How did you know I'm in…"

"Good. Stay where you are."

"Okay, Carrie, what's going on?"

"Just promise me you'll stay where you are all night. Promise me."

"What do you know that I should know?"

"Nothing for sure, but you've got to stay where you are tonight. Do not go near that prison."

"Somebody's coming for the guys tonight, aren't they?"

"I don't know. I really don't know any details. If it gets back to anyone that you know about this, they'll figure out where it came from and kill me."

"When tonight?"

"Three a.m. I think, but I'm not sure. Just promise me you'll stay where you are. Please, promise me."

Lee realized that Carrie was right. She was risking her life to warn him. "I promise I won't be anywhere near that prison at three a.m.," he said softly. "Carrie, I…" He saw that she had ended the call.

Lee carried the phone back to his bunk and crawled under the blankets again. His thoughts were whirling. Carrie had just put him in a terrible predicament. All his military training and discipline was screaming at him to go find Major Parker and inform him of what was going to happen. But how would he explain knowing about it? And did he want to stop it? Did he _really want_ to stop it? Did he want five men and a fifteen-year-old boy to be turned over to the Cylons for torture and execution? The kernel of Cylon-hatred burned in his chest at the thought.

And yet some of these men might be killers, too. They had probably killed an innocent woman and child the week before. Lee shut his eyes. Probably. That was his dilemma. He had no proof that these six had killed anyone, and he knew without a doubt that the Cylons would kill them, torture them and then execute them.

He got up and put on his uniform and got his heavy, hooded parka from the back of the chair. Before he left, he called Zak's phone. This time his brother answered.

"Let me speak to Carrie," Lee said.

"She's gone, her and her friend. They didn't stay five minutes after she came back inside. Her friend was having a fine time talking to my date. They really hit it off. In fact she left with them. Said it was her bedtime. Bedtime, my ass. So here I sit at the bar in Zeno's all by myself."

"Yeah, Zak, I feel for you. What happened to the guy who could always pick up any girl he wanted?"

"There's nobody in here tonight worth picking up."

"I feel sorry for you, bro."

"What was so damned important that Carrie had to practically rip the phone out of my hand to call you?"

"She wanted to remind me to pick up my dress uniform at the dry cleaners."

"You think you're a frakking comedian, don't you?"

"You know, Zak…" Lee started, but saw that his brother had also ended the call. He was two for two tonight.

He left the guest barracks where the interrogators were staying and jogged the half-mile to the prison. He showed his security badge to the guard at the gate and then at the door. The badge got him all the way to Neil Speigel's cell. There was no privacy for any of the prisoners. Neil's cell was small, six feet by ten feet, nothing but a bunk and a tiny sink and a toilet. None of the suspected terrorists was allowed a roommate. Neil was curled under a single blanket. Asleep he looked like he was twelve years old.

"Hey, Neil," Lee called softly through the bars of the cell. "Wake up." When Neil didn't stir, he called a little louder, "Neil, wake up." He didn't want to awaken any of the others if he could help it.

Finally Neil stirred and looked up at him.

"Get up a minute," Lee said.

Groggily Neil pushed back the blanket and got up. "Yeah, what?"

"Come over here."

The boy took three steps and was at the bars. He looked at Lee questioningly. "What time is it?"

"Almost midnight."

"What are you doing here?"

"I just want to ask you something, okay?"

Neil shrugged in his non-committal way.

"If you got another chance, what would you do with your life?"

"What kind of stupid-ass question is that? You know what's going to happen to me?"

"I'm still asking?"

"You came all the way down here in the middle of the night to ask me that?"

"Yeah," Lee said. "Yeah, I did. Would you stay with these guys or do something else?"

"What else could I do?"

"There's lots of things."

Neil snickered. "Name one."

"You could go back to school."

"While I'm doing what? Living on the street and selling myself for a hot meal? Do my homework by flashlight in a cardboard box under a bridge?" He snickered again.

"You're fifteen. There's foster homes. There's government housing. I could help with that. I'd like to help with that."

Neil Speigel smiled, the first time Lee had seen a genuine smile from him all week. "You're a nice guy, Lee. Crazy as shit, but nice. The Cylons are going to stand me in front of a wall after they've pulled out my fingernails. You know that."

"Have you ever thought that what _you're_ doing is just as wrong as what the Cylons are doing? What about that woman and her little boy you killed last week?"

"Listen, man, we didn't do that. We did _not_ do that."

"Then who did?" Lee asked.

"I don't know, but it wasn't us. I heard it was some guys from out of town."

"Don't you see you're being blamed for it? Everybody lumps all of you together. What one does gets blamed on the whole group. You could do a hundred good things and then one thing like last week wipes it all out. If you want to do something to help all of us, then stop the others from killing innocent women and children."

The hard mask was back on Neil's face. "When all the Cylons are dead, then we'll stop."

"If you don't stop, the Cylons will take a group of humans to experiment on and they will leave, but before they leave, they'll destroy the planet. They'll exterminate what's left of the human race."

Neil got back in his bunk and turned his face to the wall. "What do I care? I'll be dead before that happens. Go away, Lee. I was having a really good dream when you woke me up."

...

Back in his own bunk Lee lay under the covers and waited. A little after two a.m. he couldn't stay awake any longer. At 3:20 the base alarm began blaring. He was so deep asleep by then that when he opened his eyes, he thought he was on the _Triton._ He thought the Cylons were attacking and someone had set Condition One. He was on his feet looking for his flight suit when he realized where he was. He pulled on his uniform trousers and stepped into the hall. Several of the other interrogators had opened their doors.

"What's going on?" One of them asked.

"Beats me," Lee said.

A young corporal in full combat gear came down the hall. "There's been some sort of attack over at the prison. Your CO said to stay put until further notice. We're setting up a perimeter around this building."

Lee went back into his room and finished getting dressed. He and the other interrogators gathered in a break room at the end of the hall. Jill Hadrian made a fresh pot of coffee and they speculated about what had happened. Lee said almost nothing. At five a.m. Major Parker came in. The silence in the room was immediate as they all came to attention.

"At ease," Parker said. "A little after 3:00 a group of heavily armed men invaded the prison with the intention of extracting the prisoners. There was a firefight and there were casualties, three guards, one of the invaders and two of the prisoners. Four of the prisoners were freed. We've locked down every airport and transport station in a hundred mile radius and blocked all the major roads leading away from the city. So far nothing. If they make it into the mountains we'll never find them."

Lee realized that he had been holding his breath. He let it out carefully. "Which two prisoners, sir?"

"Neil Speigel got away," Parker said. "I assume that's what you were asking."

"Yes, sir."

"Go back to your rooms and pack your bags. There's nothing for us to do up here. We're going home. If anybody is caught, they'll be taken straight to the Cylons."

As Lee was packing his bag, he thought again of Carrie and the risk she had taken in warning him. He had let her go after she had pulled the knife on Ackerman. He had let her go after she had told him about her part in destroying Baltar's lab. Was her warning last night just repayment for that? A favor for a favor or as his grandfather Adama would have said _quid pro quo_? Or was there more to what was between him and Carrie than that? Had they done more than make love to each other's dreams that night? Was the connection between them as real as he wanted it to be?

On the transport ship flying back to Caprica City, he slept and dreamed a jumbled stream of images…the Cylon Raider exploding from his missiles again and Neil Speigel in a cardboard box under a bridge and his father pulling the pin on a grenade and laughing because it was a dud. And then he dreamed that Carrie was waiting for him on the tarmac when the ship landed at the airbase and that she threw herself into his arms, her voice like warm rain against his ear as she said over and over, _You're alive…you're alive…you're alive_.

The lurch of the transport touching down on the runway brought him out of his dream. Still half-asleep he looked out of the small window beside him and saw the empty tarmac. He knew Carrie would not do something like that, would not throw her arms around him in relief and joy, but he could almost hear her voice against his ear, warm and breathless and full of life..._you're alive_.

He couldn't feel the kernel of hatred for the Cylons quite so strongly now because there was something else in his chest. The feelings he had for the girl who had risked her life when she thought his was in danger had grown stronger and deeper. For the first time in his life, he admitted to himself that he might be in love.

TBC…


	33. Choices

Chapter 33

Choices

_Following the escape of four detainees from the military prison in Sovana, one subsequently died of wounds sustained during the escape, and two later died in a shoot-out with the military in the mountains northwest of the city. One escapee remained at large and rumors of his whereabouts fueled several urban legends, the most persistent being that he worked in the household of a wealthy Sovana industrialist, although two investigations failed to turn up any such connection. Over the next two years his stream of consciousness narratives of his life in a refugee camp and as part of the resistance became one of the most frequently-visited pages on a popular internet journaling site. He published under the pseudonym of Martin Spiller, a young man who had died in the Cylon bombing of Sovana. _

_-Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War_

As soon as the waiter took their orders and menus at the restaurant Saturday evening, John took an eight by ten piece of paper out of his inside coat pocket, unfolded it and handed it to Laura. "What do you think? Does that look like the girl you saw in the camp? Does that look like Kara?"

Laura took the sheet of paper and thoughtfully studied the picture. John took a wallet-sized photograph out of his billfold and handed it to her as well. "This is Kara at eight years old. This photo is what the private detective scanned into his software to age her."

Laura compared the photograph and the picture. The child Kara had long, pale blond hair. The picture that had been aged had straight, shoulder-length hair. "The hair is wrong," Laura finally said. "Not wrong, but different. The girl I remember from the camp had a layered haircut, not too short, but like it had been short and was starting to grow out, and it was still blond, but not this light. This is too light."

"Okay. The rest of it, though, her face, what do you think?"

"A good likeness. Very much like I remember. She's a beautiful young woman, John."

"Yeah, I'm prejudiced because she's mine, but yeah, I think so, too. I'll ask the detective to change the hair and we'll go with it. Layered hair, and darker blond. He's asked for something else. I told him Billy might be able to get it and might not."

"There's no harm in asking. What does he need?"

"He's asked if you could get a list of the people who were on their buses from the refugee camp who _didn't _go to government housing. He tried to get the information but couldn't. Anything you can get would help. He's especially interested in dates of birth. He agrees with you that Kara and Karl are probably living with someone else, probably someone older who has the utilities in his or her name. It's either that or they're…on the street. We're not going to go there yet."

"I'll see what I can do on Monday." She handed the pictures back to John. "What does the detective think the chances are of finding her?"

"Not good with the information we've got at the present time. That's why he wants the list of those who didn't go to government housing. He thinks she's either with someone on that list or has been. If he can find that person then he said he's a giant step closer to finding her."

"Remember what Hugh Connelly told us, too, that he saw her friend Karl with two young people, possibly cousins. If your detective can find cousins on that list then that would be a good starting place."

"I'll tell him that."

"John, I know this is going to work out somehow. I just know it."

John smiled. "I hope you're right."

"How was your first full week as a government pilot?"

"Copilot. I lost all my seniority when I made the change, but that's okay. I don't mind sitting in the right-hand seat, especially on a ship that's not about to fall apart. I made one flight to Delphi with a Captain Sayers and one to Antioch with a Captain Russo."

"Russell Russo. He's the one I always request. He's very competent and professional. I like him very much."

"I agree. He's a good pilot."

"Now I'll request you as his copilot, too."

"You can do that?"

"I don't know if I'm supposed to, but I do. It's worked in the past."

"Rank always has its privileges."

She smiled. "After not having to go out of town for a month, I've got two trips coming up in the next two weeks. Next Friday I go to Antioch for the dedication of a park to honor the victims of the flu epidemic in the camp. And the Friday after that I go to Sovana for the opening of a new school."

"Sovana. You've got no business going to Sovana."

"I understand from Bill that there has been some trouble up there with a small group of terrorists who were captured, but that has nothing to do with what I'm going up there for."

"It doesn't matter. You're a member of the government. The government isn't too popular in Sovana right now."

"How do you know that?"

"When I flew for the cargo company, one of my regular routes was Sovana and back. I talked to people who work up there. They know. Does Bill know you're scheduled to go to Sovana?"

"I had no reason to mention it to him."

"Have you seen him recently?"

"We had tea several days ago."

John sat without saying anything for a moment. "He tired and stressed, isn't he?"

"Yes, oh, yes he is. He's got so much on him. His job alone is enough, but add the…the other thing he's working on and I wonder that he's holding it all together. Then on top of that Lee called from Sovana and…"

"Lee's in Sovana? Now?"

"Yes. Major Parker took him up there as part of his team to question the suspects. It seems there was a young man in the group, a fifteen-year-old boy, and Lee…"

"Excuse me just a minute, Laura. I'll be right back." He got up and went in the direction of the men's room. He was gone almost ten minutes. When he got back he seemed distracted. "Sorry. I ran into someone I know and stopped to chat. You were saying that Lee's in Sovana and something about a fifteen-year-old."

"A young terrorist. He and his…comrades are going to be turned over to the Cylons for torture and execution. Bill said it couldn't be stopped."

"That's a shame. Fifteen is too young to be involved in something like that. You shouldn't go to Sovana, Laura. You really should cancel that trip. It's too dangerous."

"Why do you say that? I'm going up there for the opening of a school. My trip has nothing to do with the…other situation."

"Sovana is an unstable place right now. It's just not safe."

"I can't back out now. This has been planned for several months. It's an elementary school. There's to be some sort of program the children have written themselves. I can't let them down."

"At least ask President Adar for increased security."

"I'll have a Marine escort just like I had every time I visited one of the camps."

"Okay," John said. "Okay, that makes me feel better. A Marine escort makes me feel a lot better."

"Everything will be fine, John. Stop worrying about me."

He smiled. "I can't help it. There's something about you that makes me want to protect you."

"Protect me? Is that what you've been doing these last six weeks, protecting me?"

Before he could answer, his mobile phone must have vibrated because he took it out. "Sorry, I've got to take this call." He got up and walked toward the men's room again. He was gone five or six minutes. When he came back he acted distracted again.

"John, is something wrong?"

"No, nothing is wrong. It's just a friend of mine. He's having a problem with something. Sort of a domestic thing."

She looked directly at him. "That's the first time since I met you that I know you've lied to me. Is it a woman? Not that I have any right to ask, but…"

"No, gods no! I swear to you. You're the only woman in my life."

Laura thought of Elosha's words. She thought of her own fear. Tonight had just confirmed it. She was afraid he would hurt her. She was afraid he had already started seeing someone else. She tried to believe him, but a tiny, nagging doubt crept into her heart and settled there. Bill Adama had tried to warn her, hadn't he? What had he said exactly? _John is a good man. I just don't think he's the right man for you._ He'd offered no explanation, but she knew he wouldn't have said it without having a good reason.

Maybe it was her fear and anger at herself for feeling it, or maybe it was his determination to show her what was between them, but their lovemaking that night was hotter and more passionate than it had ever been. She was aggressive and almost rough with him as she pushed him back on her bed and mounted him, finally carrying both of them over the brink. It was so incredibly good, so intense and good, that afterward she cried. She had never experienced anything quite like that feeling in her life.

John obviously didn't understand why she was crying. "Did I hurt you? I didn't mean to. I would never hurt you. I…"

"John, you didn't hurt me," she managed to choke out. "I cry all the time now. Thank Cavil for that."

John held her tightly against him. "Gods, you scared me. I thought…I don't know what I thought other than I'd hurt you."

"Stay with me tonight. Please. Don't leave."

He gently pushed her hair off her forehead. "You mean that? You aren't worried about your reputation?"

"If you're not worried about yours."

He smiled. "The only thing I'm worried about is that I'm going to wake up one morning and find I've dreamed this whole thing."

She snuggled against him and felt the tiny nagging doubt recede. He was telling her the truth about that, she knew that he was. She might have been able to overcome her doubt completely had it not been for what happened early the next morning. She awoke just before five o'clock and realized that she was cold. John wasn't in the bed with her. The bathroom door was open, the room dark. He wasn't in there. Quietly she got up, put on her robe and padded barefoot down the hall. The den was quiet and dark also, but she saw him in the moonlight out on the terrace. He was talking on his mobile phone. The friend with the domestic problem? No, he had lied about that. She knew it was something else. What would John be so secretive about except a woman? Except the very thing he had denied to her? Was it Lissa? Was he seeing Lissa again? Or was it someone new? Someone younger and prettier? She had tried to prepare herself for this and it still hurt.

Quietly she went back to her bedroom and crawled into bed. The nagging doubt returned with a vengeance, the fear so strong that it made her feel sick.

...

Across town Kara lay on the couch in front of the television in Tory's apartment. She was wrapped in a blanket and was alternately dozing and watching the Caprica City News Network's twenty-four hour news station. CCNN Channel 24 so far had nothing about Sovana. She had roused at four o'clock and watched for nearly twenty minutes and now at five forty-five she was awake again. Her next three day rotation on the job started today and she would have to take a shower and be ready to leave by six fifteen. During the week it took her thirty minutes to get to work on the subway because of having to change twice, less time on the weekend, but the trains didn't run as often, either.

She was just about ready to turn off the television and head for the shower when the _Breaking News_ banner scrolled across the bottom of the screen. She saw an aerial shot of what looked like a prison complex that was lit to such an extent by bright lights that it could have been noon. There was a residue of smoke drifting across the picture but it didn't look like anything was on fire.

She turned up the volume. The announcer said, "This just in from our sister station in Sovana. Last night several prisoners escaped from the military prison on the outskirts of the city. No word yet on how many prisoners or what crimes they were accused of committing. According to a military spokesperson, several guards were killed in the escape as well as several of the prisoners. Names are being withheld until notification of kin is completed. All commercial transportation out of Sovana has been shut down until further notice and all major roads are blocked. Vehicles are being searched before being allowed out of the city and surveillance footage taken during the time of the escape is being studied. Access to the prison and all military personnel who were involved is currently being denied to the press. We'll keep you posted as further information is obtained. Back to you, Stewart."

Kara breathed out a long breath. Lee was probably all right. The only casualties mentioned were guards and prisoners. Lee was probably fine. She would call him tonight when she got back to the apartment, though, just to make sure.

She wondered if Frogman was as happy as she was with the outcome of the Blue Dog.

o

Lee stood outside MediFirst like he had done on Sunday night two weeks earlier only this time he didn't feel like he was stalking Carrie Warner. He was there to thank her and he thought she would realize that. He would have been all right even if she had not called, but the fact that she took the risk told him a lot about her feelings.

Kara saw him almost as soon as she exited the building. She didn't know why, but she wasn't surprised. She walked over to him.

"I'm glad you're okay."

"I had to thank you in person. I probably wouldn't have been at the prison at three a.m., but you didn't know that. I realize what you…risked calling me like that."

"I used Zak's phone."

"Still…"

She started walking toward the subway and Lee fell into step beside her. "I watched the news during my lunch break today. Was it anyone you knew who got killed?"

"No. The boy I had been questioning got away."

"Boy?"

"He was fifteen years old. He was in one of the camps."

"Which one?"

"The one near Sovana. I'd already heard that it was bad in the early days."

"I was lucky. I didn't have to go to the camp at first."

Lee was surprised. "You didn't? Where did you go?"

Kara realized she had made a mistake. "For a while my friend and I hung out in a house that hadn't been destroyed. We didn't go to the camp until some soldiers made us go. What happened to the boy?"

"He sold himself for food and water and shelter. He was twelve when it started."

Kara took a deep breath. The thought made her sick. "Nobody had to do that in our camp."

"I'm glad."

"I met a girl when I was first there who said she could trade...trade sex for cigarettes. Later I found out there were girls…and boys, too…who traded sex for other stuff they wanted."

"A black market?"

"Yeah. There wasn't anything they couldn't get if you had enough cubits."

"It doesn't surprise me that there's always someone who will try to make a profit off other people's misfortune and misery."

They reached the entrance to the subway and went down the steps. Kara made a decision. "Come on. Let's go back to where I'm staying. We'll stop by a takeout place and get something to eat."

Lee could hardly believe what she had just said. "You're sure?"

"Don't get any ideas. This isn't a date or anything like that, but we've both got to eat."

Lee grinned. "Okay. I'm okay with that."

The restaurant where they got the takeout was small, the food mostly soft cooked noodles and steamed vegetables.

"It's cheap," Kara said by way of explanation.

Back at Tory's apartment, Lee had a similar reaction to Karl's. He whistled low. "Not bad. This is yours?"

"Nope. I'm sitting for someone. She's in Kinsdale for a couple of months."

"And after that?"

"I'm going to look for my own place. It won't be this nice. My best friend will probably move in with me for a few months. He's applied to go to the Academy. He took the test this past week. I think I'm going to take it in April or May."

Lee smiled. "That's great."

Kara led him to the kitchen and they sat at the small table. She got the bottle of wine and poured the last two glasses from it. "All that's left of Sam Anders' hook-up gift."

"I don't like the sound of _that_."

"The gift wasn't for me. It was for the girl who lives here. He didn't know she was gone. He left the wine anyway."

"So you and Sam Anders drank most of a bottle of wine?"

"No. I shared a glass with my friend when he came over."

"Bon appétit," Lee said as he raised the glass.

"What?"

"To fine dining…with a friend."

"I'll drink to that."

He watched her turn up the glass. There was something extremely sensual about the way the glass connected with her lower lip. He imagined his lips there. _Come on, Lee, you can't start thinking about that._

"So tell me about the boy that you questioned. Was he a member of the resistance?"

"I can't talk about an on-going investigation, Carrie, even with you."

"Yeah, it's not like I'm a member of the resistance or anything like that," she snickered slightly. "Did he talk to you?"

"A little."

"You're good at your job, aren't you?"

Lee thought of Neil Speigel. "I felt sorry for him…feel sorry for him. Maybe he could tell."

"Do you feel sorry for me?"

"Yes and no. I'm sorry that you lost your parents and your family, but you've done a lot better with your life than Neil did. At least you're not some resistance member's lap dog."

Kara got up and took their empty plates to the sink. She stood for a few moments thinking about what Lee had just said. In a lot of ways she had been lucky. She'd had Karl and they'd met Jared and Maggie. Life in the camp had been hard, but she'd been lucky, too. Without them she might have ended up like the boy Lee had questioned.

She felt Lee's hands on her shoulders. "Are you all right?" He asked gently.

She knew what was going to happen if she turned around. She was going to look into his blue eyes and they were going to kiss. She stood waiting…deciding. But then she'd known what was going to happen the minute she'd asked him back here, hadn't she?

She turned and looked into his eyes. Some things were simply meant to be.

The kiss was exactly like she remembered…gentle, almost hesitant at first…a question…a whisper. And then as she gave herself to it, it deepened.

His arms tightened around her and he pulled her to him. "I'd better go. If I stay, you know what I'll want to do."

"Maybe I want it too."

"Are you sure, Carrie?"

Her answer was to kiss him again. Some things were meant to be.

That was the night that she considered their first real time together. She wasn't in bed with Prince Olliver and he wasn't in bed with his dream girl from the decompression chamber. They were Lee and Kara, only for him they were Lee and Carrie. It was only a name, but she still hated the deception. She almost told him, but as he slowly undressed her, kissing every part of her skin that he exposed, she forgot about telling him anything and let herself feel, simply feel all the sensations his lips were evoking.

There was nothing hesitant about him this time, either, when she was finally ready and wanted him to finish the spiraling desire he had ignited in her. He stopped only briefly as he had done the first time to take precautions. Then he did what he had been unable to do that first time and slid his body over hers. He claimed her in an act that was at the same time gentle and yet filled with passion.

He had come back alive from Sovana. He had come back to her. Everything in their lives since they had met kept bringing them together.

She realized that in trying to stay away from him she was fighting something she shouldn't be fighting. She was trying to stop a part of her destiny. Even the Oracle had said Lee was her true love.

Some things were simply meant to be.

...

"You're going to do what?" Laura said to her secretary on Monday morning as Adele stood smiling in front of her desk.

"I'm getting married," Adele repeated what she had just said.

Laura had the beginnings of a headache and she felt slightly nauseous. She was afraid she was coming down with a virus.

"Dear gods, when did all this happen?"

"I've been a widow for nearly four years now," Adele said testily.

"I wasn't questioning that. I just mean that I didn't even know you were dating anyone."

"I try to keep my private life out of work."

"Does Billy know?"

"I plan to tell him next. I'm also turning in my resignation. I'm fifty-eight years old. I've worked for the government for thirty-two of those years. I'm retiring."

Laura's stomach lurched and she swallowed hard. "Oh, Adele, what am I going to do without you?"

"Hire someone to replace me."

"No one can replace you. No one. When are you leaving?"

"We're getting married in two months, in early May. I'm giving you a month's notice. That should be ample time to find a replacement."

"I can only offer my congratulations. I would very much like to meet him." She smiled. "Perhaps I can bribe him not to take you away from me."

Adele smiled as well. "Not a chance."

Laura picked up the phone and buzzed Billy's desk. When he answered she said, "Please come into my office. I have some news that is both wonderful and terrible."

Billy seemed far less surprised about Adele's announcement than she was. She had always suspected that the two of them talked about their personal lives to each other. After all, Adele was clearly old enough to be Billy's mother, and he had lost his own when Picon was destroyed.

After he had congratulated Adele and she had gone back to her desk, Laura asked Billy to get a list for her of the refugees on the first group of buses to reach Caprica City who had not gone to any type of government housing. He brought her the list just before lunch. Her head felt better and the nausea had mostly abated. Maybe she wasn't getting sick after all.

"There must be a hundred people on this list," Laura said in dismay. I thought you told me that only seven percent opted out of government housing. There were not quite five hundred that first trip. There should only have been thirty or so people on this list."

"There's a hundred and six on that list to be exact. Seven percent is an average. There were apparently more people on the first trip who had already made arrangements to live elsewhere. I'm sorry."

"Oh, Billy, it's not your fault. Thank you for getting this. John will thank you too, I'm sure."

"What do you think about Adele?"

"Shocked. Completely shocked. Not that I'm unhappy for her. I'm very happy, but she just seemed…I don't know…so devoted to her husband. I remember how distraught she was when he died, how difficult a time she had getting her life back together. And now…" her voice trailed off.

"She's moved on," Billy said in that practical way of his. "Most people do. If I can get anything else for you and John, let me know. I'd really like to think I helped him find his daughter. Maybe get another happy ending to something."

"Adele may be getting a happy ending, but I'm faced with looking for another secretary or whatever the Human Resources Department is calling them now. I think the term is Administrative Assistant. Do me a favor if you will and call down to Personnel. Tell them to see if they have any current applications on file that would fit my needs. If not, I guess they'd better post the job."

"Will do," Billy said. "What about Blaire?"

"What about her?"

"For the job."

"I doubt that she has the experience I'm looking for but I'll talk to her. I do want your input when I hire someone. After all we'll both have to work with her…or him." Laura smiled.

He left and Laura once again sat mulling Adele's news. She still vividly remembered the day four years earlier when Adele's oldest son had called her with the news that his father, Adele's husband of nearly thirty years, had collapsed and died of a heart attack on a business trip to Canceron. Laura had never seen a woman more distraught or who had mourned more deeply than Adele. And now…now she was marrying again.

She thought of Elosha's words. _We can keep the love of our youth in a special place in our hearts and still love another in our…maturity. Perhaps there is no need to completely let go of one in order to love the other._ Elosha's words had been meant for Laura's situation, but could they not be said of Adele's situation also? Could Adele not keep the love she had for her first husband in a special place in her heart and still marry again, still love someone else in her…maturity? Elosha was a very wise woman.

Laura put the list of a hundred six names in her briefcase. She would give it to John tomorrow night. He was on an overnight flight today to the _Cloud Nine,_ a luxury space liner, taking three members of the Quorum of Twelve to a conference. He would be back tomorrow and Friday she hoped that he would be Captain Russo's copilot when she flew to Antioch for the park's dedication ceremony.

After John's mysterious early morning phone call on Sunday, he had seemed to be back to himself. They had a wonderful day. They went to the park where she had met him several months earlier to tell him about her suspicions of D'Anna Biers and the second lab Baltar was setting up. It was also where she had jokingly told him to kiss her and he hadn't done it. He made up for it several times over on their walk. They'd had dinner and then he had said he needed to leave because of his early morning flight. He didn't want to wake her getting up and leaving at four a.m.

Once again she let herself start believing that her doubts had been foolish.

...

Monday evening Lee met his father for dinner in the city. He had called Zak, but Zak was working the noon until nine p.m. shift at Bull's Eye. His mother hadn't wanted to drive in to meet them. But after what had happened in Sovana, Lee felt a need to connect with his family right now. He was glad his father could meet him even if the others couldn't.

During the course of the meal he told his father about the trip and much of what had transpired. The only thing he omitted was any mention of the call from Carrie. Bill had been briefed late that afternoon by Agent Darren. The President was expecting a full report first thing in the morning.

"The military has tracked them as far as the town of Triere just before the S-12 goes through the Nikita Pass into the mountains. Apparently one of the terrorists was wounded in the prison escape. They stopped and got a doctor to try to save him but it was too late. He'd lost too much blood. They left his body behind and went on."

"Which one?" Lee asked, the dread evident in his voice.

"We don't know his name."

"Not the boy."

"No, not the boy. The doctor said there were only three men, the wounded man and two other adults. He never saw a boy."

That news left Lee with mixed feelings. Had they left Neil Speigel behind for some reason? And if so, where? Had he, too, been wounded and died? Or had Neil left them? Lee wondered if he would ever know.

Bill Adama went on. "The President is considering declaring martial law and sending the military into Sovana to try to stop what's happening up there."

"The President is considering letting the military occupy one of our own cities? Impose a curfew? Suspend habeas corpus?"

"Considering it, yes. He hasn't made a decision yet. One more incident is about all it will take. When he asked my opinion, I told him I thought it was a good idea."

"Don't you think that will just incite more violence?"

"We've got to reign in the resistance. If we can't, my plan doesn't stand a chance. The Cylons will destroy us before we can carry it out. I met with Tom Zarek this morning. He was released from prison on Saturday. He's leaving with his men and a contingent of Cylon centurions and special worker models for Tauron and the tylium mines early next week. He doesn't know about my plan. I don't trust him that much, but he knows he's helping us and he's willing to take the risk."

"John and I have talked about that several times. John doesn't trust Zarek at all. He can't believe that Zarek's heart is in the right place. He thinks that Zarek has some sort of ulterior motive behind what he's doing. He thinks Zarek may even have political ambitions of his own."

"He probably does," Bill said tiredly.

"And you're still letting him do it?"

"My plan depends on getting that tylium. We need it for our ships. And John is right. Zarek isn't doing this out of charity. He's being very well paid. But I don't know of any other way to get what I need. I'm not above making a deal with the devil to get what I want and rid Caprica of the Cylons."

When they parted company outside the restaurant that night, Lee said, "Take care of yourself, Dad. You look tired."

Bill Adama smiled. "There will be plenty of time to rest when Caprica is free." He stopped and fished in his pocket for his father's cigarette lighter and used it to light a small cigar. "This was in the things that your grandfather's law office sent over to me after…he was gone. He always left it there so he would have it to take into court with him. He swears he never lost a case as long as he had this lighter with him."

"His good luck charm," Lee said. "He showed it to me three years ago when I spent those four weeks going to court with him."

"It will be yours one day. In fact when you fly your first mission against the Cylons, you'll be carrying this lighter."

"Then we can't lose," Lee said lightly.

On his way back to his apartment that night, he thought of Carrie as he had for most of the day. Last night had been so much of a surprise that he still almost thought he had dreamed it. He couldn't think about what had happened between them without feeling both the physical desire that had brought them together and the nearly spiritual connection they now seemed to share. His feelings for her were growing.

As he'd held her the night before, he had finally asked her the question that had been on his mind since she'd asked him to go back to Tory's apartment with her. _Why had she changed her mind about them_? Her answer had surprised him both in its simplicity and the unhesitating way she had said it.

_Because it's wrong to fight something that's meant to be._

...

Laura stood at the sink in her bathroom trying to brush her teeth and feeling sick for the third morning that week. Very slowly she looked up at herself in the mirror as the thought first formed in her mind and was rejected with a resounding _no_. Still…still…what if? Not possible. No. No. No.

Two years she had been married. Two years she and Hayden had used no birth control and she hadn't gotten pregnant. She knew the problem had to be with her because Hayden had fathered three children with his first wife. There was no doubt whatsoever in her mind that she was the one with the problem.

Could she have been wrong? No, there was no way. She was _not_ pregnant. She had some sort of virus. That's all it was and yet…when had she last had her period? Oh, gods, she didn't even remember. She had always been so irregular that she never bothered to keep track. _Think, Laura, think. _She walked into the smallest of her apartment's bedrooms that she had long ago turned into an office, sat down at her desk and looked at a calendar. She remembered now, a few days after she and John had gotten back from the trip to the islands, she'd had some light spotting for a day or two, but did that even count?

She walked back to her bedroom and into her closet. Now that the thought had taken root in her mind, though, everything seemed to confirm it. Was her bra just a little tighter, the button on her skirt a little harder to fasten?

There was no way she was pregnant. No way. She was an intelligent, educated woman. She would do the smart thing and prove her fear completely groundless. That morning on the way to work she had her driver stop at a discount pharmacy halfway between her apartment and her office. She went inside and found the aisle where the pregnancy tests were. She didn't want to spend any time reading labels so she picked up one that she had seen advertised on television and then went through the self-pay checkout line and paid cash, feeding the twenty-cubit note into the machine and picking up her change. Back in the car, she put the test in her briefcase still wrapped in the bag.

In her office she transferred the test to the bottom drawer of her desk. Several times that morning she opened the drawer a few inches and looked at it as if it were a snake that might suddenly spring out and bite her. Why, oh why if she were so sure that she couldn't be pregnant was she afraid to simply take the test into her private bathroom and…follow the instructions?

Are you all right?" Adele asked.

Laura jumped, slammed the drawer and looked up. "Fine. I'm fine. Really I'm fine."

"You look very pale. Are you sure?"

"I think I might have picked up a bug…a virus. I feel a bit nauseous."

"You felt sick on Monday, too."

"That's because you told me you were leaving."

"Should I make an appointment with your doctor for you?"

"No, let me see how I feel in a couple of days."

Adele gave her a knowing look. "Don't wait too long."

That did it. As soon as Adele left, Laura took the test from the drawer and went into the bathroom. The test said first thing in the morning was best, but now would have to do. She followed the instructions and waited. The indicator turned blue. Oh…dear…gods.

She went back out to her desk and sat down. Everything felt completely different now that she knew. She picked up her phone and buzzed Adele. "Please call Caprica University and see if Dr. Hayden Church is available. He's head of the Education Department."

A few minutes later Adele called her. "He's in a meeting, but his secretary said she would leave him a message to call you as soon as he gets out."

"Thank you." She hung up and waited. When she and Hayden were married, they'd never used birth control. They had unprotected sex for two years and nothing had happened. She'd had unprotected sex with John for what…two months and gotten pregnant. Something was clearly wrong with her memory or something had been different when she was married. Even though she hadn't been aware of it, she'd lied to John. That's bound to be how he would look at it. She'd told him nothing could happen, that she couldn't get pregnant. He'd trusted her and…oh gods. How would she tell him? And Bill, how would she tell him?

She thought of meeting him in the little tearoom. She imagined the conversation. _Hello, Bill. How are you? _Fine, Laura, how are you? _Fine, slightly pregnant with John's child, but fine._ That's not really funny, Laura. _I never said it was funny, Bill._

The phone rang. Adele said, "Dr. Church is on the line."

"Hayden," Laura said sweetly, "have you had lunch?"

"No, as a matter of fact I haven't. Are you asking?"

"Yes, I am," she said. "I have something I need to discuss with you."

"Pertaining to the religion course the Cylon is going to teach?"

"I'll tell you when I see you. I'll come to your office and we can walk to Cheddars."

"Just like we used to do."

"Yes, I'm in the mood for a walk down memory lane today. I'll see you in thirty minutes."

She hung up and began to wrack her brain for the name of a good defense attorney in case she had a moment of anger-fueled insanity and killed her ex-husband. She'd just thought of a possible reason why he might not have been able to get her pregnant. And if it were true…oh gods…if it were true, she would want to murder him.

...

Kara was sitting in the break room eating lunch. She was still packing a sandwich and bringing it to work with her. Tory wasn't charging her anything for the utilities but she wasn't paying her anything to apartment-sit either. The more money she saved now the easier it would be to get her own place in a month or two when Tory came back from Kinsdale.

Her mind kept wandering to the previous night with Lee. Something had changed in her regarding her feelings about them being together. What had seemed completely impossible a month ago now seemed right. Something that had once seemed so wrong now feel so right. Why?

They had both changed. She now had more tolerance for his position in the military, and he seemed to better understand her sympathies for the resistance. Maybe talking to that boy in Sovana had made a difference.

Her mobile phone buzzed. She hadn't expected another call from Frogman so soon. Was she going to get a dinner from Mrs. Peele after all?

"Hello."

"Sassy. How does your schedule look for Wednesday night?"

"I'm off Wednesday. So I'm clear."

"Be at Zeno's at seven. You're going to meet someone."

"Mrs. Peele?"

"Tom Zarek."

Kara took a deep breath. "Does he know he's meeting me?"

"No. I decided not to mention who or what the meeting is about. I feel like he'll be more honest if you confront him out of the blue, so to speak."

"I appreciate that."

"You understand I'm going to have to search you for weapons. It won't be anything personal, but I can't take a chance. He's too important to the cause right now."

"I understand. I won't be armed. I just want to talk to him."

"Meet me at Zeno's then."

"I'll be there."

"Good." Frogman ended the call.

...

"Laura," her ex-husband said. "You look beautiful."

"Hayden," she allowed him to take both of her hands in his and lean forward to kiss her on the cheek.

"This is a complete surprise. Not that I'm complaining, but what prompted you to call me?"

She closed the door to his office and turned around. She forced a smile. "Where do I begin?"

He must have picked up something in her voice. After all, they had been married for two years and had dated for a year before that. "Why do I not like the sound of that question?"

"I'm pregnant," she blurted.

She could tell he was startled, but he recovered quickly. "Well, congratulations. I had no idea you'd married again."

"I haven't."

"Oh. Still I offer you my congratulations." Something about her look must have communicated her feelings. "Unless of course this is unwelcome news. You don't appear to be too happy."

"How can I be pregnant, Hayden?"

"I wouldn't have thought that needed an explanation from me. You usually get that way by having sex with a man…"

"Don't you dare mock me," she said, her voice rising and beginning to tremble. "And don't you dare joke about something this…this serious."

"I'm not mocking you," he said in a contrite tone. "I was trying to make a joke, but it's obviously not humorous to you. I'm sorry."

"We were married for two years. We never used birth control. Why did I not get pregnant then?"

"I finally understand why you're here. This has nothing to do with wanting to have lunch with me, does it?"

"No, it does not. I deserve an honest answer from you. Answer my question, please. Why didn't I get pregnant while we were married?"

"Shortly after my third child was born I had a vasectomy."

It was all Laura could do not to scream at him. She knotted her hands into fists and said through clenched teeth. "And you didn't think that little detail was worth mentioning to me at some point during our marriage?"

"Laura, I'm sorry, but I can assure you I never thought I was deceiving you. You never mentioned wanting children. We never even talked about having children of our own. I made it very clear that I was satisfied with the family I already had and you had your career. You were so intent on building your career at the time…so focused on your career that I thought…I didn't think you wanted children. It just didn't seem relevant to mention it to you."

"Oh…dear…gods," Laura said. She was beginning to tremble. "Because of you I have lied to someone. I have lied to someone who trusted me, and now look at the predicament I'm in. I'm the Secretary of Education, for the gods sakes. I'm supposed to set an example for the students of Caprica, and I'm pregnant and not married. I could kill you, Hayden! I could just kill you!"

"I'll admit I made a grave mistake in not telling you about my vasectomy," he said coldly, "but for you to blame your…predicament on me is ludicrous. I didn't force you to have unprotected sex with anyone. And why didn't you discuss the situation with your doctor? Why did you just assume you could make that kind of medical diagnosis on your own? You always were arrogant about the accuracy of your assumptions. There were times when your stubbornness and lack of willingness to consider another's opinion amazed me."

"Don't you dare try to shift all the blame to me. Don't you dare!"

She felt tears sting her eyes and grabbed some tissues from the box on his desk. Maybe Cavil wasn't the only one responsible for her emotional state. Maybe the tiny cluster of cells that would one day become a child had something to do with it, too.

She dabbed at her eyes. "What am I going to do?"

"What do you want to do?" He asked in a kinder tone of voice. "Do you want to marry the baby's father?"

"We've only been seeing each other for a few months. We barely know each other."

"You didn't answer my question."

"I don't know the answer myself." She went to the door and opened it. "We'll skip lunch if you don't mind. It would probably just come back up anyway."

"I'm sorry, Laura. I'm really very sorry. My sin was one of omission. I should have told you."

"Yes," she said. "You should have."

"Please take care of yourself."

She left without saying anything else. She had told her driver that she would call him when she was ready to return. Instead she walked to the edge of campus and flagged a transport. She had him drop her at Elosha's temple.

For the second time in less than a week she walked up the steps and past the fluted marble columns. This time she wasn't alone inside. There were several other worshippers already there. Elosha stood at the front in her turban headdress and robe. She looked up as Laura sat down.

Laura sat there a long time letting the calm atmosphere of the temple seep into her. Finally Elosha walked over.

"You've returned. Are you still searching for an answer?"

"My problem just got much more complicated," Laura answered. "I need some spiritual advice."

"Come with me," Elosha said. "We'll go to another chamber. It's very quiet and private."

"Thank you." Laura followed the priest through a door beside the altar and into a room that contained almost no furniture. There were large cushions on the floor and a small table that held miniature statues of the gods and goddesses. There were small candle-shaped lamps along the walls of the room.

"Please sit," Elosha said.

Laura removed her shoes and sat on one of the plump cushions. After she sat she clasped and unclasped her hands several time.

"You're very troubled today," Elosha said.

"I'm pregnant."

"This is not welcome news for you?"

"No. It's terrible news."

"A baby shouldn't be terrible news. Are you thinking of terminating the pregnancy? Is that your dilemma?"

"Dear gods, no. I know that politically I support a woman's right to make that choice with her own life, but I could never make that choice for myself."

"Why, then, is it terrible news?"

"I'm the Secretary of Education and I value my job. I think I've made a difference to the children of Caprica and I'm going to have to resign."

"Why?"

"Can you imagine the embarrassment to President Adar when his unwed and very pregnant Secretary of Education stands in front of a group of children and tells them to abstain from premarital sex and stay in school?"

"Ah," Elosha said again. "You have a point. Will you not marry the baby's father?"

"I don't know if he'll want to marry me."

"Would he not be a good husband?"

"I don't know. We've not known each other very long." Laura looked down at her clenched hands. "Our relationship is very…physical. I think there's something else there, but…but we just haven't been together long enough to know."

"Eros," Elosha said pointing to one of the small statues on the table and then to another. "And Aphrodite…the physical and romantic sides of love. They each have a place in our lives. Would he be a good father?"

"Yes, I think he would be a very good father. He has a daughter. He loves her more than anything."

"Then he must be a part of your child's life. Even if you don't want him as a husband, you can't deny him the role of father."

"I didn't say I don't want him as a husband. I don't know if he'll want me as a wife. He's never even told me how he feels about me."

"Have you told him how you feel about him?"

"I don't know exactly how I feel about him."

"Perhaps he is similarly confused. You need to talk to him."

"Yes, I know I do. I'm just going to have to pick my time. He's going to be shocked. I told him I couldn't get pregnant. He's going to think I lied to him, but at the time I honestly didn't think I could."

Elosha smiled. "The gods have a way of testing us from time to time."

"And the Secretary of Education just flunked her test. Even I can see the irony of that."

But once again Elosha had helped her, had helped her see the path she must take. She had to talk to John. She had to present the facts to him and see what he said, but she also knew she had to pick her time carefully. She took comfort in the belief that she would know when the time was right.

...

It wasn't until Kara walked into Zeno's Wednesday night that she thought Lee might be there. On Sunday night they had agreed not to do anything foolish with their relationship. As much as she wanted to see him and as much as she thought he wanted to see her, they both knew that it was still dangerous for her to be associated with him, especially after Sovana. They agreed not to see each other for a week. They were going to go slow and be very careful.

He was at Zeno's though, sitting at the bar with Zak, when she walked in. She realized right away that was not good. Thank the gods that Lee saw her first. He smiled. She wasn't very close to him but she still gave her head the smallest shake as she made her way to the booth where Frogman was waiting for her.

Lee understood immediately. Zak didn't. She saw Lee grab Zak's arm and say something to him. She also saw Zak look at her and then take Lee's hand off his arm. He started in her direction. Lee stayed at the bar.

"There's a guy I know who's coming over here," Kara said to Frogman. "Who are you?"

"A friend," Frogman said.

"He might not buy that," Kara said. "No offense, but you're old enough to be my father."

Frogman smiled, one of his rare smiles. "I'm an older friend."

Zak, beer in hand, walked up to their booth. "Hey, Carrie. What's up? Who's your friend here?"

"Tom Jones," Frogman said. "And you are?"

"Zak Adama."

"Adama? Any kin to…"

"My father," said Zak. "That's my brother over at the bar." He gestured with the beer. "Wave at Lee," Zak said to Kara. "He's really shy when it comes to you. I think he likes you." Zak snickered.

Even though she wanted to strangle Zak, Kara still smiled and waved at Lee. He waved back and gave her one of those I-tried-to-keep-him-from-doing-this looks.

"Mind if I join you?" Zak asked.

"Actually I do," Kara said. "Tom and I have something we need to talk about." When Zak kept standing at the booth, she added, "in private."

"Whoa. Is this like a date or something cause he's old enough to be your…"

"I know," she cut Zak off. "Look, Zak, some other time."

"Okay, cool. I just never figured you as the type who goes for older guys." Zak shrugged and headed back toward the bar.

"Where did you meet the Adama boys?"

"In here one night." That was mostly true.

"And their father is Commander William Adama who used to command a battlestar and now advises the President?"

"I guess," Kara said nonchalantly. "I really didn't talk to them all that long. So where am I going to meet Zarek?"

"At the same place you talked to Reno and Scarecrow that night. Are you ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be to hear how my father died. I just hope he doesn't lie to me."

"Let's go then."

Outside they walked to Frogman's car. "Am I going to have to blindfold myself and lay down on the seat?"

"No. I'm going to trust you."

"Right." His trust made Kara feel good.

"Where do the Adama boys work?"

"Zak works at Bull's Eye…you know, the sporting goods store."

"I know Bull's Eye. And his brother?"

"I don't remember what he said," Kara lied. "Zak did most of the talking that night. He was hitting on me."

"Lee looks military," Frogman said. "Something about the haircut and the look."

"Might be," Kara said. "I wasn't paying much attention." Gods, could Frogman tell she was lying? She changed the subject. "How is Jared? Does he know about tonight?"

"I didn't think it would be a good idea to discuss this with him. As to how he's doing…okay, I guess. He's quieter than he used to be. He doesn't talk as much. He's definitely not as happy."

"Has he been doing any…jobs for the group?"

"He's always doing jobs for the group. He monitors…I probably shouldn't be talking about what he does. You've got a good idea anyway."

"He's important to the group, isn't he?"

"Very. If we lost him, we'd lose a very valuable asset."

Frogman drove up outside an old warehouse and pressed a remote control. The door began sliding open. As soon as it had opened far enough, he drove inside and pressed the control again. The door stopped and reversed itself, shutting with a metallic sounding _clunk_. Kara recognized the inside of the warehouse where she and Jared had come that night to learn about her part in destroying the lab.

She and Frogman got out of the car. "Come over here," he said. "Unzip your jacket and put your hands against the car and your legs apart. This is nothing personal, Sassy, but I'd be remiss not to do it."

"I understand." She did as he asked. She felt his hands expertly go over her body, under the jacket, over her breasts and down her sides all the way down her jeans to her ankles and then back up the inside. He searched all her pockets. He'd obviously done this before.

"Now give me the switchblade in your boot. You're still carrying it, aren't you?"

She bent over, pulled the knife out of her boot and handed it to him. "I get it back, don't I? It's got a lot of…sentimental value."

"You get it back," Frogman said. "Okay. Are you ready to do this?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

"I'm going to let you talk to him by yourself. I'll be just outside the door if you need me."

"Thanks."

They walked up the wooden stairs against the brick wall just like they had that night two and a half months earlier. They walked down the hall. Kara's heart was pounding, her palms sweating. She rubbed them against her jeans. Frogman went through the knocking ritual and the door opened a crack just like it had the last time. She saw Reno again. He let them in. Tom Zarek was seated on the other side of the table.

He immediately stood up. "What is this? What's going on? I thought you said we had some kind of important meeting."

Kara looked around. It was just Reno and Zarek in the room.

"You do," Frogman said, "with her. Reno and I will be just outside."

The two men left the room, closing the door behind them.

Tom Zarek looked a lot better than he had that night at Singer's airport. He'd put on a few pounds. His face was no longer gaunt. He didn't have on the ghastly orange jumpsuit, either. He had on jeans and a dark blue windbreaker. She had to admit he was a good-looking man… not as handsome as her father, but still good-looking. Kara's mouth was so dry she could barely speak.

"Remember me?" She asked.

"You're…you're…that night at the airport. You're the pilot's daughter."

"John Gallagher's daughter."

"You've grown up. Would it be asking too much for you to tell me what this is all about? What's your connection to these men?"

"We play bingo together every Thursday night," Kara answered him. "And what this is about is…I want to know about my father." Her voice caught and she took a deep breath. "Which one of you shot him? Where's his body?"

"Nobody shot him. He was alive and well the last time I saw him."

"You're lying. You're a godsdamned liar. He didn't come back for me. I waited for him. I waited four frakking days. He didn't come back. The only reason he wouldn't have come back is that you killed him."

"We got intercepted by a battlestar and taken on board. When we surrendered and got off his ship, your father damned near broke my jaw. It still hurts when the weather is cold and damp."

"He did that?" Kara asked. "He hit you?"

"Damned right he did. For touching you, he said. If the Marines on the battlestar hadn't stopped him, he'd probably have killed me."

"But he didn't come back. He never came back for me."

"We were on that battlestar nearly two weeks before we got sent back to Caprica and went back to prison. I never saw your father again after that night. I don't know what happened to him or where he went, but he was alive and well the last time I saw him."

Kara could hardly breathe. "Somebody told me one of your men killed a pilot. I thought…"

"Unfortunately one of the men in the group I escaped with shot and killed the pilot of the _Astral Queen_. I didn't approve of that and had no idea he was going to do it. I found out about it after the fact. Just like I found out about your father's friend after the fact. The killer is going to be in prison for the rest of his life. He deserves to be. He's a psychopath."

"Then it wasn't…it wasn't my dad?"

"No, it wasn't your father."

"Then he's probably somewhere…he's somewhere here on Caprica…maybe even here in Caprica City."

"That's a fairly safe assumption to make since there are no other habitable planets left in our solar system."

"Okay," Kara said. She felt her lower lip begin to tremble and bit down hard to control it. "You'd better not be lying to me."

"I swear to you I'm not lying. Even if we'd made it to where we wanted to go that night three years ago, I was going to let your father take his ship and leave. I had no plans to kill him."

"You say that now."

"I mean it."

"But your men…one of them might have."

"No, I'd already made that clear to them. I'm not completely without a heart. John Gallagher was going back to his daughter. He would have but the Cylons attacked. That's what stopped him getting back to you. The Cylons. Where did you go?"

Kara chin came up defiantly. "I survived, no thanks to you. That's all you need to know."

"And your friend?"

"Him, too."

"Your father said you were tough," Zarek said. "He's very proud of you."

"Okay," Kara said again. She opened the door.

Reno and Frogman were standing on the other side of the hall, talking quietly. Reno was smoking a cigarette.

"My father smokes," Kara said. She looked at Frogman in the dim light. "He's alive," she said, her voice breaking. "My father is alive."

Frogman said to Reno, "Take care of getting Zarek back. I'll take Sassy." He put his arm around her and led her back to the steps and down to his car. He drove her to Tory's apartment instead of back to Zeno's. "I should have brought a handkerchief. Either way I should have known you'd need one."

Kara managed to get herself under control. "I've got to find him."

"That shouldn't be too hard to do. Maybe he's in the Caprica City phone book."

"If he's not, I'll need Jared's help."

"I don't know. That may not be a smart thing to do."

"Why? You don't think he'll help me?"

"Quite frankly I don't know what he'll do. It's your call. I've done what I said I would do. You take it from here."

"Thank you. I really mean it. Thank you."

He reached in his jacket pocket and handed her the switchblade. She took it and put it back in her boot.

"Are we through talking about your father?"

"I guess. Why?"

"We need to talk about something else. Zak Adama's brother Lee is a Viper pilot in the military. He's also on a team of interrogators, the same team that questioned motorcycle riders…that questioned you. He was in Sovana last week. Should I keep going?"

"How did you find out?"

"Reno has contacts. It took two phone calls while you were talking to Zarek. Stay away from the Adama brothers, Sassy. While I personally trust you and don't think you would do anything to compromise the group, we can't take the chance you might do it unintentionally. Do you understand?"

"He's sympathetic to our cause."

"You know that for a fact?"

She shrugged. "If he's not, he's a damned good liar."

"Most interrogators who are worth their salt are good liars. They have to inspire confidence and trust in their…subjects. Was he the one who questioned you?"

"No, and that's the truth. The man who questioned me was a jerk. This scar over my eyebrow came from him. Lee helped me."

"And now you have a romantic relationship with him?"

Kara shrugged again. "We've seen each other a couple of times."

"Do we already have a problem?"

"No. I've never told him anything," she lied. "He doesn't have a clue. It's no big deal. I won't see him again."

"There's another option."

"What?" Kara asked although she knew what it was.

"He's in a position to know certain facts that could be helpful to us."

"I don't understand."

"Yes, you do."

"Are you asking me to…to use him to get information for you?"

"For the group. It's an option. You keep seeing him, we'll expect information. Otherwise you give him up completely. I'm not asking you to make a decision tonight. Think about it."

"I've thought about it. I give him up. I would never do the other to him."

"You care that much about him?"

"I care about what it would make me. I'll be a lookout for the group and I'll carry information for the group. I'll even be a sniper for the group, but I won't be a whore for the group. No frakking way."

"I'm sorry. I really am. I've got a lot of respect for you, but you've got to understand the position this puts me in."

"One day we'll be rid of the Cylons. One day it won't have to be this way. One day you and me and Lee can sit down at Zeno's and have a beer."

"I hope you're right."

"I know I am."

She got out of Frogman's car and walked away without looking back. Why did she get good news coupled with bad news, just when she'd thought that she and Lee could actually have a chance at happiness together?

Now the question was if she should tell him the truth or if she should lie about why they couldn't see each other for a while? Which would insure that he didn't risk his life or hers to see her again? Telling him to leave her alone earlier hadn't done the trick. And now he knew not only where she worked but also where she lived.

Maybe that was what she should think about overnight. Maybe that's what she should sleep on, but even as she rode the elevator up to Tory's apartment, even as she unlocked the door and turned on the light and threw her keys on the table, even as she got the Caprica City phone book and searched in vain for the name of John Gallagher, she knew the answer. She knew she would have to tell Lee Adama that for now they had to remain apart, and she was going to have to tell him the truth. Right now they had no other option.

Besides she had to concentrate her efforts on finding her father, and she knew only one person who had the computer skills to help her do that. She was going to have to beg Jared for a favor and she wanted to be able to tell him with a clear conscience that she wasn't dating anyone right now.

She took out her phone and punched in the number of the apartment. Maggie answered and Kara could tell she was reluctant to get Jared. Finally Kara said, "I'll just keep calling back until I get to talk to him."

When Jared came on the line, the hope in his voice when he said her name made her feel sick. She had never hated herself as much as she did when she said the words.

"Hi, Jared, I need to ask you for a really big favor."

TBC…


	34. Assumptions

Chapter 34

Assumptions

_Following the attempted assassination of Laura Roslin, Secretary of Education, just moments after she arrived in Sovana for the dedication of a new elementary school, President Adar declared martial law and sent the military to occupy the city. A curfew was imposed and habeas corpus was suspended. A large number of suspicious persons were taken for questioning, but no one was ever charged with planning the crime. No proof was ever found that the would-be assassin had any connection to the resistance, and he was later rumored to have been an agent of the Cylon Cavil. Because he was killed in the attempt, however, this connection was never confirmed._

_-Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War_

Kara sat in the deli near her old apartment on Thursday night and waited for Jared. She had forgotten her watch and knew that either she was early or he was late. Today was one of her days off, and she thought she had timed it fairly close, but she had been waiting at least twenty minutes and Jared hadn't shown up. Was this his idea of making her sweat or was he going to be a no-show?

Last night over the phone she hadn't told him what she wanted and that, at least, he seemed to understand. He knew the less said over a phone the better. Maybe he thought that the favor she wanted had something to do with the resistance.

The waitress came by the booth, stopped again and asked. "You sure I can't get you something to drink while you wait for your friend?"

"Sure, why not? Bring me a mug of dark lager."

"Coming up." Kara had eaten in the deli so often in the past that most of the waiters and waitresses knew her. They no longer bothered to card her when she ordered beer.

Just as the waitress got back with the beer, Kara saw Jared walk through the doorway. He needed a haircut and he'd lost weight. He was also growing a partial beard that seemed to be popular among his age group. She waved at him.

"You just couldn't frakking wait for me, could you?" He asked as he sat down and gestured to the beer.

"I forgot my watch," she said lamely. "I didn't think you were coming."

"It's just now five-thirty. I can't get here any faster from work. Didn't we agree on five-thirty?"

"Yes, we did. I said I'm sorry."

"So what is this favor you want from me?"

"Don't you want something to eat or drink? I'm buying."

"I don't know how long I'm going to stay. We talk first."

"My father is alive. I need your help finding him."

Jared sat for a moment studying her before he asked. "How did you stumble on that piece of information?"

"Tom Zarek told me. He didn't kill my father after all. My dad's here on Caprica, maybe even here in the city, but he's not in the phone book or the city directory. I don't know how to go about looking for him. I don't even know where to start. I need your help. Please." She added.

He looked at her skeptically. "How did you meet Zarek?"

"Frogman set it up like he said he would do."

"Frogman is communicating directly with you?"

"Is there a problem with that?"

"You're damned right there is. The chain of communication to you goes through me for everything. Period. End of story."

"You're going to have to take that up with him."

"Who told him how to get in touch with you?"

"Like I said, take it up with him."

"What if I want to take it up with you?" He asked in an ugly tone of voice.

Kara tried not to explode back at him. It took her several deep breaths before she could say calmly, "I take my orders from him now. He thinks it's best and so do I."

"Oh, you do, do you?"

"Jared, what is wrong with you? What is the big deal about me taking orders from him? You take orders from him."

"I don't frakking take _orders_ from him. We're not in the godsdamned military. He asks me nicely and I give him information."

"And he appreciates it. He told me how valuable you are to the…group. He really has a lot of respect for you and what you can do."

"Oh yeah? So you two are discussing me?"

"No. I…I just asked him how you were doing."

"Like you really give a frak."

"I do, Jared. I realize how much I owe you, how much you did for me…in the camp and here in the city."

Jared seemed to be calming down. He also took a deep breath. "Not seeing you has been hell for me. You've got no frakking idea."

She thought of Lee. "Maybe I do have an idea."

He looked at her again. Her gaze wavered and fell. "You bitch. You're not even thinking about me at all. Is it the guy who came to the apartment? Is that who you're thinking about? Or is it Sam Anders?"

"Sam?"

"Karl ran his mouth to Maggie. You didn't think he could keep quiet about you dating the great Sam Anders, did you?"

She looked up. "Jared, I just want to find my father. That's all that's on my mind right now. Are you going to help me or not?"

"I need to think about it."

"Think about it?" she asked, the exasperation finally clear in her voice. "What's there to think about? You're either willing to help me or you aren't."

"Part of me wants to help you, Kara, but part of me knows you're just using me. As soon as I help you, you'll disappear from my life again."

Kara slumped in the seat. He was right. He was completely right. As soon as he found her father for her, she would have no further need for him.

"Asking you was a mistake. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have. Forget it, Jared. Just forget it." She pushed the half-full mug of beer across the table to him. "Enjoy. Take care of yourself."

She put a five-cubit note down on the table, got up and walked out of the deli. She was half-way down the block when he caught up with her. "I said I'd think about it. How do I get in touch with you?"

"Call me at work and leave a message."

"How does Frogman get in touch with you?"

"This doesn't involve him. Just call me at work."

She walked away and this time he didn't follow her. She looked back carefully as she started down the steps to the subway. He was gone. She needed to talk to Lee. She wanted to do it tonight if she could. She took the subway to the stop nearest Zeno's, walked the five blocks to Lee's apartment, went up the steps and buzzed his number.

She could tell he was surprised, but he buzzed her in the entrance door. He was standing in the doorway of his apartment waiting for her when she got off the elevator. He was wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt and his hair was damp. He had a towel in his hands.

"Hi," she said.

"Is something wrong?" He asked as he closed the door behind her.

"Yeah, big time wrong."

"Are you all right?"

"I'm fine. It's not me. Not exactly. It's us."

On the way over there she had realized that she couldn't mention her father to him. There was no way she could do that without revealing who she was and she was afraid if she did that, then Lee would want to play the gallant knight and try to help her. She would never be able to get him to stay away from her and then there would be problems with Frogman.

"Us?" Lee said with a puzzled expression on his face.

She turned around and even she heard the anguish in her voice. "The guy I was with last night at Zeno's is my…contact with the…group…the resistance."

"I'd already figured that out, Carrie. Why do you think I stayed at the bar? I saw him with you before."

"Well thanks to Zak coming over to the booth and introducing himself, Frogman…that's what I call him…Frogman knows who you are. He knows that you fly a Viper and that you're an interrogator. He's connected us."

Lee knew as soon as she finished her last sentence that this conversation was not going to end well.

"And?" He asked, the painful resignation already evident in his voice.

"He's given me a choice. I either give you up completely or keep seeing you and get information from you."

"Information?"

"He didn't say exactly what, but I imagine they'll want to know what you know, what the military knows about them, strategies, planned operations, that sort of thing."

"I'm an interrogator. I question people. I don't make plans or strategies. I don't have that kind of security clearance. Everybody in my department below my CO is on a need-to-know basis only. You can bet they don't share the high-level stuff with us."

"You know enough. Even knowing who you're questioning and what kind of investigations you're conduction would be something they'd want to know."

"Damn," Lee said. "And we've got Zak to thank for this. If he had just stayed at the bar like I told him to do, nothing would have happened."

"Don't be too hard on him. He has no clue what's going on. He's like Anders. Sports and girls are their priorities."

"You're sure right about that," Lee said as he went into the kitchen. "Zak is about clueless. He wouldn't know a worthy cause if it bit him on the ass. Would you like something to drink?"

Kara followed him. "Whatever you're having."

He got two beers from his refrigerator. "Sorry, I don't have any ambrosia."

"Beer is fine." She reached out and took the offered bottle. "So you see the predicament I'm in."

"What does this do to your plans to go to the Academy?"

"I don't know. I can't think that far ahead right now. I've got something I've got to do before I can think about that. Something personal. And no, it doesn't concern a boyfriend."

She thought about her father. Before she could do anything about the Academy, she had to find him. If Jared decided not to help her, who could she turn to next? Jack Fisk? Or would she dare to ask Lee for help?

"Hey, Caprica to Carrie," Lee said. "You're a million miles away."

"Sorry. So much has happened in the last couple of days."

"What have you decided to do?"

"I told Frogman I wouldn't be a whore for the group."

"So you're telling me goodbye."

"It's temporary."

Lee took a sip of his beer. "Is that supposed to make me feel better? What makes you so sure it's temporary?"

"Because we're going to get rid of the Cylons and I'm going to be involved in that and then we won't need the resistance."

Lee smiled. "That's very interesting. How do you know that?"

"I just know it. I can't explain exactly how but I do. Do you understand what it is to have a destiny?"

Lee thought about his vision in the decompression chamber and his subsequent belief that his fate was somehow linked to the beautiful girl he had seen there. And now she was standing in front of him. She was real and their lives were entwined somehow.

"I think so."

"Then we've got to stay away from each other for now. We've got to…" Her mobile phone buzzed and she felt a moment of fear. "Damn. Does he know where I am?"

"Who?"

Kara put her finger to her lips and answered. "Hello."

A female voice said, "Sassy?"

"Yes."

"This is Mrs. Peele. Can we talk a moment?"

"Sure. How did you get this number?"

"I've had this number for quite some time. It once belonged to someone very…dear to me. I have some news that you need to pass along to a friend of yours so I need to meet you for dinner again. Besides, I owe you one. The news is important but not urgent. How does tomorrow night look for you?"

"Fine."

"Same place, same time."

"I'll be there," Kara said.

"Good." The call ended.

"Resistance?" Lee asked.

She nodded.

"A dangerous mission?"

"Dinner tomorrow night. I'd better go soon. I don't want to push my luck."

He looked at her. "How soon is soon?"

"You have something in mind?"

He smiled at her. "When you're around I always have something in mind."

She smiled back, turned and walked toward his bedroom. "I remember the way."

Lee was right behind her. "I was hoping you did."

...

Laura Roslin was working on her speech for Friday's park dedication in Antioch when her phone rang on Thursday night. She looked at the caller ID and as she answered, she had the warm feeling she always got when it was him.

"Hello, John."

"Laura. How have you been?"

She took a deep breath. "Fine. How are you?"

"I was looking forward to sitting in the copilot seat with Captain Russo tomorrow on the way to Antioch, but I've had a last minute change of schedule. I've been switched to the ship that's going back to the _Cloud Nine _to pick up those Quorum of Twelve delegates. I'll be gone overnight. The pilot is good, but he's young and he's had almost zero experience docking a ship with another in deep space. I helped him last trip. He asked for me again."

"Oh, I'm disappointed you won't be with us tomorrow."

"So am I, but there will be other flights. I've already checked on the one to Sovana next Friday. There shouldn't be a problem with that one. Nothing off-planet is scheduled for the same day."

"Good. That's good. Is the rest of your weekend free, then?"

"That's the other thing I'm calling about. I'm going to be out of town over the weekend. I won't bore you with the details. It's business."

"Business?" Laura blurted. "What kind of business?"

He hesitated for a moment. "Two years ago I got involved in a business that's run by a friend of mine. I don't feel like I've got much to contribute any more so I'm getting out, but there's some work involved in doing that. I think I can get it taken care of in one weekend. I hope I can, anyway."

Laura realized that he had really told her nothing. He'd spoken in terms too vague to give her any real idea of what was going on. She couldn't get a feel for whether he was being truthful with her or not.

"I'm disappointed that I won't see you this weekend."

"Not nearly as disappointed as I am. I'll make it up to you, I promise."

In the background Laura heard a doorbell chime. "I believe you've got company," she said, feeling like a knife had suddenly been thrust into her heart.

"Yeah, I ordered a pizza. I'd better go. I'll probably be getting in late on Sunday. I'll call you Monday night. Okay?"

"Okay," she repeated.

"Be careful in Antioch tomorrow. I'll be thinking about you."

She hung up and felt tears sting her eyes. "Damn you," she said to him even though he couldn't hear her. "Damn you, damn you."

She imagined him opening the door to a beautiful woman, a beautiful _young_ woman, and she wasn't delivering a pizza either.

Oh, gods. She had made such a mistake, such a terrible mistake. She should have known better than to get involved with a handsome rogue like him. What had Chuck Winters called John? A rascal. He'd said something else about him, too. _The ladies loved him. _Ladies. Plural. And wasn't it Chuck who had said. _If you can clip his wings, my hat's off to you._

Oh, gods, she had been such a fool.

o

Mrs. Peele's suit on the second occasion that Kara met her was dark blue, and she wore small diamond earrings and a beautiful gold necklace. The fingernails had the same nice manicure but the polish was red instead of pink. Kara wondered where she had learned to dress and accessorize herself like that. Were certain women just born with that knowledge? Did they come from the womb looking like a million cubits? Women like Mrs. Peele and Laura Roslin, the Secretary of Education that she had met in the refugee camp?

"Hello, Sassy."

"Hi," Kara said. She sat down and noticed that sitting at her place was a drink identical to the one in front of Mrs. Peele. "Thanks."

Mrs. Peele smiled. "I'm sure I'm contributing to the delinquency of a minor."

Kara smiled, too. "Does it count that I feel like I'm fifty years old sometime?"

Mrs. Peele's smile faded. "Your life has been hard, hasn't it?"

Kara shrugged. "The last couple of years, but I'm doing okay now."

"Well you'll get a good meal tonight. Then I have a message for your contact. Do you have his number?"

"No. I know where he works. The only way I can get in touch is to wait for him after work."

"I can give you his number. I have it. I just can't be the one to call it. I'm sure you understand."

"What's the message?"

"Tell him that the second in command is leaving. Tell your contact everyone is moving up and that he's in the fifth slot now."

Kara waited. "That's all?"

Mrs. Peele smiled again. "That's all, but it's very important information. He'll understand. Each of the first seven slots has certain duties and responsibilities. He'll know what those are."

"How is the second in command leaving? I didn't think you could leave the…group."

"I wasn't told any more than that. It's unusual, but it does happen. I would imagine there are some personal circumstances that preclude him…or her staying inside. I'm only guessing, though. I'm just a messenger."

"You don't think something happened to him…or her do you?"

"It's very possible."

All through the meal that night Kara wondered what had caused the second in command to give up his…or her place. Had he…or she been asked to leave? Had there been some sort of failure to perform? Or had he…or she simply decided that he…or she wanted out? If the second in command could do it, then Kara decided that maybe she could do it, too. The thought gave her hope.

When she got back to her apartment that night, she called the number Mrs. Peele had given her. She knew that none of the phones used by the resistance had any sort of voice mail. She let it ring seven times and was just about to end the call when Frogman answered. He sounded out of breath.

"It's Sassy," she said.

"What's up?"

"Are you all right?"

"Yeah, playing handball. Where did you get this number?"

"From Mrs. Peele. She said to tell you that the second in command is getting out. Everybody's moving up. You're number five now."

For a few long moments Frogman was silent. "Damn," he finally said and then repeated it. "Damn, this is a surprise. We're going to miss him."

"Congratulations," Kara said before she ended the call.

o

Tuesday afternoon of the following week, Laura walked out of her doctor's office with an official confirmation of what she already knew. She was pregnant. She had the printed literature he had given her and the instructions about taking pre-natal vitamins and some basic dos and don'ts. The only _don't_ that she would miss was having a drink, not that she needed to drink, but she enjoyed the occasional glass of wine or a straight whiskey…or lately, Siren's Kiss.

She'd had only a brief call on Monday from John. He was in Delphi and would not be back until late that evening. He said he would call her the next day, but she had not heard from him before she'd left for her doctor's appointment at four o'clock. He had pulled back from her for some reason and she knew that reason had to be another woman. Still she had to tell him about the baby. It wasn't fair to him not to.

She looked at her watch as she flagged down a transport outside of the Hobarth Medical Plaza. Five thirty. She decided to go home instead of going back to the office. She could compose a letter of resignation on her computer at home just as well as she could at work, possibly even better since she would be away from the surroundings she cherished. It might make it easier to say goodbye to the life of public service that she had loved for the last fifteen years…and to the job of Secretary of Education that she had held for the last three.

At seven fifteen that evening the letter was printed on her official stationery. She planned to make an appointment with President Adar and hand it to him personally. She would do that sometime the following week. She would fulfill her obligation and go to Sovana on Friday. It would be her last official function as Secretary of Education.

She wanted a drink, but she knew she couldn't. Not only had the doctor warned her, the literature he had given her said it as well. She didn't think one small glass of wine would hurt, but she was afraid that if she took one drink tonight, she might not stop and she knew that whatever she drank passed directly to her developing child…now about the size of a small pea and looking more like a tiny tadpole or seahorse than a human.

She paced and finally made a decision. She knew she would not rest until she had told John. She called his mobile number and it immediately went to voice mail which meant he had the phone turned off. Over the next hour she repeated the call three times with the same results. She paced some more. She knew he lived six blocks from her. They had been to his apartment several times during the last month. They had made love there in his bed. The thought that he had done the same thing with another woman in the same bed hurt so much that she pushed it from her mind.

The March evening was cool and misty. She put on a hooded rain jacket and left her apartment. She felt like she had barely begun walking before she was there.

The garage apartment was set back from the road, up a winding driveway and behind some very tall hedges. She rounded the curve and her breath caught. There was a car sitting outside the apartment. John didn't own a car. She had been right, but finding out was still a blow to her heart. Could she do this? She had to. She had to see for herself. It was far better than wondering. It might even make it easier in the long run.

She climbed the outside steps and knocked on the door. Her heart was pounding, her mouth dry.

The surprise on his face when he opened the door was total.

"Laura?"

"John."

At least he had his clothes on, but sitting on the couch was a woman, a beautiful, elegant woman with dark hair to her shoulders. She had a glass of wine in her hand.

John quickly stepped outside and pulled the door shut behind him. "Laura, listen, please. This is not what it looks like. This is business. I swear to you."

She couldn't get her breath. She had thought she was prepared. She was so wrong.

"Oh, gods," she choked. A wave of nausea overwhelmed her. That's all she needed to do…throw up on his feet. She turned and almost stumbled down the steps. Oh gods, oh gods, oh gods.

John was right behind her. He caught up with her a few steps away from the bottom. He grabbed her arm. "Laura, please."

"Take your hands off me," she hissed. "Don't touch me."

He let go of her. "Please. Don't leave here like this. I called your office as soon as I got back from Delphi this afternoon. I left a message."

"Telling me you had a date tonight?"

"Gods, no. Telling you I was still tied up with this business thing. I should finish everything tonight. We can go out tomorrow night."

"No, we can't."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying this is over."

"This? Are you talking about us? Are you saying you and I are over?"

"Yes. That's what I'm saying."

"I swear to you, Laura, the woman in my apartment is not a girlfriend. There is nothing personal between us. It's business. What can I do to convince you?"

"Let's go talk to her. Let her explain your _business_ to me."

She saw the anguished look on his face. "I can't."

"Why not?"

"I just can't. Please, Laura. You've got to trust me on this."

"I don't have to do any such thing." She began to cry. John attempted to put his arms around her, but she pushed him away. "No, don't touch me." She tuned and started down the driveway. "It's over, John! It's over!"

He let her go.

Later she had no memory of walking home. Why hadn't she listened to Bill? Why hadn't she listened to Chuck Winters? Why had she listened to her heart instead?

She slept very little that night and the next morning she called Adele and told her that she was not coming in, that she was going to work from home and to call her there if necessary. She stayed in her bedroom behind the closed door while her housekeeper was there. She paced. She cried. She refused her housekeeper's entreaties to eat something. Late that afternoon when she was finally alone, she went into the kitchen and made some tea and soup. She began to pull herself together. She took a shower and washed her hair. She put on a clean gown and her robe. She realized that she felt minimally better.

She would still tell John about the baby. She would still do that at some point in the future, but not until she could control herself better than she did the previous night.

Her phone rang. She had ignored calls from John several times that day. She had erased his messages without listening to them. Now she looked at the number on the caller ID. It was Doug, her doorman from downstairs.

"Ms. Roslin, I have a Bill Adama down here who says he'd like to come up. Since he's not on the list, I told him I'd have to call you first."

"Yes, that's fine. Send him up."

It wasn't until she opened the door that she realized she was still in her gown and robe. She could tell he was surprised.

"Laura, are you sick?"

"I've been under the weather today. I'm better now. What brings you here?"

"I'm on a mission for the President."

"The President. That sounds ominous. Come in, please. Would you like a drink?"

"I'll have a straight whiskey if you have any."

"I'm sure I do." She went to the small cabinet beside the fireplace, poured the drink and handed it to him. She gestured toward the couch. They sat.

"Aren't you going to join me?" Bill held up his drink.

"Not tonight," she smiled. "My stomach's a bit unsettled. Now what brings you here?"

"President Adar has decided not to seek a second term. Since he knows you and I are friends, he sent me to ask you if you would be interested in running. If so, he'll throw his support behind you."

"Me run for President?" Laura asked dumbfounded. "Are you serious?"

"Adar is very serious."

"How do you feel about it?"

"I think you'd make a wonderful President. You'd have a hundred percent of my support."

"I'm flattered and overwhelmed," Laura said. "Completely, but I'm going to have to decline Richard's kind offer."

"Might I ask why? He's going to want to know why." The doorbell rang. "Are you expecting someone?" Bill asked.

Laura knew who it was. "Not expecting, no, but I'm not surprised. Give me a minute. This shouldn't take long."

She got up and went to the door. She was right. John stood outside.

"Hello, Laura."

"Hello, John."

"Can I come in, please? We need to talk. I'm just not going to accept that this is over between us. You've got to believe me when I tell you that woman is not a lover. She's not even a friend. She's a business acquaintance." He stepped inside the door.

"This is a really bad time, John."

"I won't stay long. I just want to talk to you."

She smelled the alcohol on his breath. "Have you been drinking?"

"I've had one drink. I wouldn't say I've _been drinking_."

"Why?"

"Courage?" He smiled that little boy smile that usually melted her heart. Tonight it had the opposite effect.

Her voice rose. "I can't believe it. You couldn't even face me without taking a drink. Does alcohol make it easier to lie to me?"

"No, Laura, no! You've got this all wrong."

Bill appeared in the doorway to the foyer. "Is there a problem, Laura…oh, hello, John."

Laura saw John look from her to Bill and then back to her again. She saw the pain on his face, she felt it.

"Man, I didn't see this coming. I didn't see this coming at all. Is he the reason you're ending things with us?"

"Bill has a reason to be here and it's _not_ what you're thinking."

"You're in your nightgown and robe and it's not what I'm thinking?"

"John," Bill said. "You should listen to Laura."

John kept his eyes on hers. "You stay out of this, Bill. This is between me and her."

Bill's voice took on a hard edge. "Since when do you get off giving me orders in Laura's apartment?"

"Bill, please." Laura said. "Let me handle this."

"It's all right. I'm leaving." John raised both hands slightly and backed away. "And don't worry. I won't bother you again. No way I could ever compete with Bill Adama for your heart. I know better."

He pulled the door shut behind him.

A wave of nausea swept her and she gagged. Pushing Bill out of the way, she ran down the hall and just barely made it to her guest bathroom before she threw up, tears streaming down her face the entire time. When there was nothing left in her stomach, she washed her face in cold water and rinsed her mouth.

Bill was standing in the hall when she opened the door. "What in the _hell_ is going on, Laura? I thought you and John were a couple. I thought…"

"Not anymore," she said. She took a few steps and started to sob. "Oh, gods, I've made such a mess of things…such a mess. You warned me about him. I thought I could handle an affair. I was so wrong."

Bill put his arm around her and helped her back into the den. She sat on the sofa and buried her face in her hands. A minute later she was aware that he sat down beside her. He nudged her hand. She looked up. He was holding out a drink.

"I can't," she said as she struggled to control her emotions. "I'm pregnant."

If she had suddenly punched him, she didn't think he could have looked any more shocked.

"_Pregnant_?"

"With child…a bun in the oven…knocked up," she said and suddenly she went from tears to nearly hysterical laugher. "President Adar's Secretary of Education is unwed and knocked up. Oh, the irony of it. Now do you see why I can't consider running for President? My letter of resignation is sitting on my desk right now. I'm going to personally give it to Richard next week."

Bill's voice held tightly controlled fury. "Son of a bitch. How in the hell did you let John get you pregnant? You're an educated woman. Have you never heard of birth control?"

"Oh, listen to you," Laura shot back. "You're a fine one to throw that in _my_ face."

Bill stood up and walked over to the terrace door and downed half of the drink he had poured for her in one swallow.

"Touché," he finally said. "What are you going to do?"

"Have the baby."

"You haven't told John yet, have you?"

"I went over to his place last night to tell him and caught him with a woman, a very beautiful young woman, I might add. I've been a fool."

"I don't care how you feel about him at the moment, Laura. He deserves to know he's going to be a father again."

"I know," she said quietly. "I will tell him. I just need some time."

"So what do you want me to tell the President?"

"Tell him that I appreciate his thinking of me and that I will personally give him my answer next week."

"Fair enough. Now I'd better go. Carolanne slept a lot when she was pregnant with Lee and Zak. You need your rest, Laura. You need to take care of yourself."

"Thank you, Bill. Your concern touches me." She looked into his eyes, so different from John's. He  
still cared for her. And she still cared for him, the love of her youth, kept always in a special place in her heart. He leaned forward. His lips just brushed hers.

"Goodnight, Laura, I'll see myself out. I'm here for you. You know that."

After he was gone, she sat on the couch and once again put her face in her hands. Had anyone in history made such a mess of her life as she had done?

...

Lee was headed for the shower when his phone chirped. He didn't recognize the number, but answered anyway.

A man's voice said, "Is this Lee Adama?"

"Yes."

"Lee, this is Rick McGee. I own McGee's near the Academy. I've got a friend of yours here in my office. John Gallagher. He's drunk and he almost got into a fight at the bar. He comes in here a lot and he's a nice guy and I don't want to call the cops. I was wondering if you could come down here and get him. I don't feel right letting him walk out of here by himself right now."

"Sure. I'll be right down. It'll take me fifteen or twenty minutes, but I'll be there."

"Good. Thank you. I'm going to see if I can get some coffee in him."

In the entire time that Lee had known John he had never seen him get drunk. Half-drunk once or twice, maybe, but not drunk. John had made reference to doing it before, but he'd always been talking about the past.

When Lee got to McGee's he went in and asked the bartender where the office was. He pointed Lee down a hallway. John was sitting in a chair and was talking to McGee. He didn't look all that drunk and he didn't sound all that drunk, but Lee felt like McGee should know.

"Hey," Lee said.

"I'm sorry Rick had to call you," John said shamefaced. "I would have been fine to leave."

"I've got a transport waiting outside. Come on, let's go."

John got unsteadily to his feet and said, "Thanks, Rick. You're a good man."

"Don't mention it, John. The next time you want to drink like that, do it at home, okay? And the next time you want to tell a Buccaneers fan that the team sucks, don't do it in my bar."

"I won't," John answered.

They went outside and got into the transport. Lee let John give the driver his address. When they got there, John handed his billfold to Lee. "Pay him, would you?"

Lee took out the fare and a tip and he and John got out. He handed the billfold back to John.

"Let's walk," John said. "Walking sobers me up quicker than coffee."

Lee started down the street. "No, not that way. That goes to her place. I don't want to go that way. This way."

Lee reversed course. "Okay, John, you want to tell me what's going on?"

"I had too much to drink."

"Why? Why now?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Is it problems with Laura?"

John ignored his question. "Do you believe in karmic justice, Lee?"

Lee was exasperated. "Are we going to talk about your personal philosophy tonight, John, or are we going to talk about what made you go to McGee's and get drunk and nearly get into a fight?"

"What's the worst thing you ever did, Lee? In your whole life…the worst thing?" Lee didn't answer right away. "See there," John said. "You had to stop and think. There's not one thing that immediately comes to mind is there?"

Not immediately. No."

"You know the worst thing I ever did? The very worst thing?"

"No, John, I don't."

"I had a friend, Nic Singer. His father owned the little airport where I landed with Kara that night. Nic was a Viper pilot on board the _Solaria_ and while I was still a cocky, dumb rook, I got in trouble and Nic saved my ass. We got to be friends, and later I saved his ass a couple of times. Nic was a good looking guy, a few years older than me and we were always competing for women."

"I should have known this story involves women," Lee said. "All of your stories involve women."

"Just hear me out. A couple of years after the war ended, me and him were on shore leave on Aerilon and we met this girl, Erin, and she was beautiful and sweet and naturally we both wanted her and to make a long story short, they started dating and then they got engaged. But I couldn't get over this thing I had for her, you know, I guess maybe because she'd picked him."

"John, what does this have to do with karmic justice?"

"Just hear me out. I'm getting there."

That's when Lee realized that John was drunker than he acted. He let him go on with his story.

"Nic asked me to be his best man and the night before the wedding we had a big bachelor party and all of us got wasted and I got back to my room at the hotel about four in the morning and she was in my bed…naked in my bed."

"Erin? Erin was naked in _your bed_?"

"I thought I'd somehow gotten into the wrong room and I opened the closet door to see if my dress uniform was in there and she woke up and got up and came over and put her arms around my neck and told me that she had to know…that she just had to know before she married Nic if she'd picked the wrong man."

"Lords of Kobol, John, you didn't!"

"Yeah, Lee I did. I slept with my best friend's fiancé on the night before their wedding. And maybe because I was completely wasted, it wasn't that good. I'd been eating my heart out over this woman for over a year and it wasn't even that good."

"Did Nic catch you?"

"No, and you see, that's the worst part. I wish he'd caught us and beat the hell out of me, but that didn't happen. The next afternoon I stood up beside him while he married her. I handed him the ring and felt like the worst bastard that ever walked the face of the planet. I couldn't even look at him. And I had to dance with Erin at the reception because I was the best man, and she told me she was looking forward to me visiting them after they got settled."

"Did you?"

"No, I went back to the _Solaria._ Nic had gotten a ground assignment so he could be with her and the next time I got shore leave I went to Picon and had my motorcycle accident and you know the rest. And that's the worst thing I ever did. So I ask you, is there such a thing as karmic justice? Do you think that terrible thing I did years ago has come back to haunt me now?"

"What happened tonight, John? I can't answer your question until you tell me what happened tonight."

"Take a guess."

"It has something to do with Laura, doesn't it?"

"Yeah."

Lee thought about the karmic justice angle. "You caught Laura in bed with your best friend? I thought I was your best friend." Lee said lightly.

"You are. But you're close," John said. "Real close."

"Oh, please, gods, don't tell me you caught Laura in bed with my father."

"Not in bed, but he was at her place and she on had her gown and robe. Now is that karmic justice or not? Am I getting what I deserve for being such a bastard all those years ago?"

"No, there's no way. I don't care if he does still care about her. He wouldn't do that. I know him. And she wouldn't either. There's some other explanation for why he was there…and she was in her nightclothes."

"I love her, Lee. I love her so damned much. I've never loved any woman the way I love her, not even Kara's mom. Is this karmic justice? Is that the reason?"

"There's more to this story than you're telling me. Tell me all of it."

"Last night Laura came to my apartment. I wasn't expecting her. There was a woman there…"

"Damnit, John, I thought you just said you loved her."

"I do. Just hear me out. This other woman is part of a…a business venture I was involved in but I'm getting out. I don't have any interest in it anymore, but I've got some records that need to be turned over. I was going over some things with her when Laura showed up. She misread the whole thing and dumped me. I went to see her tonight to try to patch things up and caught your dad there."

"Laura knows you love her, right?"

"She should."

"What do you mean she should? You've told her, haven't you?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"I don't know. I thought she could tell just by the way I treat her."

"I don't frakking believe this. You need to tell her. That's the first thing you need to do."

"What if she still tells me it's over?"

"Would you be any worse off than you are now?"

"No, I guess not."

"Then let's go back to your place so you can get some sleep. Then you need to think about what you're going to say to her."

They turned around and walked back to John's apartment. John called a transport and they waited at the end of the driveway until it arrived.

"Thanks, Lee. You're a real friend. You're a real, true friend."

"And you're drunk, John. Get some sleep and promise me you'll tell Laura how you feel."

"I will."

...

Early on Friday morning Laura climbed the steps to the ship that would take her to Sovana and back. Captain Russo was waiting when she got on board.

"Madame Secretary, I'd like for you to meet my new copilot, John Gallagher."

"Captain Gallagher, it's a pleasure," Laura said politely.

"Madame Secretary, the pleasure is mine."

Their eyes met and she immediately turned away. Something about his look melted some of the ice wall she had built around her heart. She was kidding herself to think getting over him was going to be easy.

Once they were in the air she tried to concentrate on her speech, she read and reread her notes even as she struggled with the nausea. She hadn't done too badly until she had smelled the tylium fumes. The other thing that got to her was the smell of the coffee that was being served. Over the space of just two weeks she had gone from loving coffee to not being able to stomach the smell of it.

They were about half-way through the flight when John came out of the cockpit and made his way toward the lavatories at the back of the ship.

She looked out the window at the clouds far below. Billy sat beside her reading a book. When she looked up again, John was standing in the aisle beside Billy.

"I'd like to talk to your boss a minute." John said to him.

Billy got up and stretched and made his way back a few rows to an empty seat.

John sat down beside her. "Hi," he said almost shyly.

"Hello, John. You look tired."

"And you're pale. Are you sick?"

"I'm fine."

He reached over and took her hand, lacing his fingers through hers like he always did. His hand, usually so warm, was cold and Laura felt a strange foreboding clutch at her heart. Her eyes searched his.

"I need to say a couple of things and I'd like for you to hear me out, please, before you say anything. Will you do that?"

She nodded.

"Okay, first you need to know about the woman at my apartment Tuesday night…"

"John, you don't owe me…"

"Laura, you said you'd hear me out."

"I'm sorry. Go ahead."

"She's resistance. I'm resistance. I have been since the beginning. I'm next to the top man in Caprica City…was next to the top man, but I've gotten out. I've gotten out because I think there's a better way and because of you. I couldn't have anything like that touch you. The woman was there because she's a messenger. She carries information and I had a lot of it to pass on. Okay, that's all I'm going to say about that. Second, I want you to be happy. If Bill Adama makes you happy, I want you to be with him. He's a good man. He…"

"John, stop…"

"No, let me finish. And last…and most important to me…is that I love you. I love you more than I've ever loved anyone except my daughter. I want another chance with you. All I'm asking is that you think about it."

For the second time since she'd known him, John Gallagher had rendered Laura Roslin completely speechless.

He squeezed her hand, brought it to his lips and kissed it. "Think about what I've just said and let me know. I've got to get back to the cockpit."

"Oh, John, we need to talk. We've got to talk."

"Okay, maybe tonight. We'll talk tonight when we get back from Sovana."

"Yes, we will."

She watched him enter the cockpit and close the door. He loved her. Of everything he has just said to her, those words were the only ones that mattered. He loved her. She would think about the rest later. She placed her hand over her abdomen, over the tiny being they had created together. She smiled. He loved her.

She didn't see John again until after they landed over an hour later. He came out and activated the door and waited while the steps were rolled up to the ship. Then instead of waiting for the passengers to disembark like the pilots usually did, John went down the steps first.

Billy helped her get her briefcase out of the overhead compartment. Two members of the press were already on the tarmac ready to document her arrival. As she went down the steps, Laura saw several dozen Marines, her security detail, begin to close ranks around the group. She saw John standing near the bottom of the steps. He looked at her briefly and smiled. She felt her heart lurch and then he turned around, turned his back on her.

When she got to the bottom of the steps, she said his name softly.

"In a minute, Laura."

She never saw the man come around the side of the luggage carrier because at that moment John stepped in front of her. Someone later told her that's where the gunman came from. The first indication she had that something was wrong was the sound of a car backfiring twice and then a string of firecrackers going off. The Marine nearest to her grabbed her and took her to the tarmac, using his body to cushion her fall, and then he rolled on top of her to protect her. She heard shouts and screams and realized it wasn't firecrackers at all. Weapons were being fired. She smelled the acrid, sickening odor of cordite and gagged. The screams and weapons fire finally stopped and there was only confusion all around her.

Less than a minute had passed since she had stepped from the ship.

"Ma'am, ma'am, are you all right?" The Marine was no longer holding her down. His shoulder radio squawked. _Clear…all clear_. Dazed, she sat up.

"I think so." She thought for a moment that she was going to be sick, but she overcame it. John should be here helping her get up. Where was he?

And then she heard the shouts. "Man down! Get a medic! Now! We've got a man down! Get a medic!"

In the instant that she understood the shouts, she realized what had happened. Someone had made an attempt on her life. John had stepped in front of her and the bullets with her name on them had hit the man she loved.

Later she had no memory of how she got to him, of how many people she had to push aside to get to him. He was on his back on the tarmac, a dark red stain slowly spreading beneath his right side. The black turtleneck that was part of his uniform was saturated over his chest. She fell to her knees beside him.

He looked at her. She thought he recognized her, but the beautiful green eyes were already losing focus. He was dying or losing consciousness, she didn't know which. He said a word that may have been _Laura_ or may have been _Kara_. There was blood at the corner of his mouth. He was struggling to breathe. Russell Russo was on the other side of him. He had John's hand. _Hang in there, John. Help is on the way._ But as Russo looked up at Laura, he shook his head slightly. He didn't think John was going to make it.

Laura leaned over and put her mouth close to John's ear. Her voice was shaking so much that she could hardly get the words out. "John, you've got to live. You can't die. You can't leave me. I love you. I'm going to have your baby, John, our baby. I can't do this by myself. I can't. I need you. I love you. Please, John, please don't leave me."

Arms were lifting her away from him. Billy and Captain Russo. The medics were there, intubating him, getting an airway down his throat and then lifting him onto a stretcher. One had a breathing bag, squeezing it. She saw John's chest rise slightly every time the medic squeezed.

The hands were pulling her back toward the ship. She heard a voice, "We've got to get you back to Caprica City. This was an attempt on your life." She focused. The Marine captain was speaking to her. "Your pilot saved your life, Ma'am. He stepped in front of you just as the assassin raised his pistol."

Her world began to shrink. She heard her own voice from far away. "I've got to get…to…the…hospital." And then her world shrank to pinpoints of light as she felt herself falling into a welcome blackness.

She came to in a medical transport. "Her blood pressure is coming back up," she heard someone say. She kept her eyes closed. This was just a nightmare, nothing but a nightmare. She would wake up in her bedroom and it would be Saturday morning. John would be there beside her and they would talk about the baby just like she'd told him they would. He would put his hand on her belly and he would smile at the miracle of a new life…a human life. The Cylons couldn't make a life like this, not like she and John had done. Even Baltar in all his genius couldn't do this.

"Ms. Roslin," another voice said.

She opened her eyes. She was in a curtained-off cubicle in the emergency room. A man in light blue scrubs was standing beside her. There was a medical technician nearby.

"Where is John?"

"The man who was shot?"

"Yes."

"He was taken straight to surgery."

"I've got to go to him."

"I believe there are some men waiting outside to take you back to Caprica City. I believe they said the President had ordered them to bring you back."

"I'm going to stay with John."

The physician looked at her dispassionately. "He's going to get the best of care."

"I'm sure he is. I'm still going to stay."

The curtain was pulled back and a silver-haired woman in a dark suit and a white physician's jacket walked in. "Let me speak to Ms. Roslin alone, please." The other physician and the med tech left them. "I'm Dr. Tess Corin. I'm the administrator of this facility. You really should think about going back to Caprica City. We don't have the kind of security here to protect you. We're a hospital."

"I won't leave him," Laura said, aware that her chin had come up stubbornly.

"Is this more than just loyalty to the man who saved your life?"

Laura lowered her voice to a whisper. "He's the father of my unborn child. I'm not leaving him."

Dr. Corin said, "I see." She pulled back the curtain. "Bring me a wheelchair," she called to someone outside. In a minute a wheelchair was brought. "Sit. We're going for a ride."

"I can walk."

"I think you need to _ride_," Dr. Corin said. "I don't think you're up to_ walking_ just yet."

Laura understood. Obediently she got into the wheelchair. They made a strange procession leaving the emergency room with Billy and Captain Russo following them as well as six Marines in full combat gear. Dr. Corin took her to the seventh floor and a private waiting room.

"There's nothing to do now but wait. The surgeon who's operating on him is the best cardio-thoracic man in Sovana. If anyone can save your pilot, it will be him."

"He's got to live," Laura said softly. "He's got to."

"Then you might also pray," Dr. Corin said.

...

Kara was finishing an early-afternoon delivery at the Methadone Rehab Clinic when her mobile phone vibrated. To her surprise, it was Karl.

"This better be an emergency," she said.

"It is. Are you anywhere near a television?"

"No."

"You've got to get somewhere you can watch the news."

"Why?"

"I think it's your dad, Kara, and he's been shot. The news guy said the name John Gallagher, and there was a little picture like might be on an ID badge or something. I only saw him that once, but I think it was your dad."

"Shot? Where? How?"

"Up in Sovana. Somebody tried to assassinate the Secretary of Education. He saved her life. They're already calling him a hero. But it's bad. The news channel won't say anything other than that he was taken to Sovana Medical Center in critical condition."

Kara felt like the pavement in the parking lot had just fallen out from under her.

"There's an electronics store that sells televisions about six blocks away. I'm going there right now."

She was shaking so badly by the time she got to the store that she could hardly breathe. She parked the bike on the street and went inside. The sales staff and half a dozen customers were gathered around a dozen television sets, all tuned to the same news channel. The small picture was shown just as she walked up. It _was_ John Gallagher. It _was_ her father. The newscaster repeated the same thing Karl had said. _Critical condition_. And added, i_n surgery_. She turned and ran from the store.

She knew she broke a speed record getting back to MediFirst. She ran to Jack's office. His secretary said, "He had to leave. Someone rear-ended his wife's car at lunch today. He said he probably wouldn't be back."

"I've got to leave," Kara said. "It's an emergency. If Trevor can't cover the deliveries, see if you can call in one of the night guys. I've got to leave."

She didn't even wait for the secretary to reply. She ran outside and managed to flag down a transport. "The spaceport," she said. "As fast as you can."

The driver said, "Sure," but Kara thought he took his own sweet time getting her there. She threw some cubits at him and jumped out. She heard him shout something behind her and realized that she hadn't tipped him, but she kept going. Once inside the terminal, though, she was confused. She had never flown commercially. She finally asked a man who was pulling a suitcase what she needed to do to get on a ship to Sovana.

"Antioch Air has the most flights going north."

"I don't want to go to Antioch. I want to go to Sovana."

"Antioch Air is your best bet. They're at the end down that way." He pointed.

Kara started walking. She found Antioch Air and got in line. When she got to the ticket counter she asked about the next flight to Sovana. One left at four-thirty p.m. Connecting through Antioch with a five hour delay, she would arrive at two a.m. the next morning.

"I need to get there faster." Kara said.

"The only faster way is a charter," the ticket agent told her. "They're really expensive."

"You don't have any direct flights to Sovana?"

"Just one at seven a.m. each morning. You could wait for the one tomorrow morning and avoid the layover in Antioch."

"No, give me a ticket to the flight this afternoon."

"I'll need to see a picture ID."

Kara got out Carrie Warner's ID, the one that Jared had remade with her picture on it, the same one she used everywhere in Caprica City. The girl entered her Colonial ID number into the computer. She waited. Then she looked at Kara strangely. "I'm sorry. I can't sell you a ticket."

"Why not?"

"Your name is on a watch list. We can't sell tickets to anyone who has been watch-listed."

Kara was confused. "What does that mean? I don't understand."

"It's probably some sort of mistake," the girl said. "Maybe a number was entered wrong or something, but you're on a list of people who aren't allowed on ships."

"Who could do that, put me on a list like that?"

"Someone in the government or the military."

Suddenly Kara knew who had done it. Ackerman. He'd found a way to get back at her and maybe at Lee, too. Ackerman had watch-listed her.

"I'm sorry," the girl handed her back the ID. Kara turned and left. She wasn't in a hurry any more. She followed the signs to the subway station under the terminal, waited twenty minutes for the next train, and rode it back into the city. By the time she came up at the station near Zeno's, the afternoon was half over.

She was turning to Lee Adama in her time of need, just like the Oracle had said.

...

Lee got the news from his father via a phone call just before lunch. His father didn't try to soften the blow. "John's been shot up in Sovana. It looks bad. The hospital won't tell me anything, but I spoke with the other pilot. He said John took two bullets to the chest. He's surprised John made it to the hospital alive. He's in surgery right now."

"How? " Lee asked. "What happened?"

"Somebody tried to assassinate Laura. He took the bullets. He saved her life. Darren and his agents are on the way up there right now. Laura's Marine guard shot and killed the assassin, did it with the rubber bullets. I heard one got him right through the eye. They're trying to identify him."

"Is Laura all right?"

"Laura's fine now. The President wants her back here ASAP, but she went into shock and was taken to the hospital, too. A doctor up there is refusing to release her, but I spoke with her after I talked to the other pilot. She's fine. She just won't leave John. The President has Marines all over the hospital but we won't rest until she's back here in Caprica City."

"Get me orders to fly up there. Please, dad. Let me go up there. I'll bring her back. And I can see John."

"I'll see what I can do."

"You'll let me know about John…if anything…" Lee couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence. John would be okay. He had to be.

"I'll keep you posted."

Lee walked to the door of Major Parker's office. "Come in," Parker said. "Bad, isn't it?"

"He's my best friend," Lee said and found himself struggling to keep his composure. "I just asked my father to get me sent to Sovana to pick up Laura."

"If your friend doesn't make it, just remember that he died a hero."

Lee nodded, knowing it wouldn't be wise to try to speak at the moment. Finally he managed to say, "Terrorists?"

"I have no doubt," Parker answered him. "I should have a report from Agent Darren any minute. He and his A-team are on the way up there as we speak. Cavil's trying to get involved, but Darren is standing firm. They've taken the dead assassin to a secret location for an autopsy and to try to make an identification. He's not going to let Cavil take this body away like he did the two dead guys at the lab."

"You don't think the assassin could be a Cylon, do you? A sleeper?"

"I wouldn't rule out anything at this point. We don't know enough."

"Would you let me know if you hear anything?"

Parker nodded. "I'm sorry about your friend. We'll catch these guys."

Lee turned and went back to his desk. There was nothing to do now but wait.

...

Kara paced the sidewalk outside Lee's apartment building. He didn't answer his buzzer which meant he wasn't at home. She wanted to use the mobile phone to call him, but she didn't dare. Frogman would probably look at every number that she called on it. Finally as a woman entered the building with two bags of groceries, Kara ran over and held the door for her and then walked in behind her.

She was sitting on the floor in the hall in front of Lee's door when he got home twenty minutes later. She scrambled to her feet. "I need your help," she said as he unlocked the door.

"This is a bad time. Can it wait?"

"No, it can't wait. Please."

He went into the kitchen and put his keys on the table before he took a bottle of water from the refrigerator and turned it up. "What is it?"

"Someone watch-listed me," she said, trying to keep the desparation out of her voice. "I need to get on a flight to Sovana and the girl wouldn't sell me a ticket. I think Ackerman did it. Can you take it off my record?"

"That smug son of a bitch," Lee said. "I should have known he wouldn't let it go."

"Can you help me? Please. I've got to get to Sovana."

Lee looked at her. Something was very wrong. He'd never seen such desperation in anyone's face before.

"Why do you need to go to Sovana?"

The control that Kara had been maintaining suddenly deserted her and she sat down hard in one of the chairs at his kitchen table.

She choked back a sob. "My father is up there. Please, please help me."

"Your father?" Lee said in confusion. "Your father died in the bombing of Antioch. Your whole family…"

"No, they didn't. I lied. I lied about who I am. I'm not Carrie Warner. My name is Kara Thrace. John Gallagher, the pilot who was shot today, is my father. I've got to get…"

"Wait a minute," Lee said. "Wait just one frakking minute. I checked you out. Everything about you checked out. You are Carrie Warner."

"Carrie Warner died in the camp during the flu epidemic. Jared deleted the record of her death. I took her ID. I took it because she was older and I used her ID here in the city so I could get a job…"

"Stop. Just stop talking a minute. I've got to think."

Lee paced back and forth. The girl in front of him was either a terrific actress or she was telling him the truth. But she was resistance. She had killed for the resistance. What if this was a ploy to get to Sovana and finish the job that the assassin this morning had failed to do? It wouldn't have been that hard for the resistance to find out about John's daughter. How could he be sure she was who she said she was?

"John has a drink that he mixes. He told me he had shared it with his daughter. What's the name of the drink and what does he keep it in?"

"Is this some kind of frakking test because you don't believe me?"

"Lying is a way of life for the resistance. John Gallagher is my best friend. I'm not going to help you until I'm damned sure I know who you are. Kara will be able to answer those questions."

"He calls it Siren's Kiss," Kara said. "He keeps it in a silver flask. It's strong. It tastes like peaches. Satisfied?"

"Holy Hera," Lee said as the implication of what she had just proven hit him. She _was_ Kara. She _was_ John's daughter and she was sixteen years old. He had slept with a sixteen-year-old girl. He sat down hard in the chair opposite her.

"I can't frakking believe it."

"Will you help me, please? Will you take that watch-list thing off my record? I've got to get to Sovana. I've got to get up there. I've got to get to my father. Please. He might…" another sob choked her and she couldn't finish.

"I can't. I can't take something off that another interrogator put on your record. Only my CO can do that kind of override. There's no way I can get him to do anything without a lengthy explanation. There's no way."

"What am I going to do? I've got to get to Sovana tonight. I can't ride my motorcycle over a thousand miles. Please help me. Please."

Lee took out his mobile phone. "I'm crazy to be doing this, but it's probably the only way. And I'm doing it for John. You've got to understand I'm doing this for my best friend. Not for a girl who lied to me from day one." He scrolled until he found the number he wanted. A few seconds later he said, "Hi. Dad, I need authorization to take a passenger to Sovana, John's daughter, Kara...She's sitting here in my apartment right now…Yeah, Dad. I'm sure it's her…It's a really long story…Please, for John. Do this for him…and for me."

When he ended the call, he looked at Kara. "Now we wait and now you talk. From the beginning. I want the whole story from the beginning."

For the next forty-five minutes Kara talked. She told Lee everything about that night leaving Picon and what Tom Zarek had done. She told him about waiting for four days for her father to return and how she and Karl saw the Viper fall from the sky and how she finally admitted that her father was dead. She told him about living in the little stone house and the garden and learning to use a slingshot to kill rabbits and other small game. She told him about the ice storm and the soldiers finding them and taking them to the camp. She told him about meeting Carrie Warner and about the flu and Karl nearly dying and meeting Jared and Maggie. She told him about the trip to Caprica City and how she got the job riding the motorcycle. She told him about meeting Zarek the previous week and finding out that her father was alive. She talked until there was nothing more she could think of to say. She answered all of his questions. She didn't dare ask him any because she could tell Lee wasn't in the mood to answer.

She simply sat dry-eyed, twisting her hands together and praying that the Oracle had been right.

Nearly an hour passed before Lee's phone chirped. When he finally ended the call, he looked at Kara. "You owe my Dad big time. A Raptor's being prepped out at the airbase right now for me to fly up to Sovana and bring Laura Roslin back to Caprica City. My dad just got clearance for you to go with me."

"Thank the gods," Kara said and could no longer hold back her tears.

Lee sat and let her cry. Under other circumstances he would have tried to comfort her, but in many ways he didn't even know the girl who sat at his kitchen table. She had lied to him from the beginning and he was going to have to work hard to overcome his resentment of that. If she had lied about something as fundamental as who she was, had she lied about her feelings for him as well? She was resistance, wasn't she? They were all good liars.

He sat and let her cry.

...

Laura sat by John's bed in the intensive care unit. Outside the door were two Marines. Others patrolled the corridors. No one without the proper identification would get anywhere near either her or John. The President had seen to that.

A bank of monitors that displayed John's vital signs was located just above the bed. He was on a respirator that kept up a rhythmic hissing as it forced air in and out of his lungs.…

Dr. Corin told her that three things had saved John's life...the speed with which the medics got to him and then got him to the Medical Center, the skill of his surgeon, and the good physical condition he was in. Laura added a fourth. She added their prayers.

When the surgeon, Dr. Bilosa, had come into the waiting room to talk to them late on Friday, he had explained to them the path of the two bullets and the damage they had done. One bullet had passed through the upper part of his torso, just under his right clavicle, tearing muscle and tendons. The second had penetrated his right lung, collapsing it and narrowly missing his pulmonary artery. It had lodged in his fifth posterior rib, breaking it in three places. It had also done the most damage.

Dr. Bilosa had explained that John was on the respirator as a precaution, that if he regained consciousness and was able to breathe on his own, they would remove it. _If_… Laura could barely think of the word. But Dr. Bilosa had also been honest in telling them that John was still in extremely critical condition. It could still go either way.

Billy and Captain Russo had left shortly after they got to the surgery waiting room. Captain Russo had been ordered to take everyone back to Caprica City. Another pilot already in Sovana would make the trip back with them. Laura had told Billy to go back with the ship. Dr. Corin and Laura's Marine guards had waited with her. Dr. Corin had food brought up, encouraged her to eat and drink. She told the staff of the ICU to take care of Laura as if she were a VIP patient.

When John was moved from the recovery room to the room in the ICU, someone brought Laura a pair of hospital scrubs and told her she would be more comfortable in them. Laura was grateful. It was almost like wearing a pair of pajamas. Someone else brought her a pair of soft booties so she could take off the heels. She was even more grateful.

_There is still a lot we don't understand about the unconscious mind_, Dr. Corin had said. _Talk to him. Maybe he will hear you. _And so Laura had talked, for hours that night she had talked to John, so still and pale, so seemingly lifeless except for the hum and hiss of the respirator. She held his hand and watched his chest rise and fall with the rhythm of the machine, the chest where she loved to lay her head, and she talked to him. She talked about her childhood and growing up as a diplomat's daughter. She talked about the gypsy life they had led, moving every few years from one embassy in the Colonies to another until finally settling back on Caprica before her senior year of high school. She talked about the university and her love of learning. She talked about her plans for them to raise their child together. She had no idea if he heard her or not, but still she talked into the early hours of the morning, until drowsiness finally overcame her and she put her head down on the side of his bed and slept.

She was roused by a sound and opened her eyes. Lee Adama in his uniform stood at the foot of the bed and with him was the girl from the camp, Kara, John's daughter. Laura closed her eyes. She knew she was dreaming.

"Why is a nurse holding his hand and sleeping with her head on the bed?" Kara whispered to Lee.

"That's not a nurse," Lee whispered back. "That's Laura Roslin, the Secretary of Education."

"Really? She looks like a nurse. She's wearing a uniform like them."

"It's Laura. Take my word for it."

"You think she's been here all night sitting with him like that?"

"Probably," Lee whispered. "They've been dating for a couple of months. Your dad's in love with her."

"Oh, right. I guess he just said to you, 'Lee, I'm in love with Laura Roslin, the Secretary of Education.'"

"Something like that."

Kara cautiously walked around the side of the bed opposite from Laura. She gently touched her father's cheek and leaned down by his ear. "Hey, Daddy," she whispered. "It's Kara." He was so pale and still. He looked like he was dead. Tears filled her eyes and spilled over. She brushed them away and tried to be brave. She was tough. Her father would want her to be tough.

Laura opened her eyes again. Kara was standing on the other side of the bed. She wasn't a dream. "Hello," she said softly. "How did you find him?"

Kara looked over at Laura. So her father loved this woman, this tough woman who had walked through a cold, muddy camp in heels.

"I saw it on the news," she answered. "Lee helped get me here."

Laura yawned and sat up. "How do you know Lee?"

"It's a long story. Is my dad going to be all right?"

Laura shook her head gently. "We don't know. He's been…sleeping since the surgery."

"Why are his hands tied?" Kara touched the soft restraints that fastened her father's wrists to the bed rails.

"It's a precaution. The doctor told me that when he regains consciousness he's not going to know where he is or what's going on. He said his first act would probably be to try to pull the ventilator tube out. That would not be good. When he can breathe on his own, they'll remove it safely."

Lee walked up beside Kara. "Hello, Laura."

"Lee. It's good to see you again. Terrible circumstances, but still good to see you."

Lee tried to smile and failed. The sight of his friend looking so pale got to him. He remembered the last time he'd seen John, still half-drunk. He'd just promised to tell Laura that he loved her. Had he done it? She was here with him, though, wasn't she? That told Lee a lot about Laura's feelings for John. Maybe there was hope for them yet.

A passing breakfast cart rattled down the corridor. Lee realized he would love a cup of coffee. With everything that had happened the night before, he had not slept. He looked at Kara and Laura. "Could I get either one of you some coffee? There's a machine just down the hall."

"I could use a cup," Kara said.

"No, thank you," Laura said.

Lee had been back in the room only a matter of minutes, and he and Kara were drinking the coffee when Laura felt the first wave of nausea. She made it to the sink before she gagged.

"Oh, frak," Kara said. "Should I get a nurse?"

Laura shook her head as she gagged again.

As Kara watched, comprehension of what was wrong with Laura Roslin dawned on her. How many times had she seen it in the refugee camp…a woman outside her tent vomiting onto the ground in the early morning with one hand held protectively against her belly, just the way Laura was doing now? It took only seconds for her to understand exactly why Laura was sitting by her father's bed.

Kara thrust her cup of coffee into Lee's hand and went over to the sink, got a washcloth and held it under the cold water. She squeezed it out and handed it to Laura before she took her hair and gently lifted it out of the way.

"Thank you," Laura gagged again.

Lee realized he was witnessing something that only these two women understood. He didn't have a clue until Kara said, "My father's knocked you up, hasn't he?"

"Carrie…Kara," Lee said sharply, "You can't talk to Laura like that."

Laura held the wet washcloth to her mouth for a moment before she stood up. "No, she's right. John has knocked me up as Kara so bluntly put it."

"Does he know?" Lee blurted.

"I told him yesterday after he was shot but I don't know if he heard me or not. I talked to him again about it last night, but I really don't know."

Suddenly Kara said in a panic-stricken voice, "Lee…Lee…he's awake."

Lee looked at his friend. John's eyes were open and darting wildly. He began to struggle against the restraints.

Laura was at his bedside in a second. "John, John, it's Laura. You're in the hospital. You were shot. You're on a ventilator, John. Don't fight. Stop fighting, John." She looked up at Kara and Lee. "Get the doctor! Now!"

Kara was already backing toward the door, everything in her in a wild panic. She turned and stumbled from the room. The Marines outside looked at her. Lee was right behind her.

The monitors attached to John must have signaled someone at the nursing station because two nurses and a doctor were already running down the hall. They entered the room.

"Oh gods," Kara said and started to hyperventilate, "Oh, gods, oh gods, oh gods."

"Carrie…Kara, listen to me, listen to me. He's going to be all right. They're going to take care of him."

Kara shook her head and kept repeating her mantra, "Oh, gods, oh gods, oh gods."

Laura came out and leaned against the wall. She put a hand against her forehead. She felt faint. The doctor had asked her to leave because they were going to take John off the ventilator. He had turned it off and John was breathing on his own. He told her that the sooner they got him off of it the better.

Lee took her arm. "Are you all right?"

The dizziness cleared. "Yes. He was fighting…he's…such a fighter. Even the doctor said it probably helped save his life." Then she noticed Kara standing against the opposite wall, her face white and her lips moving.

Laura went over to her and put her arms around her. She was really not much more than a child, after all, tough as nails, a survivor, but a child who loved her father and couldn't bear to see him hurt like this. Kara turned her face against Roslin's shoulder. Laura could feel her trembling.

"He loves you more than anything in this world," Laura said gently.

"I thought he was dead," Kara said. "I just found out that he was alive…and now…"

"He's looked for you. He's still looking for you. You have no idea what seeing you is going to do for him. He's going to get well just for you."

Twenty minutes later the doctor came out. "We've taken him off the ventilator. He's breathing on his own which is good. His vitals are good, too, but he's in a lot of pain, and we didn't help it any with what we just had to do, so his blood pressure is up. I've given him something to take the edge off. You can talk to him but try not to upset him. You've got maybe two, three minutes before he's going to be out again for a few hours."

"Go," Lee said to Kara. "Go on in."

"No, I can't just walk in there. You go first. Tell him. You tell him I'm here."

Lee realized she was right. John needed some warning before Kara appeared before him. "Try not to fall apart, okay? I realize that's asking a lot, but you heard the doctor. If you fall apart, he's going to fall apart. That won't be good for him."

"Okay, okay. Go."

Lee walked through the door and up to the bed. John's eyes were closed, there was an oxygen cannula under his nose.

"Some guys will do anything to get a few days off work," he said as he took John's hand and squeezed it.

John's eyes opened and focused. He tried to smile. "Lee…buddy," he rasped hoarsely. "Are we on the _Galactica_? Was that Doc Cottle?"

"No, John, he just looks like Cottle. You're in the hospital in Sovana. You were shot."

"Laura?"

"She's fine, John. You saved her life."

"Good," John said and closed his eyes again. "I love her. I'd…die for her."

"John, stay with me for a minute, will you? There's somebody here to see you. Stay awake just a few more minutes."

Lee knew Kara was close behind him. He reached for her and pulled her to his side. He transferred John's hand from his own to Kara's.

"It's Kara. Open your eyes, John."

The green eyes opened.

Kara was still trembling. She knew she would have lost it completely if Lee hadn't been standing behind her, his hands on the tops of her arms holding her tightly, so tightly it almost hurt. She drew strength from him.

"Keep it together," Lee said under his breath.

She smiled. "Hey, Daddy."

John frowned, confused and disbelieving. "Kara?"

She squeezed his hand. "Yes, Daddy, it's me. It's Kara. I found you."

Lee could tell that John was fighting the drug, struggling to focus, struggling to stay awake. "Dreaming," John finally said.

"No, Daddy, you're not dreaming. I'm really here and I'm never leaving you again. Ever." She took a deep breath and then another. She was losing her battle to keep it together even as her father was losing his battle with the narcotic. "Go to sleep, Daddy. I'll be right here when you wake up. I'm not leaving you."

The green eyes closed. "I love you, baby," he said. "I came back for you, but you were gone. I looked… and…looked…" his voice trailed off.

"I love you, too, Daddy. I know you looked for me. I'm not going anywhere…ever again." His hand relaxed in hers. His breathing was slow and steady. The painkiller had claimed him.

She turned and put her face against Lee's shoulder. He held her while she cried and she finally realized that he had choked up, too. By the time that Laura joined them, wrapping her arms around both of them, Kara was glad her father was asleep. Otherwise he would have thought that the three people who loved him the most weren't the least bit tough. He would have thought they were nothing but a bunch of crybabies.

TBC…


	35. Karmic Justice Part I

Chapter 35

Karmic Justice Part I

_For his selfless act in saving the life of Laura Roslin, the Secretary of Education, one of her pilots, John Gallagher, was awarded the Colonial Medal of Honor. Anecdotally, by the time of the ceremony bestowing the medal some six months after the incident, Ms. Roslin had married the man who had saved her life._

_-Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War_

Kara didn't know how long she and Lee and Laura would have stood together by her father's bed if a silver-haired woman in a nice pants suit and white jacket hadn't come into the room. She gestured to them and they walked into the hall where she said to Laura.

"I've spoken with Dr. Bilosa. I understand the news is encouraging."

Laura wiped under her eyes with a tissue while Kara used the sleeve of her black turtleneck and Lee used the sleeve of his uniform.

"Yes, these are tears of joy for all of us," Laura said. "John and his daughter have been separated for several years due to no fault of theirs. Their reunion was very touching." She turned to Lee and Kara. "This is Dr. Tess Corin. She's been so kind to me. Dr. Corin, this is John's best friend, Lee Adama and John's daughter, Kara Thrace."

Dr. Corin held out her hand. Lee shook it and then Kara.

"I've had some breakfast brought up for you," she said to Laura, "Oatmeal, toast, fruit and hot tea. You need to eat. I insist."

"Thank you," Laura said.

"I didn't know there were others here or I would have had more sent."

"That's all right," Lee said. "We'll go to the cafeteria. After we eat, I'm taking Laura back to Caprica City. As soon as John can be moved, we'd like to take him back, too." Lee looked at Laura. "The President is insisting you come back."

"I'm not leaving my father," Kara said. "I'm going to stay."

Laura said, "I thought you would. I don't think that will be a problem, do you Dr. Corin?"

"Not at all."

"Come on Carrie…Kara," Lee said. "I'm never going to get used to calling you by your real name. Let's go get something while Laura eats her breakfast. Where is the cafeteria?"

Dr. Corin pointed down the hall. "Take that elevator to the first floor and turn left. Go to the end of the hall and follow the signs."

They got on the elevator.

"I don't like elevators," Kara said.

"You don't like sitting with your back to the door, either."

"No."

"Carrie…Kara. I'm going to have your name tattooed on your forehead. Otherwise I'll call you Carrie from now on."

"I'll still answer to Carrie. Sometimes I think of myself as Carrie."

The elevator opened on the first floor and they got off. "It's your own damned fault, you know. I wouldn't have this problem if you'd told me the truth from the beginning."

They found the cafeteria and started through the serving line.

"Look," Kara said, "we talked about this last night on the way up here. I'm sorry, Lee. I should have told you. I should have told you that first night we…were together, but I didn't think I would ever see you again so at the time it didn't matter. And then as more time went by, it just got harder and harder to figure out a way to do it. It's really not that important now, anyway."

"It's important to me."

"It's just a name. I'm still me. It doesn't change who I am."

"Yes, it does. Don't you understand? _Carrie Warner_ is twenty years old now. You're sixteen. Don't you see the difference?"

"No," Kara said. "I don't. What difference does a couple of years make?"

"There's a lot of difference between sixteen and twenty-one."

"I don't think of myself as sixteen. I've told people I'm nineteen, almost twenty now so often I've started believing it myself. Don't you see that Carrie Warner can go places and do things that Kara Thrace can't. Carrie Warner can get a credit card in her name. Carrie can walk into a bar and order a beer. Carrie can hold down a job like I've got. But that doesn't matter now because as soon as Jack finds out, he's going to fire me."

"Why?"

"Our insurance says you've got to be at least eighteen to ride a motorcycle for the company. So I'm going to lose my job."

"You won't need to work. John will take care of you."

"Don't you understand I want to work? I love riding that bike," Kara said in an anguished voice.

"John will buy you a bike. You can ride all you want."

"You just don't get it. I love what I do. I'm doing something worthwhile. I'm helping people."

"You can go to the Academy in a year."

"I wish I could go this year. That's the only thing I'd give up riding the bike for."

"You're too young."

"Is that in a rule book somewhere? Jared told me about a kid from his middle school who went to college at fourteen. Why couldn't I go to the Academy at seventeen? I'll be seventeen in August. Then I could go to Flight School the next year when I'm eighteen. My dad learned to fly a Viper when he was eighteen."

Lee shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe you can. Is that what you want to do?"

"That's exactly what I want to do. I want to go to the Academy with Karl and Maggie. Well, not with Maggie so much, but with Karl."

"What about if I check into it when I get back to Caprica City?"

"You'd do that for me?"

"Yeah, I'll do that for you."

"I already owe you big time for getting me up here. How am I ever going to repay you?"

"I don't expect you to repay me…Kara." Lee smiled at getting her name right. "Besides, when John finds out what we did, I'm a dead man, anyway. A long time ago he told me that any man who touched you before you were eighteen is dead."

"How's he going to find out? Are you going to tell him? I'm not going to tell him."

"You won't have to. Believe me. It won't take him long to figure it out. Be honest with your dad, Kara. I'll just have to take the consequences. The last thing we need is you lying about something else. Save your lies for your resistance buddies."

"Don't you worry about me and my dad," Kara said hotly. "I'll handle my dad."

"Oh, boy," Lee said sarcastically. "I'm sorry I'm going to miss those fireworks. You really think John is going to be a pushover? You think he's going to be so glad to see you that you'll be able to get away with anything?"

"You know him a lot better than I do." Kara sighed deeply. "I don't really know him at all."

"Something tells me you're going to get to know him really well soon. What are you going to do about the resistance?"

"I'm going to get out. I'll have to if I want to go to the Academy."

"You can do that? I thought you told me you were in it for life or something like that."

"I thought so, too, but I just found out that somebody really high up got out. If he can do it so can I."

"I hope you're right. We'd better get back upstairs. I'm expected to be on my way back to Caprica City with Laura soon."

They rode the elevator back up to the eighth floor.

"Do you forgive me for lying to you?" Kara asked him.

Lee grinned. "Maybe by the time you're eighteen I will have."

Laura was dressed in her suit when they got back to the room. She was sitting by the bed holding John's hand just like she had been when they first arrived, but her head wasn't on the mattress. She stood up, leaned over the bed and kissed him gently on the forehead.

Even though he was still deep in the drug-induced sleep, she said to him, "I'll be back to get you when the doctor will release you to travel." She motioned for Lee and Kara to follow her into the corridor. "I've talked to Dr. Corin. She's fine with Kara staying here. She'll have food trays brought up if you don't want to go to the cafeteria by yourself. She's going to arrange for a cot to be placed in an empty office down the hall so you can sleep. You can use the staff break room and showers."

"That's really nice of her," Kara said.

Lee looked at Kara. "You'll be okay up here by yourself?"

"I'm not by myself. My father is here. And I'll be fine. I've been taking care of myself for a long time." Impulsively she hugged him tightly. "Thank you…for everything."

Lee held her stiffly for a moment, aware that Laura was watching them, and then he gave in to the hug. He couldn't help it. Over Kara's shoulder his eyes met Laura's and he realized that just as Kara had figured out something about her, Laura had just intuited something about them. Her gaze held both surprise and concern.

He and Laura didn't talk about it until they were in the Raptor and had lifted off.

"Does John have any idea?" She asked him.

"John knows I met a girl. He doesn't have a clue that it's Kara. _I _didn't have a clue that she was Kara until last night. I thought her name was Carrie Warner and that she had just turned twenty."

"How…serious is your relationship?"

"We're not going to have a relationship. She's sixteen years old."

"Before you realized she was sixteen, though, you had an intimate relationship?"

"Yes. And John's going to kick my ass. This may come between him and me."

"It shouldn't. You didn't know."

"I hope he sees it that way. I don't want him taking it out on Kara, either. He's got to understand what she went through and why she was using a fake ID. I just came down hard on her for lying about who she is and here I am defending her."

"I'll talk to John. I don't want to interfere in their effort to build a father-daughter relationship, but if necessary, I'll talk to him." She smiled. "Occasionally John listens to me."

"What are you and John going to do?" Lee ventured. "It's none of my business, but are you going to get married?"

"If he asks me," Laura said and smiled. "I don't own a shotgun."

Lee grinned. "He probably does."

Later as Laura slept, Lee thought about Kara again. What was he going to do? Sixteen was the age of consent on Caprica. He hadn't broken the law, but he still felt like he'd done something morally wrong. And yet…and yet…the last time he'd been with her had been so incredibly good. They had connected on so many levels and not just the physical one. He had even been able to rationalize being apart because in a way he didn't believe it. Something in him had believed they would find a way to see each other despite her ties to the resistance.

And then to find her at his door the previous night and to find out that she wasn't Carrie Warner after all, to find out that she had lied to him from the beginning. It had been a blow he was still dealing with. On the way up to Sovana, she had told him that her use of Carrie's identity had started merely as part of her struggle to find a job. She told him that she had gotten caught up in the lie, unable to see a way to go back to her real identity until circumstances had forced her to do it.

She had even told him that despite having slept with him, she had been afraid to trust him because of his connection to the military. To Lee, trust was at the heart of every worthwhile relationship. Were they going to be able to overcome this very basic issue?

Maybe he was making too much of it. She felt something for him. He knew she did because she'd risked her life to warn him when he was in Sovana. She wouldn't have done that if she didn't care.

Thinking about her now filled him with confusing and contradictory emotions. She was an enigma. On the one hand she was tough and mature, holding down a hard job and living on her own. She was sensual, too, and wise beyond her years. Yet on the other hand he'd heard her voice when she'd talked to her father. It was a child's voice. _Hey Daddy_._ It's Kara._ He could still hear her words. _Daddy_, a child's term for her father. She was a child-woman, beautiful and tough and at the same time, young and vulnerable.

Lee realized at that moment, despite all of the issues they still had and despite her age, that he was in love with her. No matter what happened in the future, Lee Adama loved Kara Thrace and he was going to have to deal with it. He was going to have to deal with the issue of trust. He was going to have to deal with John and the inevitable way Lee's feelings for Kara were going to test their friendship to the limit. And he was going to have to deal with the fact that instead of Kara and the resistance keeping them apart it was going to be his own resolve to abstain from a physical relationship with her until she was older. There was no way they could avoid being around each other now, but they couldn't have a physical relationship. He could look, but he couldn't touch and knowing how much he wanted her, that was going to be hell.

...

Kara sat sleeping by her father's bed with her head on the side just as Laura Roslin had done. She was vaguely aware that nurses came into his room and checked on him. Once she heard them whispering. She heard one say her name and _separated for three years._ Laura must have told someone.

The room was quiet once more and she slept, deep and dreamless, for much of the morning. Like Lee, she too had gone the whole night without sleep. When she woke up it was slowly, almost as if she had been drugged like her father. Her face was turned toward the foot of the bed. She felt something moving gently on the back of her head. She finally realized it was her father's hand. He was very lightly stroking her hair.

Slowly she sat up, yawned and smiled. "Hey, Daddy," she said almost shyly.

"Hey, baby." His eyes were focused on her, but she could tell he was still under the influence of the painkiller. "I was afraid if I wasn't touching you that you would disappear."

"No, I'm really here." She took his hand. "See?"

He closed his eyes and then opened them. "Was Lee here?"

"Earlier. He had to take Laura back to Caprica City. The President said she had to, but they're coming back later this week and we're going to take you back, too."

"How did you get here?"

"Lee brought me in a Raptor. I wish it could have been a Viper but…"

"How do you know Lee?"

"I met him…" she started to lie and tell her father she had met Lee at Zeno's one night and then she remembered what Lee had told her…not to lie. "It's a really long story."

He just barely managed a smile. "Does it look like I'm going somewhere anytime soon? I think I've got time to listen to a really long story."

Kara took a deep breath. "I met him on the job."

"Yours or his?"

"Both."

Her father closed his eyes and drifted for a few moments before he opened them and looked at her again. "So what do you do? Work in a store somewhere in Caprica City? Or is it a restaurant? The detective I hired to find you is leaning toward a restaurant. I said no, you'd be working in a store."

"You're both wrong. I ride a motorcycle. I deliver drugs…not illegal drugs…medications...meds we call them. I deliver to hospitals and clinics. I work for a man named Jack Fisk. He runs MediFirst."

"On a motorcycle?"

"On a motorcycle."

He tried to grin but grimaced slightly in pain instead. "My daughter rides a motorcycle just like her old man used to. I hope you're more careful than I was."

"I'm always careful."

"Good. So you met Lee on the job? Was he at a clinic or a hospital?"

"No. He was at his job." She could tell her father was trying to stay awake and process her evasive answers. "Why don't you rest and not try to talk, Daddy?"

He ignored her. "Where did you learn to ride a motorcycle?"

"That's a long story, too."

John's eyes met hers and focused. "I thought we'd already covered the fact that I don't have to be anywhere anytime soon."

"Maybe it would be easier if I just started at the beginning. It will make a lot more sense if I start with the night Tom Zarek took you away."

_And it will take a lot longer to get to the part about meeting Lee._

"Okay. I like that. Start at the beginning." He closed his eyes.

"How long have _you_ known Lee?"

John didn't answer her right away and she realized that he was drifting again. But he had processed her question. A minute later he said, "three years. I've known Lee for three years."

Kara remembered what Tom Zarek had told her, that they had been intercepted by a battlestar after leaving Caprica. She remembered Lee telling her he had been on his father's battlestar the _Galactica_ when the Cylons attacked.

"When you were leaving Caprica was it the _Galactica_ that intercepted you?"

He opened his eyes. "That's right. I tried to leave that night to come back for you, but Lee's dad, Bill, was commanding the battlestar and he couldn't let me go. And then they Cylons attacked, and I was stuck on the ship for another three days. By the time I got back to the airfield, you were gone. Where did you go, baby?"

The effort of saying that many sentences had left him struggling for breath.

"Stop talking…please just stop talking for a minute. Let me talk. Me and Karl waited in the woods close to the airfield for three days and then I thought…I thought that Zarek had killed you. I knew you would have come back for me if you were alive so I thought you were dead. And then on the fourth night we saw a Viper fall from the sky. It was miles away. We didn't know it was a Viper until we found it, but I thought maybe it was you coming back because it came down through the atmosphere like we did. Karl and I walked all night. The pilot was dead. He'd been shot through the chest."

"Lords of Kobol, you saw…something like that?"

Kara could tell her father was struggling not only with the physical pain but with what she had just told him. She squeezed his hand. "Daddy, I'm not going to tell you any more right now. Just relax. Please. That's enough for now. We'll talk later. I'm okay. I'm fine. I'm tough. I'm tough like you and my mom. Besides, that night, all of that night and the next day seems like a dream to me now. I don't ever think about it anymore."

Without realizing it she had placed her hand against her black turtleneck and over the ring she wore on the chain around her neck, the dead pilot's ring. She thought about her promise to Lee to tell the truth and amended her last sentence.

"I hardly ever think about it anymore."

...

Lee brought the Raptor in for a perfect landing. Laura was awake by then. Bill was waiting for them. Lee saw the relief on his father's face as the door opened and his father saw Laura. He helped her off the Raptor. Lee suddenly wondered if he knew about the baby. How would Bill feel if he knew Laura was having John's baby?

The more Lee thought about that the weirder it seemed. Hadn't John been the one who had preached responsibility for birth control to him? Hadn't John said that was his number one rule? What had caused him to break his own number one rule? Lee knew that John would probably say that it was none of his business, but one day Lee knew he was going to give John hell about getting caught, if nothing else but to see John try to talk his way out of it. That is if John was still speaking to him. That is if John hadn't already killed him over what he and Kara had done.

Lee signed the post-flight check list and handed it back to a ground crewman before he exited the ship. The Raptor would soon be towed back to a hangar. They'd had their usual Cylon escort, but the Raider had not landed. It had veered off instead and made for the basestar which sat always in a low, geosynchronous orbit over Caprica City. The basestar hung above them like the proverbial sword of Damocles, clearly visible through low-powered binoculars. Lee knew that the Cylons wanted the citizens of Caprica always aware of how close they were to annihilation.

"Hi, Dad," Lee said.

His father glanced over. "Good landing, son. You really are a fine pilot."

"Thank you."

"I know it's Saturday, but we need to go see Major Parker. Wait for me."

Lee walked a short distance away while his father continued talking to Laura. He saw Bill take her hand and squeeze it before he walked with her to the four Marines who were waiting to escort her to her apartment.

Bill caught up with him and they walked to his father's waiting car. The driver opened the door and they got into the back seat. "How did John react to seeing his daughter?" Bill asked.

"He realized it was her, but the doctor had given him something for pain. He was out within a minute of seeing her. She stayed in Sovana with him."

"So Laura told me. Now how is it that you know her? Kara, right?"

"Yeah, Kara." Lee saw how easy it would be to lie and say they had met at Zeno's, but he also knew how hypocritical that would make him. "She rides a motorcycle on her job. I met her when she came in for questioning."

"You haven't questioned motorcycle riders in over a month. Are you telling me you kept her identity from John for a month?"

Lee knew his explanation was not going to go over well. He tried to slant it more in Kara's favor. "She's too young to get a job riding a motorcycle and she really needed the work. She was using a fake ID when I met her. It happens a lot," he added.

"But you figured it out?"

"She finally confessed," Lee said hoping his dad would let it go. "Why are we going to see Major Parker?"

"I've got to make my usual report to the President. He declared martial law in Sovana this morning. The attempt on Laura's life was the last straw for him. I've got to get information from Parker and Darren. I'm very interested in hearing what Darren has to say."

Their driver pulled up in front of the building that housed the interrogators' offices. He got out and opened the door. "Is Agent Darren back in Caprica City?" Lee asked.

"No, he's going to join us via a teleconference link from Sovana."

As they started up the steps, one of the MPs from the front gate drove up in a jeep and asked them if they would deliver a small package to Major Parker. Lee took it and looked at the return address. It came from Agent Darren.

Lee punched his security code into the key pad and they entered the front door. Since it was Saturday, no one was sitting at the front desk. The building was quiet and felt deserted. They climbed the steps to the second floor and went to Major Parker's office.

Parker stood as soon as Bill entered. "Commander Adama, sir."

"Have a seat," Bill said. "Let's not stand on protocol today."

"Good afternoon, sir," Lee said to this commanding officer.

"How's your friend?" Parker asked.

"Better than he was yesterday at this time."

"Have you heard from Darren?" Bill asked.

"I was waiting for you to get here to complete the link. Darren is standing by." He gestured to two chairs he had pulled up in front of his desk. He sat down. "Everything on this link is scrambled so the picture won't be perfectly clear, but it will be good enough."

When the picture came up on Parker's computer screen and they saw Darren, they all exchanged greetings. Darren quickly got to his news. "I don't think this is the resistance. The shooter was Aaron Doral."

"What?" Parker and Bill said in unison.

"Who?" Lee asked.

"I recognized him as soon as I saw the autopsy photos. Then I went to see the body to make absolutely certain."

"You've made a mistake," Bill said matter-of-factly. "It couldn't have been him. I saw Aaron Doral going into Cavil's office this morning."

"It's his twin, then."

"A Cylon," Parker and Lee both said at the same time.

"How many others know about this?" Parker asked.

"No one so far. He was a bloody mess when he was brought in. One of the Marine sharpshooters got him through the eye. He took several other bullets to the head. I know they're only hard rubber with a plastic core, but they did a lot of damage to his face."

"How can you be sure it's Doral then?" Bill asked.

"He sat beside me for forty-five minutes in Laura Roslin's office one afternoon recently while he grilled her about her affair with Gallagher. I'm sure it's him."

"Shouldn't we at least try to confirm that with DNA?"

"I'll leave that one to you. You go up to Cavil's little toady and ask him to let you swab the inside of his cheek." Darren smiled. "I'm sure he'll agree."

"We can't afford to make a mistake on something like this," Bill said. "I've got to take this information to the President."

"I'm going to show you several of the autopsy photos. You two take a look at them and tell me what you think. Like I said, his face is damaged, but I think you can tell. Hang on just a minute while I get them on the display."

"Seven humanoid Cylon models," Bill said. "Cavil, Simon and Natasi we know about. Then there's the male that Laura got the letter about, possibly D'Anna Biers, and a mysterious young woman that John's ex-girlfriend saw at Baltar's lab. And now Doral. I wonder how many more there are?"

They heard Darren's voice. "What do you think?"

Parker and Bill stared at the screen. Lee looked also, but since he had never met Aaron Doral and had never seen any photographs of him, he couldn't offer an opinion.

The photos were grainy and gruesome.

"Damn," Bill finally said.

"Darren's right," Parker said. "That's Aaron Doral."

"A copy of him, anyway."

"How do you think we should handle this?" Parker asked.

Bill answered him. "I want to talk to the President. It's just possible that the best way to handle it is to play dumb and leave the shooter a John Doe. Then we start watching Doral here in Caprica City. He may lead us to others."

"What if he's a sleeper?" Lee asked. "What if he hasn't activated yet? If he doesn't know he's a Cylon, what good will it do to watch him?"

Bill almost exploded. "I'll tell you why we're going to watch that son of a bitch. One of him tried to kill Laura. Since he failed, maybe the one here will activate and make an attempt. The gods only know how many more of them there might be elsewhere."

"I hadn't thought about that," Lee said. "You're right."

Bill picked up the phone. When the person on the other end answered, he said, "Adama here. Let me speak to the President." While he waited he put his hand over the mouthpiece and said. "This all goes back to Cavil. I'll bet my career on it. He's been gunning for Laura since she stood up to him over the refugees. That fiasco out at the university last month was just another attempt to get her."

"A Cylon with a grudge," Parker mused. "Makes him seem almost human, doesn't it?"

...

A young woman wearing scrubs like the other nurses on the ICU came into the room. Kara was sitting by the bed watching her father sleep.

"Wouldn't you like to get something to eat? You've been in here all day. I'm going to the cafeteria for dinner. I won't be gone but twenty or thirty minutes. Come on and go with me. That will give the others time to check your father's incisions, and they'll bathe him, too. He'll feel better."

Kara looked at her father. "Okay."

"I'm Layne Ishay," the young woman said. "We heard you hadn't seen your father in three years. Is that true?"

"We got separated the night he brought me from Picon."

"I'd love to hear your story. Oh, and you need to turn off your cell phone. Sometimes they interfere with the wireless telemetry of the monitors."

"No problem," Kara said. "I couldn't do anything about it if somebody called anyway."

When they got back from the cafeteria, John was awake. Kara could tell he was in some pain, but he wouldn't press the button on his morpha pump. "I've been sleeping all day. I want to talk to you."

"Ten minutes," she said. We'll talk ten minutes and then you'll take some painkiller.

"Thirty. We'll talk thirty minutes."

"Twenty and then I get up and walk out if you won't take something."

"Deal," he grimaced and tried to smile. "You know it only hurts when I breathe in or out. Where did you go after you found the Viper?"

"Me and Karl found a little stone house. We lived there until late winter of the next year."

"With someone?"

"The old couple who lived there had killed themselves. He had shot her and then himself. He even shot their dog. They were in a shed. They'd been dead a couple of days. We burned it with them inside since it was…way too gross to bury them."

She looked at her father and saw tears forming in his eyes. "A dead Viper pilot and now a dead old man and woman. Is everything that happened to you that bad?"

"No, Daddy, oh gods, no. Living at that little stone house was…actually it was kind of fun sometimes. We had a garden and I learned to shoot rabbits with a slingshot and Karl got to be a good cook. We went fishing. And I didn't have to go to school, but I did start reading a lot. The old couple had a lot of books. We were warm and we were never hungry. Everything was fine until the end of the winter. There was an ice storm and a tree fell on the power lines and we lost the electricity. But some soldiers came soon after that and took us to the refugee camp so that turned out okay, too."

He squeezed her hand as one of the tears made a slow track from the outer corner of his eye down his cheek. "You are one tough young lady. I am so proud of you."

"I couldn't have done it without Karl. I would have been lost without him, although we almost got into a huge fight when I shot the first rabbit. We talk about it sometime now and laugh. We were ready to beat each other up over a stupid rabbit."

The green eyes fastened on hers. "All that time you were alone with Karl, did the two of you ever…you know what I'm asking."

"No way. He's my best friend. We don't think of each other like that so get that out of your mind."

"What about Hugh Connelly?"

Kara's eyes opened wide. "How do you know about Hugh Connelly?"

"Through Laura. I met him a couple of weeks ago. Did anything happen with him?"

"Daddy, I'm not going to talk about that with you. It's none of your business."

"What the hell do you mean it's none of my business? I'm your father."

"That doesn't mean you have a right to know everything about me. Some things are personal. Besides, after what you did you've got a damned lot of nerve asking me that kind of question."

"What does that mean…after what I did? What did I do?"

Kara knew she should stop. She knew it. But she was so intent on diverting her father's attention from her and Hugh Connelly that she went on. "Not just you. You and Laura both. After what you two did, you've got a damned lot of nerve questioning me."

"Laura and I are adults. There's a big difference. And I see you've still got that smart mouth."

"Yeah, well Laura isn't so smart and neither are you. Otherwise she wouldn't be knocked up right now."

She hadn't meant to say it exactly like that. She really had not meant to say it that way.

The look on her father's face was comical. She actually saw the moment he realized what she had just said. He shut his eyes and shook his head slightly. When he opened them he looked at the ceiling for a moment. It wasn't until he finally looked back at her that Kara realized he didn't know. Laura had said she'd told him, but it hadn't registered.

"Are you trying to tell me…no, there's no way. She said…she said she couldn't get pregnant and I believed her." He lay very still for a moment. "Damn."

"I'm going to go get something to drink," Kara said meekly. She felt sick. "Laura said she told you. I thought you knew. I really thought you knew. She's going to kill me. She is so going to kill me."

Her father's grip on her hand was a lot stronger than she thought it could be. "Not until we finish what you just started. Laura told you she's pregnant before she told me?"

"She wouldn't have told me if I hadn't guessed it when she started puking her guts up this morning. She's been having morning sickness. I asked her if you'd…if you'd gotten her pregnant and she said you had. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to tell you like this. I really thought you knew."

Again the look on her father's face was comical. "How does she feel about it? What did she say?"

"We didn't talk about it, okay. That's between you and her."

"Did she seem like she was upset? She probably _really_ hates me now."

"That's why she sat by your bed holding your hand all night. That's always a sure sign that somebody hates you, sitting in a chair with her head on the bed."

"She was here all night?"

"All night, Daddy. She was here when I got here early this morning. The only reason she went back to Caprica City is that the President ordered her to. She's going to charter a flight and take you back as soon as the doctor up here says you can be moved."

"A baby." He grinned suddenly and then grimaced in pain.

"Take the medicine or I'm leaving." She watched her father press the button on the morpha pump. She watched his body relax, the pain lines on his face smooth out, the grin return. "Hey," she squeezed his hand, "maybe I'm going to get that brother after all."

"It'll be a girl," her father said as he drifted off, but he was still grinning. "Another smart-mouthed little girl who will give me hell." And then he said something that Kara didn't understand. He said, "That's another good example of karmic justice."

...

Lee forgot about the small package that the MP had handed him to give to Major Parker until he was leaving the major's office. His father was staying behind to wait for the President to call him back. Lee took the parcel out of his pocket and handed it to the major.

Parker looked at it blankly for a moment and then said, "Oh, yes, this is the chip from the newsman's camera. He's the only one who managed to get any record of what happened. Why don't you take it and look at it while we wait. I don't think Darren's guys saw anything that warranted following up, but he sent it to us for a look, too."

Lee took the package to his desk and opened it carefully. He plugged the chip into the docking station on his computer and opened the software that let him view it. The short clip was barely two minutes in length. The cameraman had been standing facing the steps of the ship. He saw John near the left-hand side of the frame, he saw the edge of the luggage carrier as it was driven up beside the ship. The camera focused on Laura and he saw her descend the steps. She really did have nice legs. He saw John glance back at her and then step in front of her. He saw the bullets strike John and saw him go down. He saw the Marine grab Laura and pull her to the tarmac. Then the image began to jump and Lee realized the cameraman was running backward. The Marines were firing their weapons. The gunman was hit multiple times and went down, but there was never a clear shot of his face. He saw one of the Marines approaching and putting his hand over the camera lens. That was it.

As hard as it was to watch his friend get shot, Lee played the clip several more times. He played it in slow motion. He couldn't put his finger on what it was, but something seemed slightly off. He copied the short clip onto the hard drive of his computer and opened it in software that let him digitize the images. Then he was able to change the perspective and look at what happened from Laura's point of view and John's point of view.

It took him a half-dozen times before he saw what he thought was off about the assassination attempt. He didn't see it until he viewed it from John's perspective. He could see only the edge of the luggage carrier. John had been able to see all of it, and John had obviously seen Doral walk around the back of the carrier. That's what was off. John had stepped to the left in front of Laura a full three seconds before the pistol had been visible in the Doral's hand. Had it been intuition or had John known what was going to happen beforehand...or was the software simulation wrong?

Lee deleted the video from his hard drive. He removed the chip from the docking station and put it back in the envelope and locked the envelope in his desk drawer. Monday he would give it to Major Parker and tell him that he hadn't noticed anything unusual on it, nothing worth following up. If Parker looked at it and eventually found what he had, then they would deal with the consequences when it happened, but Lee wasn't going to put his best friend in a position of answering to Parker. John was going to have to answer to him.

...

Sunday morning the doctor had John moved from the Intensive Care Unit to what he called the IMC, short for Intermediary Care Unit. The room was larger and had a window and a phone. It also had its own bathroom with a shower.

The staff let John rest for an hour after the move and then had him sitting in a comfortable chair for nearly an hour.

One of the nurses explained to Kara that the sooner he was sitting up and moving around, the less the chance of blood clots and pneumonia. Kara understood the danger of pneumonia since many of the flu victims had succumbed to a form of pneumonia. The same nurse also explained that they would have him on his feet the next day and walking a short distance down the hall. Her father was fine with that. Kara could tell he already wanted to get out of the hospital.

The doctor had also reduced the amount of morpha he was getting. Kara understood that, too, even thought she didn't want her dad in pain. He wasn't sleeping nearly as much and Kara had gone on with her story, telling him little bits at a time and finding out what he had done during those three years, too.

Inevitably, though, she got to the part about finding the ancient stone altar in the woods and meeting Hugh Connelly. She told him the truth, even the part about the near-rape by the two older boys and how Hugh had saved her.

She realized her father was struggling with what she had just told him. "Hugh didn't mention that part. I was rough on him about you. I was afraid he'd taken advantage of you."

"No, he was never anything but nice to me."

"He kissed you, though, didn't he?"

"Yeah, he kissed me."

"Son of a bitch. I knew it. He told me nothing had happened between you and him, but I knew he was lying."

"Nothing did happen. We kissed. End of story. And it was just as much my fault as it was his, okay?"

"You were what, fourteen years old when it happened? He took advantage of you."

"I lied to him about my age. He's hot and good-looking and I was trying to impress him. I told him I was seventeen. It wasn't his fault. Why are you so hung up on my sex life, anyway? I've already told you it's none of your business."

"What do you mean your _sex_ life? You're sixteen years old. You're too young to have a _sex_ life."

"Did you have a sex life when you were sixteen?"

"When I was sixteen I was working on a fishing trawler."

"You didn't answer my question."

"And I'm not going to either."

"Then I'm not going to answer yours."

"Damn it, Kara. I'm your father. I love you. I just want to protect you."

Kara took a deep breath and then another. She was on the verge of really losing her temper. And then she thought about what they had both been through. Finally she said. "Okay, you want the truth, I'll tell you the truth because you aren't going to let it rest until I do, and then we aren't going to talk about it anymore. I just won't tell you any names. Do you agree? I tell you and then we drop it because it's done. You can't change it and neither can I."

"Is this going to really make me angry?"

"Probably."

She could tell he was weighing his decision. "Let's drop it. You're right. And Laura was right when she said what's done is done. If you kissed Hugh Connelly or even made out with some guy before now, I don't want to know. We can't change it. We wipe the slate clean and start from right now. Agreed?"

Kara smiled. She'd gotten off easy. "Agreed."

The phone in her father's room rang. Kara answered and found Lee on the other end.

"Hey, Lee," she said trying to keep her voice carefully neutral.

"How's John?"

"He's doing much better. They moved him out of the ICU."

"I know. I called the nurses' station and they transferred me."

"How was your flight back to Caprica City yesterday?"

"Fine."

She grinned. "How's Laura? I'm sure my father wants to know."

"Give me that phone," John said. "Please."

"Lee, my dad wants to talk to you. I'm going to hand the phone to him."

"All right. I'll talk to you later. I'm glad John's better."

John came on the line. "Hey, Lee."

"You sound better. Not as hoarse."

"I want to thank you for bringing Kara up here and then getting Laura back to the city."

"Don't mention it. As soon as your doctor releases you to travel, Laura is going to charter a ship and come get you. I'm going to ride along, too."

"I think he's going to release me next Saturday or Sunday. I'm going to try to pin him down. He said a lot depends on me. I can promise you I want out of here."

"How's Kara doing?"

"She's doing fine. We're getting reacquainted. She was just telling me about life in the camp. About some of the people she met there."

"I'll bet that's interesting. John, I've got a couple of questions to ask you about the shooting, but it can wait until I see you."

"Lee, I've tried to remember. I've really tried, but I can't remember the shooting. I even asked the doctor. He said it's not uncommon after something traumatic like that not to have any memory of it."

"What's the last thing you do remember?"

"Landing in Sovana. That's the last thing I remember."

"Okay. We'll still talk sometime. I'll call you again tomorrow night."

Lee hung up and went back out onto the patio with his father.

"How's John?" Bill asked.

"He sounds a lot better than he did early yesterday morning."

"That's good."

"Dad, I need to talk to you about John. Do you think…I'm not really sure how to ask this…do you think he could have some kind of inside track with…I don't know…information that wouldn't be available to the average person?"

"Are you asking me if I think John is in the resistance?"

Lee breathed a sigh of relief. His father had said it, not him. "I guess that's what I'm asking."

"John's been in the resistance for the last two and a half years."

"You…knew? You knew and you didn't do anything about it?"

His father seemed amused. "I'm surprised he didn't tell you, as close as you two are."

"No…he never…I didn't have a clue."

"On second thought, I'm not surprised. John would never have risked compromising you like that. Not with the kind of job that you have."

"But he told you? He didn't mind compromising you?"

"He's kept me informed of what the resistance has been up to in Caprica City so I guess you could say he's been working for me, too. Anything the resistance has done in Caprica City in the last two years I've known about ahead of time, sanctioned missions anyway. Some of the missions we even planned together. A lot of the things they stole from Cylon shipments, the electronics and phones, have ended up with people who are helping me and my plan. John and I are in agreement about how much they can safely do."

"Even blowing up Baltar's lab?"

"I didn't approve of that. That's the one thing John did that I asked him not to do, but he has some really strong feelings about what Baltar and crew were doing out there."

Lee was so stunned that for a moment he couldn't say anything. Finally he said, "But you let him do it anyway?"

"I owed him and he promised me they would stop after that. He kept his word. You'll notice that the resistance in Caprica City has been very quiet for the last several months. Sovana is another story, but John's not involved with that radical bunch."

"How could John make a promise like that about the resistance?"

"He's near the top, son. He's been next to the top man here in the city for two years, but he's getting out. He told me at lunch several weeks ago that he's getting out. He's doing it because of her…because of Laura. After what happened with Cavil at the University last month, John's too afraid that something would happen and Cavil could somehow tie something the resistance did back to Laura. I'm not sure it matters now, anyway. Laura is resigning."

"Why?"

"She's pregnant with John's baby and she's not married. She would never put the President in the position of either asking for her resignation or having to defend her publicly. If you want my opinion, John should marry her."

"John loves her. I'm sure he'll marry her if she wants him to. Can I change the subject, Dad? I need to ask you something about the Academy."

"Shoot."

"Is it a rule that you can't attend the Academy until you're eighteen?"

"I don't know. Why do you ask?"

"John's daughter Kara wants to go this fall and she'll only be seventeen."

"That's a question for Colonel Winters. Laura has an inside track with him. Maybe she could find out for you."

"That's a good idea. I'll ask her."

"Why does Kara want to go to the Academy?"

"Because she wants to be a Viper pilot like John was."

"I wish we could train pilots faster or train more of them at a time. Well-trained Viper pilots are a big part of my plan."

"Why can't we train more of them?"

"I'm afraid it would alert the Cylons and make them suspicious."

Lee thought about what his father had just said. "I wonder if they would notice an increase of just ten or twenty students per class? Basic flight was one of my smallest classes at the Academy. With a few more good teachers for the classes and simulator training and then a few more instructors in Fight School, there's a chance we could increase the number of pilots by fifty percent."

Bill pondered what Lee had said. "I think I'll go talk to Colonel Winters. I'm sure Laura can find the money in her education budget to help us. The problem is finding good Viper pilots to serve as teachers. By the time Conrad Burgher has finished putting students through his Basic Flight class and then his simulator exercises, he's weeded out almost every single student who won't make it through Flight School. We need more like him but I don't know how to find them. I can hardly run an on-line advertisement."

An idea began to slowly form in Lee's mind. He remembered that long-ago night on the _Galactica_ when John had used salt and pepper shakers to show a dozen Viper pilots some of the Cylon's basic moves. He remembered how John had talked to the pilots before their first combat, how John had talked strategy with some of them on the hangar deck. Would John even consider it?

Lee finally said to his father. "I don't know how he feels about it, but I know where you might find one."

Bill knew immediately who he was talking about. "John loves flying too much, son. I doubt you'd get him on the ground and into a classroom."

"Even if Colonel Winters lets John's daughter go to the Academy a year early in return for John teaching for a year?"

Bill smiled. "There's a lot of your grandfather in you. You would have made a fine attorney. That's exactly the kind of argument he would have come up with. Of course you're taking for granted that John wants his daughter to become a Viper pilot."

Lee smiled, too. "I really doubt he will be able to stop her if that's what she wants. Something tells me that it won't be too long before she has him wrapped around her little finger."

...

"You want to do _what_?" John asked Kara.

"Go to the Academy this fall and be a Viper pilot like you were."

"You can forget that right now."

"Why? Why can I forget that right now?" Kara retorted hotly.

"Because the Viper pilots that are being trained now are going against Cylon Raiders one day in the not-too-distant future. I'm not going to let you risk your life like that."

"You did."

"That's different."

"How is it different? You don't think I'd be good enough?"

"I know you'd be good enough. But I didn't have anybody twenty-five years ago. It was just me. I had no family. You've got a family. You've got me and soon you'll have Laura…if she'll marry me, and there's the baby. You've got a family."

"I want to be a Viper pilot," Kara said stubbornly. "You won't be able to stop me as soon as I turn eighteen. I'll do it anyway."

John lay back against the pillow. He was taking deep and painful breaths. "I don't want to fight about this, Kara. I'm not up to it right now."

"I'm sorry," she said. "I'll let you get better and then we'll fight about it."

"Deal," he said. "Let me get better and then we'll fight about it. But the answer will still be no."

"You won't win this one," Kara said smugly. "I'm going to be a Viper pilot and fight the Cylons just like you. It's called karmic justice."

"Damn," John said. "I should never have told you what that means."

"I'll bet when you were flying your Viper and drinking your whiskey and sleeping with your women, you never dreamed you'd have a smart-mouth daughter one day who would give you hell, did you?"

Her father finally smiled. "No, baby, I never dreamed I'd be that lucky."

TBC…


	36. Karmic Justice Part II

Chapter 36

Karmic Justice Part II

_The fuel shortage on Caprica that had kept air travel between cities to a minimum for almost a year was resolved by a steady and increasing number of tylium barges coming from the former Colony of Tauron and its ore-rich polar regions. Few knew in the beginning that the mining operation was run by the former prisoner Tom Zarek with volunteer prisoner labor, but upon that fact being published, the general populace was in agreement that the only important fact was the supply of ore now reaching the refineries on Caprica._

_-Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War_

Laura Roslin called the hospital on Sunday evening and was put through to John's room.

Kara answered the phone. As soon as she realized who it was, Laura heard her voice became soft and contrite. "I'm so sorry. I thought he knew. I told him."

"Told him?" Laura asked, puzzled at first and then she understood what Kara meant. "Oh. How did he take it?"

"He's smiling a lot more than he was. I think he's happy. He's got his hand out right now. I'm going to have to give the phone to him."

"Hi," John said. "I'm so glad you called."

"Hello, John. You sound much better."

"I'm doing better, I think. How are you? Kara said you were sick, had been sick, morning sickness."

Laura smiled even though he couldn't see her. "Your daughter was very kind and helpful to me yesterday morning. She'd seen it in the camp. She knew exactly what was wrong with me."

"Yeah, about that…"

"John, I know you're upset. I know you think I lied to you…"

"Whoa, Laura, stop. I'm not upset. I'm happy. And I've got a question I'm going to ask you, but I'm not going to do it over the phone. I want to be looking at you when I ask it. You can probably guess what it is, so be thinking about how you're going to answer me."

"I want to explain it to you, explain how I…"

"Laura, it doesn't matter. Don't you understand I love you? I couldn't be happier about this."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. Sometime when I'm back in Caprica City and we're sitting by the fire, you can tell me, but not now. It doesn't matter to me how it happened. It did, and I'm happy. I just hope you're okay with it. I know you being happy about is too much to ask."

"Why do you say that?"

"Your career."

"I'm resigning. I've got my letter of resignation ready. I see the President on Tuesday. I'm going to give it to him then."

"Is that what you want to do? You want to resign?"

"Not really, but I can hardly keep my position…considering."

"Please do me a favor and wait. Wait just one week before you do something like that. Wait until we see each other again and we have a chance to talk about this face to face. Will you do that for me?"

"I suppose I could. Yes, I'll wait."

"You don't hate me for what happened, do you?"

"Oh, gods, no, John. I don't hate you. I never hated you. I love you."

There was a long silence. "You do?"

"Is that so hard to believe?"

"I…You aren't just saying that because I…because I saved your life, are you? Because if you are…"

"John, I'm saying it because I mean it. Now we're going to wait to talk about this until we see each other again. All right? I don't want to do this over the phone, either."

"Okay, Laura, okay."

"How are things going with Kara?"

"Interesting. She's giving me hell."

In the background Laura heard, "Don't listen to him. He's giving me hell, too."

Laura laughed. "It sounds like there's some real father-daughter bonding going on."

"You might say that."

"I'm glad you're getting along so well. When do you think I can come get you?"

"I think the doctor is going to let me go on the weekend. If he can take the chest tube out tomorrow or Wednesday, then he'll release me to the care of a doctor in Caprica City on Saturday or Sunday. I can't wait to get out of the hospital and back home."

"I'm making all the arrangements on this end. As soon as you know, let me know."

"I will. I love you, Laura."

"I love you, too, John. I'll call you tomorrow and I'll see you this weekend."

She hung up and sighed. She was sure John was going to ask her to marry him. She wasn't going to tear up her letter of resignation just yet, but she wasn't going to give it to the President, either.

o

Layne Ishay, the ICU nurse who had asked Kara to go to the cafeteria with her on Saturday night, came by on Monday morning and called Kara out into the hall. "I brought you something," she said as she handed Kara a bag. "My sister is about your size and I had bought this t-shirt and pair of jeans for her, but I can get her something else. I know you'd like a change of clothes. I'll be glad to take yours home and wash them. I'll come by tonight on my way home."

Kara was touched by her thoughtfulness. "Really?"

"Sure. There's a new package of knickers in there, too. And a couple of paperback romances. I don't know if you read romances. I do."

Kara smiled. "That's even better. Thank you…just, yeah, thank you."

"Don't mention it. I'm going on shift in the ICU, but if I can do anything for you, let me know. We can go to lunch together if you'd like. I'm working seven a to seven p today."

"That's my shift when I work. Three days on and three days off. Seven a to seven p."

She went back into her father's room. The IMC room had its own bathroom. Her father was asleep, so she went in, locked the door. She took a shower and washed her hair. She could only towel-dry it, but she didn't care. She felt so much better. She put on the jeans and t-shirt. It had the logo of a rock band on the front. The jeans were a little big, but that didn't matter. Everything was clean.

She left John sleeping and rode the elevator down to the cafeteria and ate breakfast. Then she followed the signs and walked outside. She turned on the mobile phone. She didn't care if Frogman saw this call. She punched in Jack's direct number at MediFirst. When he answered she said, "Hi, it's Carrie."

"What's up?"

"I know I was supposed to be back at work tomorrow morning, but I need to take this week off."

"The whole week?"

"Yeah, the whole week. I'm out of town. Something has happened. I'm okay and it has nothing to do with…my… uh, other friends so don't worry about me. When I get back this weekend I'm going to come see you. I've got something to talk to you about."

"You're not getting ready to quit, are you?"

"No, but you're going to fire me."

"Why would I do that? You're my best rider."

"I'll tell you all about it this weekend."

"You're sure this has nothing to do with your…other friends? You haven't been arrested, have you? This isn't a phone call from jail, is it?"

"No, Jack, nothing like that. I swear. I'll call you when I get back into Caprica City."

She hung up. She was sad that she was going to lose her job. She really did love riding that bike.

o

Later that morning Kara watched as a big guy wearing scrubs helped her father walk down the hall and back. She could see the determination on his face, but the short journey took a tremendous amount of effort on his part. When he got back to the room, he used the morpha pump for the first time that morning. "I can't believe I can only walk twenty feet without needing to stop and rest."

"This is only the third day after you got shot and nearly died. You shouldn't get discouraged."

"I'm trying not to, baby. I just don't like hospitals."

After lunch when he was sitting in the comfortable chair, he noticed the chain around her neck for the first time. The ring was under her t-shirt.

"I see you're still wearing your mother's dog tags."

"No, I…I took them off. This is a ring. I probably shouldn't have done it but I took the dead Viper pilot's wedding ring. I put it on the chain with the dog tags."

"Why?"

"I guess because…at the time it was…the dog tags and the ring meant you and her to me…you and my mom. I put you together with her and started thinking of you as married."

"But you took the dog tags off. Why?"

"It was a way to…I knew that if…I could be identified by those tags," she finished lamely. Gods, this telling the truth was going to get her in so much trouble with her father. Lee had no idea what he'd asked her to do.

"Kara, I don't understand exactly what you're saying. Why would you worry about being…identified? Why was that an issue?"

"Okay, Dad, the truth. I've been going by another name. I've been using the ID of a girl who died in the camp from the flu. She was a couple of years older. I…you've got to understand what it was like when we first got to the city. Jared, this friend of mine, paid the rent for the apartment, but I couldn't expect him to keep all of us up and feed us and pay for the utilities and everything. When I went to apply for a job they asked me for ID so I used hers…"

"Whoa. Slow down. You _used hers_? The girl who had died? How could you do that?"

"Jared had made another ID with my picture on it. The first job I had was a waitress in a bar and grill. I was still fifteen. Nobody would have hired me to work in a bar at fifteen."

"How old does this fake ID say you are?"

"I just turned twenty."

"_Twenty!_"

Kara could tell that upset him. "Look, I had to be eighteen to get the job riding the motorcycle."

"What happened to the waitress job?"

"I got fired after five weeks."

"Why?"

"Some guy…some drunk put his hand under my skirt. I almost broke his wrist. He threatened to sue the place. The manager fired me that night."

Her father smiled. "You did the right thing. I got no problem with that. You don't need to be working somewhere like that anyway. So how did you get the job riding the motorcycle?"

She told him about rescuing Galen Tyrol from the knife-wielding druggie and meeting Jack Fisk and about him taking a chance and giving her the job. She told him how much she loved delivering meds on the bike and how she was going to lose her job when she had to tell Fisk that she was only sixteen.

She also found out that Lee Adama had been exactly right because the next thing her father said was, "You won't need to work anymore. I'm going to take care of you."

"I want to work. I love riding that bike."

"Kara, if you love riding a motorcycle that much, then I'll buy you one."

"Damn, Lee was right about that, too."

"Lee was right about what?"

"He said you would take care of me when I lost my job and that you'd buy me a bike if I wanted one."

"When did Lee tell you that?"

"Saturday morning in the cafeteria before he took Laura back to Caprica City."

"You know you never did tell me exactly how you and Lee met. Since we're talking about Lee, you can tell me now?"

"After that lab burned, I got called in for questioning along with about a thousand other motorcycle riders."

"Lee questioned you?"

"No, this other guy questioned me, a guy named Ackerman. He got rough with me and Lee helped me out."

"Got rough? What did he do?"

"He slammed my head into the table and knocked me out. It cut me over the eye and it was bleeding…see, I still have this little tiny scar…and I pulled the switchblade on him and I ran into Lee in the hall and he helped me and…"

"Whoa. Stop. Stop a minute." Kara could tell her father was putting something together. She could tell just by the way he was looking at her. Finally he said, "Gods damn it. I don't believe it. I don't frakking believe it."

"What?" Kara asked fearfully. Her father's green eyes had taken on a look that scared her.

"Which leg?" He asked in a voice rough with emotion.

"What do you mean?"

"Which leg did you take the bullet in?"

Oh, gods. Oh, my gods. He knew. Lee had told him about her. He knew about her and that night at the lab. He knew about the resistance.

"The left one," she said meekly. "It wasn't that bad…really…I did okay." She got out of her chair and knelt beside his. She took his hand. "Daddy, I'm okay."

His hand tightened almost painfully on hers. "You could have died that night."

"I didn't."

"That's why you took off your mother's dog tags, isn't it? You're in the resistance."

She couldn't look at him. She kept her head lowered and nodded. "I'm going to get out. I'm going to get out and I'm going to the Academy."

"Kara, look at me." Slowly she raised her eyes to his. "Do you have any idea how dangerous a mission you were on that night?"

He was rubbing her hand, unconsciously, massaging her hand just like the tall guy had done that night and suddenly Kara knew. She knew. Her eyes opened wide. "You…that was you…that night…you…"

"Yeah, baby, that was me. You saved my life. I had no idea. Gods, when I think that we were together that night and I didn't know. I didn't know."

There had to have been a hundred things she wanted to say to him at that moment, but she couldn't think of one…not a single one. They simply stared at each other…father and daughter…letting this new knowledge sink in until she leaned over and put her cheek against his hand. Very slowly and painfully he moved his right arm until his other hand was on her head. He smoothed back her hair.

"I thought you were dead," she said softly. "I thought when the lab blew and you went over the handrail of the fire escape and you didn't get up right away, I thought you were dead."

"I was knocked out for a minute."

"Yeah, I know. I…I kept the guards from coming back there until you and the other guy were up. I shot out the lights along the back fence. Oh, gods, if I'd known it was you, I could never have stayed up on that hill. I'd have been down there with you."

"And all three of us would have died."

"Was that you flying the little helicopter?"

"No, that was the other guy. I maybe could have, but not as well as he did. He's been flying choppers almost as long as I've been flying ships."

She lifted her head and looked at him. "You're not still doing dangerous stuff like that, are you?"

"No, I'm getting out. I've mostly gotten out. And you are too. You're getting out, too."

Kara's eyes opened wide again. "You're the second in command in the resistance in Caprica City, aren't you? I carried a message about you to my contact. He moved up to number five."

"From Mrs. Peele. That would mean your contact is..." her father appeared to be thinking, maybe going down a list in his head. "Your contact is Frogman."

"That's right. You know him?"

"Just his nickname. We've never met, but I'll let you set up a meeting with him after I get better. I'll let him know you're out of it. They're not asking you to do anything but carry messages now anyway."

"How do you know that?"

"Who do you think sent word down to keep you out of harm's way?"

"You?"

"Me and the person above me agreed. After hearing from Lee how you got shot and that you were just _nineteen_, I felt like you'd done enough. And now we've got something else we need to talk about…Lee Adama."

"Lee's not in the resistance."

Her father took a deep breath. She could tell that he was struggling with strong emotions. "I know, baby, but you and him have slept together."

Damn. Damn. Damn. Lee had run his mouth about more than just meeting her and her part in the resistance.

"Dad, you can't blame him for that. He _did not_ know it was me. He thought I was nineteen and it was just as much my doing as it was his and I'm not going to talk about it."

"I'm not asking you to talk about it. I don't want you to _talk_ about it. He's already talked about it, and it's hard enough for me just knowing it happened, just knowing that until you met Lee you were a…a…you were innocent."

"I was a virgin until I met Lee, but I wouldn't exactly say I was _innocent_."

"And since that night? He said you weren't going to see him again. Has it happened since then?"

Kara looked away and shrugged.

John took a deep breath and looked at the ceiling. "Man, this is hard for me. Talk about karmic justice…my best friend and my daughter. Damn, it wasn't Bill and Laura after all. It was you and Lee. So what is it with you and him…what kind of relationship do you have?"

"We've kind of got a thing for each other."

"A _thing_? What does that mean?"

"It means…you know what it means. You and Laura have a _thing_ for each other."

"Are you telling me you and Lee are in love?"

Kara shrugged. "I'm not sure I'd call it love. That's a strong word. Neither one of us has said the L-word. We just have a thing for each other."

"Are you telling me that it's just a physical thing, a _sexual_ thing? You and Lee are just _hooking up_ with each other?"

She thought about Lee, about that last time they had been together and how good it had been. She knew she was blushing. She could feel the hot blood rising in her cheeks just remembering the unbelievably good sex they'd had that night. Twice. Gods, she hoped her father couldn't read her mind, couldn't look in there and see the way it was with her and Lee. She looked down.

"I wouldn't call it just _hooking up_. I don't know exactly what we've got," she finally said, still not looking at him. "After that first night I wasn't going to see him again, but he kept…showing up. Lee's good-looking and he's hot. I mean we definitely…yeah…we do have this…we do connect…but I think it's more than that. I said I wasn't going to talk about this to you and I'm not."

"Well, whatever you've got with him is going to stop. You're sixteen years old. You're too young to be having a…_thing_ with any guy. If you and Lee try to keep this up, he and I will tangle. I can promise you that, Kara. He's my best friend, but I'm not going to let him…keep having a _thing_ with my sixteen-year-old daughter."

"I'll be seventeen in August."

"What difference does that make?"

"I've been on my own for three years now. I feel like I'm older. I feel like I'm nineteen or twenty."

"Well, you're not."

"I can't suddenly go back to living like a kid. I've been living like I was nineteen or twenty for the last year. I go into a bar like Zeno's and order a beer…"

"You do _what_?"

"I go into Zeno's and order a beer. I go to the deli near where I used to live and order a beer. I don't get drunk. I don't do stupid stuff. I don't drink and ride the bike, but I like to go out sometimes and sit down with friends and have a beer or two. It's no big deal."

"Yes, it is a big deal. That's going to stop, too. You're going to move in with me and start behaving like you're sixteen. You're going to quit riding that motorcycle and you're going back to school. And you're going to give me that fake ID."

"Well, damn, Dad," Kara said hotly. "Why don't you just lock me in my room and throw away the key? Why don't you just take me to a temple and tell them to make a priest out of me? I would say make a Vestal Virgin out of me but it's a little late for _that_, don't you think?"

"That's enough of your smart mouth."

"I'll talk to Laura. She'll tell you what you're doing is _stupid_."

"You leave Laura out of this. You're _my_ daughter."

"She's going to be my step-mother, isn't she? You are going to marry her, aren't you?"

"If she'll have me."

"Better make that _have us._ We're a package deal. She gets you, she gets me."

"Yeah, yeah, I guess we are. Kara, I only want what's best for you. You lived through hell in that refugee camp. That was my fault for not continuing to look for you. I want to make it up to you. I want you to be happy."

"That was not your fault. And I didn't _live through hell_. There were times when it was rough, but I survived it, so quit beating yourself up over it. I'm fine. I did fine. And you need to quit thinking of me like I'm thirteen. I'm not a little girl anymore. I'm not the girl you left at Singer's airfield that night. I'm more like sixteen going on thirty. I grew up, Dad. While we were apart, I grew up. You're going to have a new baby soon and you can watch _him_ grow up."

"I thought we'd settled that," her father finally smiled. "Her. I can watch _her_ grow up."

"I'm not going to quit seeing Lee."

The smile disappeared. "You won't have to. He's going to give you up."

"You think so? You _really_ think so?"

"I know so. I'm going to ask him and he'll do it."

"You'd do that to your best friend? You'd make him choose between you and me?"

"No, I'm going to ask him to do the right thing. You're sixteen. Lee Adama is an honorable man just like his father, and the right thing will be to give up the _thing_ that you and him have got going on until you're older."

"How much older?"

"Eighteen. If you still want to see him when you're eighteen then I won't try to stop you."

"I could do a hell of a lot worse than Lee. You know that, don't you?"

"I do. And I won't try to stop you and Lee once you're eighteen, but right now you've got your whole life ahead of you and you won't be spending the next year and a half of it in bed with Lee."

Kara got up from where she had been kneeling by her father's chair. "I'm going for a walk. I need to get out of here for a few minutes." She had recognized the futility of continuing any conversation with her father about Lee.

"I'm sorry you're upset, baby, but that's just the way it's going to be."

"Quit calling me _baby_," she tossed angrily over her shoulder as she exited the room. "My name is Kara and I'm not a _baby_."

She left her father's room and walked to the other end of the hall to the ICU. She found Layne Ishay at the central nurses' station. "Hi," Layne said as she walked up. "Is everything all right? You look upset."

"I need to make a phone call, a long-distance phone call."

"You can use the phone in your father's room. The call will be put on his bill. His insurance probably won't pay for it, though."

"I don't want him listening to me."

"Oh," Layne said, catching on. "You want to call your boyfriend."

"Yeah, I want to call my boyfriend and I don't want my dad listening to me."

"You can take your mobile phone outside and make a call."

"This is a…a business phone. My, uh, boss is really strict about personal calls from this phone. I'd get in trouble if he sees I used it to call my boyfriend."

"Wow. He sounds like an ogre."

"It's complicated," Kara said thinking of Frogman and not wanting him to see Lee's number. "Is there a pay phone somewhere close by?"

"Tell you what, come with me." Layne got up from the desk and Kara followed her. They went to the staff locker room and Layne used a code to open her locker. She took out her mobile phone. "I've got unlimited minutes. Talk all you want."

Kara took the phone. "Thanks. Thanks a lot. I'll bring it back soon."

She went to the elevator, rode it down to the ground floor and walked outside. She was glad she had memorized Lee's number. She knew it was Monday and he flew his Viper on Monday, but it was the middle of the afternoon so she hoped he was back on the ground. He answered on the second ring.

"Hi, Lee, it's Kara."

"Hey. Where are you calling from?"

"I borrowed someone's mobile phone. I'm outside the hospital. Where are you?"

"I just got home from my weekly Viper training flight. I was getting ready to hit the shower. I was going to call tonight. How's John?"

"He's doing much better. He walked down the hall this morning with some big guy helping him. He's still in pain, but nothing like that first day. He's worried about his right arm. He told the doctor this morning that it still feels like it's asleep all the time. The doctor told him that the bullet had passed through right below his collar bone on that side and that there was a lot of swelling in there right now and it was probably pressing on the main nerve that runs down his arm."

"It's temporary, though, right? When the swelling goes down his arm will be all right?"

"The doctor said it may be a while before he knows. I could tell that freaked my dad out. The first thing he said was something about not being able to pass a flight physical. The doctor told him it was way too soon to start getting concerned over that. But I can tell it's really bothering him."

"Yeah, flying is important to your dad."

"I called about something else, though. I just wanted to warn you that he knows about us. He knows everything."

"Everything?"

"Everything. He knows about me being in the resistance and how we met and that we slept together."

"Damn, you've been a real little chatterbox, haven't you?"

"Hey, somebody else was the chatterbox first," Kara said angrily. "If you hadn't run your mouth about questioning Carrie Warner then he would never have connected us. What did you do, tell him you'd questioned Carrie and then slept with her? I did _not_ tell him that, but as soon as he figured out I was the girl you'd helped out in the interrogation room, he knew."

Lee cursed silently. He _had_ been the one who'd told John. "Look, Kara, John is my best friend. He's older and he's had a lot more experience than I have when it comes to…something like we did. I needed somebody to talk to. That first time …after we…when you said we couldn't see each other again I was…I didn't handle it too well, okay? I talked to John because it was really bothering me. I'm sorry, but yeah, I'm the one who told him. It's my fault."

Kara took a deep breath. "But what we did is _not_ your fault. I told him he couldn't blame you. I _wouldn't_ let him blame you."

"He's probably still ready to kick my ass. I knew this was going to happen. As soon as you told me who you were, I knew this was going to happen."

"I told him I wasn't going to give you up, and he told me that you would do the right thing because I was sixteen and that you would give me up. Is he right?"

Lee could hardly bring himself to say the words. "Yeah, Kara, he's right."

"So you're going to dump me and move on to somebody else just because of a couple of years?"

"I'm not going to dump you. And I'm not moving on to someone else. I still want to see you. I still want to go out with you. We're just not going to…we're not going to have sex."

"Oh, great. You and my dad…you both think you know what's right for me."

"I don't know what's right for _you_, Kara, but I do know what's right for _me_. And John understands that. He knows me."

Kara felt tears of frustration sting her eyes. In some ways life in the camp had been simple compared to what she was going through now. Even after she'd first gotten to Caprica City and had gotten the job riding the bike, life had been simple compared to this. Was growing up this hard for everybody? Damn. She kicked a pebble on the sidewalk and sent it ricocheting off a trash can. Damn.

"Are you all right?" Lee asked.

"No, I'm not all right. You and my dad are treating me like I'm still thirteen. I'm not thirteen anymore."

"I know you're not. Do you think this is going to be easy for me? Huh? Do you? Do you know what it does to me every time I think about what we did that last time we…were together? You think you're the only one who's going to have a rough time?"

"I guess not."

"Kara, let's just…we've got to just put this thing between us aside for a while. John needs to concentrate on getting well. He's not going to do that if he's worrying about you and me. I want you to promise me you'll quit giving him a hard time about us. Give him a break, Kara. He really loves you. He told me about some of the stuff he did while he was trying to find you. Believe me, he loves you."

"How do you know I'm giving him a hard time?"

"I know you. I know you've got a mouth on you. I watched your interview with Ackerman. I saw how you get when somebody pushes you. You push back. You push back hard."

"Yeah, you're right. I do have a smart mouth. My dad was quick to point that out three years ago."

"Give him a break, please. Let him get well, let him marry Laura, let them get settled. Then we'll talk about this again. If this…if whatever is between us is real, it will survive not having sex for a while. Will you give your father a break? Will you do that…for me…for us…but especially for him?"

"Okay. Okay. I'll quit fighting with him about us. You like my smart mouth, though, don't you? You remember what I did to you with my smart mouth the last time we were together, don't you?"

Just the thought of Kara's mouth on him caused an immediate response from his body. She was so right. He did like her mouth on him. He could almost feel the way she… "Oh, damn, Kara, don't. That's cruel."

"Yeah, well you think about that every time you start feeling proud of yourself for doing the _right thing_ and agreeing with my dad about what's best for _me_. You think about what I did to you with my smart mouth."

She ended the call and turned to go back inside with a smug smile on her face. Yeah, she was sure Lee Adama's shower was going to take longer today thanks to her.

o

Laura Roslin left President Adar's office on Tuesday morning. She had told him nothing of her personal situation. She had discussed only the incident in Sovana with him. He had told her they had some leads on who was responsible and that he would keep her informed. The meeting accomplished nothing except to show him that she was all right and had obeyed his directive to return to Caprica City.

She exited through his secretary's office. Gaius Baltar was waiting to enter.

"Dr. Baltar," she said in a cool tone of voice.

"Madame Secretary," he answered, equally as cool. "How is your…pilot?"

"Doing well…all things considered."

"Wonderful," Baltar said although the insincerity in his voice was clear. "I have an appointment with the President. I'm sure he's waiting on me." He started toward the door to the Octagon Office.

"Just a moment," the President's secretary said. "He's taken a phone call. You'll have to wait."

Laura smiled as she left the room. Gaius obviously had a much higher opinion of his importance than the President did.

Bill Adama was waiting for her in the hall. "Let's go get a cup of coffee."

Shadowed by her ever-present two Marine guards, she and Bill walked down the long corridor and up the steps that led into the Capitol Building. Five minutes later they were seated in the little tearoom.

"I don't do well with the smell of coffee," she smiled at him.

"I'd order a whiskey if I could, but I'll have a hot tea like you."

They gave their orders to the waitress. "You look good," Bill said. "How are you feeling?"

"Other than morning nausea, I feel remarkably well."

"No aftermath from last Friday? No nightmares…no other…psychological problems?"

"Nightmares, no, but I'm having trouble sleeping. That's nothing new, though."

"There are medicines for that."

"Not with the baby. I'll tough it out. I'm sure I'll be better once John is back here."

"Have you told him yet?"

"I didn't but his daughter did. She thought he already knew. John and I talked about it Sunday night. I think he's going to ask me to marry him."

"Good. I'm glad," Bill said, but the blue eyes belied his spoken sentiment. "You're going to accept?"

"Yes. If we get married I won't have to resign."

"Does that mean you might think about the Presidency in a couple of years?"

"That's too far in the future to make that kind of decision now."

Bill toyed with the teabag in his cup. "Is that the only reason you're going to marry John…to keep your job?" He asked without looking at her.

"No, my feelings for John are genuine. I do care for him."

Bill nodded without looking at her.

"Why did you warn me about him? Why did you tell me that he was a good man, but you didn't think he was the right man for me? Was it because of the resistance or is there some other reason? I'd like for you to be honest with me. I'm talking about the man who is going to help me raise our child. I think I deserve to know what prompted you to warn me about him."

"You know about his part in the resistance?"

"Yes, he told me."

"When?"

"Friday on our way to Sovana. No details, but he did confess. Is that what caused you to warn me?"

"Yes. I was afraid his activities would be linked to you. That's all Cavil needs to have you arrested for treason. He's determined to get you, Laura. Call it an old warrior's intuition. That's why I'd be happy if you wouldn't consider running for President. I don't think Cavil would ever let that happen."

"Do you think Cavil had something to do with what happened in Sovana? The President was rather evasive in saying anything about the investigation into the attempt…to…assassinate me. I'm sure you know as much as he does, maybe more. What can you tell me? And please don't lie and think you're _protecting_ me."

"This information is top secret. We're keeping it from everyone at the moment. We may never release it. The shooter was Aaron Doral…or rather a copy of him. He's a Cylon."

"Dear gods. Oh, dear gods. You're sure?"

"Certain. Agent Darren recognized him and sent the autopsy photos to Major Parker on Saturday afternoon. We concur with him. It's Aaron Doral."

"Then it wasn't the resistance like everyone thinks?"

"No, we're sure it wasn't the resistance. We think that the attempt was made in Sovana because the resistance is so strong and radical up there and the immediate conclusion would be to blame them. We believe Cavil is behind this."

"Based only on Doral being the shooter?"

"Think about it, Laura. He didn't get you at the University six weeks ago. He's had ample time to plan another attempt. I've talked to the President. We think you should have permanent protection."

"More Marines?"

"A bodyguard team."

"No, the answer is no. If Cavil is that determined to…to _get me_, then it won't make any difference how many men are guarding me. Remember what happened to my parents and my brother. They had a superb team of bodyguards and someone still got them. Cavil will eventually get me if he's that determined. I refuse to live my life like that. I'm putting my faith in your plan to get rid of the Cylons."

"You should at least talk it over with John. You've got him…and the baby…to consider."

"I will. If he's going to be my husband, then he should have a part in making the decision, but knowing him, he's going to say the same thing. John won't want to live our lives under constant guard, watched every minute."

"I'm only thinking of you, Laura. When I got that phone call last Friday, before I understood that you _hadn't_ been shot…" he didn't say any more, but Laura read in his eyes what he had been through. She saw his deep fear for her…and other even deeper feelings.

She put her hand across the table and squeezed his wrist. Her look conveyed what she couldn't say in words. _You're still in my heart just like I'm still in yours_.

"It's going to be hard getting used to calling you Laura Gallagher."

"I'm not taking John's name. I'm going to remain Laura Roslin. The baby will have his name, of course. But I'm going to keep my name. It's who I am."

Bill smiled. "How do you think John will feel about that?"

"He'll understand. He knows I didn't take my first husband's name."

"Where are you going to live?"

"We haven't had a chance to talk about that, yet. I'm going to bring him back to my apartment until he's better. I'm going to take at least a week off work, maybe longer if he needs me. Bill, he saved my life. I owe him that much."

"And his daughter?"

"I have a nice guest room if she'll consider it. Where is she living now?"

"I have no idea. You'll have to ask her. Or ask Lee. I'm sure he knows. In fact I'm surprised Lee hasn't called you. He wants you to ask Colonel Winters if someone can attend the Academy before he or she is eighteen."

"No, I haven't heard from Lee, but I'll be glad to call Chuck and ask. Is this for Kara?"

"Of course."

"I'll do it later today. How are your…plans coming along?"

"We got our first report from Zarek on Tauron late last week. They got enough of the equipment functioning to begin production in one mine. It's a start. I'm encouraged. Radiation levels appear to be holding steady, too. Still very low."

"Good. I'm glad. Do you have any idea why Gaius Baltar might have been waiting to see the President?"

"No, I don't, but I can probably find out."

"Do that if you would, please."

"One last question, Laura and then I'll let you get back to your office. Do you think Doral could be the Cylon mentioned in that letter you got?"

She thought about his question. "Gut feeling…no, no I don't. I think there's still another one out there."

Bill took her hand. "That's my feeling, too. Be careful, Laura. Please."

o

Kara returned the mobile phone to Layne Ishay. "Thanks. I really appreciate it."

"Don't mention it. Come get it anytime you need to talk to the boyfriend."

When Kara returned to her father's room, the mail cart was outside. The volunteer who pushed the cart handed her a stack of mail. "Thanks." Kara took it inside. Her father was propped up in bed but he wasn't asleep. She handed him the stack. "More love letters and marriage proposals and maybe a few get-well cards."

He grasped her arm. "Kara, I'm sorry. I over-reacted. We'll talk more when I'm better. I just feel like I'm getting started on the wrong foot with you when all I really want is what's best for you. I don't know what to do. I know you're not a little girl anymore, and I'm having trouble with that. I just want you to know that I love you, baby. There I go again calling you _baby_. I'm sorry. It's just that the last time I spent any real time with you, you were a baby. You weren't even three years old."

"Nobody has told me what to do for three years. And even before that, mom…mom wasn't the most hands-on mother. I was mostly raising myself even then. I'm not handling this too well, either." She thought about what she had just promised Lee. "I'll try to do better and quit giving you such a hard time. I'll do what you want about Lee. I want you to get well."

"We'll get through this. I promise you we will." He handed the stack of mail back to her. "Open them and read them to me, would you please, like you did yesterday." He lay back against the pillows and closed his eyes.

Kara opened each card and read it to him. Ninety-five percent of the cards were from women. "Man," she finally said. "You've had a lot of girlfriends."

He kept his eyes closed. "Out of all those cards I've only recognized one name. She worked for the same air cargo company I used to work for. And she wasn't exactly a girlfriend."

Kara opened the last card. There was a letter folded inside. "Who is Lissa?"

Her father opened his eyes. "She _was_ a girlfriend. I lived with her for a couple of years."

Kara handed the letter to him and watched him read it. When he finished, he leaned back, closed his eyes and said, "Damn."

"What?"

"Read it…just the middle paragraph. The rest is personal."

Kara took the letter and read.

_As for the job, I'm still working the long hours. I haven't been with you-know-who since that night you caught us together. When he sees me at work, he treats me like he barely knows me so I guess I found out what an asshole he really is. One of the girls who works here told me that he's frakking the Cylon so I guess I was just stupid to think he ever saw anything in me. The important thing I want to tell you since you seemed really interested is that we've succeeded in what we were trying to accomplish. Not exactly like planned, but a success of sorts. One of the human surrogates has made it past the first trimester and that's never happened before. We lost all of the paper records in the fire, but the computer backups were stored in another building so they were fine. Also S had taken some of the charts home to study and hers was one of them. S and GB spent weeks going over her chart and all my computer records once we got everything restored. They were looking for some anomaly that would have made her different but it was one of the lab techs who came up with what they think may have made the difference. She was talking to her and the woman told her she had just fallen madly in love with some guy and had almost backed out on the surrogacy but didn't because she needed the money. She's got two more little mouths at home to feed and no husband. Now GB has come up with the hypothesis that it's some endorphin or some other chemical that the brain secretes when you're falling in love that overcame the inherent genetic problems we'd dealt with in the past. Who knows? It makes as much sense as some of the other theories they've come up with. Now the big questions are-which endorphins or chemicals, which combination and can they be synthesized? So we've still got our work cut out for us but it looks like in about five and a half months we may have our first h/c hybrid birth. I don't know if the father is S or C or some other Cylon we don't know about. S sure doesn't act like he's going to be a dad, but then he's a Cylon and what do they know about being parents? _

_I still think about you a lot and wonder if you'd consider… _

Kara stopped reading, folded the letter and handed it back to her father. "So that risk we took was for nothing."

"It looks that way, doesn't it?"

"Who is C?

"Cavil. GB is Gaius Baltar and S is Simon."

"So when we blew up that place in January, that woman was already pregnant?"

"So it would seem."

No wonder her father was depressed. She was depressed, too. "So what can we do now?"

"Nothing. The only good thing is that it doesn't look like they've been able to repeat that one success."

"Does Laura know about the lab?"

"She knows what was going on out there. I just told her I was in the resistance on Friday. I didn't tell her I was one of the ones who blew it up. It would be better if we don't mention that to her."

"Are you going to tell her about the hybrid baby?"

"I don't know, yet. I'm going to have to think about that. There's another Cylon in Caprica City. I wonder if he's the father."

Without thinking Kara said, "I doubt it. He doesn't know what he is."

"So you were the one who wrote the letter to Laura."

"Yeah, that was me."

"We really need to know who he is."

"Why, so you can tell your resistance buddies and they can go kill him? I wouldn't tell Lee for the same reason. He's nice. He doesn't know what he is. He thinks he's a human."

"He needs to be watched."

"I'm watching him...sort of."

"Not like he should be watched. I guess you're absolutely sure he's a Cylon?"

"I killed him that night at the lab."

"And then you saw him again?"

"I was riding my motorcycle and I saw him on the sidewalk outside a shop. Later I went in there. It was him. No doubts at all. The one I killed was the one from the refugee camp in Antioch. That's where I first saw him."

"So this Cylon runs a shop in Caprica City?"

"He said he'd run it for six years. He said he'd lived there all his life."

"Cylons get implanted memories, Kara. Don't you understand that they could implant him with any memories they wanted to. According to Bill they've got hundreds of them stored electronically, not to mention their ability to program their models."

"We're going to get rid of them," she said smugly. "We're going to get rid of all the Cylons."

Her father smiled. "Just how did you come by that information? Lee?"

"Not Lee. I just know it. And I'm going to play a part in it. It's my destiny."

"Your destiny?"

"Yeah, now that I'm not Carrie any more, I can go back to the Oracle and she can tell me what it is I'm going to do."

"Oracle? I'm afraid to ask," her father said like he was amused.

"She told me that I was living a lie and that she couldn't talk to me while my life was about deception. She knew a lot of stuff. She told me about six men in my life. She said one was seeking me. Now I know that was you. She knew about us, about you and me. She's blind. She couldn't see me and she still told me I was Posiden's green-eyed daughter."

"She told you _what_?" He didn't seem amused any longer.

"That I was Posiden's green-eyed daughter. After that I remembered how you used to take me into the waves at the beach when I was just a little girl. That's what she was talking about. She knew."

"Damn. That's just plain spooky."

"Yeah. She knew about you and me…that you were like the sea god Posiden."

"It's spookier than that, Kara. My nickname with the resistance is Posiden. It's a tribute to my father. He earned his living from the sea."

Kara thought about what her father had just said. Her respect for the Oracle went up. She really did know what was going on.

"You'll have to go with me when I go back to see her."

"I don't believe in that stuff, Kara. It's just a scam to get your cubits. She made a lucky guess. What does she have, neon lights in a storefront somewhere, a hand and an all-seeing eye?"

"No. I had to ask to even find her. She's got a little place down by the waterfront, near the Fifty-Third Street pier."

"Holy Hera. You didn't go down around the Fifty-Third Street pier by yourself, did you?

"Rode the subway and then walked. I was fine."

"Well if you think you have to go back, I'll go with you. You have no business in that section of town. It's not safe."

"Damn," Kara said. "Here we go again."

o

Laura walked back into her office after having tea with Bill. Adele handed her several forms indicating missed calls.

"Scott Mickelson was particularly anxious for you to call him back."

Laura took the forms, went to her office, sat at her desk and thumbed through them…Scott Mickelson, several educators wanting to talk budget no doubt, and Hugh Connelly.

She returned Mickelson's call first. "Laura," he said when the call was put through to him, "I hope you're doing well. I nearly had a heart attack when I first heard the news on Friday."

"I'm fine Scott. How are you?"

"Good. Have they caught anyone yet?"

"I don't think so. I'm not being kept in that loop. What's on your mind?"

"I heard through the grapevine that your secretary is retiring. Is that true?"

"Yes it is, much to my heartbreak. She's wonderful and efficient. I am really going to miss her."

"Have you hired anyone yet?"

"Not yet. I've barely had time to start interviewing. Why?"

"I've got a candidate for you…and a huge favor to ask."

"Oh, Scott, this is not another one of your little indiscretions who needs to be hushed up with a job, is she?"

"No, Laura, I swear to you she's not mine."

"But she is someone's?"

"One of our biggest campaign contributors. She's working as an administrative assistant in his law firm right now. They've been…involved…for the last year and since they've been in Kinsdale, I think they've been less than discrete. His wife found out and he's had to fire her. He called me yesterday and _asked _me to find a job for her. When someone contributes as much to our party's campaign as he does, a request like that translates into an order. Since I'd heard Adele was leaving, I immediately thought of you."

"Oh, Scott, I don't want some little hot-to-trot _skirt_ working for me. I need someone competent and professional."

"Will you at least interview her? I think she's got several years of good experience. Her job skills have nothing to do with why he's had to let her go. He made that very clear. Please as a favor to me, will you at least interview her? If you don't want to hire her, I'll try to find a place for her on my staff."

"Yes, as a favor to you I'll talk to her, but I'm making no promises. Have her send a copy of her resumé to Adele and schedule an interview. What's her name?"

"Foster. Tory Foster. She'll be back in the city before the weekend."

"You owe me, Scott."

"As always. Take care of yourself, Laura."

They hung up. Gods, why did she let people talk her into doing favors like this? Now she was going to have to waste a perfectly good half-hour on an interview that would not result in an offer.

She called the number Adele had written for Hugh Connelly. "Hello, Hugh, it's Laura Roslin."

"Laura, hello. I saw the news last week. I've called several times but you weren't in and I didn't leave a message. How are you and how is Captain Gallagher?"

"I'm fine. John's still in the hospital in Sovana, but he's going to pull through. I'm going to bring him back here this weekend, I hope."

"Good. I'm so glad to hear that. I've thought about both of you so much since it happened."

"Thank you. I appreciate that."

"I have some good news. I got the teaching position at the Academy. I want to thank you again for the reference you gave me. I know it played a big part in me getting the job."

"Congratulations. And you got that job because of your own skills and abilities, not because of me."

"Well whatever the reason, I got it and I'm ecstatic. So is Stacey. I'm coming to Caprica City in the next couple of weeks to look for an apartment and to make arrangements for us to move as soon as school is out this spring. I've got an appointment with Colonel Winters and one with Major Whitstone to discuss the curriculum. I may start teaching as soon as the summer."

"Hugh, that's wonderful. I have some news, too. We found Kara or rather she found us. She saw the news about her father getting shot. It turns out that she knows John's best friend and he got her to Sovana. So Kara and her father have been reunited."

"That's wonderful. That's great. I imagine that was some reunion."

"It had all of us in tears."

"I hope I get to see both of you when I get to Caprica City in several weeks. I'd like...I'd really like to see Kara again."

"Call me closer to time. I'm sure we will be able to arrange something."

They hung up. Before she returned any other calls, she buzzed Adele and asked her to try to get Colonel Winters at the Academy. She was lucky and got through to him.

"Charles Winters," he said when Adele connected her.

"Hello Chuck. It's Laura."

"Laura, how are you and how is John?"

"I'm fine and John is improving."

"That's great. What can I do for you?"

"I have a question about the Academy entrance requirements regarding age. Could someone enter the Academy at seventeen?"

"It happens all the time. We have any number of students who don't reach their eighteenth birthday until right after classes start."

"I'm specifically asking about John's daughter. She will have just turned seventeen when the semester starts in the fall."

"John Gallagher has a daughter?"

"You didn't know that?"

"No, I didn't. I didn't know he'd ever married."

"He didn't. Kara is his child from a long-term relationship he had with a woman on Picon. He got Kara off the planet the night after the base star exploded, but her mother refused to leave. She was a Marine and stayed behind with her unit. It's a very long story, but John and Kara were separated right after he landed on Caprica. They were just reunited. She wants to attend the Academy and become a Viper pilot like John. Would that even be possible this year?"

Colonel Winters was silent for a moment. "I'll tell you what. Have her take the entrance test in either April or May. We're doing something special for young people who were in the refugee camps and may not have finished school. Let's see how she does on it. If her scores are high enough, we'll talk about the possibility of admitting her this year."

"Oh, thank you, Chuck. I really appreciate this."

"Damn, a daughter. I can't believe John ever got caught that way."

Laura felt herself begin to blush and was glad Colonel Winters couldn't see her. "Accidents do happen."

"Apparently they do. I guess you and John are still an item?"

"You might say that."

"Well, you let me know when you get tired of him. I'm a phone call away."

Laura laughed. "Oh, don't worry. I've got your number, Chuck."

She hung up and wondered how he would feel if she invited him to her wedding.

o

The following Sunday just before noon Laura arrived at the hospital in Sovana. She had not had to charter a private medical transport to bring John back to Caprica City after all. The President had told Bill Adama to arrange a military medical transport. There were only two extra seats on the ship and since the other seat would be needed for Kara on the return trip, Lee had not been able to go with her. He told her he would drop by to see John the next day. He didn't say anything more to her, but Laura got the feeling that he wasn't looking forward to his next meeting with John.

She had gone by John's apartment and had his landlady's housekeeper let her in. She had gotten a pair of slacks and a shirt like John had asked her to do. He was adamant that he was not going to make the trip home in a hospital gown.

The door to his hospital room was partially open when she arrived, and John was sitting in the comfortable chair. He and Kara were playing cards on his tray-table. From the look of it, John was winning.

"No fair…no fair," she heard Kara say before John looked up. She watched the smile suffuse his face.

"Hi," he said.

Kara turned. "Oh, hey, come on in. I'm just going down the hall for about…however long you need. I'll be in the waiting room."

Laura grasped Kara's arm and squeezed it as they passed. Kara smiled and raised her eyebrows before continuing out and closing the door behind her.

Laura walked over to John and put the small bag with his clothes on the bed. John was still smiling. He reached for her hand, took it and drew her nearer to him. Then he put his hand on her belly.

"It's really true? We've got a little girl in there?"

Laura smiled. "I can't promise you it's a girl. But it's definitely a baby."

He took a deep breath. "Okay, here's what we're going to do. I need to get dressed. We've got something to talk about, but I'm going to be wearing pants when we talk. So instead of asking you to undress me like I usually want you to do, I'm going to ask you to help me get my clothes on. I think I can do most of it, but I'm still having a little trouble with my right arm.

_A little trouble_ was an understatement. He did almost everything with his left hand, but between the two of them they got the khaki slacks and blue shirt on him. Laura buttoned it for him. He took her hand and slowly led her to the elevator.

"Where are we going?"

"Just down a couple of floors…a little place Kara and I found yesterday when she was walking with me."

They got off on the third floor and he led her down the hall and into a small conservatory that was filled with green and flowering plants and had a small fountain in the center. He had her sit down on a bench. She thought he was going to sit beside her, but he knelt on one knee instead. He took her hand.

"I love you. Laura Roslin, will you marry me?"

Even though she was prepared for his question, tears still came to her eyes. She struggled until she could speak and even then she barely managed to get her answer out.

"Yes." The tears spilled over. "Yes, I will."

It took him a few moments to regain his composure. "I'm sorry I don't have a ring. I wanted to have a ring, but…"

"John, that's not important. We'll talk rings and plans when you're feeling better. Just…just sit here beside me for a minute." She patted the bench and he got up and sat on her right side so he could put his left arm around her. She put her head on his shoulder. She'd almost lost him…she'd almost lost him, but she hadn't. He was here with her. He loved her. The gods had answered her prayers. They were going to raise a child together. She breathed a deep contented sigh. What more could she want right now?

Kara was the one who found them kissing ten minutes later. "Sorry to break up this romantic scene, but the doctor is looking for you. He's got your discharge papers and he wants to talk to you."

They got up. With John in the middle holding both Laura's and Kara's hands they rode the elevator back up to the eighth floor.

"So when's the wedding?" Kara said as soon as the elevator door closed.

"I'm going to let Laura plan that whenever and however she wants," John smiled.

"I'm going to need some help," Laura looked around John at Kara. "Are you available?"

"Me? I don't know anything about planning weddings."

"Yeah, she skipped that part and went straight to the honeymoon," John said, but his voice was light and teasing.

"Just like you did," Kara shot back, but her voice was teasing, too.

Laura smiled. "Like father, like daughter?"

Kara laughed. "See there. Laura understands."

"It's karmic justice. That's what it is."

"Kara will be my maid of honor, of course."

"Does that mean I have to wear a _dress_?"

"I think it might. Is that going to be a problem?"

"I don't guess so. Who's going to be your best man, Dad?"

"I was thinking of asking Bill Adama."

"Bill?" Laura and Kara said together.

John was grinning. "Do either of you have a problem with Bill?"

"What about Lee? I thought Lee was your best friend. It will really hurt his feelings if you don't ask him. Why aren't you going to ask Lee? Is it because of me? Is it my fault?" Kara was nearly stammering.

The elevator door opened on the eighth floor and they started down the hall toward her father's room. "Lee?" John asked. "Would that be the same Lee that you think is good-looking and _hot_?"

"You see," Kara said to Laura, "you see what I've had to put up with?"

"Am I going to have to referee my first fight between my fiancé and his daughter?"

John grinned again. "I was just teasing, Kara. I'm going to ask Lee to stand up with me when I marry this beautiful woman."

Kara grinned, too. "I knew you were teasing. I really knew you were going to ask Lee."

"Yeah, I'm going to ask Lee." John started laughing, "After I kick his ass for touching my beautiful daughter before she's eighteen."

TBC…


	37. Here Comes the Bride (and Maid of Honor)

Chapter 37

Here Comes the Bride (and Maid of Honor)

_Without the Cylons becoming aware of it, the number of pilots being trained was increased during the fourth year of Cylon occupation. The increase was due to a larger than usual number of applications from young people who had spent time in one of the three refugee camps and was handled by several new instructors at the Academy, one of whom was a decorated Viper pilot from the First Cylon War. _

_-Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War_

On the trip from Sovana back to Caprica City, Kara watched their Cylon Raider escort off the starboard side of the ship. "I can't believe it," she told her father. "One of these shadows every flight. One flew with me and Lee up here last week."

"I know. Even though this is a medical ship, it's military. They fly with every military ship no matter where it goes, and they accompany every commercial flight that goes above the Kármán line. Do you know what the Kármán line is?"

"An imaginary line a hundred kilometers up. It's were the atmosphere ends and space begins. Lee told me."

Her father grinned at her. "When did you and Lee find time to talk about flying?"

"Despite what you think, we didn't spend all our time in bed."

"Is Lee the one who has you so fired up about going to the Academy this year?"

"No, that's my idea. Karl is going…if he passes the test."

"Does Karl know about your…other career?"

"He knows, but he's not part of it."

"Is it going to cause your roommates a problem when you move out and in with me?"

"I told you I'm not living with them anymore. Besides, Laura said you're going to her place."

Kara had thought Laura was napping, but apparently she wasn't. "He _is_ going to my place," she said. "He can't climb those outside steps to his apartment, yet. I'm going to take some time off and…make sure he's all right on his own before I go back to work."

"I need to go see my boss Jack when I get back to the city. I told him I'd come see him and let him know what's going on. I'll probably go back to Tory's place and spend the night. I know you two want to be _alone_."

Kara saw the color rise in Laura's cheeks.

John didn't say anything for a moment and then he laughed and said, "This karmic justice thing is hell."

Laura said, "Kara, you are welcome to stay with us tonight. In fact I'd like for you to move in with us. I want us to be a family. I've thought about everything and if John agrees we'll have a small, private wedding at a little temple near the Capitol and afterward we'll have a nice reception and invite all of our friends to celebrate with us." She looked at John.

"Laura, whatever you want to do is all right with me. You just tell me what I need to do."

"Get well. That's your one assignment. To get well."

"I can handle that." Kara saw her father slowly move his right arm. Their eyes met. "I hope I can handle that."

...

Late that afternoon they arrived back in Caprica City. Laura's Marine guards met them at the airbase and escorted them to Laura's apartment. Being up most of the day had tired her father much more than he wanted to let them see, but Laura seemed to know. She told Kara to make herself at home while she helped John to the bedroom. Kara wandered around the apartment. It was large and beautifully decorated. She thought of the place she had lived with Karl and Maggie and Jared. Laura would probably laugh. Even Tory's nice apartment wasn't much compared to Laura's place. It looked like something out of a decorating magazine.

She found the liquor cabinet and took down a bottle of ambrosia. She poured a drink and carried it out to the terrace.

When Laura finally came out of the bedroom fifteen minutes later, she joined Kara on the terrace.

"I helped myself," Kara said. "My dad would take this away from me. Are you going to?"

"No. But I trust you to do the right thing and stop with that one small drink."

"You want me to get you one?"

Laura smiled. "I'd love to join you, but I can't because of the baby."

"Oh," Kara said. "I didn't know that. So pregnant women aren't supposed to drink?"

"It's not recommended."

"Remind me never to get pregnant. Of course with my dad watching me every second that's never going to happen anyway. Is he okay?"

"He's already asleep. He was trying to be tough, but today really tired him. I got him to take one of the pain pills. Tonight he needs to rest."

"Good. I'll be able to leave and go see Jack without answering a hundred questions."

"Kara, I think John will gradually realize how mature and responsible you are. I'm going to talk to him, but I don't want him to think I'm interfering in his role as your father. One thing I'm absolutely certain about is that he loves you."

"I know he does. If he didn't, he wouldn't give me such a hard time. He's just got to realize I'm not a little kid anymore."

"You're still not old enough to drink...legally."

"I'm just having this drink because I've got to go see my boss and tell him that I'm sixteen years old. He's going to fire me."

"You're sure?"

"Our motorcycle insurance policy says riders have to be at least eighteen. Jack's not going to do something that would get his insurance cancelled. I don't blame him. I'm just really going to miss riding that bike. I love it. "

"You want to go to the Academy this year, don't you?"

"I do, but my dad says _no way_. Since I'm not eighteen I doubt that's possible anyway, but if it were, I'd need his permission. I know he won't give it to me. He doesn't want me to be a Viper pilot even though he was one. He said we're going up against the Cylons in the near-future and he doesn't want me to be any part of that. He's afraid for me."

"Earlier in the week I talked to Chuck…Colonel Charles Winters who is head of the Academy. He said you needed to take the entrance exam in either April or May. He said if your scores were high enough he would see about admitting you this year. If that happens, I'll talk to John."

Kara brightened. "You would?"

"In fact since you won't have a job and will have some time on your hands, I'll see about getting you a tutor to help prepare you for the test. If you take the one in May, we'll have over a month to get you up to speed."

"You can do that?"

"Kara, I'm the Secretary of Education. I have all sorts of resources available to me. I'm sure we can work something out."

Kara was feeling the ambrosia. "When I met you in the camp I thought you were tough because you left the mess tent and walked all that way to meet Hugh Connelly in high heels. Now I think you're as nice as you are tough. I'm glad you and my dad are together."

"Why, thank you, Kara. That really touches me."

"I'd better go. I need to call Jack to make sure he's at home. The place I'm staying right now is in his same building so I'll just spend the night there. I'll pack my stuff and come back in the morning."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. Can I use your phone?"

"Certainly." Kara got up and went back into the den. The sun was no longer on the terrace and Laura pulled her sweater closer around her. Having John and his daughter at her apartment was going to be such a big change for her. She saw her privacy and quiet life coming to an end. She couldn't imagine what it would be like when the baby arrived. There were so many changes occurring in her life in such a short time. She sighed. How well was she going to handle everything?

The door opened behind her. "Jack's home," Kara said. "His wife told me to come over. Where's the nearest subway station?"

"Oh, it's blocks and blocks, at least eight or nine, maybe more. Call a transport. I'll pay for it. You don't want to walk that far."

Kara laughed. "I can pay for a transport. I don't guess people who live in this part of town need the subway. You all have chauffeurs."

Laura smiled. "Some of us need them. I never learned to drive."

"No kidding. Well, I'm off. I'll see you tomorrow."

Laura walked back into the den with her and called down to the desk. When the weekend doorman answered the phone, she said, "This is Laura Roslin. Call a transport, please. There's a young lady coming down from my apartment." She turned to Kara. "One should be here for you shortly."

"Thank you. Tell my dad…tell him I love him and I'll see him in the morning. And if he mentions it, tell him I'm going straight to Jack's. I'm not going over to Lee's place tonight. I promised both of them I'd…put this thing with me and Lee on hold until my dad gets well. I'm going to keep my promise. Dad still thinks I'm a kid."

Laura smiled. "And I know you're not. I am going to talk to him about that. I promise. When the time is right, I will talk to him."

...

Nancy Fisk opened the door to their apartment. "Come in, Carrie. Jack's watching some ironman triathlon on television. Someone he knew on the _Pegasus_ is competing."

Kara followed Nancy into the living room.

"Come in," Jack said from his recliner. "This is almost over. One of my former shipmates on board the _Pegasus_ is competing in this. He was our XO, Jurgen Belzen. He lost his wife and two daughters on Gemenon. Since then all he's done is train, train, and train some more for these triathlons."

Kara sat on the couch for fifteen minutes and watched the last leg of the swim, bike, and run event. When the runners began crossing the finish line, Fisk's friend Belzen was fourth. "Damn," Jack said. "He's beating guys ten years younger than he is."

"He's obsessed," Jack's wife retorted. "The last time he was over here he had a crazy look in his eyes. He's obsessed. It's not good when something consumes you like that. I think it's his hatred of the Cylons that's driving him."

"What else has he got to do with his time? He retired after twenty-five years in the military. He lost his entire family and the only other thing he does now is work part-time for one of the mobile phone companies as a salesman. Better to be working out and keeping fit than drinking all the time or doing something worse like a lot of our former shipmates are doing."

Nancy Fisk got up. "I still say he's obsessed. He needs some balance in his life. I'm having spaghetti for dinner. Won't you stay and eat with us, Carrie?"

"I can't. I need to check Tory's apartment. I've been out of town for over a week."

"A week...then you don't know. Tory's back from Kinsdale. She quit her job. She told me she didn't like being up there away from all her friends."

"No, I didn't know that. I'm moving out tomorrow anyway. That's one of the things I need to talk to Jack about."

"Let me know if you change your mind," Nancy said on her way out. "You're welcome to stay if you want."

"So what's going on? Where were you last week?" Jack asked her when they were alone.

"I was in Sovana."

"Sovana? What were you doing up there?"

Kara took a deep breath. "John Gallagher, the pilot who got shot saving Laura Roslin, is my father. I was with him at the hospital all week. We just got back today."

Jack looked puzzled. "I thought you told me that your parents died on Picon."

"I said my mother was a Marine and that she died on Picon. That's the truth. I don't think I ever mentioned my father. I thought he was dead, too, but as it turns out he wasn't. That's part of my news, but I guess the biggest thing I have to tell you is that I'm not Carrie Warner. My name is Kara Thrace."

"Okay, what's going on? Why did you lie about your name?"

"Because Carrie Warner was old enough to get a job riding a bike for you. I knew you'd never even consider me for a job if you knew my real age."

"Which is?" She could tell Jack was getting concerned by the tone of his voice.

Kara steeled herself. "Sixteen."

"You're sixteen?"

"I'm sorry I lied to you, Jack. I'm really sorry. You were good to me and you trusted me. I was on my own and I needed a job and I used Carrie Warner's ID to get one. I'm sorry."

"Damn. I'm going to have all kinds of legal problems with this. What's going to happen when the real Carrie Warner finds out you've been using her identity?"

"The real Carrie Warner is dead. She died from the flu in the refugee camp outside Antioch. I took her ID."

"How did you get one with your picture on it?"

"A friend who's good with that sort of thing."

"Damn," Jack said again. "Start at the beginning and tell me all of it. You owe me that much."

She did, beginning with the night her father got her off Picon until she left the refugee camp the previous year and came to Caprica City. She left out a lot, but she covered the important parts. She was getting good at telling her story.

When she finished, Jack rubbed his chin and looked at the ceiling for a while. "So where do we go from here?"

"You...fire me?" Kara ventured hesitantly. "Our insurance says I'm too young to ride a bike so you'll have to fire me."

"Do you want me to fire you?"

She took a deep breath and said meekly, "No."

"You deserve it."

"I know."

"Let me make a call tomorrow and see if I can work something out with the insurance company."

"You'd do that for me?"

"I'm doing it for me. You're my best rider. I don't want to lose my best rider."

"I guess I'd better go get my own driver's license."

"I guess so. Carrie Warner is going to have to quit and I'm going to have to hire you…if I can work it out with the insurance company. I'll let you know something tomorrow. Are you staying at Tory's?"

"Just tonight. My dad wants me to move in with him. I don't know where I'll wind up. He and Laura are getting married."

"Laura Roslin?"

"Yeah."

"Damn, your life _has_ been full of drama lately, hasn't it?"

Kara shrugged. "I'm sorry I lied to you, Jack. You were good to me and I'm sorry."

Jack was embarrassed. "You've already told me that. Let me make that phone call tomorrow and I'll be in touch. I can't let you ride until I know something. Now are you sure you won't stay for dinner?"

"Maybe I will. I'm really hungry. I'll go help Nancy."

Jack picked up the beer that had been sitting on the table beside his chair. "Sixteen," he said in an amused tone of voice. "Damn, I'd never have guessed. You act more mature than my eighteen-year-old."

"Maybe I could get you to talk to my dad. He treats me like I'm still thirteen."

Jack smiled. "Don't push your luck. I'm crazy for not firing you on the spot."

...

At eight o'clock that night Kara rode the elevator up to the twenty-second floor. Since she knew that Tory was back, she knocked on the door. She knocked several times and finally decided that Tory wasn't at home so she used her key and let herself in.

The stereo was on, soft jazz music playing…music like Dreilide Thrace used to play. There was a bottle of wine sitting on the coffee table and two glasses. Kara looked closer. She had seen a bottle of wine just like that before. A pair of men's shoes had been kicked off on the floor by the couch. It took her only a few seconds to realize what was going on and what the sounds coming from Tory's bedroom meant.

Tory was entertaining Sam Anders.

Kara hurried to the guest bedroom and quietly shut the door. She hadn't seen or heard from Anders since she'd left him sleeping on his friend's couch at the after-game party when they'd lost the pyramid championship six weeks earlier. She didn't want to see him now…with or without Tory Foster.

Early the next morning while Tory and Sam were still asleep, she packed the book Laura Roslin had given her and most of her clothes in her duffel bag and the rest in a large garbage bag. She took the key to Tory's apartment off her key ring and left if on the kitchen table. She called a transport. Before eight o'clock she was at Laura's apartment. She gave her name to the doorman and he called upstairs. A minute later he told her to go up. Laura was waiting for her at the door.

"I'm back," Kara said. "I've moved out from where I was staying."

"That's all you've got?"

"That's all," Kara answered. "Pitiful, isn't it?"

Laura smiled. "Actually I was thinking how lucky you are. Come in. My housekeeper is making breakfast for John. I'm still having trouble in the morning." Laura led her to the largest guest bedroom. It was twice the size of the bedroom she and Maggie had shared. "This will be yours. Now let me tell Jennet to cook enough for two."

"Is my dad awake, yet?"

"I'm going to check on him. We've got an appointment with a doctor this morning at 10:30 so he can take over John's care. Why don't you unpack? Breakfast will be ready shortly. You can eat with your dad."

"You're not going to eat?"

"I've already had some toast and fruit. The smell of coffee and bacon are too much for me, but John needs to eat so Jennet is cooking. We can have tea together later."

"Okay," Kara said.

Laura turned to leave. "Lee is coming over this afternoon when he finishes his Viper training flight. He called last night but John was asleep, so he doesn't know yet that he's going to have a visitor. I'll tell him later."

"I hope he was joking about kicking Lee's ass."

"I'm sure he was."

"Dad and I had a fight about Lee."

"I gathered that."

"Lee agrees with him."

"About?"

"About me being too young for us to see each other. They both think I'm just a kid. I'm not."

"I realize that much better than John does. And I realize how much that's bothering you. I understand you want him to see you as more mature. When he's recovered sufficiently, I'll talk to him."

"I promised Lee I'd let my dad get better. It's the right thing to do. For three years I thought he was dead. For three years I thought about what I'd give to have my dad back. And now I've got him back. It's the least I can do."

Laura smiled. "I'm going to make sure John realizes how lucky he is."

"I love him," Kara said softly. "I barely know him, but when I saw what he did that night on Picon to save my life and what he did when Tom Zarek hijacked his ship, I…I thought he had sacrificed himself to save me. I used to dream about finding him."

Laura was still smiling. "I think you've got more in common with him than those beautiful green eyes."

...

Lee rode the subway to the stop nearest Laura's apartment. He knew it was a long walk, at least ten blocks, but he welcomed the time to think, even as he put off a little longer the inevitable meeting with John.

He wondered if Kara was going to be there. He wondered what John was going to say. He wondered what he should say to John. Apologizing didn't seem exactly right. He'd done nothing wrong and, yet he felt like John was going to want him to say something. Damn. What should he do?

When he got there, the doorman made his call and told him to go up. Laura opened the door. "Come in, Lee. It's good to see you again."

"You look good. How are you doing?"

"I'm fine. It's such a beautiful day. John is out on the terrace."

"Did you tell him I was going to drop by?"

"I did. After we left the doctor's office."

"How did he…what did he say?"

"He's looking forward to seeing you. He barely remembers you being in Sovana. He said that whole day after he was shot is more like a dream to him now. He remembers almost nothing about it."

"Is Kara here?"

"She's out on the terrace with her father."

"How is she?"

"She's fine, Lee. Why don't you go out there?"

Lee took a deep breath. "He knows about me and Kara."

"I know."

"What did he say?"

"We haven't talked about it. They have. Would you like a drink? I can offer you tea or water or something stronger."

"Thank you. Maybe later."

"Just go out there, Lee. Your imagination is probably a lot worse than anything John is going to say."

Lee turned and crossed the den and opened the terrace door. He couldn't put this off any longer. Kara turned around and smiled.

"Hi, Lee." She got up. "I'm sure Laura needs me for something."

She walked past Lee, the smile still on her face, and raised her eyebrows at him as she shut the terrace door.

Lee took the seat beside John that she had vacated and noticed the drink sitting on the small wrought iron table between them. "How are you, John?"

"I'd be better if I had all the feeling back in my right arm."

"What did the doctor say?"

"What do doctors always say? _It's too early to tell_. He thinks I'm expecting too much too soon. He said nerve damage is hard to predict. In Sovana the doctor told me it was just swollen tissue pressing on a nerve. Now this doctor thinks it's _nerve damage_. If it hasn't gotten better in four or five weeks he'll order some more tests. Hell, I'd planned to be back in the cockpit in four or five weeks. That's not going to happen with my arm like this. I'll never pass a flight physical."

"Why don't you just enjoy spending some down time with Laura and Kara?"

As usual when he didn't want to talk about something, John ignored Lee's question and picked up the drink glass. "Siren's Kiss. Want some? I mixed it this morning after I got back from the doctor."

"Maybe later. Have you remembered any more about the…shooting?"

"No. I'm sure you know more about it than I do. What can you tell me?"

"This is top secret right now. The shooter was Aaron Doral. He's a Cylon."

"Why does that not surprise me?"

"You know him?"

"He used to follow me and Laura around. I made it a point to find out who he was. I know he works for Cavil. If I saw him coming around the back of a luggage carrier, I'd have known something was wrong. So the sneaky little son of a bitch is a Cylon."

"The one who works for Cavil is still working for Cavil. Another copy of him is the one who tried to kill Laura and shot you instead. The Marines killed him."

"Who knows about this?"

"Agent Darren, Major Parker, my dad, me and I think he told Laura."

"I asked her to marry me. She surprised me and said _yes_."

"Why did you think she wouldn't? So when's the wedding?"

"I'm leaving that up to her. She's asked Kara to be her maid of honor, and Kara will kill me if I don't ask you to stand up with me as best man."

"You'd rather ask someone else?"

"No, Lee. I wouldn't rather ask someone else. When I marry Laura there's only one man I want standing beside me. I'm just dealing with a couple of things right now. I guess you could say I've got a lot on my mind."

"John, I swear to you I didn't know."

"I know you didn't. But it's going to stop. She's sixteen, Lee."

"I know, John. She and I have already talked about it and agreed. I just want you to know that I care about her. I really care about her…I…"

"Drop it, Lee. I'm not in the mood to talk about it right now. Later…maybe.

They sat in silence for a long time. Lee could tell John was really down. Finally John said, "Could I get you to go pour me another drink? The flask is sitting on the cabinet beside the fireplace."

"Is that a good idea with the pain medication?"

"I haven't taken any pain medication today. Siren's Kiss does a better job."

"How many does this make?"

"This will be my third. And if you're going to make such a big frakking deal out of it, I'll get it myself."

"No, John, keep your seat. I'll get it for you."

Lee took the empty tumbler from the table and went inside. Laura was sitting in an armchair with some paperwork on her lap. Kara was looking at a soccer game on television with the sound turned low. Both looked up as Lee came into the room.

"He wants another drink."

Laura took a deep breath. "Go ahead. But that's it for today. I'm not going to let him start down that path every day."

"He's upset about his arm."

"We know that," Kara said. "_Boy_, do we know that." She got up, poured the glass half full of Siren's kiss and went to the door of the terrace. "Let me do this. That way he can get angry at me instead of you. I don't mind."

Lee followed her to the door and saw her hand the drink to her father.

"This is it today," she told him. "I'm not going to watch my father turn into a drunk."

He grabbed her hand and held it for a moment. "I love you, baby...Kara."

Lee saw her squat down by the chair and look at her father. "I love you, too, Dad. That's why you'll have to get past me to get another drink tonight." She grinned. "And I've got the switchblade." She stood up. "Now entertain your friend or I'm going to be forced to. You don't want that, do you?"

Kara passed Lee again with the smile and raised eyebrows. He went back onto the terrace and sat down in the chair beside John.

John smiled for the first time since Lee had been there. "Life won't be easy with her. Are you sure you don't want to rethink it?"

"Does that mean..."

"It means you can take her out to eat. You can take her to the movies or to dinner. But if I find out you've taken her back to your apartment, I will kick your ass. That's a promise."

"I give you my word, John."

"I knew you would. That's one of the reasons you're my best friend. That's one of the reasons I trust you the way I do. The only man I know who has as much honor and integrity as you do is your father. Now sometime during the next couple of weeks, do you think you can remember to get your dress uniform from the cleaners?"

"I picked it up last week."

"Damn," John started laughing. "I hate being a foregone conclusion."

...

Lee refused Laura's dinner invitation. He was on his way to his parent's house. Kara walked with him to the door. "Come back. You know my father enjoys your company."

"You can count on it," Lee smiled. "Is he the only one who enjoys my company?"

"What do you think?"

"You sound just like him," Lee answered her.

During their dinner Kara told her father that she had talked to Jack again late that afternoon. "He's waiting for some guy at the insurance company to get back to him. He said it may take a few days. I might get to keep my job."

"I thought we'd agreed you were going to quit."

"Nope. I never agreed to quit. I said Jack was going to fire me. He didn't. It still might not work out, but it might."

"Okay, fine. How are you going to work that in with going back to school?"

"Laura's going to get me a tutor."

She saw her father look at Laura. "When did this happen?"

Laura said, "Kara and I discussed it briefly yesterday. There are several options concerning her education. In my opinion home schooling with a tutor is the best one. She'll learn more in a shorter period of time and she won't have to repeat what she already knows."

"Yeah, Dad," Kara grinned. "And just think. You'll get to watch me all the time. I won't get to sneak out to the parking lot at lunch and make out with some guy like if I went to high school."

"You really like to push my buttons, don't you?"

"Speaking of which, I'm meeting Karl at Zeno's tonight. I won't stay long, but I haven't seen him in a couple of weeks. And just so you won't freak out," she pulled Carrie Warner's ID out of her pocket and put it beside his plate. "You can hang onto this. I've got to get my own driver's license anyway. All I need to do is figure out a way to get a copy of my birth certificate."

"I'll handle that," John said.

"How?" Laura asked. "Everything on Picon was destroyed. Do you have a copy?"

"I said I'd handle it. All things considered it's best if you don't ask me for specifics. I need to see the private detective, too, and tell him to quit looking for her."

"I need my own mobile phone," Kara said. "I need to give this one back to somebody."

"Okay, tomorrow we go get you a phone. Call your...contact and arrange to meet him wherever you usually meet him. I'll go with you and the three of us will talk."

"Am I not invited?" Laura asked.

Kara looked at her father. She could tell Laura's feelings were hurt just by the way she asked the question. "You'd better tell her."

"Kara's in the resistance, too. I know…like father like daughter. She wants out and I'm going to get her out. We've got to meet her contact to do it. I would never take a chance on having you seen with him and us. You never can tell when that little weasel Doral might be following you."

"Doral," Laura exclaimed. "Doral has followed me?"

"I saw him on several occasions when I was with you. Someone should tell him if he's going to tail someone not to wear a neon blue windbreaker. While Kara and I go to meet her contact, you will stay safely put right here."

"I've got to go into the office for a short while tomorrow afternoon. I've got several interviews scheduled. I'm looking for a replacement for my secretary who is retiring. I also need to go see the priest I would like to marry us. If I can pull this together in three weeks, do you think you'll be well enough?"

John smiled. "We'll do it tomorrow at city hall if you want to."

"Okay, you guys," Kara said. "I'll help with the dishes, and then I'm out of here. Don't wait up for me."

Her father looked at her. "Midnight. You be back here by midnight."

Kara winked. "Like you'll know. But I'll be back by then...probably before then. Karl has to be at work at five a.m. He goes to bed early."

"Let me give you a key," Laura said and got up. "I have an extra one in the bedroom."

"You never gave me a key," John said.

"You weren't living here before. I'll have another one made tomorrow."

"You two want some help with the dishes?" Her father asked.

"Absolutely not. Go relax in the den. Kara and I will take care of these and then she can be on her way."

After Kara was gone, Laura went into the den. She saw that John had turned on the gas logs and turned down the lights. He was sitting on the sofa, his head back on the cushions, and she thought that he had gone to sleep, but when he heard her, he patted the cushion on his left side.

She sat down beside him and he put his arm around her. They sat like that for a long time in contented silence. She had no idea where his thoughts were, but she was trying to organize hers into some sort of plan for the next three weeks. The wedding would be simple and private, just her and John, Kara and Lee. It would take place at the small temple, and Elosha would officiate.

But the reception was another matter. Due to her position as Secretary of Education, she would be expected to have a nice reception and invite a number of people beginning with the President and his wife and the other Cabinet members and their spouses or significant others. Of course she would invite her staff…and friends like Bill and Carolanne. John would have friends he would want to invite, and Kara and Lee would probably want to invite a few of their young friends. She would have to find a place large enough to hold everyone. She needed to get the invitations out this week.

Dear gods, maybe they should just have a quiet, private wedding and forget the reception. Her first wedding had been small, just a handful of their friends in the small chapel on campus with a dinner following at the University Club. She had worn a tea-length dress of cream-colored silk organza. The tears that Hayden had taken as tears of joy at their nuptials had actually been tears of sadness because her father had not been there to walk her down the aisle. He had died two years before on Tauron. She had missed him so much that day, so very much.

"Where are you?" John said softly.

"Trying to plan the impossible before my condition is obvious. You may have to walk down the aisle with a bride whose belly is showing."

"That doesn't matter a bit to me. You know that." He slowly got his right hand across him and put it on her belly. "A baby is a miracle and you'll be beautiful no matter what."

She smiled and turned her face to him. Their kiss was inevitable. She was surprised at how fast it deepened, at how quickly it became evident where they were headed.

"John, are you sure you're up to this?"

He took her hand, put it on the outside of his sweatpants and grinned. "Poor choice of words, Laura."

"Sometimes you amaze me," she whispered.

She put her leg across him and slid over his lap. He groaned as she settled gently on him. "I was hoping you'd say that. Besides, it's been a couple of weeks. I don't think I'm going to last long enough for this to hurt me."

She kissed him slowly the way he liked to kiss her. "Why don't you let me worry about that?"

...

"You're in a better mood today," Kara said as she and her father waited for a transport the next morning. "You and Laura must have celebrated after I left last night."

Her father grinned. "That's enough of the smart mouth."

"I figured you and Laura have a hot thing going on. It took you what...all of a couple of weeks to knock her up?"

He started laughing. "Kara, that's just none of your business."

The transport delivered them to a nice office building in a rebuilt part of the city. They went in and rode the elevator up to the ninth floor. Kara walked with him down a hall until they came to a door that said _Romo Lampkin, Private Investigations_.

"Three years ago he was a lawyer practicing on Gemenon. He was here at a conference when the Cylons attacked. His wife and two daughters were home on Gemenon and died. He's never gone back to the law."

They went inside. Kara saw several small furry toys on the floor. "What are those?"

"He keeps a cat with him so don't be surprised if it appears all of a sudden. It was a present he was taking back to his wife."

"Is Romo here?" John asked the secretary.

"He's with a client. Have a seat, Captain Gallagher. I'll let him know you're here. How are you?"

"Hanging in there."

In less than ten minutes Romo Lampkin walked out of his office with a well-dressed older woman. "I'll have the information you need in a few days." They waited while Lampkin walked the woman to the door.

He turned and stared at Kara for a moment before saying to her father. "I know why you're here. You found her before I did."

"She found me." Her father introduced her to Lampkin. "I'm here to tell you to call off the search and to send me the bill for your time."

A gray and white cat walked out of Lampkin's office and rubbed around his legs. "My wife's cat Lance. I can't stand the bloody creature but he loves me."

"Mr. Lampkin went to law school here on Caprica. He's a great admirer of Lee's grandfather, Joseph Adama. Lee's not only my best friend, he's also a friend of my daughter's. It's...interesting how life sometimes connects us."

"Joe Adama taught me everything I know about people. He had a great...yearning to understand what makes us do the things we do. He was the most fascinating man I've ever known."

Her father struggled but he managed to hold out his right hand. "Thank you for all your efforts, Mr. Lampkin. It just happens that Fate brought her to me first."

"I would have found her eventually."

"I know you would have."

Kara and her father rode the elevator down to the ground floor. Kara started to get a transport but her father stopped her. "We need to walk east a couple of blocks. There's a place near here I want you to go with me." They walked to a jewelry store, a very discretely-situated and pricey-looking jewelry store.

"Laura told me to get her a plain wedding band, but I want to do something a little different. I need your help with picking out the ring. She gave me her size."

They went inside and walked toward the back. Even the air in the store smelled expensive. A somber man in a dark suit and tie asked if he could help them. "We need to look at wedding rings," John said.

"I see. What does the young lady have in mind?"

"It's not for me," Kara said. "My dad is the one getting married. It's for his...bride-to-be."

"Something simple," John said, "with diamonds on it."

The man actually managed a small smile. "Come with me."

Kara saw the ring before her father did. "That's it. That has Laura Roslin written all over it."

"Laura Roslin?" The man asked in a hushed tone. "You're marrying the Secretary of Education?"

"He saved her life, too," Kara said proudly.

"That's enough," her father said to her. "Let's look at the ring Kara likes."

The man took it out of the display case and put it on a small square of black velvet. It was a circle of princess cut diamonds set in platinum. Kara thought it was the most beautiful ring she had ever seen.

"You understand we can't size this ring. We'll have to order one made for her. That will take about six to eight weeks possibly longer."

"We need it sooner. What size is that ring?"

The man took out a slender cone and slid the ring down over it and held it up to John.

John grinned. "This is my lucky day. It looks like you've just sold us a ring."

"You need to try on rings, too, Dad."

"So you can come back here with Laura?"

"Of course."

When they left the jewelry store with the ring, Kara knew exactly what to tell Laura when they returned. Her father had chosen a plain, platinum band and the salesman had put it back for them.

"Not a word about this to her," he said. "And remind that salesman to keep his mouth shut, too. I want to surprise her."

Before they went to get her mobile phone, they took a transport to the center city and went to a small coffee shop so her father could sit down. She could tell the morning had taken a lot out of him. Still after coffee and pastries, he insisted that they go get her a phone. He added it to his plan.

When they got back to the apartment, Laura was gone and John asked Kara to put the ring in her bedroom until the wedding. He lay down on the couch and was soon asleep. He had done enough today. She would tell him that Frogman couldn't meet them until later in the week. Her father needed his rest.

Before she went out on the terrace to read, she took out her new phone. Her father's mobile number was the first one she programmed into it. Lee's number was the second.

...

"Come in, please, Ms. Foster," Laura said to the young woman who stood in the doorway to her office. She shook Tory Foster's hand.

"Thank you for agreeing to interview me," Tory said.

"I've looked over your resumé. Your credentials are quite impressive."

"Thank you."

"Now explain to me, please, why you want to leave your current job?"

Tory took a deep breath. "I made a big mistake and got involved with the head of the law firm. It didn't work out so we mutually agreed I should leave."

"You're very honest."

Tory managed a tight smile. "I thought you probably already knew."

Laura smiled back. "I did. I wanted to see if you would lie to me. So now that we understand each other, are you really interested in a job as my secretary or administrative assistant as I believe the job is listed."

"I am. I'm a hard worker, Ms. Roslin. My performance on the job was not the problem."

"My secretary, Adele, is extremely efficient and professional. I would expect the same from anyone who works for me."

"I understand."

"Adele is leaving in two weeks. I'm trying to plan my wedding which will be very small and private and also a reception which will be large. I'm trying to pull everything together in three weeks. I would like to offer you a position at my own expense as a personal assistant for the next two weeks. If you do a good job, I will hire you as Adele's replacement."

"A very good friend of mind works for the best caterer in town. One of my duties was planning events for the law firm. I have a lot of contacts. If you will tell me exactly what you want, I can help you pull it off in three weeks."

"I feel like the gods have just smiled on me," Laura said. "I'm going to give you my home address. Be there tomorrow morning at eight o'clock and I will have some tentative plans for you in writing. We have a lot of work to do. The invitations must go out this week."

"I'll see you at eight," Tory said.

That night after dinner Laura sat in the den with John and Kara. She had a yellow legal pad. "A young woman named Tory Foster will be here tomorrow morning to help me make plans for the reception. I need to get a guest list started."

"Tory Foster? Wow. Talk about a small world."

"What?" Her father asked.

"That's whose apartment I was staying at. She's been in Kinsdale."

"She's back, and I've hired her as my personal assistant for a few weeks so she will be around. Now, I need the names of people you want to invite to the reception. Kara?"

"Since I already know Lee's going to be there," she gave her father a smug smile, "I'd like to ask Karl. He's been my best friend since I was eight. And he's dating a girl named Sharon right now."

"What's his last name?"

"Agathon."

Laura wrote his name. "We'll send the invitation to Karl Agathon and guest."

"Who else?"

"My boss, Jack Fisk and his wife. He's still my boss today, anyway. That might change tomorrow when he hears something from the insurance company. Whatever happens, I'd still like to invite him. He's been good to me."

"Okay. Who else?"

"I...I guess that's it."

"Well, think about it. If you can think of anyone else, let me know. John?"

"I'll sit down tomorrow and make a list. A lot of my...friends are in a certain...group. I can't invite them. They'll understand why. My list won't be too long. I guess you've already got Bill and Carolanne Adama on your list."

"Zak," Kara said. "We should invite Zak."

"Do you know Zak Adama, too?" John asked.

"I met him at Zeno's. Then I saw him again when I went to the pyramid championship game with Sam Anders."

"Holy frakking Hera," John said. "You've dated Sam Anders?"

"Once...okay twice. He took me to dinner one night. Then he gave me a ticket to the championship game. It was no big deal."

"How in the hell did you meet Sam Anders? Does he come to Zeno's, too?"

"Dad, calm down. He hooks up with Tory from time to time. Sam didn't know she was out of town and one night he showed up. He stayed like twenty minutes. Then he took me to dinner at some fancy restaurant the next night. He never even kissed me. It was no big deal."

"Damn, what else don't I know?"

"John," Laura said softly. "We agreed last night you wouldn't do this."

"I know." He got up from the couch and poured a drink of Siren's Kiss.

"What? Now I'm driving you to drink?" Kara asked. "You're making _way_ too much out of it."

"I keep thinking about you being sixteen. Sam Anders is what...twenty- two or twenty-three?"

"I don't know."

"Why did you move out from where you were living with Karl? Did something happen there that I need to know about?"

"Not with Karl."

"With the other guy?"

"Jared. He...we...were kind of like boyfriend and girlfriend for a while. He wanted it to be more than it was. After I met Lee...Jared didn't take it too well. It was just time for me to move out on my own."

"What did he do?"

"Nothing. He didn't _do_ anything. It just wasn't fair to him for me to stay there after I'd met Lee. I needed some space, that's all and if you stay on my case like this, I'm going to want some space again. I'm going to my room. Goodnight, Laura."

"John," Laura said softly when Kara was out of the room. The reproach was clear in her voice.

"I know. I keep screwing up with my daughter. I'll be back."

Laura watched him leave the room. Five minutes later he was back. "I just told her that I love her. She said something to me that I'm going to have to remember. She told me that before I freak out I should try to put myself in her place and imagine what I would have done. She's right. I want to protect her and I'm going about it all wrong. I'm getting upset about things that have already happened, things I can't change. You warned be about doing this." He sat down on the couch.

Laura got up and went to sit beside him. He put his arm around her again. "John, aren't you thinking about what you were like when you were the age of most of the young men in her life?"

"That's _exactly_ what I'm thinking about."

"She's handled herself amazingly well for what she's been through. You're lucky, John. Don't come down too hard on her and drive her away. She told me Sunday afternoon how much she loves you."

He pulled her to him. "How did I get this lucky...to have her back in my life and you, too?"

"If you'll come with me to the bedroom, I'll try to explain it to you."

He kissed her. "What's wrong with explaining it to me right here?"

"I might be explaining it to your daughter as well. We don't have the apartment to ourselves tonight."

"You mean this explanation involves more than words? This is going to be one of those hands-on demonstrations?"

She kissed him and whispered, "What do you think?"

...

Kara lay across the bed. She knew her dad loved her, but she was having a difficult time suddenly having to answer to him for everything in her life. Her new phone had finished charging. She picked it up and called Lee. "Hi," she said when he answered.

"Hey, Kara. Where are you?"

"In my bedroom at Laura's place. Where are you?"

"At my place. How are things going?"

"I'm trying to get used to my dad telling me how to breathe."

"Oh, come on. It's not that bad, is it?"

"Almost. Laura and I are going to look for dresses tomorrow afternoon."

"I'm looking forward to seeing you in a dress."

"Do you know how old I was the last time somebody got me in a dress?"

"Thirteen?"

"Seven. I was in a play at school and a boy laughed at me because I was scared and forgot my lines. I punched his lights out...right there on stage." Kara snickered. "I broke his nose. I was the youngest girl to ever get expelled from school. My mom beat my butt, the only time she ever did that. She and my other father, her husband, got into a fight over it and she kicked his butt, too. It was funny in a way. I've never worn a dress since then."

"Never?" Lee asked incredulously.

"Never. So you see how much my dad and Laura mean to me for me to put on a dress again?"

"Are they the only ones?"

"The only ones?" Kara played dumb.

"The only ones who mean something to you?"

"There is one other guy, but I guess I'm going to have to forget about him because he and my dad have ganged up on me, and he won't see me anymore. I thought I meant something to him, but I guess not."

"That's not fair and you know it."

"Exactly. It's not fair. There's nothing about it that's fair."

"You're sixteen," Lee said, the anguish clear in his voice. "And John is my best friend. Do you think I want to be caught between the two of you? Do you think this is what _I_ want?"

"What _do_ you want, Lee?"

"I want to see you. Your dad said I could take you to dinner or a movie so will you go to dinner with me Saturday night?"

Kara smiled even though she knew he couldn't see her. "Only if I don't have to wear a dress."

...

"We're not going to mention the word _wedding_," Laura told Kara as they entered an exclusive designer store. "I want a nice formal dress in a cream or champagne color for a reception I'm attending. You're looking for a formal dress for a dance. Both of those statements are true."

Kara understood. The salesladies in the store knew Laura. Any mention of _wedding_ and it would be on the internet within an hour and in all the gossip columns the next day.

"We're both going with something off-the-rack." When Kara looked puzzled, Laura added. "It means we can walk out of the store with it today or it can be altered to fit. We're not going with something that has to be made. That would take far longer than three weeks."

They found Kara's dress first. It was made of georgette with a shirred bodice, empire waist, full skirt and double spaghetti straps. It came with a three-quarter sleeve bolero jacket that would cover her shoulders and arms for the wedding and that could then be taken off for the reception. The saleslady called the color claret. Kara was amazed at what it did for her eyes and hair.

Finding Laura's dress took longer since she was careful to avoid anything that looked either too youthful or too mature. She finally settled on a champagne-colored dress similar in design to Kara's but made of silk charmeuse overlaid with beaded silk organza. Kara didn't think she had ever seen a dress that beautiful in her life. It, too, had a sheer beaded jacket that Laura could remove for the reception.

When the saleslady enquired about the occasion, Laura smiled and told her it was for an important reception. The saleswoman didn't bat an eyelash. Apparently Laura went to important receptions all the time. Laura's dress was perfect, but Kara's needed hemming. Laura charged both dresses to one of her credit cards and told the woman she would pick them up the following week.

"Are you going to wear a veil?" Kara asked Laura after they left the store.

"No."

"You need something in your hair," Kara said.

"Such as?"

"Flowers or something. All brides need something in their hair if they don't wear a veil. It's tradition."

"Well I certainly don't want to go against tradition. I'll ask my hairdresser for suggestions. I think I should take you with me."

"For my suggestions or because I need a haircut?"

Laura smiled. "Both."

...

Two nights later Kara and her father entered Zeno's together and went to the bar. They had talked beforehand and Kara knew their plan was for her to wait for Frogman in their booth. Then her father would join them.

"Order me a beer. I always have a beer," Kara said.

Reluctantly John did so. Kara took it and went to a booth near the back. She had to wait ten minutes before Frogman came in. He ordered a beer as usual.

"What's up, Sassy? You said you had a message for me. What did Mrs. Peele have to say?"

"The message is from someone else."

Her father's timing was perfect. He slid onto the seat beside her.

Frogman tensed. "What is this?"

"Relax," Kara said. "He's one of us."

Frogman didn't exactly relax, but he didn't look like he was ready to bolt either. "So what's the message?" He asked cautiously.

"Just this," John said. "My daughter is going to have to resign from the exclusive club we're all members of."

Frogman looked carefully at Kara and then her father. "Holy Hera. She found you."

"You know who he is, don't you?" Kara asked Frogman. "You know what happened to him two weeks ago in Sovana."

Frogman nodded. "It's not often I get to drink a beer with a real honest-to-gods hero, and that's what you are. Your daughter's one, too, but that will never make the news with her name attached."

Kara saw her father smile. "I'm breaking all kinds of protocol here, but I just want to make it clear that she's no longer a part of the group. And she's not nineteen, she's sixteen."

"Sixteen…seriously?"

Kara put the cell phone and charger that Frogman had given her on the table. "I don't regret a minute of it," she said, "especially not what we did a few months ago, especially since I found out my dad was on that mission, too."

Frogman looked confused for a moment and then Kara knew he had put it all together.

He father was still smiling. He took a sip of beer. "You know me by another name," he said to Frogman. "You know me as Posiden."

"Damn," Frogman said. "I heard you'd gotten out."

"I have. My daughter is now out, too. You understand. None of this can touch the lady I'm getting ready to marry."

"Would the lady be someone in the government? Someone who stood up to that son of a bitch Cavil?"

"She would."

"I understand," Frogman said. "There won't be any problems. You have my word on that. Meeting you tonight has been an honor."

Later as they stood outside of Zeno's waiting on a transport, her father put his arm around her. "Now you can go to dinner with Lee on Saturday night. And bring him back to our apartment right afterward."

"How did you know Lee asked me to go to dinner on Saturday night?"

"Because if I were in his place, that's what I would have done."

Kara smiled. "I love you, Dad."

"I love you, too, Kara."

"What happened to _baby_?"

"My baby grew up."

"You'll have another one soon. You'll get to watch him grow up."

"_Her_ grow up."

"Karmic justice," Kara said smugly.

As the transport pulled up, he said, "A boy…that would be karmic justice wouldn't it?"

"Yeah, because he'll be just like you."

John opened the transport door. "The gods forbid."

...

John and Lee sat in their favorite booth at McGee's on the night before the wedding. Rick McGee had stopped by to chat for a few minutes and had agreed to join them for a beer.

Lee said, "I realize this isn't much of a bachelor party, but you said you didn't want one."

"I don't," John said. "If I _never_ go to another bachelor party, I'll be fine with it."

"Come on, John," McGee said. "Give us a little speech. Tell an old married man...and a single guy...how you escaped for as long as you did."

"I was unlucky," John said and grinned. He raised his glass. "Here's to a change of luck...a welcome change of luck...even if she did kick me out of the apartment this morning."

"That's just tradition," Lee said. "The bride and groom don't spend the night before the wedding together and they don't see each other the day of the wedding...until they come to the temple."

"Well here's to friends," John raised his glass again, "to friends who will give the groom a couch to sleep on the night before the wedding. I'm lucky I have such a friend."

Later back at Lee's apartment, he said to John, "I'm sorry my dad didn't make it tonight."

"So am I. But I'm not surprised. I'm not blind, either. He still cares about her. She still cares about him, too."

"John…we've talked about this before. I don't share your opinion."

"I'm okay with it. Laura is going to marry me. She's having our baby. I'm going to be with her."

"She loves you, John. If she didn't, she wouldn't have stayed in Sovana with you and violated a direct Presidential order to return to Caprica City. She wouldn't have sat by your bed all night like she did."

"That was guilt. That was guilt because Doral shot me instead of her."

"What would it take to convince you? Just what the hell would it take to convince you that she loves you?"

John shrugged. "I just know that I love her, she's marrying me tomorrow and that's all I care about right now."

Lee sighed. "Take the bed tonight. I'm going to sleep on the couch."

"No way."

"Take the damned bed, John. I wasn't in a hospital in Sovana four weeks ago fighting for my life. I'm fine on the couch."

"Are you angry at me?"

"I'm angry because you're so damned stubborn. I'm angry because sometime you make it so damned hard for people to love you."

"Nobody's perfect."

Lee rolled his eyes. "Go to bed, John. Just go to bed. And try accepting your blessings for once instead of thinking you don't deserve them."

...

Two o'clock in the morning and Laura lay awake. Several times earlier she had almost called John's mobile phone. She wanted to hear his voice, but she knew he and Lee were going to McGee's tonight. She missed him. She missed having him in the bed with her. She missed being able to reach over and touch him. Three weeks and she was already used to being able to snuggle against him even as he slept.

She had watched him change in the last few weeks, had watched him work hard at building a relationship with a daughter who was no longer the child he had left at an airport three years before. He so much wanted to be a part of her life, and Laura knew that while Kara was overjoyed at finding him again, she had struggled too, rebelling against being told what to do when she had been on her own for three years…and then feeling guilty for pushing John away.

They were still trying, though, both still working at it, stubbornly determined to find the balance that worked for both of them. One thing Laura could see, though, was the love between them, and as long as they had that love, they would make it work.

She could see the love in John's eyes, too, when he looked at her. There were times that the guilt overwhelmed her, the guilt that he had almost died saving her life. She wondered if she deserved a love like that, she wondered if she could ever love him that way in return…and yet, she did love him…she _did_ love him. How could she want him with her, beside her in bed like this if she didn't love him? And yet why were there times when another man still filled her thoughts? Why did she still sometimes yearn for something that simply couldn't be?

She placed her hand over her still flat belly and began finally to relax into drowsiness. Through John, the gods had given her something she thought she would never have, a child, a miracle. Tomorrow…no today…she would marry her child's father. She would accept the destiny that the Fates had in store for her and she would count her blessings…a baby, and a good man who loved her, and a new daughter who slept soundly in a room down the hall, a daughter who would stand beside her as she married John Gallagher, a daughter who would love and protect this child she now carried. Yes, the Fates had been kind to her and she had to be grateful for that.

...

Kara got up in the pearly gray light just before dawn on her father's wedding day. She was used to getting up early. She had gotten up early for the last five days because she was riding the bike again. Jack had managed to get a clause inserted into his insurance contract that allowed her to keep riding for him. Her father had told her Jack was probably paying a lot more for the premiums now.

Carrie Warner had quit. Kara Thrace had been hired. She had a new Caprica driver's license obtained with a birth certificate that looked exactly like the one her mother kept in a drawer on Picon…except for one small detail. This birth certificate listed her father as John Gallagher. The birth certificate even looked old, like it, too, had been kept in a drawer somewhere for sixteen years. She had looked skeptically at her father when he had handed it to her. He had already told her not to ask any questions. She really had to wonder about some of the people her father knew. But then she knew someone who could have done something like that, too. Laura had said it first…like father, like daughter.

She went into Laura's kitchen and made a cup of instant coffee that she took out on the terrace. The rising sun was just touching the tops of the tallest skyscrapers. It reminded her of the day she had first seen the city from the bus, a city that looked like it had been lit with golden fire. She could hardly believe that had been barely a year since she had come to Caprica City with a heart full of uncertainty and dreams about a blue-eyed prince. She had found him. She had found Lee Adama and she knew their fates were bound together. Lee was part of her destiny, just like flying a Viper was part of her destiny.

Laura had found a tutor for her, a gnome-like little woman who worked with Kara on every one of her days off. The tutor was tough and Kara struggled, but she wouldn't give up. Karl had told her the things she needed to concentrate on. She studied every night until midnight. In two weeks she would take the Academy entrance exam. Lee had taken her to dinner twice, once just the two of them and once with her father and Laura. Lee had not been upset about her choosing to study instead of choosing to spend time with him. He understood. He had not tried to kiss her again, either, and she understood that, too.

She thought about how Lee was going to look at her when he saw her tonight in the dress, the beautiful claret-colored dress, with her hair fixed and wearing make-up. She smiled. She knew that tonight she was going to get kissed.

...

Laura looked at Kara just before they went downstairs to get into the limousine that would take them to the temple. John and Lee were meeting them there. Kara looked so beautiful tonight that Laura knew she would take Lee's breath. And if her father didn't see her as the woman she was becoming, then he never would. The two women exchanged a look.

"My dad's going to cry," Kara said. "You look so beautiful he's going to cry."

"We're probably all going to cry," Laura smiled. "I'm sure I will. Since I've been pregnant, I cry at everything."

"Your hairdresser guy did a good job with your hair. The pearls look…how did he do that anyway?"

"He had a long clear string with pearls every three inches. He wove them in."

"It looks perfect."

In the limousine, Laura reached out and squeezed Kara's hand. Kara smiled at her. "What do you want me to call you?"

"What are you comfortable calling me?"

"Laura."

"Then _Laura_, it is."

They arrived at the little temple just at sunset. The photographer very discretely took a picture of them getting out of the limousine. Together the two women walked up the steps and waited at the back of the temple until Elosha signaled the two musicians to begin playing. Laura heard the sounds of the lyre and flute.

She looked at John. He looked so handsome in the tuxedo, her father's favorite tuxedo. And Lee looked so handsome in his dress uniform. The groom and his best man, best friends. It couldn't be more perfect.

She watched Lee's and John's faces as Kara started down the short aisle. She saw the pride in John's eyes. She wasn't sure exactly how she would describe the look on Lee's face. It was a combination of amazement and awe and…yes…love. She tried to imagine his thoughts. The only word that came into her mind was _wow_.

Kara arrived at the front and turned. They were waiting for her. Laura stepped into the candlelit temple and went to meet her groom. The look on John's face was not all that different from Lee's. _You're beautiful, _he whispered as he took her hand. Together they faced Elosha.

"Lords of Kobol, we come together in your presence for this most joyous and solemn of occasions, the uniting of this man and this woman as husband and wife. We have been given the sacrament of marriage that this couple may pledge their love in the presence of the gods and in the presence of those who witness their intention to join as one. John and Laura, the heart of a marriage is the relationship that you create, and the vows you now take will serve always as a reminder of the act of faith and trust you now perform. Pythia tells us that _the gods shall lift up those who lift each other,_ and the union of a marriage is fulfillment of the sacred scripture as it was written."

She looked first at Kara and then at Lee, "the rings, please."

Kara slid her father's ring off her thumb and handed it to Elosha. She saw Lee hand Laura's ring to her. Elosha turned and held both rings high before the altar.

"Gods of the sky and sea and land, gods of the hearth and harvest, add your blessings to these symbols of union, the circle representing the eternity of love and the cycle of time and the ever renewing nature of our faith."

Elosha handed John's ring to Laura and she slid it on his finger as Elosha said, "Laura, do you accept this man's love and return it by taking him as your husband?"

"I do."

Elosha handed Laura's ring to John and then looked at her and smiled. "John has asked to say something to you before he takes his vow and that right is accorded to him."

Laura looked down at the ring John slid on her finger. It wasn't a simple band at all. It was the most beautiful ring she had ever seen. She saw the diamonds sparkle fire in the light from the candles. Her eyes filled with tears and she looked at him.

"Laura, a long time ago in another ceremony, an officer in the Colonial fleet pinned Viper wings on my chest. I didn't think anything…" he took a deep breath and Laura saw him look at the ceiling a few moments and manage to compose himself. "I didn't think anything would ever mean that much to me again, but today, by becoming my wife, you've pinned wings on my heart."

Elosha said, "John, do you accept this woman's love and return it by taking her as your wife?"

"I do."

"By the giving and receiving of these rings and by the exchange of these vows, you have consented to become one. As priest of our faith and representative of the gods, I say to one and all that you are now husband and wife. Cherish one another always as you do this day. Laura and John, you may share your first kiss as a married couple."

Kara was the one who finally looked at Lee and grinned. "Are we going to let them stand here all night being mushy? We've got guests waiting. It's time to celebrate."

TBC…


	38. What Are Dad's For

Chapter 38

What are Dads For?

_In a bold move that was carried out without Cylon detection, a group of engineers was able to design and test an upgrade of the Mark VI Viper during the five years between wars. Miniaturization of most of the computerized components allowed Mark VII technology to be retrofitted into a Mark II body. Due to the secrecy surrounding the project, only a dozen of these ships were outfitted and ready to fly when needed at the start of the Third Cylon War. The best Viper pilots in the fleet were assigned to fly them. _

_-Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War_

Lee thought Kara looked so beautiful that he couldn't keep his eyes off of her as the limousine took them to the Libran embassy where the reception was being held. Instead of the ponytail her hair was curled and waving around her shoulders. In her ears she wore small ruby-colored drop earrings. She had on lipstick, too, a color that complimented the claret color of the dress. He'd never seen lipstick on her beautiful mouth before. He tried not to think about kissing it until there was no lipstick left.

Kara saw him looking at her and smiled. "I clean up good, don't I?"

"You look…I can't tell you how beautiful you look tonight."

Kara raised her eyebrows mischievously. "Wait until I take off the jacket."

Lee realized he had just swallowed hard. Nevertheless, he slid his hand across the foot of space separating them on the seat of the car and took her hand.

On the opposite seat in the limo, Laura and John were so wrapped up in each other that neither appeared to notice.

"I know guys have told you that you're beautiful before, haven't they?"

"You mean not counting my dad?"

"Not counting him."

Kara thought of Hugh Connelly and the time in the refugee camp that he'd told her she was beautiful. She thought about how good it had made her feel. She felt the same way now.

"Every day somebody usually sees the messy ponytail and is overwhelmed by my beauty."

Lee rolled his eyes. "I'm trying to pay you a compliment and you make a joke."

Tory Foster was waiting for them when they got out of the limousine. They stood while Laura spoke with her for a moment. John came over to Kara and hugged her. "You look beautiful tonight, baby. You look all grown up in that dress."

"Thanks, Dad. I am grown up." She raised her eyebrows at Lee.

John put an arm around Lee's shoulder. "I saw you holding her hand in the car. I'm so happy tonight that I don't mind. You might even get away with kissing her, but you know where to stop."

Lee nodded. "Don't worry."

Laura came over to them and John let go of Kara and Lee and took her hand. "Tory says that everything is ready. A few of the guests are here early. I told Tory she could bring someone. John and Kara, I hope it doesn't upset either of you, but she just told me Sam Anders will be here later."

Kara looked at her father. "Why would I care?"

Her father looked funny. "I'm okay with it, too. As long as he doesn't start something, I'm fine with it."

"Why would he start something?" Kara asked.

"He and I have some history going back a couple of years. I'll tell you about it sometime…just not tonight. Come on, let's go in."

Lee took Kara's hand as they went up the steps. She looked at him. "Do you know what he's talking about?"

Lee nodded.

"What?"

"I'd rather he told you."

"Sam told me that he didn't like pilots because a pilot had snaked a girl from him once. Was he talking about my father?"

"Kara, I'd just rather you got it from him."

"No damn wonder my dad is so hung up on karmic justice. No wonder he freaked when he found out I'd dated Sam."

Once they were inside the ballroom of the embassy, Laura told them that they would stand near the entrance for twenty or thirty minutes and greet their arriving guests. Kara eyed the bar. She really wished she could have just one small drink. She was nervous about all the important people who were going to be there like President Adar and his wife and most of the Quorum of Twelve delegates and their spouses.

But after the first few people had gone through the line, it became routine. _Smile, shake hands, say 'Nice to meet you'._ Repeat for the next person. She met Laura's fellow Cabinet members. With the exception of the President, she knew she would later have a hard time remembering their names.

Jack and Nancy Fisk came through the line and shortly after that, Karl came through with Sharon. He was wearing what Kara knew was a new suit and Sharon had on a pretty blue dress. Kara and Karl hugged and she introduced him to Lee.

"You've met once before, but this is my best friend, Karl Agathon," she said proudly.

The two men shook hands. "So you're going to the Academy?" Lee asked.

"If I get in. Sharon and I are both going."

"Sharon Valerii," the girl in the blue dress reached out and shook Lee's hand.

"Nice to meet you. Are you originally from Caprica, Sharon?"

There was just the smallest hesitation before she said. "I was born on the mining colony of Troy. I was visiting my grandmother here on Caprica when the accident happened. I've been here since then."

Karl said, "We're holding up the line. We'll talk to you later."

Before they walked off, Kara asked, "What about Jared and Maggie?"

"I don't think they're coming. I know Maggie's not."

"I didn't know you'd invited them," Lee said.

"I changed my mind, but I don't guess it matters now."

The next one through the line was Zak Adama.

Zak reached for her hand. "All I can say is I'd rather kiss the maid of honor tonight than the bride."

"You're not going to kiss either one of them," Lee said quickly.

"Whoa, who made you her keeper, big bro?"

Zak smiled at Kara. He really was cute when he smiled like that. She understood why he had a lot of girlfriends.

"Didn't you bring a date, Zak? I don't think there will be too many girls your age here for you to pick up."

Zak gave her a meaningful look before he headed toward the bar. "All I need is one."

Kara knew Lee would have had a comment to make to his brother, but his mother and father were right behind Zak. Instead Lee said, "Kara, I'd like for you to meet my parents. Mom and Dad, this is John's daughter, Kara Thrace. Kara, this is my dad, Bill and my mom, Carolanne."

The man standing before her shaking her hand didn't look anything like Lee, except for the blue eyes. He was olive-complected and stockier built, but still handsome in a rugged sort of way. His wife was paler and blond. Lee definitely took his coloring and classic cheekbones from her. Kara caught the odor of alcohol. One or both of the Adamas had been drinking.

Tonight the commander was wearing his dress uniform. She saw the medals and decorations down the sash and the white shoulder cords. She suddenly realized just how important this man was. He was as important as the President.

"It's a real…honor," she almost stammered.

Bill Adama looked at her with eyes that were much kinder than she thought a man of his rank and power could have. "My son has told me some of your story. You're a remarkable young woman. How are things going with you and your dad?"

Kara smiled. "We've had our ups and downs."

Bill smiled, too. "Knowing your dad, I don't doubt that at all. I hope I get to talk to you later. If not, maybe Lee can bring you to lunch tomorrow."

Carolanne grasped Kara's hand tightly. "I'm so glad to finally meet the girl who has charmed my oldest son. You'll have to tell me _all_ about yourself."

If the faintly-slurred words hadn't already given it away, Kara would have realized which one of the Adamas had been drinking just from the strong smell of alcohol as Lee's mother leaned toward her.

"Mom," Lee said softly. "Not now. You're holding up the line."

"Of course, we _must_ observe protocol considering how important _she_ is. After all _she's_ the Secretary of Education."

"Carolanne," Bill said softly but sharply.

He took her arm and walked her toward a table. Kara realized that without her husband's support, Lee's mother would be unsteady on her feet. How embarrassing for Lee. His mother was already half-drunk. And what was with that catty comment about Laura?

"Don't pay any attention to her," Lee mumbled under his breath. "She's not usually like that."

Behind Bill and Carolanne was a young couple that Kara didn't know, but apparently Lee did. They had been talking to John and Laura, but now moved on to them. She felt Lee tense slightly beside her.

"Hi, I'm Billy Keikeya. I work for Laura. And this is Blaire Merric."

Kara knew the name _Blaire_ should mean something to her, but at the moment she couldn't think. She didn't realize Blaire was the girl Lee was getting drunk over that long-ago night at Zeno's until she heard his voice as he greeted her. It was cool, devoid of the warmth he had used when greeting the other guests.

"Hello, Blaire."

"Lee," Blaire's tone was chirpy. "How are you? You look great."

"I'm fine. This is Kara, John's daughter."

Kara wasn't sure what made her do it, but she edged closer to Lee and slipped her arm through his.

"Hi, Billy and _Blaire_," Kara said with a sweetness that bordered on sarcasm. "It's so _good_ to finally meet you."

Blaire was sharp. It took her all of three seconds to realize exactly what Kara and Lee's relationship was. If Billy understood, he managed to act completely clueless.

Two ruddy spots of color appeared in Blaire's cheeks. "Nice to meet _you_," she mumbled and hurried past them.

"Thanks," Lee said softly to her. "That was nice. That was…just thanks."

Kara dropped her hand. "So how hot was the thing you two had?"

"Apparently not hot enough to withstand me being on a battlestar for a year," Lee said and grinned.

"Yeah, I can tell Billy's way hotter. He's a real babe magnet."

"You're kidding."

"Of course I'm kidding. His idea of a hot date is probably reading one of Laura's budget proposals to Blaire."

"Billy's a nice guy. That was cruel."

"I guess you didn't know my mouth can be cruel as well as smart."

"Don't start. Gods, don't start talking about your mouth. Since I'm the best man, I've got to stand up in front of this group and make a toast to John and Laura. I can't afford to start thinking about your mouth. I'll forget everything I want to say."

"My dad told me not to get up and say anything. He said it would make him cry."

Kara saw Sam Anders come in, but he didn't come through the receiving line. He went straight to the bar. Lee saw him, too.

He nudged her. "Speaking of babe magnets. I think that's the genuine article."

Kara snickered. "Only if you're a _babe_."

Tory walked over to them. "When the band finishes the next song, Lee you can go ahead and make your toast. I think most of the guests who are coming are here. Then you two and the bride and groom can dance and mingle with everyone."

They all walked to the bar. Kara gave her father a questioning look. "One glass of champagne," he said. They all got drinks. Laura got ginger ale.

Lee took his drink and went to the low raised dais where the band was set up. The bandleader handed him a microphone. He tapped it several times and the room grew quiet.

"I'd like to welcome everyone here tonight to celebrate a really happy occasion with us…the marriage of my best friend, John Gallagher and the beautiful Laura Roslin." Applause rippled throughout the room and Lee waited until it was quiet again.

"Many of you here tonight know John, and if you don't know him personally, you've seen his name in the news recently. I met John almost four years ago on my father's battlestar the _Galactica_, and from that time he's been a close friend and the man I've turned to for advice on all matters relating to women. John _always_ had words of wisdom to offer me on the subject of women…until I started dating his daughter. Now his advice consists mostly of telling me that if I don't behave myself, I'm a dead man."

While he was waiting for the laughter to die down, he looked at Kara and smiled.

"I haven't known Laura for quite as long as I've known John, but she's been a friend of my family's for years, and from what I hear she's always been passionate about the education of the children of Caprica and more recently, the welfare of some of its most forgotten citizens, the people who lived in the refugee camps. I would like to say to you, John, that you're the luckiest man on Caprica tonight to have finally convinced Laura to marry you. And for you, Laura, I have just one question. What were you thinking?" He raised his glass.

The room exploded in laughter. John and Laura were laughing as hard as anyone. Lee handed the microphone back to the bandleader and stepped down from the dais. Now he could relax.

To his surprise, Kara walked past him and said something to the bandleader. He handed the microphone to her.

"Everyone…hi…my name is Kara Thrace and if my father, John Gallagher, ever kicks Lee's ass, it will probably be because of me. He told me not to say anything tonight because he didn't want me to embarrass him like Lee just did, but I don't listen to him all the time…so I have to say something. We were on Picon when the Cylons attacked and he risked his life…thanks, Dad…to get me to safety here on Caprica. That same night we got separated and that's another long story, but I just found him again and we're back together and Dad, I just want you to know that I think marrying Laura was the smartest thing you ever did since she takes my side most of the time." She had to wait until the laughter stopped.

"Anyway," she raised her champagne glass, "with love to my dad and Laura."

She gave the microphone back to the bandleader. "Play something nice and slow so we can dance," she whispered to him before she stepped down.

Tory stepped up on the platform. "Ladies and gentlemen, John Gallagher and Laura Roslin."

The band began playing and John took Laura in his arms and began to dance with her. Lee looked at Kara and held out his hand.

"I guess that means you're asking me to dance," she said. She took off her little jacket and draped it across a nearby chair. "That's better. Those sleeves are too tight."

They joined her dad and Laura on the dance floor. "Holy Hera," Lee said. "You took off most of the dress."

"No, I did not," Kara retorted. "I'm still plenty covered up."

Lee glanced down. "Not from my point of view."

Kara realized he could see the tops of her breasts. "Then quit looking."

"You might as well tell me to quit breathing."

"Eyes up here. My eyes, Lee, look...at...my...eyes."

Lee willed himself to look up. He was on the verge of embarrassing himself.

Kara said, "Your father doesn't look too happy."

Lee glanced over at the table where his father and mother were sitting. Kara was right. His father didn't look happy at all. His mother looked miserable. The drink in Bill's hand wasn't champagne, either. It looked like straight whiskey. There was a cup of coffee sitting in front of his mother. He had seen his father half a dozen times in the last three weeks and his father hadn't mentioned Laura's impending marriage to him even once. When he told his father that John had asked him to be his best man, all Bill had said was, "I figured he would."

Lee thought about the look in his father's eyes that long-ago night when he'd watched Laura walk away from their table, and about the conversation they'd had a few months ago when his father had told him that his feelings for Laura Roslin were none of Lee's business. He thought about what John had said last night. Was John right? Did Bill Adama still love Laura Roslin?

"A cubit for your thoughts," Kara said.

"They're not worth that much."

The song ended and John and Laura walked over to them. "Your speeches were perfect," Laura said.

"I've got to dance with my daughter," John said. As they walked a few steps away, Lee heard him say, "What happened to the rest of your dress?"

In response he got an eye roll from Kara.

Lee looked at Laura and smiled. "I guess this is our cue to dance."

Laura slipped her jacket off and put it on the chair with Kara's. The bodice of her dress was made much the same as Kara's dress. Lee managed to keep his eyes on her face. He knew her legs were really nice. He imagined the rest of her was, too.

"You look beautiful tonight," he said.

"Thank you. You and Kara make a very nice-looking couple. Even John agrees."

"He does?"

"He's going to be fine with it when she's a year or two older."

"I've behaved myself with her since I found out. I haven't even kissed her."

"Well, kiss her tonight," Laura said in a conspiratorial tone. "You both deserve it."

Lee felt someone tap his shoulder. "I'd like to cut in." He looked back. It was his father. "Carolanne and I won't be staying much longer. I'd like to dance with the bride before I leave. Go sit with your mother, Lee."

Without a word, Lee stepped aside and let his father take Laura in his arms. He walked to the small table on the side of the room where his mother was sitting. He could tell she'd already had way too much to drink. She must have started long before they got here tonight.

"Hi, Mom."

"I didn't want to come. He made me."

"What do you mean he _made you_?"

"He told me we were obligated. I told him to go by himself. He said it wouldn't look right."

"What's wrong, Mom?"

"Don't pretend you don't know about _her_?"

"Are you talking about Laura?"

"Who else would I be talking about," she said drunkenly. "It's always been about her."

"Mom, you shouldn't talk like that. Laura is married to John, now."

"Your father does love me in his own way. He loves me because I gave him you…and Zak. _You're_ the one he's so proud of, though. _You're_ the one he always talks about. Lee did this and Lee said that. _You're_ his pride and joy."

"He doesn't…he's never said anything like that to me."

"Oh, he loves you. He loves you with so much fatherly pride. And he loves her. He'll always love her."

"Come on, Mom, let me call a transport and take you home."

"We've got a driver. He's waiting. Walk with me out to the car. I'll wait in the car. I can't stand to see him dancing with her like that, wishing he was the one who had married her tonight."

Lee put his arm around his mother and helped her to her feet. On the dance floor he saw Kara glance at them and say something to her father. They walked over.

"I need to get Mom out to the car," Lee said. "She's not feeling well."

Carolanne looked at John. "I feel sorry for you," she slurred. "Maybe you should go home with me tonight so he can go home with her."

Kara was confused. "What's she talking about, Dad?"

"Carolanne's had a little too much to drink and her imagination has got the better of her. I'm going to help Lee get her outside."

Kara watched her father get on the other side of Carolanne and together he and Lee walked toward the door with her. Kara followed them. When they got outside, her father looked back over his shoulder. "Go tell Bill we've taken his wife to the car."

Kara went back inside and waited for the song to end. She walked over to Laura and Lee's father. "My dad said to tell you that he and Lee have taken your wife to the car. She's not feeling well."

"Right," Bill said. He looked at Laura. "I wish you and John every happiness," he said before he walked away.

"What's going on?" Kara said. "Everybody seems to know something but me. Is there something going on between you and Lee's dad?"

"Oh, no, Kara, no. Bill and I have known each other for a number of years. His father and mine were good friends."

"Then why did Mrs. Adama say something about my dad going home with her so Lee's dad could go home with you."

The color rose in Laura's cheeks. "Oh, dear gods."

"So you're saying there _is_ something going on?"

"Not now…a long time ago. It's been over for years. He was my first love. We're just very close friends now."

"So there's no reason for me to think the baby might not be my dad's, is there?" Kara asked defiantly.

"Absolutely not. For you to even ask that question is very distressing to me. You don't honestly think I would do something like that, do you?"

"I guess not. I just want to make sure because my dad doesn't deserve someone lying to him and being in love with another man. He loves you."

"I know, Kara. I love your father. I wouldn't have married him if I didn't. Had he not wanted to marry me, I was prepared to resign my position and raise our child myself."

"Okay," Kara said.

She turned and walked away. She needed time to think about what she had just learned. She needed time to decide if Laura was telling her the truth or just telling her what she wanted to hear. Kara walked outside and down the long portico that connected the main embassy building to a smaller one. So Laura had once had something going on with Bill Adama. She was sure her dad must know about it. She was sure her dad must be all right with it. So what was Carolanne Adama's problem…besides being drunk? Why did she think her husband still loved Laura? Kara turned around at the end of the portico and started back. She was so deep in thought that didn't notice Jared until she was almost to him. He was wearing a sports coat and tie with his jeans.

"Hey, Kara."

She jumped. "Damn, you scared me. What are you doing here?"

"You invited me, remember?"

"I didn't invite you to hang around in the _bushes_."

"I went inside and didn't see you. I was going to leave and then I saw you walking this way. What are you doing out here?"

"Getting some air. It got stuffy inside."

"You look…you look so beautiful tonight. I've never seen you in a dress before."

"Join the crowd. Nobody else has either. Let's go inside. Karl and Sharon are in there."

"I'd rather talk to you out here."

Kara folded her arms. "So talk."

"I called you at work a couple of weeks ago. I was going to tell you I would help you find your dad."

"Oh, really? Was that before or after he was shot and it was all over the news?"

"I think it was the same day."

"I never got the message. And somebody else helped me get to Sovana. Flew me up there as a matter of fact."

"So your boyfriend is a pilot?"

"A Viper pilot just like my dad. I'm going to the Academy…maybe this year if I pass the test and get admitted. And if you don't know already, I'm not in the group anymore. I got it all straightened out with Frogman."

"I really miss you, Kara. Every day I wake up and I think about…"

"Jared, don't go there…please."

"Would you still meet me at the deli sometimes? I could buy you dinner and we could talk….just talk. I want us to still be friends."

"I don't think that's a good idea. You'll never see me as just a friend. You'll always want something more from me."

"Please, Kara." He put his arms around her and pulled her tightly against him. "Please."

"Jared, don't."

"I love you, Kara. I'll do anything for you."

"No, you won't. You wouldn't even help me find my dad. Now let go of me. I want you to let go…"

"I think you'd better take your hands off my daughter." Kara had never heard her father's voice sound quite like that before.

Jared let go of her and backed away. She stepped between him and her father. "Dad, don't."

Her father took a deep breath and finally asked, "Is your friend hard of hearing? Or is he just not bright enough to understand what _let go of me_ means? How you answer that question determines what I'm going to do next."

"It's all right, Dad. _Please_ don't do anything to him. It's your wedding night. You don't want to spend it in jail. He's leaving."

"You're damned right he's leaving…after he apologizes to you."

"I'm sorry, Kara. I apologize," Jared said quickly.

Her father looked at her. "I guess he's brighter than he acts." Then he said to Jared, "When a woman tells you to take your hands off her, you take them off. And if I ever find out you've bothered my daughter again, you'll answer to me. Do you understand?"

Jared gave them a wide berth and hurried toward the steps leading to the parking lot.

Her father put his arm around her shoulders. "Let's go back inside."

"You're not mad at me?"

"Of course I'm not mad at you."

"I used to live with him. He was one of my roommates."

"That was Jared?"

"That's him. I used to make out with him, too. That's why he…why he put his arms around me. I should never have done it. I know that now. It wasn't fair to him. I never felt about him the way he feels about me."

Her father didn't say anything for a minute. "We all make mistakes, Kara. I made _plenty_ of mistakes growing up."

"Why are you being so nice to me tonight? Why aren't you all over my case about what I just told you? If I'd told you this last week, you would have been all over me about it."

He smiled. "It's my wedding night. I'm in a good mood. I'll get on your case tomorrow…or I might wait until next week…or I might just forget about it."

"Thanks for rescuing me."

"What are dads for if not for rescuing daughters from jerks?"

They went back inside. Laura was near the door. "There you are. I've been looking for you."

"I helped Lee get Carolanne to the car."

Kara saw her father and Laura exchange a look.

"Too much to drink?" Laura asked.

John nodded.

"Bill had been drinking, too. Not tthat much, but he'd definitely been drinking. He was a bit morose to say the least. Something is troubling him a great deal right now."

"They've got problems we can't do anything about," John said.

"I know. It's a shame. But you and I have guests. We need to mingle."

"Stay inside, Kara," John said as they walked away.

"Don't worry, Dad." She eyed the bar. She wondered what her dad would do if she went for another glass of champagne.

"I don't guess you planned to speak to me tonight, did you?"

Kara turned. Sam Anders stood there. He did look good tonight in his dark jacket and shirt and tie.

"Why do you say that?"

"You've ignored me all night."

"I've been busy. Besides, you haven't got any room to talk. I never heard from you after the championship game."

"Not true. Oh, so not true. I left you four or five messages and you never called me back."

"You left me four or five messages where?"

"You were living at Tory's place. Where do you think?"

"You left me four or five messages at Tory's? What makes you think I would listen to her voice mails?"

"Oh, crap," Sam said. "She must have picked them up. Frak, I hope I didn't mention any names. Maybe she thought they were for her."

"It couldn't have been too bad. She's still hooking up with you."

"How do you know that?"

"I heard you the night before I moved out."

"Frak. How embarrassing."

"You really sound embarrassed," she said sarcstically.

"Would you go out with me again?"

"I have a boyfriend now."

"The best man?"

"His name is Lee. So who did my dad snake from you?"

"A girl named Lissa. She was hot, too. A little older than me, but hot."

"Oh, gross," Kara said. "Even if I didn't have a boyfriend, I don't think I could date a guy who hooked up with a girl that my father lived with for two years. That would make us almost related."

"That is weird. I might give her a call now that she's a free woman."

"Why don't you do that? I'll bet she'll be glad to hear from you."

"I'd still like to take you out."

"Forget it, Sam. I'm sixteen."

"Sixteen? No frakking way you're sixteen. You need to come up with something better than that."

Zak Adama walked up to them. "She's telling the truth, dude. She's sixteen and you're an awesome pyramid player."

"Thanks."

"So, Kara, do I get to dance with the hottest maid of honor ever?"

Sam said, "I was just getting ready to ask her to dance."

"Tough. I'm claiming her," Zak said. He took Kara's hand and led her to the dance floor. "So how are things going with you and Lee?"

"Fine," Kara said. "They're going fine."

"Really? How come he's been hanging out with me the last couple of Saturday nights acting like a complete mope?"

"I've been studying so I can pass the test to get into the Academy. Laura got me a tutor."

"Most people study to get out of school. Studying to get in? Man, that's warped."

"No it's not. I'm going to be a Viper pilot like my father. At least I have a goal in my life."

Zak rolled his eyes. "You sound like Lee and my dad. _What are you going to do when you grow up, Zak? You need a goal in your life. You need a plan for the future. _What kind of a frakking future have any of us got? Living under Cylon rule for the rest of our lives?"

"We won't be living under Cylon rule forever. We're going to get rid of them. You need a better excuse than that."

"Yeah, right. Blow up a couple of base stars with rubber bombs. What are you going to do? Bounce them out of the universe? You're as funny as my dad and Lee. Maybe I don't want to grow up. Lee's grown up enough for both of us."

"Everybody has to grow up sometime. I did in the camp. I didn't have a choice."

"That must have been a bummer."

Kara shrugged. "I guess you had to be there to understand."

"I've thought about trying to get into Caprica U. I've thought about joining the Marines. I've thought about doing a lot of things. I've just never done any of them."

"What do you want to do? Frak your way through all the hot babes on Caprica before you make a career choice."

"Funny. You're really funny. I need to start calling you_ Lee junior_. You sound just like him. The thing is…I don't know what I want to do. I really don't know. At one time I thought I'd like to play pro soccer. Now, I don't even know about that. I thought I had a PR job lined up with a sports management company, but that fell through. So I'm still selling golf clubs and scuba gear at Bull's Eye. I don't know who my dad is more disappointed in…me or my mom."

"Was it just tonight or does your mother have a problem with alcohol?"

"She's _always_ had a problem with alcohol. I thought she was better, but lately she's started drinking again. My dad's gone a lot now. He has meetings and stuff. Lee's got his own place and I work until nine at Bull's Eye most nights. I can't take it when I am home. Her drinking and crying and him shutting himself up in his study ignoring her and scribbling notes in all these notebooks in some sort of secret code that only he understands. I'm thinking about moving in with a couple of guys I know. Mom's freaking out about that. She says she's alone too much as it is."

"It sounds like she needs something to do with her time."

Zak shrugged. "My dad's tried to get her some help. She went one time five years ago when I was fourteen after she OD'd on sleeping pills. She got better. She won't go now. I don't know why. I asked her what the problem is and she just cries and talks about how empty her life is. My whole family is totally frakked up."

"Lee's not."

"Yes, he is. He just hides it better than the rest of us. Mom and Dad's problems frakked him up just like they did me. He thinks he's got to be perfect in everything he does. Lieutenant _Top-of-the-class_ Lee Adama. If you stick with him you're in for a tough time. Sooner or later you'll screw up and then you're nothing to him."

"I don't believe that. It sounds to me like you're jealous of your brother."

Zak grinned. "Why wouldn't I be? He's got the hottest girl in the room tonight."

"So out of all your girlfriends you couldn't find even one to invite to the reception?"

"You have to be careful about inviting a girl to a wedding. It gives them ideas. Did you meet Billy's girlfriend Blaire?"

"Yeah."

"She used to date Lee."

"I know."

"Blaire has a roommate, Dee. She came in Bull's Eye a couple of times during the last two weeks and talked to me. I finally figured out she was trying to get me to invite her to the party tonight."

"Why didn't you?"

Zak shrugged. "I think she's still got a thing for Lee. I might ask her out, though. Make her forget about him. Then again, maybe I won't."

The song ended. Kara glanced at the door and wondered when Lee would be back. Zak wasn't in the best of moods. Her breath caught. She couldn't believe it. Hugh Connelly, looking better than he ever did in the refugee camp, was standing in the doorway. He saw her.

"Excuse me, Zak," Kara said.

She was already walking toward Connelly and he was walking toward her. She walked past her father and Laura who were talking to Jack and Nancy Fisk. Kara reached Connelly and threw her arms around his neck. He lifted her off the floor and said her name.

"Oh my gods, I don't believe it. I didn't think I'd ever see you again." Her eyes met his blue ones. It was still there…the bond that had been between them in the camp was still there.

He put her down but kept his arms around her. "You wouldn't kiss me goodbye, but you promised to kiss me hello. Are you going to keep that promise?"

He didn't have to ask twice. She turned her mouth up to him and he leaned down. He kissed her hard and she responded in kind, filled with the joy of seeing him again, oblivious to their surroundings.

That's the moment Lee came back from outside. That was also the moment her father got to them.

"What the hell?" He took her arm and pulled her away from Connelly. He sounded as angry as he had been about Jared.

"I made a promise. When I left the camp I made Connelly a promise. And let go of my arm. You're hurting me."

He dropped his hand. "What kind of promise?"

"To kiss him hello the next time I saw him."

Laura got to them. She put her hand on John's arm. "What's going on?"

"That's exactly what I'm trying to find out. Damn, Kara, what is it with you and men tonight?"

Laura said quickly, "We need to take this somewhere else. We've got guests watching. We don't want to do this here."

"I'm sorry," Hugh said. "I shouldn't have kissed her like that."

"You're damned right you shouldn't have."

"It was my fault, too," Kara said fiercely. "I kissed him, too."

"Outside," Laura said in her soft voice that had the steel edge of command to it. "Outside, all out you. _This minute!_"

Everyone obeyed her.

"That was more than just a _hello_ kiss," her father said. "Damn, in another minute you'd have been pulling your clothes off."

"No, we wouldn't." Kara said hotly. "You don't understand! You'll never understand!"

"Explain it to me, then."

"I can't. You weren't there. You don't know what it was like in the camp. You can't even begin to understand. None of you will ever understand except Connelly. He was there. He knows what it was like. He knows about the…the…he knows…"

Kara was starting to tremble. Memories of the camp flooded her…the mud and the rats and the near-rape. Only Laura seemed to grasp what was happening to her. She quickly put her arm around Kara. "Let's go inside, just the two of us." She turned to John. Her soft voice assumed that steel edge again. "If you get into a fight with him over Kara, then you and I _will not_ be sharing a hotel room tonight. Whatever your differences are with Hugh, you'd better work them out like gentlemen."

Laura walked back inside with Kara. They went upstairs and into one of the embassy's small waiting rooms and sat on a couch. Laura got some tissues from a container on the table and handed them to her. Kara wiped her eyes.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to embarrass you."

"Your life has been turned upside down in the last six weeks, hasn't it?"

"That's no excuse."

"I know you had a crush on Hugh," Laura said gently.

Kara nodded.

"And he cares for you, too. He cares a great deal about you."

"He's too old for me and he's married now, but I was just so glad to see him. I didn't think. I just acted. I just…my dad does not understand about the camp. We talked about it in the hospital and I told him it wasn't too bad because he feels guilty about giving up on looking for me. Those of us who were there…we share something no one else will ever understand. Ever since I found Connelly in the woods that day, we've had…we've had a bond."

"He told us you had saved his life."

"I stopped him from shooting himself. And then he saved me when two guys tried to rape me."

"Dear gods! Oh, Kara. I didn't know about that."

"My dad doesn't understand. Hugh Connelly will always mean something to me. I'm not in love with him anymore, but he'll always be special. He was the first man I ever had feelings like that for. Do _you_ understand what I'm talking about?"

"Yes, I do," Laura said softly.

The two women looked at each other and suddenly Kara realized that they shared something…an understanding about part of the nature of love.

Lee appeared in the doorway with two drinks.

"Come in," Laura said as she got up. "I'm sure that ambrosia is for Kara and I'm sure she needs it. Sit here. I need to get back to our guests. Will you be all right, Kara?"

Kara nodded.

Lee sat beside Kara and handed her the drink. She blew her nose. "Thanks."

Laura looked at him. "If John hasn't done something stupid, he and I are going to the honeymoon suite of the Kings Bay Hotel. You're going to take Kara home with you tonight. She does not need to be at our apartment alone."

"I'll be fine," Kara said.

"John will kick my ass," Lee said.

Laura smiled. "One of you is going to sleep on the couch. I'll let you work out which one."

Laura turned and left.

"Who won the fight, my dad or Connelly?" Kara asked Lee.

"They were sitting outside on the steps having a drink when I left. They were talking. I didn't hear any raised voices. I think John believed Laura when she told him he'd spend his wedding night alone if he got into it with Mr. Connelly."

"Good. I'm glad somebody can keep my dad from acting like a complete idiot."

Lee took a sip of his drink. "That was pretty impressive…that kiss."

"At least one guy _wants_ to kiss me."

"Kara, that is not fair. That is so not fair. Do you think I _don't want_ to kiss you?"

Kara shrugged. "You made my dad a promise. I know. That means more to you than kissing me."

"If I kiss you…even once…I'm not going to want to stop. And then you know what will happen. And then my word to John means nothing. He trusts me, Kara. He trusts me to do the right thing."

"Why is us being together all of a sudden the _wrong_ thing?"

"You're sixteen."

"I'll be seventeen in a couple of months. You and my dad…you're both hung up on a number. That's all it is…a number. There were parts of Aerilon where fourteen and fifteen-year-old girls were still being married off to older men. Saggitaron and Gemenon, too."

"That was only in a few remote areas and that doesn't make it right."

"Okay, then what is different about me today than six weeks ago? Huh? Tell me that. I'm the same person I was six weeks ago and you were fine with us being together then."

"Six weeks ago I thought you were nineteen, almost twenty years old."

"So it's you that's changed. Not me."

"I guess in a way you're right."

"Do you honestly think if I go back to your apartment with you tonight that one of us will sleep on the couch?"

Lee couldn't look at her. "No."

"Then it's settled. I go back to Laura's. I go back to Laura's by myself. I'll be fine."

"I'll take you."

John appeared in the doorway.

"Oh, great!" Kara said. "Now I get to listen to him chew me out."

Lee stood up. "Can this wait, John?"

"No, it can't."

Kara sighed. "Okay, let's get it over with. I've ruined your wedding reception anyway."

John took a deep breath. "You didn't ruin anything for me, Kara."

She waited. "And?" She finally asked.

"Laura told me you were going back to Lee's apartment tonight…that she'd told you to."

"Laura is wrong. I'm going back to her place alone just like we'd planned."

"I just want you to know it's all right."

"What's all right?"

John took another deep breath. "If you want to go back to Lee's apartment tonight, it's all right."

"What?" Kara and Lee both said at the same time.

"I know you'll be safe at Lee's place."

"No. I'm not going to do it, Dad. It's not fair to either one of us."

"Damn," her father said. "How can I say this without saying it? I'm not putting any conditions on you going to Lee's place with him tonight."

Lee looked at John skeptically. "You've changed your mind?"

"I just had a talk with Hugh Connelly…"

"What the hell is this?" Kara asked, suddenly furious with her father. "You're going to let Lee take me home with him because you're afraid if you don't, I'll go home with Hugh Connelly? Because if that's what this is all about, you can just…"

"Let me finish, Kara. I had a talk with Hugh about the camp…an honest talk this time. I know…that what you went through in that camp was a lot worse than you told me. I know you've lived like an adult for the last year or longer. You've made decisions about your own life without me telling you what to do. And you've done a damned good job of it. You've been responsible and mature. I'm saying you're grown up enough to make a decision like that about your life. Does that make you happy?"

Kara got up and put her arms around her father. She knew what it must have taken for him to say that to her. She knew how much he must love her and trust her to have said that. "I love you," she whispered.

Over Kara's head, John looked at Lee. "You take good care of her. I swear to the gods, if you don't, you'll answer to me."

Lee nodded. He was still trying to convince himself that John was really okay with him and Kara being together.

"Now we all need to go back downstairs. I think we've had enough drama for the evening."

"Since you're feeling so generous, Dad, is this a good time to talk about me going to the Academy this year?"

"Damn," her father said, "you just don't know when to quit, do you?"

"That's what Jack is always telling me."

"Jack's a smart man. What's he going to say when you hand him your resignation?"

"I'm not going to do that."

"How do you think you're going to ride a motorcycle for him and go to the Academy, too?"

"Does that mean…?"

"It means you take the entrance exam next week. Let's wait and see what happens. In a month if you get an acceptance letter, we might have this discussion again."

"It's my destiny," Kara said and looked at Lee. She smiled. "Some things are just meant to be. My dad's finally beginning to understand that."

"Damn," John said. "Did I mention this karmic justice thing is hell?"

...

Kara and Lee stayed at the reception until the last guests were gone, nearly half an hour after John and Laura left. They sat at a table and talked to Karl and Sharon and Hugh Connelly and Zak. She danced with all of the men. Lee danced once with Sharon, and Zak danced a couple of times with her. Karl watched them but didn't say anything. Kara and Karl and Sharon asked Lee a lot of questions about the Academy and Flight School. Kara learned that Hugh would be teaching at the Academy starting with the fall semester. He was in Caprica City over the weekend to find an apartment and make arrangements to move from Antioch. She tried not to think of how weird it would seem if he were one of her instructors.

During the last dance with Lee she told him that he should come back to Laura's apartment with her. "I don't really want to leave your apartment tomorrow morning wearing this dress."

"I understand," Lee said. "We'll go by my place first and I'll pick up a change of clothes. I don't really want to leave Laura's tomorrow in my dress uniform, either."

At Lee's apartment Kara waited in the transport while he went upstairs. He was back in less than ten minutes wearing a pair of jeans and a blue sweater and was carrying a small zip-up bag.

When they got to Laura's apartment, Kara unlocked the door and turned off the alarm. She led the way into the den and turned on the gas logs. "The bar's behind those cabinet doors."

"I remember." Lee opened the double doors and saw the silver flask. "Siren's Kiss?"

"Why not?"

He poured two small glasses and sat beside Kara on the couch. "Are you glad it's over?"

"Totally glad. Laura's been stressed out about the wedding plans for the last three weeks. Maybe she can relax now. This last week me and Dad have both been tiptoeing around her."

"What the latest with John's arm? I've been afraid to ask him."

"He goes back to the doctor next week. I think he's doing better, but he's still sure he can't pass a flight physical yet."

"Do you think he would consider teaching the Viper simulator at the Academy if he doesn't pass…maybe even if he does? There're two simulators out there, a Mark II and a Mark VI. My dad wants more pilots trained next year. The only way we can do that is to have more instructors. I think he's already talked to Colonel Winters and Colonel Burgher about it. Burgher can teach twice as many students in Basic Flight if he doesn't have to do the simulator training too. I think John would be good at teaching the Mark II."

"I don't know if my dad would consider that or not."

"I know a lot of John's identity is tied to flying…to being a pilot, but this would be a lot more important to what my dad wants to do than flying a government ship for a year."

"What does your dad want to do?"

"Get rid of the Cylons. He has a plan. That's a big secret, Kara. I'm trusting you with a really big secret."

"Does my dad know about this?"

"Yeah."

"Laura, too?"

"Probably."

"Zak said your dad scribbles in notebooks all the time…some sort of secret code that only he can read."

"Zak should know. He lives there."

"He said things are really bad with your mom now."

"Zak exaggerates."

"But tonight…"

"She doesn't do that all the time, Kara. She used to have a problem but she's got it under control now."

"You dad invited us to lunch tomorrow. Does that mean we'll be going over there?"

"I don't think so."

"Lee, you should at least talk to your dad about what's going on with her."

"I tried to talk to my dad tonight. That's why I was outside for a while. He said this was a one-time thing. My dad doesn't talk to me about his personal life…about _their_ personal life. Let's just drop it."

"So what's your dad's plan?"

"He's the only one who knows all the pieces. I know that part of it involves having enough pilots."

"So you want me to talk to my dad about teaching the Viper simulator?"

Lee smiled. "You seem to be on a roll with him."

"Yeah, right. He's a real marshmallow."

"I'm here am I not? With his permission, even."

"For all the good it's going to do me."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I've got a feeling that _you're_ not okay with it?"

"I'm having a hard time switching mental gears. I keep having a vision of John walking in and kicking my ass."

"Oh, yeah, he's going to get out of bed with Laura and come all the way back over here. He thinks we're at your place, anyway."

"It wouldn't take him long to figure out where we are."

Kara turned up the glass and drank the last of the Siren's Kiss. It still took her breath. She set her glass on the coffee table, took Lee's from his hand and set it beside hers.

"Kiss me," she said. "At least you can kiss me."

Lee knew even as his mouth found hers that they weren't going to stop with a kiss. He felt her hands slide under his sweater and push it up. He felt her smart mouth on his chest. He leaned back as she slowly moved down, savoring the taste of his skin. She tugged at the button of his jeans. He helped her. He knew he couldn't take her smart mouth on him for very long.

He reached for the back of her dress and found the zipper. It soon joined his sweater and jeans on the floor. The only thing she was wearing underneath was a whisper of black lace. It took only seconds to slide the tiny bit of material down her legs.

He pushed her back until she was lying on the couch and kissed her again. He moved down. Kara wasn't the only one who had a smart mouth. She moaned softly, one hand gripped the side of the cushion, the other was in his hair. They were both hot now and in a hurry.

The firelight was on her body, on the pale, slim legs and high, firm breasts. He groaned. "You're so beautiful," he said as he slid up her body and his mouth found hers again and then her hand was on him, guiding him to her.

"Wait…I've got to get something."

She took his hand and put it on the back of her hip. "Birth control patch," she whispered. "It's all right."

His body was over hers but still he held himself back. "When?"

"Two weeks ago. I did it two weeks ago."

"How did you know you'd…we'd need it?"

"Some things are meant to be." She reached for him again.

This time he let her guide him into her. The sensation was so good it almost overwhelmed him. He held himself still in her and looked into her green eyes.

"I love you, Kara. I've loved you ever since John first told me about you."

She looked into his eyes. Was this what love felt like? To be able to give herself completely to him as Kara and not as Carrie? To hold nothing back from him? To take him into her body like this? To let him make her feel the way only he could make her feel? The way he was making her feel right now? She trusted him with her body. Could she...?

She made the leap of faith. She entrusted her heart to him as well.

"I…love…you," she managed to whisper as the rising tide of sensation began to engulf them. Tears filled her eyes as she said it more confidently, said it aloud in a soft cry as the wave pulled them in. "I love you, Lee, I love you." She knew she would remember the look on his face for the rest of her life.

Lee Adama had heard or read somewhere that there are moments that transcend the physical act of love, when you reach into eternity and touch the divine, when your souls merge for the space of a few heartbeats even as your bodies yield to the physical ecstasy. He had never believed it until he looked into Kara's eyes that night, eyes that held all the stars in the universe, the green eyes of the beautiful girl whose kiss had given him the gift of love.

Kara was right. Some things were destiny. Some things you don't question. Some things were simply meant to be.

TBC…


	39. Obligations

Chapter 39

Obligations

_In the fourth year of Cylon occupation, a study was quietly published in the Caprican Medical Association's journal _The Antyllus _detailing falling birth rates among several of the lower socio-economic segments of Caprica's population. The study inadvertently became a unifying tool of both polytheistic and monotheistic fundamentalist religious groups who claimed that the drop in births was due to an increase in abortions. No such correlation was ever found_ _since statistics showed a fall in the abortion rate with each passing year. _

_-Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War_

Lee woke up slowly with Kara's body nestled against his. She was still asleep, her breathing soft and even. He tried not to think about his desire, satisfied completely not too many hours ago and about what he again wanted to do right now. He lifted his head slightly and looked past Kara at the bedside clock. Nearly nine o'clock in the morning. He didn't think John and Laura would be back anytime soon, but despite John's seeming understanding, Lee didn't want to take the chance on what would happen if he caught Lee in Kara's bed.

Knowing about them in an abstract way and seeing the reality would probably be two entirely different things.

Slowly and carefully so as not to wake her he slid out of bed, went into the bathroom across the hall and closed the door. He turned on the shower and stepped in as soon as the water was warm. Relishing the feel he placed his hands against the thick glass-block shower wall and leaned against it, closing his eyes as the spray pelted his neck and shoulders.

He wasn't the least bit surprised a few moments later to hear the shower door open and feel Kara's arms close around him from behind. He turned.

"I hear you do it in the shower a lot on a battlestar," Kara said.

"I never did."

"But you know how."

"In theory."

"I'll bet if you call my dad, he can tell you," she teased.

Lee kissed her. "And how should I start that conversation? '_Hi, John, I hate to bother you, but Kara and I would like a detailed explanation of all the ways you can make love in the shower…theoretically speaking, of course._' How fast do you think he would get back over here and kick my ass?"

"He gave us his permission."

"True, but I don't think he gave us his blessing. Permission…blessing…two different things. It probably wouldn't be smart to rub his face in it."

Kara grinned. "I was just kidding about calling him anyway. I think together we can figure this out…with the right motivation that is."

He groaned. "I'm already motivated. Can't you tell?"

Thirty minutes later the water was beginning to get cold and they had found several ways that worked just fine.

Thirty minutes after that when Lee had shaved and gotten dressed, he checked the voice mail on his mobile phone.

"My dad," he told Kara. "He's at the office today and wants me to meet him at eleven o'clock for brunch at L'Escargot."

"What's that?"

"A restaurant near the Capitol Building." Lee called his father back. "Hey, Dad, how are you?…No, I must have been in the shower when you called." He grinned at her. "I'd already asked Kara to go to lunch with me before I got your message. Is it all right if I bring her along? Okay, we'll see you in about an hour." He ended the call.

"Coffee?" Kara asked. "I can make the real stuff since Laura isn't here. The smell makes her sick."

"Coffee sounds good. Have you got something to eat? Maybe a bag of chips? I'm starving."

"I think we've got some oatmeal cookies. Laura won't let her housekeeper buy chips. She says they're not healthy. She's all about healthy foods now."

"I can go with cookies."

"So how should I act around your dad?"

"What do you mean?"

"Am I just a casual date or what?"

"No, you are not a _casual_ date."

Kara was surprised. "You don't mind him knowing about us?"

"I'm not going to tell him we're…we've got…that we're…"

"Sleeping together," Kara finished for him.

"It's none of his business," Lee said.

Kara shrugged. "Okay, fine, we're just good friends." She walked into the kitchen.

Lee followed her. "Did I hurt your feelings?"

"No. We are good friends."

"He knows you're sixteen. He would think you're too young for us to be sleeping together. Besides, my dad and I don't discuss our personal lives with each other. We never have."

"You told me. What do you talk about with him…his plan to get rid of the Cylons?"

"You can't mention that. It's probably the biggest secret on Caprica. Tell him about the night Tom Zarek hijacked your dad's ship. He'd like to hear all about that, especially since Zarek is working for him now."

Kara got a bag of cookies from the cabinet and handed it to Lee. "I don't know if I want to talk about that. Zarek is the reason my dad and I were separated for three years."

"If it hadn't been for Zarek, then you probably wouldn't have been riding a motorcycle, and you and I would probably never have met. I'd never have met your dad, either because he wouldn't have been on the _Galactica_."

"You're right. I never thought about it like that."

Kara sat down at the kitchen table. She thought about her destiny and how she was beginning to see a pattern emerging. Everything had been leading her to this. She had to go back to see the Oracle. She needed to take her father with her. She knew the Oracle would have something different to tell her this time.

"Do you think your dad could help me get into the Academy?"

"I don't know, Kara, maybe."

"Okay, if he can't help me get in, do you think he would talk to my dad about letting me go if I pass the entrance test?"

"All you can do is ask him."

"I'll do that."

An hour later when they got out of a transport outside of L'Escargot, Bill Adama was waiting for them. He was wearing his dark blue duty uniform. In the daylight Lee noticed how tired his father looked, how much he looked like he had aged in the last year or so. He also noticed the bloodshot eyes. Too much paperwork or a hangover?

"Dad, you remember Kara."

"I met her last night, Lee. My memory's not that bad yet." Bill smiled. "How are you this morning, Kara?"

"I'm fine." She wasn't sure what she should call him. _Bill_ sounded too familiar and yet _Commander Adama_ sounded too formal.

They entered the restaurant and Bill asked to be seated outside on the terrace with its view of the bay in the distance. "How's Mom?" Lee asked.

"She was still asleep when I left early this morning. I had breakfast with the President. He asked me last night. We had some catching up to do."

"Wow," Kara said. "You say that like it's nothing." She imitated Bill's casual tone of voice, "'_I had breakfast with the President._'"

Bill smiled. "I guess it's become fairly routine to me now."

The restaurant's hostess seated them outside on the terrace in the shade. The late April day was warm. Kara could see the faintest line of darkness to the west far out over the bay. When she and Karl had lived at the little stone house and later in the camp, she had gotten good at predicting the weather by the sky and by the feel and smell of the air. It was harder to do in the city, but she was still right most of the time.

"It's going to rain this afternoon," she said.

"Weatherman says not until tomorrow," Bill commented.

"No, today. When you ride a motorcycle for a living, you learn to recognize the signs."

Lee smiled. "You never worry about the weather when you're on a battlestar do you, Dad? At least not like we do here."

"No," Bill answered him. "Not like we do here." For a few long moments he stared into the distance. Then he seemed to become aware of his surroundings once more. He directed his next comment to Kara. "Lee tells me you want to attend the Academy."

"I do. I want to be a Viper pilot like my dad. He doesn't want me to. He's afraid we might…fight the Cylons again and he doesn't want me involved in that, but last night he did say we would talk again if I pass the entrance exam next week and get accepted. He was probably just trying to shut me up. I give him a lot of grief sometimes."

"Only sometimes?" Lee smiled.

Kara gave him a look.

"So you not only want to go to the Academy, you want to wear the wings as well," Bill said in an amused tone. "And John doesn't want you to."

"Not this year, anyway. Next year when I'm eighteen I won't need his permission."

"Your dad was a hell of a Viper pilot. I've seen his combat record."

Kara smiled. "I'll be just as good as he was, maybe even better." She gave Lee a look that said, _just as good as you are, too, maybe even better._

He shook his head. "No way."

The waiter arrived and took their drink orders. Bill asked for a Bloody Mary. Kara ordered tea. Lee asked for water. The waiter told them to help themselves to the brunch buffet. Kara didn't think she had ever seen so much food in one place in her entire life. They could have lived on that much food in the camp for weeks.

"What?" Lee asked as they moved down the long table and chose from several dozen items.

"Nothing," Kara said. She knew that she'd come a long way in the last year…from eating canned meat barely a step above dog food in the refugee camp to one of the best restaurants in Caprica City.

When they were seated again, she asked the commander. "Do you think you could talk to my dad about letting me go to the Academy this year?"

Bill smiled. "Your dad may not appreciate me meddling."

"You need pilots, don't you?"

Bill looked at her a little warily.

"What Kara means is that we always need pilots," Lee said hastily.

"Yes," Bill sipped the Bloody Mary and gave Lee a hard look. "We always need pilots."

"We're going to get rid of the Cylons and I'm going to be part of it," Kara said. "It's my destiny. I've known it for the last three years. I've known it ever since my dad got me off Picon. That's why I want to train to be a pilot, so I'll be ready whenever it happens."

"That's…interesting," Bill said.

Lee looked at his father. What he did he think? Did he think Kara knew anything? Was Kara going to betray him?

"I believe in fate…in destiny." She looked at him and then glanced at Lee.

"So it's your destiny? What does John say about that?" Bill finally asked.

"He doesn't believe in destiny. He says we make our own destiny. That's what he told Tom Zarek the night Zarek hijacked his ship. Zarek was talking about fate, about the Fates and my dad said we make our own destiny." She looked directly at the bloodshot blue eyes. "What do you believe?"

Bill rubbed his chin. "I don't believe in the gods."

Kara was shocked. "None of them?"

"I don't either," Lee said.

Bill smiled slightly. "One thing my son and I agree about."

Kara thought about what he had just said. She knew that talking about religious beliefs was not the best topic of conversation at a meal. Her mother and Dreilide had taught her that much. She believed. He didn't. They argued about it a lot, especially at mealtime. Kara didn't want to get into an argument with the commander before she'd even gotten to know him. She changed the subject.

"Lee said you want my dad to teach the Mark II simulator at the Academy."

"I'll make a bargain with you, Kara. Pass the test and talk your dad into teaching that simulator for a year. If you do, I'll talk to John about letting you go to the Academy this year. If you're good enough to be a Viper pilot, Conrad Burgher will let us know. And your dad would be able to teach you himself. That might be an added incentive. That might ease his fears."

Kara grinned. "You've got yourself a bargain."

Outside the restaurant after the meal, Bill told them that he was expecting a communication from Zarek that afternoon about the mining operations on Tauron. He left them and walked back toward the Capitol Building and his office.

"I thought you were going to betray the secret I told you," Lee said as soon as his dad was out of earshot.

"Nope, but I wanted him to know I'm going to play a part in it. Maybe now when he gets to my part in the plan, he'll recognize it for what it is."

"What is your part?"

"That's just it. I'm not sure yet. But I'll know. Or he'll know. Someone will know. It's my destiny. It's my fate."

Lee sighed. He knew better than to argue with her. Kara believed in fate and destiny, beliefs he didn't share.

"What do you want to do this afternoon?" He asked.

"I should go back to the apartment and study."

"Is that what you want to do?"

"No. I'd like to go out to the Academy? Can you show me around out there?"

"Probably. My military ID should get us through the gate."

"Will you?"

"Subway or transport?"

"A transport will get us there faster," Kara said.

"It's nearly twelve miles outside of the city. A transport will cost a lot more."

"Okay, okay. We ride the subway."

Thirty-five minutes later at the Academy's gate, Lee showed his military ID. The guard asked him who he was going to see. He needed to verify an appointment to admit him to the campus since Lee wasn't currently a student. Lee thought quickly and said, "Colonel Conrad Burgher. We don't have an appointment, but I hoped we might get to see him since we were out this way. Kara wants to see the campus since she's applying for admission this fall."

Kara had to fill out a visitor form and show her new ID. The guard issued them both temporary passes after he contacted Colonel Burgher and the colonel gave his okay.

"Wow," Kara said as they walked toward the buildings several blocks away. "There's a lot of security involved in getting into this place. Armed guards and everything. Isn't that overkill for a _school_?"

"Some people view the Academy and the military as being Cylon lovers."

"_Some people_? As in the resistance?"

"I'm glad you're out of that. John, too."

"You know what we did at Baltar's lab that night?"

"Besides blow it up…no, what?"

"Maybe I should have asked if you know what they were trying to do out there?"

"John told me. I'm not sure I believe it, though. My dad didn't know anything about it until Laura told him, and the President tells my dad everything about stuff like that."

"Maybe the President didn't know."

Lee shrugged. "I find that hard to believe."

"They succeeded. Baltar and his group succeeded but only once."

"Succeeded? Are you saying they created a half-human, half-Cylon baby?"

"That woman my dad used to live with sent him a letter while he was in the hospital. She said they'd gotten a human woman pregnant with a Cylon baby."

"Damn," Lee said. "I wonder if my dad knows."

"I don't know. I think my dad has met him for lunch once since we got back to Caprica City from Sovana, but I don't know if he told him."

"I'll mention it to him. Has your dad told Laura?"

"I don't know. I doubt it. He probably will now that the wedding is over and she doesn't have so much on her mind. He was trying not to do anything to make her more stressed out."

"Do you believe it?"

Kara shrugged. "My dad does, so I guess I do, too."

They walked between two buildings and Lee stopped. They were standing at one edge of the main part of campus. Even though it was a Sunday, dozens of cadets were on the sidewalks. Lee pointed. "There's the quadrangle. That's where you walk off demerits."

Kara snorted. "I'll bet you didn't get a single demerit while you were here."

"No, I didn't.

"It figures. How many did Zak get?"

"I didn't keep track."

"You think I can make it without getting any?"

"I doubt it. Not with that mouth of yours. Let's get on with the tour. The building beside us on the right is the Language Arts and History Building. That's where your friend Hugh Connelly will teach. You'll probably spend a lot of time in that building."

Kara gave him her best dirty look.

"Next is the cafeteria and beside it is the Library. Across from us is the Admin Building and on our left is the Math and Sciences Building. The simulators are in the basement of it."

"Can we go see them?"

"We'll have to go see Colonel Burgher first. Since the guard had to call him, he's expecting us."

Lee led the way. They had to use their visitor passes to get into the building. Lee showed her to the stairwell, and they climbed two flights of stairs. Colonel Burgher's office was at the far end of a long hallway. Lee pointed to the door on the other side of Burgher's office. "Three flights down and you're outside the simulator rooms. Burgher keeps in shape by running three flights of stairs umpteen times a day."

Kara took a deep breath. She could feel excitement beginning to build in her.

Lee tapped lightly on the colonel's door. "Come in," they heard.

Lee opened the door and stood back for Kara to enter. The colonel's desk was on the right side of the room facing them. He looked up from a stack of papers. He reminded Kara of a short Jack Fisk with nearly white hair. He was a few years older than Jack and quite a few pounds lighter.

He stood. "Lee Adama. Is it still _lieutenant_?"

"Yes, sir. I'd like for you to meet Kara Thrace. Kara is John Gallagher's daughter."

Burgher smiled at her. "I might have guessed that even if Lee hadn't told me. You look a lot like your dad…or rather like his picture. So what brings you two out here today?"

"I'm showing Kara around. She's hoping to be admitted for the fall semester."

"Let me guess," Burgher said. "You want to be a Viper pilot?"

Kara liked him already. "You're a good guesser," she smiled.

"Would it be all right if I showed Kara the simulators?" Lee asked.

"I've got a student coming in a few minutes to make up a session he missed last week. I'll have to go with you. We keep the simulator rooms and the amphitheaters locked now. I guess you noticed security is tighter than when you were here?"

"Yes, sir."

"We had an incident recently. The MPs caught two young men dressed as cadets in the building. They had a small amount of tylium fuel and a detonator. If they'd made it to the simulator room they would have destroyed everything, possibly burned the building down as well. One of them had managed to disable the sprinkler system before they were caught."

"But they weren't cadets?" Lee gave Kara a quick glance.

"No, they weren't cadets. We never learned their identities."

Kara knew _she_ would never have been part of anything like that. She wondered briefly if the guys had been mavericks as Frogman liked to call the ones who performed unsanctioned operations. She was certain that blowing up the simulators at the Academy would not have been a sanctioned mission. She knew her dad would never have approved anything like that.

"What happened to them?" Lee asked.

"The MPs turned them over to a special civilian task force. That was the last any of us heard about it. Colonel Winters tried to find out, but he got stone-walled. He finally gave up. One of the other officers whose wife works for the government heard a rumor that they were turned over to the Cylons. Well, let's go downstairs. My student should be waiting. You two can watch from the amphitheater."

Burgher waited until they exited his office and locked the door. He tried the handle before he left to make sure. They went through the next door and down the three flights of stairs. Burgher's student was pacing outside the door to the simulator room. Burgher unlocked the door.

"Go ahead and get in the Mark II simulator, Cadet Quartarao. I'll be right with you." He went to the next door and unlocked it for Lee and Kara. This door will lock behind you, so if you leave, you won't be able to get back in."

"Don't worry," Kara said. "We're not going anywhere."

The small amphitheater was dark, the one aisle going down the middle lit only by tiny amber lights. They went to the front row. Kara found she was sitting on the edge of her seat leaning forward with her elbows propped on the low partition that separated them from the area where the simulator was sitting.

"You can't talk," Lee whispered to her. "Burgher doesn't let anyone disturb a student flying a sim."

"Don't worry," Kara whispered back. She watched in rapt silence as the cadet made it only part of the way through the simulation before his Viper was destroyed by a Raider. Burgher let him make three unsuccessful attempts.

The cadet climbed out of the simulator. He was clearly upset. Burgher talked quietly to him for several minutes before he walked with him to the door. Lee and Kara stepped down out of the amphitheater and walked out on the concrete floor where the simulator was located. Kara walked up to the Mark II, not a whole Viper but just the cockpit in a partial shell. She touched the side reverently. Her dad had flown one of these, had launched off the _Solaria_ over and over again and come back alive every time. The feeling she had at the moment was almost spiritual.

Behind her she heard Burgher talking to Lee. "I should perhaps have cautioned him when he picked the call sign _Crashdown_."

"He's not _that_ bad a pilot," Lee said.

"No, I think he'll make a fine Raptor pilot. That's going to be the recommendation I put in his folder for Flight School. Some have the chops to be a Viper pilot and some don't."

Kara turned. "Could I try it?" She asked impulsively.

"I don't think we should do that," Burgher answered her. "You're not a cadet."

"Not yet. Could I just sit in the cockpit, then? I'd like to see what it felt like for my father. Please."

Lee watched Burgher's eyes as he relented. "I suppose that couldn't hurt."

Eagerly Kara climbed up the steps fastened to the side. She lowered herself into the seat.

Lee climbed up and leaned over her. "The main instrument panel," he pointed. "The display changes depending on what you're doing…taking off, landing, guns ups, missiles armed." He pointed to other gauges. "This is the attitude indicator, the torque indicator and the altimeter. The altimeter only registers…"

"When you're in the atmosphere. I remember that from when my dad flew us off Picon."

"And last but not least the control stick with weapons release buttons."

Kara touched the control stick, closed her fingers around it. "I wish I could try it," she whispered.

"Kara, you don't know anything about flying a Viper. You haven't been in even the first Basic Flight class. This isn't some video game. This is like the real thing…exactly like the real thing."

"I can do it. I know I can," she said softly.

"As soon as you crash, you'll quit and get out?" She nodded eagerly. Lee turned around to Colonel Burgher. "Could you run the first simulation…the one with the takeoff and simple maneuvers and landing? Let her get a feel for it? We'll leave as soon as she crashes."

Maybe he was simply curious or maybe he realized it was the fastest way to get Kara Thrace out of the simulator's cockpit, but Conrad Burgher did as Lee asked. He went over to his computer and started the simulation running.

Kara surprised them but not herself. She felt the same way she had when she had first sat on the motorcycle…like it was second nature to her, almost like she had when she played video games back on Picon. She got the Viper off the ground quickly and smoothly, managed the basic maneuvers in the atmosphere and would have landed it successfully, albeit roughly, if a barrel hadn't rolled out of nowhere onto the runway. In an effort to avoid it, she overcompensated, flipped the Viper onto its side and off the runway. The sim ended. She almost expected the display console to flash, _Game Over._

Sheepishly she climbed out of the cockpit. "Not so good, huh?"

Lee was staring at her open-mouthed.

Colonel Burgher said bluntly, "You've flown a ship before. Your father has let you fly."

"No, sir. I've never been in a ship with him except that night leaving Picon. We've been separated for the last three years."

"You've been accepted at the Academy already for this fall?"

"Not yet. I take the entrance exam next week."

"You'll be accepted," Burgher said matter-of-factly. "I look forward to teaching you in Basic Flight."

They said their goodbyes to the colonel. Lee didn't speak again until they were outside.

"Holy frakking Hera," he finally said.

"I did horrible," Kara said. "That crash. It was horrible."

"Do you realize what you just did?"

"Besides crash? No, what?"

"If that barrel hadn't rolled out on the runway, you would have had a nearly perfect first sim. I was watching the computer. Except for the take-off and landing it was deducting hardly any points. That was unbelievable."

"Really? I don't think I did so hot."

"For someone who's never had Basic Flight and never sat in a simulator cockpit, you did something amazing."

"I did?"

"Oh, come on Kara," Lee said testily. "Don't pretend you aren't proud of yourself. You impressed the hell out of Colonel Burgher."

"I told you I'd be a good pilot."

"You will be."

Kara heard something in his voice. She thought it might be jealousy. She didn't say what she had planned to say next, that she would be better than him. From the sound of his voice, he already knew it.

"I guess I'd better think about going back to Laura's. I've got to study tonight and every night until I take the test if I hope to pass."

"Let's go to the cafeteria and get something to drink before we start back."

"So are we going to tell my dad about the simulator?" Kara asked.

"That's up to you."

"Let's tell him."

"When are he and Laura getting back?"

"They're probably back now. Laura has too much going on for them to go off somewhere right now. He said in a couple of weeks they were going to fly down to his place on an island south of Delphi and spend a week. He's counting on passing his flight physical by then."

"He won't have to pass a government flight physical to fly his own ship."

"I don't think he'll do it if he hasn't passed. I don't think he'd want to put Laura in any danger."

At the gate to the Academy, they gave their visitor passes back to the guard and walked toward the subway station several blocks away. Lee took Kara's hand as they started down the steps. They rode to the station nearest Laura's apartment and began the ten-block walk. When they were still four blocks away, it began to rain.

"Told you it would rain today," Kara said as they ran the rest of the way.

They were breathless and laughing when Kara unlocked the door to the apartment.

They walked into the den. Laura and John were stretched out on the couch. Laura's head was on his shoulder. At first Kara thought they were both asleep, but her father opened his eyes and put his finger to his lips. Carefully he extricated himself and gently pulled the afghan over Laura. The three of them walked into the kitchen. John shut the door.

"She's exhausted," he said.

"And you're not? What does that say?" Kara asked teasingly.

"It says I'm not the one who's pregnant." John looked at Lee. "See what I mean about the smart mouth?"

"Hey," Lee said. "She's your daughter."

"My wet daughter," John put his arm around her and briefly hugged her.

"Just rained on," Kara got two towels out of a drawer and handed one to Lee. She dried her face. "We met Lee's dad for lunch and then we went out to the Academy so Lee could show me around. I did the simulator." She smiled.

John ignored her. She knew it was on purpose. "How are Bill and Carolanne?" He asked Lee.

"Mom didn't make it to lunch. Dad said he left early this morning to have breakfast with the President. Dad looks tired."

John nodded. "He works all the time now."

Kara wasn't going to drop it. "I did good, Dad. In the simulator. Ask Lee."

"She did better than good, John. Burgher was almost speechless."

"You're just not going to let this go, are you?"

"It's my destiny."

"We'll talk about it later, Kara. I told you if you pass the entrance exam and get accepted we'll talk about it then. I'll keep my word."

"So will you think about teaching the simulator, too?"

"Bill mentioned that to you?"

Lee said, "I think it's a really good idea. You'd be good. We need to train more pilots. You know that."

"And just think, Dad. You'd be the one teaching me to fly…well fly the simulator, anyway. I'd be learning from the best."

"I don't want to give up flying, Kara."

"We're not asking you to give it up," Lee said. "We're asking you to do something to help with Dad's plan…something you can do and do well. I saw you on the _Galactica_. I saw how fast you built a rapport with the pilots. I saw how they listened to you. John, you're perfect for this job."

"Lords of Kobol, Lee, you ought to think about going into politics when you retire from the military. You're as persuasive as Laura when it comes to getting your way."

"I agree with Lee, Dad."

"Okay, you two. I'll think about it. The paperwork to get everything started is on Laura's desk right now. Bill sent it home with her two weeks ago. If I decide to do this, I'll go back into the Reserves with a rank of Major. I'll literally be in the military again but not on active-duty status."

"Major Gallagher has a very nice ring to it, don't you think?"

They all turned. Laura had quietly padded barefoot into the kitchen.

Kara immediately went over to the stove and put on a kettle for tea. "It gets my vote," she told them.

John pulled out a chair for Laura. "Hungry?"

"Ravenous all of a sudden."

"For?"

"Food. It doesn't matter. You pick."

"I'll call in an order to Channing's and have something delivered." John took his phone out of his pocket and walked out of the kitchen,

Laura looked at Kara. "You did all right last night?"

Kara smiled. "I did _fine_ last night."

"As did you?" Laura turned to Lee.

"As did me." Lee smiled as he wrapped his arms around Kara from behind. It reminded him of the way he'd been behind her in the shower that morning. He tried to cut off that thought as John walked back into the kitchen. Casually he dropped his arms.

Laura broke the silence. "Bill told me last night that Dr. Baltar has succeeded in creating a hybrid, a human-Cylon child."

"We know," John said. "I was going to tell you next week when you weren't so stressed from all the planning."

"Here's something that may be equally as disturbing. Two months ago I spoke with the Secretary of Health and Human Services. I saw her again last night. She brought an astonishing fact to my attention. She has been studying reports on some of her services neediest cliental, young, drug-addicted woman. Over the space of a year, the birth rate has dropped from nearly sixty-eight percent to under twelve percent with indications it will go into single digits next year. Very few of these women and girls are now pregnant and yet there's been no indication of any marked behavioral changes. It's a puzzle she hasn't been able to solve."

"Statistically speaking that's impossible under any normal circumstances," Lee said. "Something has changed."

"I finally found out why Dr. Baltar was waiting to see the President several weeks ago. The President has asked him with finding out what's going on. So instead of trying to create hybrid babies, he's going to try to find out why a certain group of women is suddenly _not_ creating human babies."

"It sounds almost like someone is experimenting on a certain segment of the population," John said.

"Someone?" Lee asked.

"Okay, the Cylons. Maybe another copy of Simon and another crew of collaborators in another lab somewhere. Maybe now that they think they've got the hybrid problem solved, they can keep humans from getting pregnant and force them to bear Cylon babies…create a whole race of hybrids."

"If the Human Services people have already noticed a drop in the birth rate," Laura said, "then these other experiments started long before Baltar and his group achieved their success."

"Yes, but remember what Lissa told me. She said that Baltar had promised the Cylons a hybrid child would be born within a year of beginning his work. That was over three years ago. They may have started this other project at the same time."

"That's almost too sinister and bizarre to be possible," Lee said.

"Is it?" Laura asked. "What better place to start their experiments than on a small segment of the population…a segment that no one would care about if they didn't reproduce? A segment that many people would be _glad_ if they couldn't reproduce. Just think…fewer babies addicted to drugs at birth. Less of a burden on society. What next, welfare mothers? And after that, human women in general? "

"How could they do that?" Kara asked.

"I don't know. That's what Baltar is supposed to find out." Laura answered her.

John said. "It might be interesting to look at birth statistics in other segments of the population if that's possible."

"I'll call the Health and Human Services Ministry tomorrow and talk to the Secretary. She might be able to do that. Of course most of those who use her services are in the lower socio-economic groups. I don't know how her reports might pertain to the population in general."

"We need to get rid of them," Kara said with conviction. "We need to get rid of the Cylons."

"Yes, we do," Laura said with equal conviction.

Kara saw her father look at Lee. Neither spoke, but she knew that they both agreed with her and Laura. They knew about Bill Adama's plan and now her dad was going to do something to help. Something besides blowing up Cylon labs.

...

Tuesday night before she took the test on Wednesday morning Kara could barely concentrate on all the notes she had made to review. She called Karl five times to ask questions about the test. The last time she called, he told her he was getting ready to go to bed and that he didn't remember a lot of specifics, only that the test was hard.

At ten o'clock Lee called her. "I just want to tell you _good luck_. I know you'll do fine."

"I get sick every time I think about it."

"Pretend it's a Cylon Raider."

"Oh, that helps," she said sarcastically. "I'm afraid I won't pass."

"I always felt like that before a big test. I usually did fine."

"You're smart."

"You are too, Kara. You'll pass. I won't keep you any longer. I just…remember that I love you."

"I love you, too."

"You'll be the hottest Viper pilot in the fleet one day."

"If I can just pass this stupid test," she said.

"You'll have to pass a lot more tests, stupid and otherwise, before you get your wings."

At midnight her father came into her room and sat on the side of her bed. "I saw your light still on. You need to get some sleep, Kara."

"I'm too uptight."

"Staying up all night worrying about it isn't going to make it any easier."

"I don't know why I'm even putting myself through this. You're not going to let me go anyway."

"I filled out the paperwork Monday morning and went out to the Academy yesterday afternoon to talk to Colonel Burgher. I'm going to be teaching the Mark II simulator for a year, maybe two. If you're going to fly a Viper, I'm going to be the one to teach you the first part. I also signed the consent form for you to attend this year."

"Really? When were you going to tell me?"

"I just did. I wanted to wait until you'd gotten through studying tonight. You've proved something to me over the last few weeks. You're really taking this seriously. Now, turn off the light and try to get some sleep."

"I've got to be out there at 7:30. The test starts at 8:00. If I'm late they won't let me in."

"I'll make sure you're up. I want you to take a transport, too. None of this walking ten blocks and riding the subway."

Kara wrapped her arms around her father. "I love you, Dad."

He kissed her forehead. "I love you, too, Kara."

"I know this isn't what you want for me."

"No, but you're not a little girl any more. I can't fight you and Laura and Lee and Bill and Colonel Burgher. All of you seem to think it's your destiny. Lee was right. You made a big impression on Colonel Burgher. We had a long discussion about pilots who have natural talent and those who are still good but fly by-the-book so to speak."

"Like Lee?"

"Like Lee. He's a top-notch pilot, but he tends to over-think in the cockpit just like he does in all other areas of his life."

"So Colonel Burgher thinks I have a natural talent for flying?"

He grinned. "You're my daughter, aren't you?"

"Does that mean I have to salute you, Major Gallagher?" She teased.

"You're damned right you do. And don't forget who will decide if you're good enough to go to Flight School."

"It is my destiny. Next week we'll go to see the Oracle. She'll tell you."

"A trip to the Fifty-Third Street Pier so some con artist can take my cubits," he teased her back. "I can't wait."

...

Lee looked at his watch on Wednesday morning. Almost 11:30. In half an hour Kara would be through taking the test. He would give her an hour to get home and unwind. Then he would call her to find out how she thought she did.

He looked across the aisle at Ackerman's empty desk. For the last three weeks, Ackerman had been in Sovana. The city was still under the President's edict of martial law. Major Parker had sent Ackerman and four others up there to aid in the questioning of suspected terrorists.

The Monday after he had flown Kara to Sovana to be with John, Lee had gone into Major Parker's office, shut the door, and told him the whole story, or as much of it as was pertinent to the case. He hadn't mentioned that he and Carrie/Kara had an intimate relationship or that she was in the resistance. He had just told Parker that she had come to him for help because she knew he was a pilot and he'd been kind to her. He _had_ told Parker about Ackerman putting Carrie Warner on a watch list. He could tell that had infuriated Parker. They had cleared Carrie of any possible criminal activity. Parker had immediately gone in and taken Carrie's name off the watch list. It didn't matter now, anyway. For all intents and purposes, Carrie Warner had ceased to exist. If Kara Thrace wanted to fly anywhere commercially, she would have no problems at all.

Several weeks after that, Parker had posted Ackerman to Sovana for a yet-to-be-determined amount of time. Ackerman was going to and from work every day with an armed guard. He was wearing a flak vest all the time and worrying that someone was going to step out of a crowd and toss a grenade in his direction. Lee found he didn't miss Ackerman at all. When he had told Kara of Ackerman's current circumstances, she had gotten up and danced around the room.

Lee looked at his watch again. 11:38. Time was creeping. He imagined it was flying for Kara and laughed silently at the pun he had just created.

The phone on his desk rang. He picked it up. "Lee Adama."

He barely recognized Zak's voice. "You got to come. Now, Lee. Out to the house. I went in to tell her goodbye before I left for work. You've got to come home."

"Whoa, Zak, slow down. What are you trying to say?"

"She's dead, Lee. Mom is dead. She was already cold. She was…she was…she's dead."

"M-Mom is dead?"

"Please come, Lee, please."

"Wait a minute, Zak. Have you called the emergency number? Have you called Dad?"

"She's cold, Lee. She's so cold. Her hand…her hand is like ice. It's stiff."

"Zak, call the emergency number _now_. I'm on my way. I'll get hold of Dad. Just call 363 now. I'm leaving. I'm leaving right now."

"Okay, okay. Hurry. Please hurry."

Lee realized his hand was shaking as he hung up the phone. He went to Major Parker's office. Parker's door was closed.

"I've got an emergency at home," Lee told Parker's aide. "I've got to leave."

He used his mobile phone to call a transport to pick him up at the gate before he ran out of the building. The next number he called was his dad's office phone. It went to voice mail. He pressed _End_ and tried his mobile number. That went to voice mail, too. "Dad, it's Lee. Call my mobile as soon as you get this message. It's an emergency."

The transport pulled up moments after he exited the gate to the airbase. In the back of the transport he used his phone again. This time someone answered on the other end. "Hi, John," Lee took a deep breath. "I need…I need a…favor. Can you come out to my dad's house?"

"Sure, Lee. What's wrong?"

"Zak just called me. I think my mom…he thinks Mom is dead. I'm in a transport on my way over there now. I can't reach Dad."

"I'm on my way, too, Lee. Don't worry about your dad. I'll track him down."

The emergency medical unit was in front of his house when the transport pulled up. Lee threw a handful of cubits at the driver, far too many, he knew, but he didn't care. Zak was in the kitchen.

"They're with her now," Zak said in an anguished voice. "I touched her. She was like ice. The pill bottle…it was empty."

Lee walked over to his brother and put his arms around him. He couldn't speak. He and Zak clung to one another.

"It's his fault," Zak said in a soft, strangled voice. "His fault. Son of a bitch. His fault."

"Who?" Lee asked, although he was sure he knew who Zak meant.

"Who do you think? Son of a bitch. Ignoring her…scribbling in those little notebooks…shutting himself in his study…letting her drink…letting her cry…staying gone."

"Dad has an important job, Zak."

"Don't you defend him, the motherfrakker! Don't you dare try to defend him! Something was always more important to him than us…than her. Our whole lives something was always more important. She knew it. Damn him!"

Lee could feel his brother trembling.

The paramedics came back into the kitchen. One of them came over to Lee and Zak. He shook his head. "I'm sorry. There wasn't anything we could do. We've called this in. I know what it looks like…but we've notified…"

"What are you saying?" Lee asked. "The police?"

"It's just a formality. Were you the one who found her?"

"That was me," Zak said.

"Someone should be here shortly. It's a coroner's case now. A detective will probably have a few questions for you."

Lee looked up. John walked in the back door just as the paramedic left. Lee didn't have to say anything. John knew just from the look on his face.

"I'm sorry," John said.

Zak's legs suddenly gave out and he sagged against Lee. Together he and John got Zak to a kitchen chair. Zak put his face in his hands and began sobbing.

Lee saw John put his hand on Zak's shoulder and squeeze. "I know where you are, Zak. I know right where you are." He looked up at Lee and Lee could see John struggling with his own emotions. He knew John's mother had done the same thing. He knew Carolanne Adama was a friend. Still John managed to ask him, "How are you doing?"

"Right now…I don't know."

"I got hold of your dad. He's on his way. I didn't tell him. He seemed to know. As soon as I said that he needed to get over here, he asked me if it was Carolanne."

The doorbell rang. "I'll get it," Lee said. He opened the front door to a man who didn't need to show the badge he was holding out for Lee to know who he was.

"Detective Andrews, may I come in?"

Lee saw the coroner's vehicle pull up in front of the house. "Could you have him pull up in the driveway?" Lee asked.

The detective turned around and motioned to the driver before he entered the house. Together they went to the kitchen and waited for the medical examiner to get there. "Could you show me to the deceased?"

"I'll do it," John said. He led the detective and the ME out of the kitchen. "She's in her bedroom?" John asked Zak.

"Yeah."

Zak's face was wet with tears and his nose was running. Lee got a paper towel and handed it to his brother.

"How could Dad not have noticed?" Lee quietly asked as Zak mopped his face.

"He's been sleeping in the guest room for months now, maybe a year. I don't even frakking remember how long it's been."

"Damn," Lee said and also sat down in a kitchen chair.

"I should have…shouldn't have told her I was moving out. I…I should never have…"

"Zak, none of this is your fault. Don't even think it. This is not your fault."

Lee looked up. His father stood in the doorway. He didn't seem to want to cross the threshold.

John walked into the kitchen from the hall. "I'm sorry, Bill."

Zak launched himself from his chair toward his father. "It's your fault! She did this because of you. You…you…"

Lee and John both grabbed Zak. It took a long time for Zak to stop struggling.

John said, "Come on, Zak, let's go outside. Let's just you and me go outside." John kept his arm around Zak as they went out the patio door. John closed it behind him. Lee saw Zak sit in a patio chair and put his face in his hands again. John sat down beside him.

Lee looked at his father. Zak was right. His father should have done something. He should have tried harder.

"Have you seen…?"

"No," Lee said. "Zak found her. He said she was already cold."

"Lords of Kobol," Bill sagged against the kitchen counter. "How?"

"Pills and booze, like the last time. Zak said there was an empty pill bottle by the bed."

"This was my fault," his father said in a broken voice. "I knew she was…depressed. I knew she had started drinking again. I knew…"

Detective Andrews walked into the kitchen. "Mr. Adama?"

Lee looked up. "His title is commander. Commander William Adama and he's the senior military advisor to the President."

"I understand the need for discretion," Detective Andrews said. "I still need to ask you a couple of questions, commander. You, too, lieutenant, is it?"

"Lee Adama. And my brother is Zak."

"I need to ask all of you a few questions."

At least his father was smart enough to not to repeat his self-proclaimed assertion of guilt to the detective.

...

Kara let herself into Laura's apartment at 12:55. In the back of the transport on the way home from taking the exam, she had called Lee's mobile phone. It went to his voice mail. She left him a message.

"Hi, it's me. The test was hard just like Karl said, and I don't have a clue how I did. Call me when you get a chance."

She could hear the vacuum cleaner running. She looked in the den and then on the terrace and in the kitchen. Her father was nowhere in the apartment. She finally asked Jennet.

"He left right before lunch. I had fixed something for him and he said he had to leave. He was in a hurry."

"He didn't leave a message for me?"

"No, Kara. No message."

She was still such a bundle of nerves from taking the test that she changed into a tank top and a pair of shorts and went out for a run. She loved running in the historic district even though it encompassed an area of only a dozen blocks in both directions. The streets were tree-lined, the sidewalks nice and even. She ran a ten-block square and stopped at Channing's. She sat at the counter and ordered a glass of raspberry tea. She loved their teas. Her father and Laura had taken her to Channing's several times. They never came out and said it, but she felt like the little restaurant was special to them. They got take-out from there a lot, too.

She wandered down some of the quiet streets near the historic district and looked into the shop windows and waited for Lee to call her back. She wondered why he hadn't. She hoped nothing had happened to take him out of Caprica City again. Finally close to four o'clock, she returned to the apartment.

She heard Laura's voice as soon as she opened the door. "We should have done something, John. We should have. We both saw her. And we did nothing to help her."

"Laura, you can't… you cannot blame yourself for this…or me either."

"Dear gods. I can't believe it. We just saw her…"

Kara walked into the den. "What's wrong?"

Laura's face was red and tear-streaked. "Tell her," she left the room. "I'll be down the hall in my office. I've got to make some phone calls."

"What?" Kara said.

"Let's go out on the terrace," her father said.

She followed him. "What?"

He closed the door. "Carolanne Adama is dead. It looks like she washed down too many sleeping pills with too much booze. Lee called me right before lunch. I went over there. I just got back thirty minutes ago."

Kara sat down hard on one of the chairs. "Oh, gods. What about Lee? What about Zak?"

"Lee's holding it together like he always does. Zak's pretty torn up. He found her."

"Poor Zak. We talked about his mom while I was dancing with him at the reception. He said she'd started drinking again."

"She's had a problem with alcohol since I've known her. It's apparently gotten a lot worse lately."

"What's wrong with Laura?"

"Laura thinks we should have done something after we saw how Carolanne came to the reception drunk."

"Done something? Like what?"

"I don't know. She's not being reasonable right now. About six months ago, before I even started dating Laura, I was over at Bill and Carolanne's for dinner. Carolanne was so drunk that she'd burned the meal. I tried to talk to Bill a few days later. He told me it was none of my business."

"And now Laura thinks _you_ should have done something…or _she_ should have done something?"

"Laura's hurting for Bill right now. She'll eventually come to terms with it."

"You don't think Laura and Lee's dad…" Kara couldn't finish her question.

"No."

"I left Lee a message. I haven't heard from him."

"There was a detective with them when I left. We all had to answer some questions. He was still talking to Zak. I'm sure Lee will call you as soon as he can. How was the test?"

"Hard."

"How do you think you did?"

Kara shrugged. "I guess I'll know in a couple of weeks."

...

Laura lay in bed beside her husband listening to his even breathing. Despite everything he'd been through that day, he'd gone right to sleep. She didn't understand how. They hadn't even made love. He had an uncanny ability to know when she did and didn't want to share that with him. Tonight was one of those rare times she didn't. He'd just pulled her to him briefly and kissed her forehead before he'd settled into sleep.

Knowing she shouldn't do it, she turned her head slightly and looked at the clock. It was 3:52. She hadn't slept. At least she didn't think she had slept. She couldn't get the day's events off her mind. Lee had finally called Kara at 6:30 that evening. Kara had gone into her bedroom and they had talked for a long time. When Laura had asked later, Kara had said there were no details yet about any funeral arrangements.

She thought about Bill, about what he must be going through. Did he blame himself? John had told her that Zak was very verbal in his belief that the blame for Carolanne's death lay on Bill's shoulders. Quietly she got out of bed, managed to find her heavy winter robe in the closet without turning on the light, and went to the terrace door. As she opened it, she saw movement and realized that Kara was sitting outside on one of the padded lounge chairs. She had an empty drink glass in her hand.

"I couldn't sleep either," Laura said and sat down in the chair beside her.

"I was thinking about my mom," Kara said.

"Do you miss her?"

"When I first got to Caprica I did. Me and my best friend Karl…a couple of times we both cried because we missed our families so much. He was really close to his mom and dad…and to his little sister, Marie."

"Were you close to your mother?" Laura asked gently.

"Not really," Kara said. "My mom was a Marine first. Always a Marine first. She…I don't think she really wanted me all that much. Right before Dreilide Thrace left…that's the man I thought was my father until that night leaving Picon…right before he left, I heard them arguing about me. He told her a cat was a better mother than she was. She hit him and told him she was a better mother than he was a father. They fought all the time."

"Do you think he knew…about John?"

"Probably. He wasn't stupid. My mom taught me a lot about being tough. Karl and I…one of the reasons we survived was because of the things my mother had taught me." Kara laughed softly. "That and being too young and stupid to realize what a mess we were in."

"I'm sure a lot of adults would have given up had they been faced with what you and Karl were faced with."

"Maybe," Kara said. She thought of the old couple. She didn't think it would be good to mention them or how they had died to Laura right now. "Lee started crying while we were talking on the phone tonight. I didn't know what to say to him."

"Sometimes there's nothing you can say."

"I wish I could have been with him."

"I'm sure he wishes you could have been with him, too."

"He spent the night here last Saturday night. We…we slept together. But please don't tell my dad."

"Your father isn't stupid, either, Kara. I have a feeling he already knows how you and Lee feel about each other…and that your relationship has a strong…physical component. Are you taking care of birth control? You don't want to find yourself in my predicament."

"Lee took care of it at first. I'm taking care of it now. I asked Jack's secretary at work, and she gave me the name of her doctor. I'm going to the Academy…I hope. I'm not about to take any chances." She looked at the sky for a while. "Are you sorry…about the baby?"

"No…no, I'm not. After I got over the shock, I'm actually happy about it. I never thought I'd have a child. I'd given up on that part of my life. And now I've got a husband and a daughter and I'm going to have a baby, too."

"My dad loves you. You're going to stay with him, aren't you?"

"Does that question have anything to do with what just happened to Carolanne Adama?" Laura asked coolly. "I thought we'd settled this."

"She's out of the picture now. And something didn't just _happen_ to her. She killed herself. You don't kill yourself for no reason."

"Bill said it was an accident."

"When did he say that?"

"We talked earlier tonight. He was very distraught."

"I'll bet he was." Kara almost sneered. "Zak said his dad ignored her all the time."

"Kara, you don't know their circumstances. That was a very unkind thing to say about Bill."

"It wasn't any accident. Lee said she must have swallowed a dozen pills. You don't do that _by accident_. Commander Adama isn't facing the truth or he's ashamed of what she did if he said it was an accident. Lee told me she'd done it one time before and his father always called it an accident."

"You shouldn't be judgmental, Kara."

"Who are you making excuses for? Him or her?"

"Carolanne has had problems for years. And Bill has a huge weight on him right now, a very heavy burden."

"Yeah, he couldn't be bothered with his wife because of his big plan to get rid of the Cylons."

"You know about _that_?" The shock was evident in Laura's voice.

"Oh, shit," Kara said. "Lee's going to be so mad at me."

"Are _you _angry at Bill because _Lee_ is angry at Bill?"

Kara shrugged. "Zak is the one who's hurting the worst. Lee's upset about Zak. Zak found her dead. Zak found his own mother dead. I can't…imagine what that must have been like for him."

She tried to picture herself walking into her mother's bedroom back on Picon and finding her lifeless and cold.

Laura clutched her robe together at her throat and shivered. The night air was colder than she had anticipated.

"Zak, yes, their baby. Bill and Carolanne's youngest…who never had Lee's ambition or his intelligence…who's lived always in Lee's shadow. John has told me a little bit about what Lee went through growing up. How he took care of Zak and his mother, too."

"Zak's nice. I feel sorry for him. And he's jealous of Lee. Even I could tell that."

They heard the terrace door open behind them. "What are you two doing out here at 4:30 in the morning?" John asked.

"I couldn't sleep," Kara said. "Laura is keeping me company."

"Tonight Kara is my fellow insomniac," Laura said.

"You do not need to be sitting out here in the cold and damp, either one of you."

Laura got up. John put his arm around her. "Kara?"

"Coming," she sighed and got up too. She was cold. For once she didn't resent being told what to do.

She slept until almost 9:30 the next morning. When she got up and wandered into the den, Lee was talking to her father. He glanced up with eyes that were still puffy and red. Even though Kara was wearing her pajamas, she went over to Lee. He stood up and without a word they hugged tightly.

"I'll be back in a minute," she whispered to him.

She was back ten minutes later dressed in jeans and a t-shirt with her hair brushed and pulled back into a ponytail.

"How long have you been here?" Kara asked him.

"Half an hour. John told me that you and Laura were out on the terrace talking at 4:30 this morning."

"Yeah. Where is Laura?"

"Still asleep," her father said.

"How's Zak?" She asked Lee.

"I…convinced him to spend the night at a friend's place. I stayed over at the house with Dad."

"Zak's hurt and he's angry right now," John said. "He's feeling guilty, too. He's feeling like there was something he should have done."

She saw Lee and her father exchange a look. "What?" Kara asked.

"A long time ago my own mother did the same thing," John said. "I know where Lee and Zak are coming from right now."

"Oh, I didn't know. I'm sorry."

"That's why I want to help in any way I can."

"Somebody needs to talk to my dad," Lee said. "He's refusing to make any arrangements. I don't want to do anything without him, but people are…people are asking. Last night there were so many calls that he pulled one of the phones out of the wall. I turned off the ringers on the other ones so he wouldn't do the same thing to them. Dad has shut himself in his office. He won't come out. I don't know what to do."

"Lee, I don't know if he'll listen to me," John said. "We had words a couple of months ago over your mom's problems. And now…"

"I think he'll listen to Laura," Lee said almost apologetically.

Kara could tell her father didn't like that, but all he said was, "You're welcome to ask her if you want."

"Ask me what?" Laura said from the doorway. She was wearing a pair of jeans and one of John's shirts and her hair was brushed, but her eyes were still puffy from lack of sleep.

"Would you talk to my dad? He won't listen to me. He won't make any plans for the funeral."

Laura looked at John.

"Someone needs to talk to Bill," he said. "You may be the only person on Caprica who can get through to him." John looked at Lee. "Have you gotten in touch with Saul Tigh?"

Lee shook his head. "I didn't even think about Colonel Tigh."

"I'll take care of it. You take Laura over to your father's house and bring her back. But first she's got to eat something."

"I'm not hungry."

"Are you feeling sick?"

"No, not right now."

John smiled at her. "It's not just you any more. You're feeding two now."

He got up and took her hand and led her toward the kitchen.

Left alone in the den, Kara looked at Lee. "I'm so sorry you have to go through this. What's wrong with your dad?"

"I don't know. Guilt…obsession with this plan of his…maybe he's going as crazy as she was."

"You think your mom was crazy?"

"I don't know. I just don't know. Do sane people wash a dozen sleeping pills down with half a bottle of ambrosia?"

Kara got up and went to sit beside him on the couch. She took his hand. "Can I help?"

Lee said softly. "I just want to feel your body against mine. I just want…I just want you."

"After you bring Laura back, aren't you going to need to go to your apartment to get some more clothes or something? I could go with you."

Lee looked at her, and Kara saw a glimmer of hope in his eyes…and all the love he felt for her. "I am going to need to do that."

...

Laura tapped lightly at the door to the room Lee indicated.

"Go away," the gruff voice came from inside.

"Bill, it's Laura. Open the door. Please. I just want to talk to you." She waited.

"You're alone?"

"I'm alone. No Marines. No cavalry. Just me."

She heard the lock click. The door opened a crack. She took the handle and gently pushed. Even the strong sunlight outside provided scant illumination through the room's closed shutters. She had to wait a few moments for her eyes to adjust to the gloom. The room reeked of whiskey and of him. He was seated on the couch, a drink in his hand, the almost empty bottle on his desk. He was unshaven, his uniform tunic partially unbuttoned. She remembered how he had looked the last time she had seen him at the reception, how polished and in command. The man who sat before her with red-rimmed eyes was a far cry from that man.

She crossed the room and opened the shutters. He winced as the sunlight poured in.

"Life hasn't stopped," she said gently. "The sun came up this morning like it always does."

"You mean the Cylons haven't found a way to control the sun?"

"Even the Cylons can't stop the sun. Only the gods can…"

"I don't believe in the gods. You know that," he said harshly.

Realizing she might be angering him further, Laura still asked, "Is that why you won't make the arrangements for Carolanne?"

"Lee can do that. Let him do whatever he wants to do. He was the one who took care of her all those years, took care of her and Zak, too. Let him decide. I'm through with deciding for a while."

"You can't shirk your obligations that easily, Bill. You have an obligation, made all the more so because you left them…not just her…alone so much. Taking care of her is your obligation now. Don't put the burden on your son to take care of her this one last time."

"And then what? Come back here to an empty house? Zak's moving into an apartment with a friend. Lee's got his own place. I want to go back to a battlestar, back to the _Galactica_. That's my home. That's where I always felt at home."

"What about your plan?"

"It'll never work. There's too many pieces still missing. There's a couple of things I can't seem to work out no matter how I look at it."

"Have you ever thought about sharing _all_ of it with someone? Maybe a fresh perspective…maybe someone who thinks along different lines, who thinks outside of the box?

"Who can I trust that much?"

"There's me and John and your own son. Lee is a very intelligent young man."

"Lee's still wet behind the ears."

"You're selling him short, Bill."

"Lee hates my guts just like his brother does."

"No, he doesn't. He's hurting, but he still loves you, loves and admires you. He'd never have asked me to come over here if he didn't love you. He'd have made plans without the slightest regard for your wishes or feelings."

"How could she do this?"

"I don't know the answer to that question. Perhaps you should talk to someone about your feelings."

Bill laughed, a short, ugly sound. "You're telling me I need to see a shrink?"

"I'm _suggesting_ that talking to someone might help you. There's a priest at the small temple near the Capitol who has helped me a great deal. Elosha is her name…"

"No priests," Bill said harshly. "I don't relate to priests."

"She doesn't…she wouldn't inject religion in it if you didn't want her to. She's a very wise woman. She has a great understanding of life…and death. You should think about it."

"Hand me that bottle, will you?"

"No. I won't. If you intend to sit here and drink yourself into oblivion, I won't help you. What _I_ want you to do is get up and take a shower and shave and go to the mortuary with your son. I want you to plan your wife's funeral like a man, not hide behind a bottle like a coward who has given up everything he once held dear…honor and pride in the uniform he wears and belief in the government he serves. If you give up, Bill, what will happen to the rest of us? What will happen to humanity?"

In the silence that followed her words, Bill Adama slowly stood up and went to the desk. He took the bottle and poured another drink.

Laura turned to leave. "I'll do anything I can to help you, but I won't be part of this. You're going to have to take the first step."

She put her hand on the doorknob. Behind her she heard the crash of a glass in the small brick fireplace. She turned with tears in her eyes. Bill Adama stood beside his desk, stood a little straighter than he had a few moments before.

Their eyes met only briefly. His said many things, but most important of all, his eyes said he was back…back from the despair into which he had let himself slide.

"Wait for me. I won't be long. I'd like for you to go with Lee and me to make the arrangements. Women are always so much better at taking care of things like this."

Bill walked past her and down the hall. She heard the bathroom door close and the shower begin to run.

She walked into the kitchen and wearily sat in a chair. "He's getting cleaned up. We're going to make the arrangements, the three of us."

Lee nodded. He had put a kettle of water on the stove earlier and now poured a cup of tea for her. "I remembered what the smell of coffee does to you. My dad will just have to suffer."

Laura sighed. "Your father is going to suffer whether he has coffee or not."

...

"This is a nice car," Kara said to Lee as they were on the way to his apartment.

"It's my mom's. Dad told me to take it. I don't think he wants to see it sitting in the driveway."

"How is he doing?"

"Laura talked him out of his study, at least. We made the arrangements. The funeral is day after tomorrow."

"Zak?"

"He's still at his friend's place. I'll call him later. It's better if he and Dad aren't together right now."

She put her hand on the top of his leg and squeezed. Without a word he covered her hand with his. "I know you wonder how I can want you so much at…a time like this."

"It doesn't matter why."

He pulled the car into the underground parking garage of his building and found the two parking spaces allocated to his unit. He turned off the engine and took her in his arms. They kissed, softly at first and then as his need for her overwhelmed him, he kissed her with a different hunger than he'd felt before.

They went up to his apartment, and she let him take all the comfort he could find in her body, let him make love to her with fierceness and passion. She tasted his grief and his anger and finally she tasted his guilt.

Afterward the first thing he said to her was, "Did I hurt you?"

"No," she pulled him tightly against her. "Lee, it's all right. I'm all right. I'm fine. It was good."

They lay together for a long time, until Lee said in an anguished voice, "I should have done something to help her. _He_ should have done something to help her."

"Lee, listen to me. Don't let this frak with your head. It'll mess you up bad if you let it. When Karl and me…when we lived and everybody back on Picon died…when his parents and his sister and my mom died, and I even thought my Dad had sacrificed himself to save me, it messed me and Karl both up for a long time. He's my best friend and I love him like a brother and one day we nearly got in a bad fight. We were ready to beat each other up because I shot a dumb rabbit with my slingshot, and there must have been fifty of them in the garden. I couldn't understand what was happening to us. But later, in the camp I was talking to Connelly…and yeah, I know you and my dad don't like me talking about him…but Connelly…he understands things because of what he went through…what we all went through. I told him about what had happened with me and Karl and he said it was survivor's guilt…that me and Karl felt guilty because we were alive and everybody else was dead. Don't let this thing with your mom frak with your head because she's gone and you're still here."

Lee didn't say anything. Kara was right. He knew she was, but he couldn't say it.

"Let it go," she said softly.

"I don't know if I can. I look at my dad, and I think he could have done something. He _should_ have done something."

"Whether he should have done something or not, don't let this come between you and him, Lee. He's your father."

"My father and I don't have the same kind of relationship you have with John."

"No, your dad isn't always telling you what to do."

"John does that because he loves you so much. And my dad's given me plenty of orders before."

"And you always obeyed him, didn't you?"

"Most of the time. It was easier that way."

"Did he ever steer you wrong?"

"No."

"Then let it go. I'm only thinking about you." She kissed him and said in a teasing tone of voice. "Speaking of my father, are you ready to take me back to him? If you keep me here much longer, he'll come looking for me."

"And kick my ass."

Kara kissed him again. "You don't need to worry about my dad. You need to worry about _me_. When I get my wings, _I'm_ going to kick your ass. I'm going to fly circles around you."

Lee rolled over on her and kissed her. "You and your smart mouth."

"Yeah," Kara said before she kissed him back. "Don't you love it?"

TBC…


	40. The Truth Hurts

Chapter 40

The Truth Hurts

_In the only definitive study undertaken on the rise in the suicide rate during each successive year of Cylon occupation, several interesting facts emerged, the predominant one being that survivors of the refugee camps were more than twice as likely to take their own lives as was the general population. This statistic was attributed in part to the fact that refugees suffered from untreated Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome at a much higher rate and did not have the support systems in place to cope, having in many cases lost their entire families to the bombings and later the illnesses that plagued the camps._

_-Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War_

Carolanne Adama's funeral was private as was the graveside service that followed. Bill wanted only his family and closest friends to attend. He followed Laura's suggestion and allowed her to ask Elosha to preside over both services. Lee was the one who spoke to Elosha the day before the funeral and told her something of Carolanne's life and the circumstances of her death. That evening at his apartment he told Kara how difficult it had been to talk about a part of his life that he thought he had put behind him.

John knew that Kara was spending time with Lee at his place, but he didn't say anything to her. Not a word. Lee had asked her how her dad felt about her being over there and Kara had told him that John had just nodded his head when she told him where she was going. Lee didn't know if it was because John knew how much Lee needed her right now or because Laura had talked to him. Whatever the reason, he was grateful.

Lee thought Elosha did a remarkable job conducting a service for someone whom she had never met. It was moving and solemn and yet not maudlin. The graveside ceremony was harder for him than the funeral service itself. While they were at the temple, in the formal and dimly-lit place, none of it seemed real to him, but once they were outside on the beautiful early spring day with its warm sun and blooming flowers and budding trees, he felt the grief and pain settle over him once more. Spring was a time for life to begin, not to end.

Throughout all of it, Bill sat or stood by himself. He didn't want anyone with him. Even Saul and Ellen Tigh kept a respectful distance. Lee stood with his brother and Kara on one side, John and Laura on the other. None of them made it through the graveside ceremony dry-eyed except Zak. Zak didn't break down until it was over and he stepped up to the casket and put his hand on the top of it.

"Goodbye, Mom," he said. He made a choking sound and then he turned and ran across the lawn, skirting the graves and crypts with the skill of a born soccer player. Lee started to go after him, but Kara put her hand on his arm.

"Let me," she said. "Stay with your dad."

Kara followed Zak until he stopped running and stood, out of breath, still making the choking sound. Tentatively she approached him. She was out of breath herself. She waited.

Finally Zak rubbed the sleeve of his shirt across his eyes and said, "I'm not going back until he's gone."

Kara pointed toward a nearby bench and they both sat down. "I'm sorry," she said to him. "Do you want to talk?"

Zak shrugged and they sat in silence for a few minutes until he said, "Lee told me when I was a little kid he used to find me in her room sleeping on the foot of her bed like I was a poodle or something."

"Lee called you a poodle?"

Zak snorted. "No, I called myself a poodle."

"Lee's only two years older than you. You were both little kids."

"He was probably seven or eight then. He was the one who would make me get my bath most nights and go to bed. Sometimes he'd fix me something to eat if mom…was too…if she was sleeping or something. We ate a lot of cereal and peanut-butter sandwiches at night. It's a good thing we got good lunches at school or we'd have died of malnutrution."

"Gods, I didn't know that."

"She did it before, you know. Took too many pills with booze. I found her then, too. Lee called the emergency number. It wasn't too late that time. She went to some rehab place for six weeks and got better. Her doctor talked dad into it. I was fourteen. Me and Lee stayed with dad's parents. Dad always said it was an accident, but they didn't think so."

"Is that what you think?"

"I don't think you can _accidentally_ take that many pills."

"When Elosha was talking at the grave, I was thinking about my mom. She didn't even get a funeral. Nobody said any nice words for her."

"Why not?"

"She died on Picon. I was thirteen when I saw her for the last time. The night my dad flew me off Picon, my mom stayed behind. I remember her standing in the doorway of the ship and in my memory she's wearing her full combat gear, but I know she wasn't. I know she was wearing fatigues, but that's the way I remember her because she was going to fight the Cylons."

Zak looked surprised. "She stayed behind _on purpose_? She could have come with you and she stayed behind?"

"Yeah. I didn't realize it until we were in the air. I thought she was coming on the next ship until Karl told me there weren't any more ships that could get through the radiation over the planet."

"So she did the same thing as my mom."

"What do you mean?" Kara asked. "My mom didn't…she didn't…"

"Yeah, she did," Zak said.

"My mom stayed with her unit," Kara said, anger rising in her voice. "She stayed to fight the Cylons. She…"

"Stayed to get herself killed," Zak finished the sentence for her. "She knew what was going to happen to them…to her unit. She knew they didn't stand a chance."

Kara realized she was beginning to tremble. She swallowed hard. "My mom was a hero. She died fighting the Cylons. She didn't kill herself. She…"

"Don't you get it?" Zak said harshly. "It doesn't matter _how_ she died, whether some toaster shot her or she died of the radiation or whatever. She stayed behind rather than go with you and your dad and she died. She chose to die…just like my mom."

"No," Kara said shaking her head. "No she didn't."

"Yes, she did. Both of them chose to die."

Kara was breathing hard. She stood up. "Get on your feet. Stand up and say that to me."

Zak stood. "Can't you face the truth? Lee said you were tough. Is the truth too tough for you?"

"Why did you have to spoil it for me? Why did you have to…ruin…the way I remember her?"

"The truth hurts, but it's still the truth. You can't change it. She might as well have put a gun to her head or swallowed a bottle of…"

Kara hit him as hard as she could. She would have hit him a second time, but he dodged the blow. He hadn't played soccer for years and not learned something about defensive moves. When she recovered from missing the second punch, she went at him again and they ended up rolling on the grass. He had his hands clamped tightly on her wrists to keep her from swinging again, but she wouldn't stop struggling.

"Lee…won't…tell you the…truth…like…I…will," Zak said, breathing hard from the exertion of holding her down. "He's…too nice."

"Let me go, damn it, let me go."

"Are you…going to…hit me again?"

Kara saw his lip bleeding and already swollen. She'd gotten him good with that first punch, right where she'd aimed, right in the mouth that had said those ugly, hurtful words about her mother.

"No."

He rolled off of her and lay beside her on his back breathing hard.

"Damn," he finally said as he wiped his mouth with the back of his wrist. "I never thought a girl could hit that hard. You've got a mean right hook."

"You've got a mean mouth," Kara said as she sat up and massaged her fist.

"You've got dried grass all over that black shirt."

"Yeah? Whose fault is that?"

"If we go back looking like this, Lee will think we've been frakking or something. He'll probably finish what you started."

"You're messed up, Zak, really messed up. You should get some help."

"So should you."

"I'm doing fine. I'm going to the Academy in the fall...if I get in...and I'm going to learn to fly a Viper, and then we're going to get rid of the Cylons."

"Oh, yeah? You've been smoking the same stuff my dad and Lee have been smoking."

"We haven't been smoking anything. We're going to do it."

"We've got about as much chance of getting rid of the Cylons as we have of finding Earth."

"What do you know about Earth?"

"I know it's in Pythia, in one of her prophecies."

"Does that mean you believe in the gods?"

He shrugged. "Everybody's got to believe in something."

"Lee and your dad don't believe…not in the gods."

"That's them. I told you at the reception we're a frakked up family. Our last name should be Dysfunctional instead of Adama."

Kara looked up just as John walked around a crypt and saw them.

He walked up to them. "What the hell happened here?"

Zak sat up. "She decked me. I had it coming."

Her father looked at her. "Is that right?"

Kara nodded. She put up her hand and John pulled her to her feet. She began to brush the grass off her shirt.

"Lords of Kobol," John said. "Turn around. You look like you rolled through a hay stack." He brushed the dried grass from the back of her shirt and helped her pick a few pieces out of her hair. "Let's go. Laura and Lee are waiting for us."

"Has my dad gone?" Zak asked.

"He left with Saul and Ellen Tigh."

Zak got to his feet. "I'm sorry, Kara. I'm really sorry for what I said to you about your mom."

She shrugged. "Right."

"What did he say about your mother?" John asked.

"I'll tell you later, Dad. I took care of it."

"So this wasn't about him trying something?"

"No. We'll talk about it later."

Her father put one arm around her and the other one around Zak.

"Come on, Zak. We're not going to leave you here."

Together the three of them walked slowly back to the gravesite where Lee and Laura were waiting.

"Dear gods," Laura said when she saw Zak's swollen and still bleeding lip. "What happened to you?"

"I ran into something," Zak mumbled.

Laura handed him several clean tissues before she glanced at Kara. Laura knew there was something more to it than that. Kara was sure she did. Lee didn't say anything, but Kara was sure he had a better idea of what had happened than Laura did.

Later that night at Lee's apartment, she told him everything. He listened without saying a word until she was through.

"I'm sorry he said what he did. He deserved what he got from you. Zak's like that. He gets on something and he won't let go of it. The time I hit him he did the same thing…just kept pushing and pushing until finally I slugged him. Zak's messed up."

"I just finished saying that."

"I'll talk to him tomorrow. I'm going over to help him move his stuff into his friend's place. He doesn't have much. It shouldn't take too long."

"I've got to work tomorrow anyway. What's your dad going to do now? Is he going to keep living in the house by himself?"

"We haven't talked about it."

"Are you going over there tonight after you take me back to Laura's?"

"Yeah. I want to talk to him. Laura and I were talking today after John walked away to find you and Zak. She said my dad is discouraged about his plan to get rid of the Cylons. She said he has some parts he can't figure out. At the risk of making him angry, I'm going to ask him to tell me what they are. Maybe I can come up with something to help."

"Will you tell me? Maybe I can help, too."

"Kara, this is military stuff."

"So? I'm going to be in the military. I'm going to be a Viper pilot."

"Kara the fearless Cylon killer."

She pushed him onto his back and straddled him. "Are you making fun of me? Cause I can do the same thing to you I did to Zak."

"What? Bust my lip?" He pulled her down to him and kissed her.

She bit down gently on his lower lip. "I'd only be hurting myself if I did that. I don't want to put your mouth out of commission. You can do such nice things with it."

...

When Lee got over to his father's house that night, Saul Tigh was still there. He and Bill were sitting out by the fish pond sharing a bottle of whiskey. Bill had a cigar. Tigh was smoking a cigarette. Lee got a glass from the kitchen and joined them, positioning the chair upwind of the smoke.

He was glad that Ellen wasn't with the colonel. Something about her had always grated on him. He sat for a long time and listened to his father and Tigh reminisce about their early days together in the fleet and about a fight they'd gotten into with five members of a space station construction crew in a bar on Picon one night.

"Those were some wild times before I met Ellen and settled down."

Bill poured them both another drink. "Some wild times indeed."

"Where is Mrs. Tigh tonight?" Lee asked more out of politeness than any real curiosity.

"She said she didn't want to spend her evening listening to a couple of old warhorses talking about the past."

"Why don't we talk about the future then?" Lee asked.

"Such as?" Bill said.

"The plan."

"The plan is coming along fine."

"Then why did you tell Laura…"

"I was still half drunk when I was talking to Laura. I don't remember exactly what I said to her."

"How many battlestars have you got FTL jump crystals for?" Tigh asked.

They all knew that after the peace treaty was signed, the Cylons had removed the FTL jump keys along with all the armaments from the battlestars. They could make no jumps through space now. Weapons or not, the Cylons weren't taking a chance on any surprises from the Colonials.

"Six jump keys. Just six so far. We had nineteen battlestars still fully functional at the end of the fighting three and a half years ago. Just nineteen left out of a seventy-four. Two have since been deemed unfit for space travel. They're drydocked at Ragnar with a skeleton crew waiting to be decommissioned, stripped of parts and returned to Caprica for scrap. That leaves seventeen although from the visits I've made to them in the last two years, I don't think three of them will be able to make a hyperspace jump and stay in one piece. I haven't decided yet exactly how I'm going to use them. That leaves me with fourteen battlestars and eight more FTL jump keys to come up with."

"And all the battlestars have obviously got to be able to jump to carry out your plan. What's the problem with making the rest of the jump keys?" Lee asked.

"One of the minerals used in making them, the labradorite, can't be manufactured and doesn't occur naturally on Caprica. The Cylons have our entire pre-war supply along with the original keys locked away on one of their base stars."

"Then where did you find enough to manufacture six keys?"

"It was mislabeled in a chemical company's warehouse. It was a year before someone opened the box and realized what they had. We got the six FTL jump keys from what was in that one box. I've possibly got a break on the rest of what we need, though. I heard from Zarek last week. One of his crew thinks he found a small vein of it on Tauron, but they had to pass it by and keep the mining tunnel going for the tylium. He's going to try to get it out without alerting the Cylons. Their worker drones wouldn't recognize a vein of labradorite, but they would know if some of Zarek's men started mining an area where there is no tylium. I should know something in a couple of weeks."

"That's good news," Tigh said.

"There's more. We've got a couple of nukes. Or maybe I should say we've almost got a couple of nukes. A military transport ship carrying several nuclear warheads was shot down over the ocean by the Cylons three years ago just before the truce was called. It's in cold, deep water far out at sea northwest of Antioch. A deep sea research vessel found it last year. Their engineers think they've worked out a way to recover the warheads intact without exposing anyone to the radiation."

"Without the Cylons knowing?"

"The Cylons think the ship is a fishing trawler. It's rigged like one, nets and all which hampers their work, but it's necessary."

"You've been busy, Dad."

"There's so much more involved. That's just a small part of the overall plan."

"I guess the nukes are for the basestars."

"That would be a logical assumption."

"How are you going to deliver them?"

"That's part of what I'm still working on," Bill said and turned up his drink. "How to get nukes inside Cylon basestars and get them far enough away from Caprica that they don't poison the atmosphere when they explode."

"Like what happened over Picon."

"Exactly."

Saul Tigh got up. "That's too complicated for my brain at this hour. I'm going to call it a night. Ellen is waiting on me and you know how impatient she can get. You'll come to dinner tomorrow night. Ellen said to make sure you said _yes_."

Bill Adama also stood. "Call a transport, Lee. I'll walk with Saul to the end of the driveway."

Lee took out his phone and made the call. He'd long ago put one of the transport companies on speed dial. He poured another drink and waited. Fifteen minutes later his father was back.

"You don't need to stay tonight, Lee. I don't need a babysitter."

"I've already had a couple of drinks. I'm not going to drive."

Bill sat silently for a long time. "I did try. With your mother. Six or eight months ago. After a fiasco with dinner one night when she'd asked John over…John and that woman he was living with…I don't remember her name. She was working and couldn't come."

"Lissa. Her name is Lissa. What happened?"

"Carolanne had been drinking all afternoon. I didn't realize it until I got home from work. John had just gotten here. He was helping her take several dishes out of the oven that she'd left in too long…burned to a crisp. Later John tried to talk to me about getting her some help. I told him to mind his own business, but I did try. Your mother wouldn't go."

"What did you try to get her to do?"

Bill turned up the glass and drained it. "I know she had a drinking problem…I've known it for years. That's what I tried to get her help for. This other thing…this was an accident. She did _not_ do it on purpose."

"What makes you so damned sure of that?"

"She didn't leave a note. She didn't say anything. Not to me, not to Zak. Nothing. It was an accident, Lee. Just an accident. Just like the first time."

"You really believe that, don't you? And you really think that because you tried once to get her to go for help that you did enough?"

"I should have tried again. I'll admit that, but I didn't."

"Why? Because it made you angry that she wouldn't obey an order? That's what you're used to doing, isn't it? Giving an order and having it obeyed without question? Mom wasn't a soldier. She was your wife."

"You've got no idea what the last year has been like, Lee so leave it alone. It's none of your business."

"It damned well is my business. She was my mother."

Bill sat silently for a long time. "I had to make a choice. I could be the husband she wanted or I could try to complete my plan to get rid of the Cylons. I couldn't do both. Sometimes you have to make a choice for the greater good. You have to sacrifice at a personal level."

"And you sure didn't mind sacrificing her. You weren't even trying at all. You weren't even sleeping in the same room."

"Zak should have kept his damned mouth shut. Carolanne asked me to move to the guest room. She put _me_ out, not the other way around."

"Why did she do that?"

"That is absolutely none of your business."

"You should never have gotten back together with her three years ago. You should have let her get on with her life. She'd made a good start."

"I made the choice to move back in because I wanted the chance to be a father to you and Zak."

"Did you really think that coming back into our lives when we were nearly grown would make up for all the years you just dropped by for a week or a weekend and couldn't wait to get back to your precious battlestar?"

"That's enough, Lee."

"You've got no idea, no frakking idea how bad it was sometimes. But you didn't care enough to even ask." Lee realized his voice had risen as the long-stored anger and resentment rose in him.

"I said that's enough."

"Not tonight, Dad. You need to hear the truth. You were too late three years ago. You should have just gone ahead with the divorce and then you and Laura could have been together."

"Gods damn it. I told you that is none of your concern."

"You think I don't know what it did to mom? Huh? Knowing you were always comparing her to the beautiful and accomplished Laura Roslin, the love of your life? Wishing you weren't stuck with a drunk of a wife so you could be with the woman you love. Well Mom's timing really sucked didn't it? If she'd done this six months ago, then Laura wouldn't be with John now, would she? She might be having your baby instead of his."

His father got up suddenly, knocking the wrought iron chair over. He stood for a minute clenching and unclenching his fist before he turned and without a word went back into the house. Lee heard the patio door slam behind him.

He poured another drink. "Yeah, the truth hurts, doesn't it, Dad? The truth hurts like a son of a bitch sometimes."

...

Laura looked up from the book she was reading as John walked back into the den from the terrace. "It's nine o'clock. Kara should be home by now. She's working tomorrow."

"She's at Lee's place. She called before she left work. I told you."

"I noticed she called you with that piece of information instead of me."

He walked over to the bar, opened the cabinet door, stood for a moment and then closed it. He sat on the sofa. Laura heard him take a deep breath.

She closed her book and went to sit beside him. "Let's talk about it."

"About what?"

"Whatever it is that's bothering you so much right now. Is it Kara and Lee being together?"

"That's part of it. I know I told them they could, but…she's sixteen."

"She'll be seventeen in a few months. And she's a very mature sixteen. She's more mature than a lot of twenty-year-olds."

He gently placed his hand on her slightly rounded belly. "Are you going to let our little girl sleep with a guy when she's sixteen?"

Laura thought about what he had just asked her. Would she? "That bridge is far, far in the future. I'm not going to try to cross it now. Besides, we don't know that we're having a girl. It might be a handsome little boy who will be just like his father. Are you going to let your son sleep with a girl when he's sixteen?"

He smiled. "Always the diplomat. You learned a lot from your father."

"Just the way Kara is going to continue learning from you. She loves you, John, but she loves Lee, too."

"I know."

"He needs her now. I'm sure he feels like she's the only one he can turn to."

"I know that, too."

"Kara told me she had talked to Lee this afternoon during her break. He was helping Zak move his things into a friend's apartment. She told me that Lee and his dad had _gotten into it_ last night. Those were her exact words but she didn't elaborate."

"That doesn't surprise me. Lee is taking this as hard as Zak only Lee's not going to show it the same way Zak does. Lee bottles everything up and keeps it inside until something pushes him too far. Apparently something happened last night that pushed him into confronting Bill."

"Speaking of confronting…what happened with Kara and Zak after the funeral yesterday?"

John shook his head. "Zak said something about Kara's mom that he shouldn't have, implied that because she stayed behind on Picon with her unit that she had killed herself, too. Kara hit him."

"Oh, John."

"He apologized to her. Zak's hurting right now and he's…he's blaming himself for not doing more to help his mother. I understand that part of what he's going through real well. I talked to Kara for a while after you went to bed last night. She's going to have to learn to control her temper at the Academy. If she's caught fighting, she'll get kicked out."

"How did she react?"

"She gave me a lot of lip like she always does. She started with the _he deserved it_ routine. I agreed with her. He probably did deserve it, but I told her that if she couldn't control herself in the future, she'd pay a price for it. Then she went on to tell me she didn't think she passed the test and wasn't going to get admitted anyway. Colonel Burgher told me he had recommended to the review board that she be admitted no matter what. That's how much of an impression she made on him."

"But you didn't tell her?"

"No. His recommendation is no guarantee it's going to happen. I didn't want to get her hopes up. She'll get the letter in a couple of weeks. We'll find out then."

"I don't know that I agree with her being admitted on the colonel's recommendation alone if her test scores aren't high enough. I'm afraid that would be setting her up to fail academically."

"My daughter is smart, Laura. She just had the misfortune to spend a couple of years in a refugee camp without the opportunity to continue her education. She'll study hard at the Academy…harder than she ever studied before. She's motivated just like I was when I went to Flight School. She'll do fine."

"So you're all right with her being a pilot?"

"I don't know that I'll ever be _all right_ with it. I feel better knowing I'll be the one to train her in the simulator. That's the only thing I feel better about. Being a Viper pilot is dangerous enough as it is. If we fight the Cylons, she…well, like you said, we haven't reached that bridge yet. We can't cross it until we do."

Laura leaned her head against his shoulder. "Kara has some…concerns about my relationship with Bill. She's mentioned it to me twice. Has she said anything to you about it?"

"Yeah. I told her not to worry."

"Is that part of what's bothering you?"

John leaned his head back against the cushions on the couch and stared at the ceiling for a few moments. "I guess it's always bothered me."

"And you're worried now that Carolanne is gone Bill and I might…want to be together again?"

John took a deep breath. "Yeah."

"Let me ask you something. If Kara's mother had somehow miraculously survived the Cylon attack on Picon and suddenly made it here to Caprica City, how would you feel? Would she mean nothing to you? Isn't there some small part of you that will always feel something for her? Can you completely obliterate the past from your heart? Just wipe her out like she never existed?"

"No. Of course not."

"What else can I say to you? In _that_ regard Bill Adama is my past. You and our child are my present and my future. But I can't tell you Bill is completely gone from my heart just like Kara's mother will never be completely gone from yours."

He nodded. "I understand."

"Bill is going to need _both_ of us to help him get through this. In a few days his friend Colonel Tigh will go back to the _Galactica._ Zak has made it clear how he feels about his father. Lee's relationship with Bill is now strained to say the least. I'm hoping Bill will open up to us about his plan and let us help him…let you help him at least. You have a military background."

"Have I ever told you how much I love you?"

"Not in the last five minutes."

He leaned down and kissed her. They were really getting into the kiss when Laura heard the door open. "Hold that thought," she whispered.

Kara walked into the den. "Am I interrupting something?"

Laura smiled. "How was your day?"

"Not that busy. I sat in the break room at MediFirst more than I was on the bike, but it's a Sunday. Tomorrow will make up for it."

"How's Lee?" John asked.

"He's going back to work tomorrow. He said they got all of Zak's stuff moved to his friend's apartment today. His dad went to his office in the Capitol early this morning. He still wasn't back when Lee left this afternoon."

"I think your father was asking how Lee is doing emotionally."

Kara shrugged. "He's not talking about it. He and his dad had it out last night. He wouldn't tell me exactly what was said, but he did say that it was bad enough his dad wanted to hit him."

"Dear gods," Laura said. "John, will you talk to him?"

"Bill or Lee? You know I don't get very far with Bill."

"Start with Lee."

"I'll try, but Lee's more like Bill than he realizes. They're both stubborn and opinionated. Lee had it rough growing up. His father was always gone and his mother mostly ignored him. He was taking care of Zak when he was seven or eight years old. Lee didn't have much of a childhood."

"Maybe that's why he never talks about it," Kara said. "I'll be talking about camping out with Karl and his family or skateboarding or swimming in the creek behind the base and Lee won't ever say anything about what he did when he was a kid."

"Probably because no one ever did those things with him."

Kara grinned suddenly. "I'm going to have to teach Lee how to have fun."

"I thought that's what you were doing over at his apartment tonight," her father retorted.

"Dad!" Kara said in embarrassment, and Laura saw the color come up in her cheeks. "On that note, I'm going to take a shower and go to bed. Some of us have to get up early in the morning and go to _work_. I'll let you two get back to whatever you were doing before I interrupted you. It looked almost like you were _having fun_."

"Damn," John said and shook his head as she left the room. "She has got a mouth on her that just won't quit. I'm going to have to talk to her about that, too."

Laura laughed softly. "Even if she didn't look like you, I don't think anyone would ever question who her father is. Now I think we should take her suggestion and get back to _having fun._"

She didn't have to suggest it a second time.

...

One more day and three weeks would have passed since Kara had taken the Academy entrance exam. She knew because she had marked off each day since then on the little calendar she kept on her dresser. She hadn't heard anything yet. The first week of June was the week the letters would go out. That's what the guy who administered the test had told them. Last Friday had been the first day of June.

Now she sat in the den waiting for her father to get back from the doctor's office so they could go to lunch together.

She heard his key in the lock, heard him open the door and come into the den.

"Finally," she said. "I'm starving. What did the doctor say?"

"He released me. I can schedule the flight physical now. He wants me to keep on doing the physical therapy and said I can start working out again. He said I may still see some improvement in the arm, but everything is healed about as well as it's going to. The bullet did more damage to the radial nerve than the doctor in Sovana thought it did."

"I don't notice any difference in the way you use your arm now. Not like I did at first."

"I've still got some numbness. That's what worries me. Something came in the mail for you today. I got it out of the box on my way up." He walked over and handed her a pale gray envelope.

In the upper left corner Kara saw the insignia and name and return address of the Academy.

"Aren't you going to open it?" Her father asked.

She stood up. "I'm afraid to."

"Do you want to leave it here and go to lunch first?"

Kara shook her head. "Give me a minute, will you?" She walked to the terrace door and placed the envelope against the glass. The letter inside was folded. She couldn't read it. Finally she just tore the envelope. With trembling fingers she extracted the letter and opened the folds. Her name and address were at the top.

_The Caprican Academy of the First Military District of the United Colonies of Kobol is pleased to announce your acceptance for the fall semester beginning…_

Kara clasped the letter to her chest. Tears filled her eyes as she looked at her father.

"Bad news?"

"I got accepted."

He walked over and put his arms around her. "You don't seem happy."

"I'm scared. I didn't think this would happen."

"Kara, baby, you don't _have_ to go. I thought you _wanted_ to go."

"I do. I guess…I guess I'd just been telling myself for three weeks not to be disappointed when I got turned down and now…" she took a deep breath and wiped her eyes with her hand.

"Why don't you call Lee and tell him and then we'll go to lunch."

"Okay." She walked out on the terrace. When Lee answered, she didn't even identify herself. "I got in," was all she said.

"Congratulations. I knew you would. Ever since the Sunday afternoon you smoked that sim I had a feeling you would."

"I'm going to lunch with my dad. I'll call you later today."

"Okay."

When she walked back into the den her father was just ending a call on his phone. "Laura?" She asked.

He nodded. "She's happy for you. Come on, let's go. I seem to remember you saying something about being hungry."

After they ate lunch at Channing's, her father asked her if there was anywhere she wanted to go or anything she wanted to do that afternoon.

Impulsively she said. "Let's go see the Oracle."

"Are you serious? Why would you need to do that now that you've gotten accepted at the Academy?"

"Trust me. She knows about a lot more than the Academy."

John flagged a transport and once inside, Kara gave the driver the general address. "Go down Fifty-Third Street toward the pier. I'll recognize the place when I see it."

She missed the little sign for the shoe repair shop until they were past it and had the driver let them out on the corner. Together she and her father walked the half-block back up the street.

"I can't believe you came into this part of town by yourself," he said to her.

She rolled eyes. "You worry too much. These stairs are really narrow and steep. I don't see how the Oracle does it being blind." Kara went up first. Her father followed.

"You know I don't believe in this stuff…about somebody knowing our fate or destiny."

"Yeah, I know. You think we make our own destiny."

She knocked at the door. It was opened after a minute by the same bronze-skinned woman dressed in a colorful, layered shirt and flowered drawstring blouse much the same as she was the last time Kara had been there.

"Ah, you have returned and brought someone with you. Come in, come in."

Kara entered the little room. She saw her father looking around, getting a feel for the place. She smelled the ocean and heard the soft tinkling of a wind chime somewhere else in the apartment. A window must be open. At least the incense wasn't as strong today as it had been the last time.

"Have a seat. She will be with you in a moment."

"Your accent," said her father. "Gemenon?"

"Aye, my mother was Gemenese. My father, who knows?"

"She was born among the stars," Kara said, "in the cargo hold of a freighter."

The woman laughed, her silvery laughter floating around them. "Much the same as a stray cat."

The gauzy curtain was pulled back. Yolanda Brenn entered the room. Today she was wearing a long blue skirt and lighter blue blouse. The same paisley shawl was tied around her shoulders, the curly hair wound through with a blue scarf this time.

"Posiden has come with his green-eyed daughter," she said. "Come and sit."

Kara looked at her father and raised her eyebrows. She could tell he was surprised, maybe even impressed. They went to the cushions and sat. Yolanda held out her hands. Kara knew what to do this time. She placed both of her hands in Brenn's.

"You no longer live the lie."

"No."

"The one who sought you has found you."

"Yes." She grinned. "Although technically I found him."

"Now you seek your destiny."

"Yes."

Yolanda Brenn appeared to relax. Her blind eyes became trance-like. "Your destiny does not lie always in this place. I see wings. I see another…the one who does not know who he is."

"He's my destiny?" Kara asked in shock.

"He is part of your destiny."

"What does that mean?"

"I only speak what I see. You will know when the time is right."

"The one who bears the name of a god, he's still part of my destiny?"

Brenn once again became meditative. "He is."

"He's still my true love?"

"He will always be your true love."

Kara smiled at her father. He gave her one of those you-can't-be-serious looks.

Brenn dropped Kara's hands and held hers toward John. "Take her hands," Kara whispered. Reluctantly her father did as she asked. The Oracle held them for a few moments before she spoke.

"You will give of your knowledge to others as well as to your daughter." She again paused meditatively and finally said in a voice tinged with near disbelief, "Your son will map the stars on the way to Earth."

"I don't have a son." He slowly turned to look at Kara. She knew the shock on his face was mirrored by her own.

"The baby," she mouthed to him.

"What is this?" He asked Brenn. "What do you mean?"

"As I have told your daughter, I only speak what I see. I don't interpret. You are not a believer."

"In this sort of thing? No, I'm not."

"You should open your mind to the possibility. Remember what I have said." She dropped his hands and stood up.

Kara scrambled to her feet. She took a handful of cubits from her pocket and gave them to the bronze-skinned woman.

Can I come back?" Kara asked her.

"As often as you would like," the woman answered her with a smile.

Kara put out her hand and this time helped her father to his feet. He, too, took some cubits from his billfold.

They descended the steep stairs carefully and in silence. On the sidewalk outside she looked at him. "Kind of scary how much she knows, isn't it?"

He shook his head although he appeared deep in thought. "There's got to be some rational explanation."

"You might start believing her when Laura has a little boy. I want you to go one other place with me, but first you've got to promise me something."

"What?"

"You've got to promise me that you won't tell anyone. Nobody. Not even Laura. And you've got to promise me that you won't do anything to him, not now, not ever."

"I'm not going to promise you anything until you tell me what this is all about."

Kara took a deep breath. "The one the Oracle was talking about, the one who doesn't know who or what he is, that's the Cylon. I want you to meet him, but only if you promise not to do anything or tell anyone."

"I can't promise that."

"Then we won't go." She started up the sidewalk. He caught up with her.

"Why is he so important to you? I know he's a skinjob, but he's still a frakking Cylon. He's like that Doral who shot me and Cavil who wants Laura dead and Simon who's trying to make human-Cylon babies. They're all machines, killers. They killed billions of humans. How can you protect even one of them?"

She stopped walking and turned to face him. "When I was studying for the test, I read something about the history of the Colonies. Before the First Cylon War, the Colonies were always fighting each other. Humans have been killing humans since…since we've been around…thousands and thousands of years. Humans even made the Cylons to do their fighting and killing for them. It's karmic justice, don't you think? For the Cylons to come back and kill the ones who made them? If humans weren't always trying to kill each other, we wouldn't have needed to create killer Cylons. What difference does it make who's doing the killing? It's still killing."

"The difference, Kara, is that the Cylons were going to exterminate us as a race. They were going to wipe us out. Obliterate us from the universe. And they would have done it if they hadn't realized that they couldn't keep copying themselves forever. Then they got the bright idea that they would combine our genetics with theirs, our human DNA with theirs. You don't need a copy if you can make a baby. By making a race of hybrids, they essentially found another way to wipe out humans."

"_He's_ not like that. _He _thinks that's wrong. He was arguing with Simon that night at the lab before…before I killed him…before I killed a copy of him. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but I think that's what they were arguing about." She and her father stared at one another for a long time. "Just forget it. Let's go back to the apartment."

"No. Let's talk about this some more. I can tell it's important to you. Do you really believe that this…Cylon is part of your destiny?"

"The Oracle said he was. And it's not just my destiny. It's _our_ destiny…everybody on Caprica."

"Okay, how about this? You take me to meet him and for now I keep your secret. For now I don't tell anyone. But if you're wrong, if he does anything to make me think you're in the slightest bit of danger, I'll take care of it. That's all I can promise you."

Kara thought about it. Maybe he was right. Her father was a good judge of people. Maybe he was right. Maybe he would be able to sense something from Leoben that she didn't.

"All right. Let's ride the subway."

"I don't like the subway."

"Why not?"

"I don't like being jammed in a train car with a lot of people. It puts you in a situation you can't get out of very easily."

"You were in the resistance too long. Okay, call your transport."

"No. I'll do it. You like the subway, we'll ride the subway."

Fortunately the car wasn't crowded as they rode to the University station. They got seats.

Once up on the street, Kara said, "Remember what you promised. And he's probably going to call me Carrie. That's how he knows me."

They went inside. Leoben was at the register ringing up a sale. Her father looked around. "So he owns this place?"

"I guess."

"It's nice. I wonder where the cubits came from? Real estate this near the University isn't cheap."

She waited until the customer had left before she walked over to the register. Leoben looked up. "If it isn't Carrie with the destiny. It's been a long time."

"I know. And Carrie was a nickname. My real name is Kara. And it turns out my father isn't dead after all. The man I thought had killed him didn't do it. Leoben, this is my father. Dad, this is Leoben Conoy."

"I've seen your picture on the news. Aren't you the pilot who was shot a couple of months ago? Let me see now. Gallagher, John Gallagher, right?"

"That's right."

"Leoben has a really good _memory_," Kara smiled.

"Did you ever go to see the Oracle?" He asked her.

"Yeah. Twice. We just came from there."

"Did she help you?"

"A lot," Kara said smugly. "She's good. I'm glad you told me about her."

"And what about you, Mr. Gallagher? Do you believe in the divinations of the Oracle with regards to your daughter's destiny?"

"The jury's still out on that," her father answered noncommittally.

"Is there something I can help either of you with today?"

"I don't think so. We just stopped by to say _hello_."

Her father said, "I don't know Kara. Maybe Leoben has a book on Cylon philosophy. I'm interested in reading some Cylon philosophy."

"Cylon…philosophy?" Leoben said slowly. "No, I can't recall any books on Cylon philosophy."

"What about Cylon art or literature?"

"Nothing on those, either. I have several books on monotheism. That seems to be the predominant Cylon religion."

"Monotheism was around a long time before the Cylons. They didn't originate the concept of one God. That started on Kobol or maybe even earlier. What about a book written _by_ a Cylon? Do you have any books written by Cylons?"

Kara finally realized what her father was doing.

"My dad has this thing about Cylon culture," she joked.

"That's right. I'm still trying to find something that indicates to me the Cylons have any culture…other than a culture of killing humans."

Leoben looked puzzled. "I don't understand what kind of book you want."

John went on, "Every great civilization throughout the ages has produced art and music and literature…and philosophy. They've made great strides in math and science and medicine. In the end, civilizations are judged not by the bloodthirsty way they've destroyed other cultures and other races, but by the way they've enriched their own."

Leoben nodded slowly. Kara saw the corner of one eye twitch.

John looked around the bookstore and gestured to the packed shelves. "So you're telling me that in all these thousands of books, you don't have one written by a Cylon…not one?" He picked up a slim volume from the counter. "Not even a little book of poetry like this one by Kataris?"

Leoben's eye twitched again. "No," he finally said, "not one."

"And these Cylons, these…_machines_ think they're _better_ than we are? They think they're superior to _us_? That they have a right to exterminate _us_? Without us the Cylons have no culture at all. Nothing. And if they do succeed in exterminating us, they'll still…have…nothing." John lay the book of poetry gently down on the counter and for a long time he and Leoben stared at one another. Finally he said, "I think Leoben and I understand each other now. Come on, Kara. It's time we headed home."

She looked at Leoben and shrugged. His eye twitched several more times. He had the strangest look on his face. Kara followed her father to the door and out onto the sidewalk. They both put on their sunglasses. "Wow," she said to him. "I don't guess he has any doubts now as to how you feel about the Cylons."

Behind her she heard a sound. She glanced back. Leoben had locked the door and had turned the sign on the inside of the glass around. Instead of _OPEN_, it now showed the words, _Will Return At. _Beneath was a little clock with the hands pointing to eight a.m.

She glanced at her watch. It was only a little after four. He was usually open until five.

Kara and her father started walking toward the University. He snickered. "Maybe he has Cylon prayer meeting tonight or something. Maybe he's into the one-God thing."

"I told you Leoben doesn't know what he is. He thinks he's a human."

"No, he doesn't, Kara. He knows damned well what he is. If he hadn't admitted it to himself before today, he has now."

"How do you know?"

"I saw it in his eyes while I was talking to him. He knows. He's just in denial."

"Do you think that's going to be a problem?"

"No."

"I don't like the way you said that. He's got some part in the plan. You promised not to do anything to him. You _promised_."

"I'm not going to do anything to him. I'm going to have him watched. I can make one phone call and mention him to someone as a _person of interest_ and he'll be watched. I won't say he's a Cylon. No one will touch him. No one will hurt him. I'd just like to know who he has contact with, where he goes and what he does."

"He told me that he spends most of his time at the bookstore. He lives above it." She turned around and looked down the sidewalk. "See, he didn't even leave. He's not going anywhere or contacting anybody?"

"Then that's what we'll find out."

"_We_? Are you talking about the resistance? Are you still in the resistance?"

"No. But I couldn't completely cut every single tie I have to them. I still have a contact for anything really important. _This_ is really important."

"If something happens to him, I'll know who to blame."

"Damn, I thought Gaius Baltar was the only Cylon-lover I know. I never thought my own daughter would be one."

"I'm _not_ a Cylon-lover," Kara said hotly. "He's the only Cylon I know and I don't _love_ him. I just know he's got to stay alive because he's part of the plan. He's part of something a lot bigger than just getting back at the Cylons because…because one of them shot you."

"The Cylons did a whole hell of a lot more than just shoot me and you know it. I'm still going to have him watched."

"Fine. Great. Have him watched. But if anything happens to him…"

"I know. I'll take the blame for it." He put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her to him as they walked. "Don't be mad at me over this, Kara. I love you and I made you a promise. Leoben is going to be fine as long as he doesn't do something stupid."

Kara relented. "Okay. But you'll see. In the end you'll see."

"I hope you're right. I really hope you're right."

...

That night Kara called Karl. "I got a letter today," she told him.

"Yeah, me, too. Maggie, too."

"Good news?"

"Good news. I just talked to Sharon. We all three got in. What about you?"

"I did, too. I can't believe it. This is great. All of us will be together at the Academy this fall. My dad will be teaching the Mark II simulator."

"No kidding."

"No kidding. Laura and my dad are taking me out to celebrate this Saturday night, and Lee, of course. She said I could ask you and Sharon. We're going to Bonnie Patrice. Laura said they would pick up the check."

"Oh, man, that's nice of them. That's fine with me. I'll ask Sharon. I know she'll want to go."

"How is Jared?"

"He started dating some girl he works with. She was over here the other night. I can't remember her name. She's okay, I guess."

Kara remembered what had happened at the wedding reception. Maybe Jared had finally decided to let go. "Good. I'm glad. What about Maggie? Is she dating anybody now?"

"No."

She thought about Zak. "I wonder if I should introduce her to Lee's brother. He's about her age and he's cute. He's kind of screwed up right now, though. Their mom just died."

"I don't know about playing matchmaker, Kara. Leave me out of anything like that."

"Do you think Maggie would come Saturday night if I asked her? I mean she got accepted, too. I feel bad leaving her out of the celebration."

"All you can do is ask her. You want me to put her on?"

"Sure. If she says _no_, then she says _no_."

To Kara's surprise, Maggie said she would go. "I won't have a date."

"Hey, Maggs, this is not a _date_ thing. It's to celebrate us getting into the Academy. It's at Bonnie Patrice. Laura said no jeans allowed. We're going shopping Saturday for a dress for me. The only one I have is the one I wore in the wedding."

"I've got a dress."

"Well, okay then. Our reservations are at eight o'clock. We'll look for you there."

Kara ended the call and thought for a minute. Then she called Lee. "Do you want to ask Zak to go with us Saturday night?"

"I thought you and Zak weren't on good terms right now."

"We got it settled. That's the thing about punching somebody out when they deserve it. You do it. It's over. Besides, he's your brother. "

"I'm aware of that."

"I just thought it might be nice to include him. Maggie is coming and she doesn't have a date. I told her it wasn't a _date_ thing, but the rest of us will be couples. So I thought of Zak."

"Maggie?"

"My ex-roommate Maggie."

"Is she nice-looking? Zak goes for the good-looking ones."

"Yeah, she's pretty. Yeah. I think he'll like her."

"Okay, I'll ask him."

"How is he doing?"

"About the same, I guess."

"And your dad?"

"I haven't talked to him since that night when we…I haven't talked to him since then."

"Lee, you can't let something like that ruin…"

"Kara, stay out of this thing with me and my dad."

"I can't believe you haven't talked to your father in almost three weeks."

"When I was on the _Triton_, I didn't talk to him for three months. It's no big deal."

"So how long are you going to go without talking to him now?"

"Don't start. Don't even start."

"Lee, his wife died."

"And _my mother_ died," he said harshly. "He should have done more to get her help. He should have…done something."

Kara could tell he was getting angry. "So I should just keep my mouth shut and let you handle it?"

"That's right."

"Well, I've never been very good at keeping my mouth shut."

"Don't I know it? The first time I played your interview tape, when I heard you being such a smart-ass with Ackerman, I thought, _this girl does not know when to keep her mouth shut_."

"So you'd rather be with some mousy little girl who never talks back to you, somebody like…like that Dee person who never…"

"No, Kara. I don't want to be with Dee. I want to be with you. I just want you to drop this thing with me and my dad and let me handle it. And tell John to stay out of it, too. My relationship with my father has never been all sweetness and light like yours is with John."

"Our relationship is _not_ sweetness and light all the time, but have it your way. I guess I'll see you Saturday night." She ended the call before he could say anything else.

She found her father in the kitchen and went over to him and put her arms around him.

"What's wrong, baby?"

"Lee. He's just so…so…he won't even talk to his dad now."

"I know."

"He said he wants both of us to stay out of it."

"I know that, too."

"What's wrong with him?"

"Lee and his dad are both feeling guilty. Zak, too. They'll eventually come to terms with it in their own time and in their own ways. You're going to have to let Lee handle this one. If it drags on a lot longer, I'll try to talk to him again. Now, Laura tells me you're going dress shopping again on Saturday morning."

Kara rolled her eyes. "I'm going to have to draw the line somewhere on the dresses. First it was one, now it's going to be two. Next thing you know I'll have a whole closet full."

"You look beautiful in a dress."

"That's not the point. Viper pilots and dresses don't go together."

Her father smiled. "That's true. While I was a Viper pilot, I never owned a single dress."

Kara started laughing. "You really think you're funny, don't you?"

"Whatever it takes to make you smile instead of frown."

...

Lee remembered the last time he'd been at Bonnie Patrice. He had been with Blaire on the weekend before he had left for the _Triton_. They had eaten dinner with Laura and Billy because it was Billy's birthday and Lee had forgotten to make reservations. It hadn't even been two years and yet it seemed to him like another lifetime.

He paced on the sidewalk outside and checked his watch…7:38. He was the first one to arrive. He adjusted the knot of his new tie. Laura, John and Kara were meeting him there as were the others. Zak was supposed to work until seven but said he could get back to his apartment, shower, put on his suit and get there by eight.

A transport pulled up and Kara's friend Karl got out followed by the girl he had brought to the wedding reception, Sharon, and then another dark-haired girl. She had to be Maggie. Karl spotted him.

"Lee, hey."

"Karl. Sharon."

"This is Maggie Edmondson," Karl said.

So this was the girl Kara wanted Zak to meet. She was pretty and she had on a nice little black dress. Zak would be impressed.

"Maggie, nice to meet you. I hear congratulations are in order for all of you."

"It's a miracle," Sharon said shyly. "I was afraid I wouldn't make it."

"You weren't alone," Karl said. "Of course Maggie probably aced the entrance exam. She wasn't worried at all."

Maggie gave him a look.

A transport pulled up and John got out. He helped Laura out and then Kara. Kara's dress was dark blue-green, above the knee and off-the-shoulder. She had her hair put up tonight and with the makeup, she looked beautiful and sophisticated and a lot older than sixteen.

"Wow." Lee didn't realize he had spoken out loud until the others looked at him…everyone except Karl. He was staring at Kara, too.

"Second that," Karl said.

"What?" Kara said and laughed. "You look like you did that night back at the little stone house when I tried on the wedding dress."

"Wedding dress?" Laura asked.

"Long story," Kara answered. "I'll tell you sometime."

"Are we waiting on Zak?" John asked.

"No, he said to go ahead and get our table. He'll be here as soon as he can."

"I've never been here before," Kara told them. "I hear it's nice."

They went inside. It _was_ nice. Laura and John had reserved a special table for eight in the smaller dining room. As they went through the larger dining room, Kara noticed Sam Anders seated at a table for two on the other side of the room. He wasn't with Tory tonight. He was with a very attractive woman with dark hair to her shoulders. She reminded Kara of Mrs. Peele, but it wasn't her.

Sam saw her and she waved at him. He waved back.

Zak came in about five minutes after they were seated and introductions were made. He took the empty chair beside Maggie.

Kara grinned at him. "Ready for round two?"

Zak laughed. "I don't think so. My lip still isn't right."

Kara forgot about Sam Anders and his date until later during the meal when they both walked into the small dining room.

"I wanted to stop by and say _hello_ to everyone," Sam said. "I met most of you at the reception. This is a special friend of mine, Lissa Colson."

"Hello, Lissa," John said.

"John," Lissa smiled. "You look like you've recovered well."

"I have. You've met Laura, and this is my daughter Kara. And of course you remember Lee and Zak." He went around the table making the rest of the introductions. When he got to Sharon, Kara saw Lissa's face take on a puzzled look.

"Have we met before?" She asked Sharon. "You look really familiar."

"I don't think so," Sharon answered.

"Oh, well. Nice to meet everyone."

She and Sam started to leave and then Lissa turned around. She came over to John and leaned down close to him. The only reason Kara heard her whisper was because she was seated beside her father.

"I need to tell you something. Now. It's important."

"Excuse me a minute." John got up and walked out with Sam and Lissa.

He was gone almost ten minutes.

"What's going on?" Lee asked.

Kara shrugged. "I don't know. I hardly think she's out there coming on to my father right under Sam's nose."

When John got back, he took his seat. "Just catching up on a few things with an old friend."

He offered no other explanation but Kara saw him lean over and whisper something to Laura. Laura nodded her head. She could also tell that something was bothering her father now that hadn't been bothering him before he had talked to Lissa. She couldn't wait to ask him what it was. She wondered if it had something to do with Baltar's lab and the human-Cylon baby.

They had champagne that night, several bottles of it, to celebrate four new Academy cadets. Kara toasted her father's upcoming teaching position as well.

"Are you going to be tough on us?" Karl asked.

"If you want to be a Viper pilot, I am."

"I'm in trouble," Karl said. "I think I'd better switch to Raptors."

"That's what I've always wanted to be," Maggie said. "A Raptor pilot."

"Me, too," Sharon said.

"So to three Raptor pilots and one Viper pilot, a successful year at the Academy and successful careers as pilots for all of you." John raised his glass.

They all drank. Laura toasted with ginger ale.

Kara noticed that Lee drank only one glass of champagne.

"I'm driving," he told her.

"Still got your mother's car?"

"Dad never said he wanted it back."

"Still haven't talked to him?"

He gave her a look that said he didn't intend to answer.

Outside the restaurant that night, almost everyone was slightly under the influence of the champagne with the exception of Laura. There was a lot of hugging. Kara hugged Karl first and then surprised herself by hugging Maggie. Even Sharon. Zak came over with a sheepish look.

"You got one left for me?"

"I guess…since we don't have any grass to roll in."

He held her tightly for a few moments. "Congratulations. I hope you do as good as Lee did."

"I'm going to fly circles around him," Kara said and Zak smiled.

Zak left with Maggie and Karl and Sharon in a transport. Karl had told her earlier that they were having an after-dinner celebration party at the apartment. He asked her if she and Lee wanted to drop by. When she found out that Jared would probably be there, she declined.

"We'll get together at Zeno's next week," she told him.

Lee offered to drive them back to Laura's apartment.

"What did Lissa want?" Kara asked as soon as they were in the car.

Laura spoke up. "First, let me ask if Lissa said any of it in front of Sam?"

"No, he was outside waiting for the valet to bring his car…or rather Lissa's car. You know she works at one of the Cylon-run labs, the one where they've been working to make a human-Cylon baby."

"We know that," Kara said. "In Dr. Baltar's lab. Was she telling you about that hybrid baby they made?"

"She did mention the hybrid pregnancy was still going well, but what she really wanted to tell me is just as important. Lissa said she couldn't be absolutely certain because she only saw the girl one time and that was just a glimpse, but she thinks that Karl's girlfriend Sharon might be a Cylon."

"Oh, dear gods," Laura said. "How can that be? She's just nineteen. I asked her. I didn't get the feeling I got with the other ones either…with Natasi and D'Anna. This girl…I feel emotion in her. She can't be a machine."

"She says she's nineteen," John said. "But it's hard to tell by looking at her. She could be nineteen or she could be twenty-five. Hell, if she's a Cylon, she might be five or six. Who knows a way to tell how old a Cylon is since they're created as adults? And Lissa did say that she couldn't be certain. But if she's right, I'm sure she saw another copy at the lab. I doubt this girl would let Simon try to implant her with a hybrid baby if she wants to go to the Academy."

Kara said, "Then maybe Karl's Sharon has been programmed not to know what she is. Maybe she thinks she's a human. They did that to some of them, you know? Made them think they're human."

Lee said, "Maybe she _is_ human. Maybe Lissa is mistaken. We can't accuse someone of being a Cylon without any proof. We need proof and how are we going to get it?"

John was the one who finally answered him. "The lawyer's grandson is right. We need proof before we do or say anything. As to how we get it, that's the million-cubit question, isn't it? Lissa said Simon never put anything about this mystery girl into the computer. He kept all her records with him. So even if I were to ask her, Lissa can't help us."

"I wonder how Sharon would feel about rooming with me at the Academy?" Kara said.

"What would that prove?" Lee asked.

"Nothing, really. But I could keep an eye on her. I could get to know her…see who her friends are…stuff like that. I could _watch_ _her_," Kara looked around at her father sitting in the back seat with Laura. "Isn't that what you would recommend…_watching her_?"

She saw the faintest hint of a smile on her father's face. "You must be reading my mind."

TBC…


	41. Frak or Fight

Chapter 41

Frak or Fight

_During a highly secretive and dangerous mission undertaken by the deep sea research vessel the _Nautilus _to recover three nuclear warheads from a downed military transport ship, a shift in the deep ocean current caused a collision of the small, remotely controlled submersible with the side of the ship during its second dive. There were no casualties, however the remote submersible was lost as was the chance to recover the two remaining warheads. The _Nautilus_ returned to port with only one. _

_-Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War_

Lee drove Kara and John and Laura back to their apartment. Laura asked him to come in and showed him where to enter the parking garage. Once inside Kara went to take off the dress and put on her jeans. Laura took Lee's jacket and hung it in the hall closet before she and John went to change clothes also. Lee took off the tie, unbuttoned the top button of his shirt and rolled up the sleeves several times.

When Kara came back barefoot in jeans and a t-shirt, the makeup was washed off and her hair was brushed out and in the ponytail. They sat on the couch.

"Do you really _want_ to room with Sharon at the Academy?" Lee asked.

Kara shrugged. "I've got to room with somebody. I've already tried it with Maggie. That didn't work out. She has a problem with me and Karl…or she used to."

"A problem?"

Kara snorted. "She thinks me and Karl had something going on. They used to have a thing. It started while we were still in the refugee camp. The night they broke up, Karl told her I was his best friend and always would be."

"Is he _your_ best friend?"

"Yeah."

Lee didn't say anything.

"What?" Kara asked. "You're not going to be like Maggie, are you? You know Karl and I never had that kind of relationship. You know I was a…well, you know."

"Are you're suddenly having trouble saying the word _virgin_? I thought guys were the only ones who had trouble with that word."

She laughed, straddled him, and kissed him.

He kept his hands on the cushions of the couch. "Don't start, Kara. Don't. We can't. Your dad…"

She put her mouth close to his ear. "Do you remember what we did on this couch after the wedding reception? And in my bedroom? And in the shower?"

"Damn, Kara, don't. I'm already…"

"I noticed," she whispered and kissed him again. She heard a sound and glanced to her right.

Her father dressed in his usual khaki pants and white shirt stood in the doorway. _No_, he mouthed and motioned for her to get off of Lee.

"You're saved by my father," she whispered as she complied. And then aloud she said, "How about a drink?"

"I think I've still got a little Siren's Kiss, although not as much as I thought I had," John said. "Would you like some?"

Kara grinned at Lee. They had shared Siren's Kiss the night of the wedding reception.

"That's too strong for me since I'm driving," Lee answered. "Maybe ambrosia if you've got some."

Without a word John poured two shot glasses half full and one a fourth full.

"Wow," Kara said. "I get to drink a tiny little drink with the big boys tonight."

"Don't push your luck. We're still celebrating. I'll be glad to go get you a glass of milk from the kitchen," her father told her as he handed her the small glass.

"I love ambrosia," Kara grinned. "It always makes me think about having a bullet cut out of my leg…only I drank about a third of a bottle that night instead of two spoonfuls."

John shook his head. "Why you think that's funny I'll never know."

"It wasn't funny at the time. It hurt like hell. Why do you think I wanted the ambrosia?"

Laura walked into the room. Her favorite outfit when she was at the apartment now was a pair of baggy jeans and one of John's white shirts. "I wish I could join you."

"Would you like some ginger ale?"

"No, thank you. I'm sick of ginger ale." She sat down in the chair Kara had come to think of as Laura's chair. "So you think you'll room with Sharon?"

Kara smiled. "Lee and I were just talking about it. I'll ask Karl to ask her if she's already got a roommate, and if she says _no_, I'm going to ask her."

"Are you going to tell Karl what Lissa said about Sharon?"

"Gods, no," Kara answered. "Karl hates the Cylons. If we're wrong, he'll never forgive me. I'm sure she would never forgive me, either. I wish…I just wish there was some kind of test…some sure and certain way to tell."

John mused. "You'd think with all the brainpower on Caprica that some scientist could come up with a blood test or tissue test or _something_."

Always practical and budget-minded, Laura said, "It would be very difficult to get funds for that kind of research and development, especially without the Cylon's knowledge. Suppose, though, that we did get the funding and someone managed to come up with a test, what would you do with it? Bill and I discussed this several years ago during the negotiations. How would you test everyone on Caprica without their knowledge or the Cylons' knowledge? It would be impossible."

"We don't need to test everyone on Caprica," Kara said. "Just the ones we suspect."

Again Laura was quick to respond, "That's all the more reason it would be hard to do. How do you explain spending a huge sum of money to test just a few people? And who decides which ones get tested. We would have to find a way to do this without doing it…and without government funding if you understand what I'm saying."

"Wouldn't a _researcher_ need something to work with that came from a proven Cylon?" Lee asked. "I doubt any of them are going to volunteer to let a scientist draw their blood or take tissue samples."

"What about that lab where Lissa works?" Kara asked.

John answered her. "They aren't working with blood or tissue out there. They're working with…wait a minute, they've got all kinds of information on Cylon DNA. They're working with the cells necessary to create a life. You don't get much more basic than that."

"Then how do you suggest we gain access to their research?" Laura asked. "I doubt the Cylons would let anyone have their documentation any more than they would give us blood or tissue samples."

Lee said, "It sounds like we need Gaius Baltar. It's his research."

"He isn't at the lab anymore," Laura said. "Bill told me over a month ago that Baltar is busy studying the drug-addicted women who have applied for Colonial Medical Aid. Our physicians are drawing blood and conducting some other tests as part of devising treatment plans for them. Dr. Baltar is trying to determine why the birth rate has dropped so drastically among this small segment of the population without a corresponding change in behavior patterns. I think Simon is proceeding with the other project on his own."

John said, "I'm surprised Simon and Natasi are letting Baltar participate in this other thing."

"Bill thinks the Cylons are disappointed in Baltar's lack of results in the last three and a half years. He thinks they've lost faith in Baltar and essentially cut him loose…that perhaps the day I saw him going in to speak to the President that Baltar was asking Adar for a job instead of the other way around. I can see Gaius doing something like that…being too proud to look for a job on the open market…asking the President in private to give him another research appointment. He's not without his substantial ego."

"Bottom line," Lee said, "is that we need to know if it would be possible to determine who is a Cylon from a blood or tissue test."

"And who's going to be the one to ask him that?" Kara said.

"He certainly wouldn't tell me," Laura answered her. "Gaius Baltar dislikes me intensely because of what I did to keep my education budget last year."

"He dislikes me even more," John said.

"Lee and I don't know him so we're out," Kara said. "What about Lee's dad? Do you think Baltar would talk to him?"

"Why don't we start with Lissa?" John said. "I could pose the question to her theoretically. She's not quite the genius Baltar is, but she knows her stuff. I could ask her and see if this is worth pursuing…if she thinks such a test is even possible."

Kara looked at her father. "How are you going to do that? Ask her for a date?"

He gave her a look. "I was thinking more along the lines of meeting her for lunch…with Laura along, of course."

"No, I doubt Lissa would talk in front of me. John, you can meet her alone. I trust you."

"I'll go with him," Kara said. "I'll act dumb. My dad can tell her how I haven't been in school since I was thirteen."

"That sounds like a plan," Lee said. "Then what?"

"If Lissa thinks such a test is possible, then we approach Dr. Baltar," Laura said.

"Who approaches Dr. Baltar?" Kara asked.

"I think that's definitely a job for Bill. Do you think your father would do it, Lee?"

Lee snorted. "You know him a lot better than I do."

"Hell, I'll ask Bill," John said. "All he can say is _yes_ or _no_. If he says _no_, then we try something else."

Kara laughed. "Hey, maybe in a couple of years you'll be able to go into the drug store and buy a handy home Cylon detector test just like you buy those home pregnancy tests now. I understand they work pretty good."

Laura felt a blush suffuse her cheeks but thought she managed to look very innocent.

"Yeah, well…" Lee said. "Right now we only need to know about one possible Cylon."

Laura asked him, "Did you get a chance to ask your father about his plan…about the part of it that he can't work out?"

"I'm not sure we should be talking about the plan?" Lee answered.

"In front of me, you mean?" Kara said. "You think you can't trust me?"

"It's a military plan."

"And since Laura and I aren't in the military, we won't understand…or you don't trust us?"

John grinned. "Let's see you talk your way out of that one, counselor?"

"I didn't mean…I'm not trying to imply…it's not that I don't think… All right, here's part of what he can't figure out…how to get a nuke on the big basestar and get it far enough away from Caprica that when the nuke explodes, it won't poison the atmosphere with radiation like what happened over Picon."

They all sat silently for a long time.

"Yeah, that's a tough one," Kara finally said.

"I've been thinking about it for three weeks, ever since Dad mentioned it. I sure haven't come up with anything."

"Why does it have to be a nuke?" John asked. "Wouldn't a strategically placed conventional explosive accomplish the same thing? You could blow it up with no worries about radiation."

"I'm just repeating what my dad said," Lee told them. "It's his plan."

"We'll know when the time is right," Kara said confidently. "We'll know. There is a way and we'll find it."

Laura smiled at Kara. "I love your enthusiasm."

"Somebody's got to have it," Kara said.

A little after midnight Laura stood up. "I hate to be a poor hostess, but I need to go to bed. You three stay and talk as long as you want."

Lee also stood. "I need to be going."

"You're all right to drive?" John asked.

"I think so."

Kara walked with him to the door. "A DWI will ground you. You won't be flying your Viper for a while."

"Maybe I'd better call a transport."

"Good idea. You want me to bring the car over tomorrow night after I get off work or do you want to come get it earlier?"

He smiled and kissed her gently. "Guess."

"I'll know if the car is still here when I get home tomorrow."

He took the keys out of his pocket and handed them to her. "I can make sure of that."

...

Laura waited for Bill in the little tea room in the Capitol building. A month had passed since Carolanne's death, nearly a week since Lee had told them of one of the gaps in his father's plan. She hadn't seen Bill since the funeral. She had called him several times but he had always been unable to meet her for lunch or tea. Laura slowly and contemplatively pushed the spoon around in her cup. She hoped Bill had truly been busy instead of withdrawing from his friends like she feared he had done in this time of personal sorrow.

She was just about to give up and leave when she saw him at the door. She waved and found herself standing to hug him as he walked up to the table. They both sat self-consciously. Laura knew Bill had felt her much rounder belly as they had embraced. At four and a half months pregnant, there was no hiding her ever growing bump even under a longer, loose-fitting suit jacket. The positive was that the nausea that had plagued her for the last few months was gone.

"You look beautiful," Bill said warmly.

She felt herself blush. "Please, please don't tell me I'm _glowing_. I've heard that far too much."

"How are you feeling?"

"Wonderful. I go to the doctor this afternoon. According to him, I'm doing very well."

"Boy or girl?" Bill asked.

"I don't know yet. I think this is the visit where the doctor will schedule my ultrasound. Kara has maintained all along that it will be a boy. John was adamant it would be a girl until several weeks ago. Apparently Kara has won him over. He now says _our son _instead of _our daughter._"

Bill's face clouded. "I wonder what my life would have been like if I'd had daughters instead of sons. You should probably hope John was right the first time, and it will be a girl."

"Bill, don't. You have two fine sons."

"Who now despise their father."

"That's not true. Both of them will come to terms with losing their mother. It…often takes time. Don't give up on them yet. How are _you_ doing?"

He shrugged. "Keeping busy."

"You've lost weight."

He grunted. "The uniform fits better now."

The waitress came over and brought another small pot of hot water and a cup with teabag inside for Bill.

"I'm selling the house," he said suddenly. "I've talked to a real estate agent. She thinks it will sell quickly. The location is good. I'm going to price it reasonably."

"Selling the house and moving where?"

"I don't know. I'd like to go back to the _Galactica_. I just can't…not yet."

"But one day you will?"

"One day I will."

She tried to imagine a day when Bill Adama would not be a phone call away in an office in a nearby building. She tried to imagine severing the close bond they had developed over the last three and a half years. She couldn't.

"John has an apartment he's still paying rent on. He signed a year's lease so he's obligated. He thought he had something worked out with another pilot to sublet, but apparently that fell through. You should talk to him. Maybe you could take over the lease."

"Where is it?"

"Not too far from us, actually. You wouldn't even need to bring furniture."

"I've been cleaning out the house…doing a little each night. Zak's already got his things out. I called Lee last night and told him he needed to do the same. He doesn't have much left in his room…just some books, a few model ships, several pictures…things like that."

"You've talked to Lee?"

"Left him a message. He didn't pick up. He has caller ID on that phone of his."

"I doubt that was the reason. He was probably with Kara."

"They're serious, aren't they?"

"She's not quite seventeen yet, and Lee is still young, but yes, I think they're very serious."

"Sleeping together?" Bill asked without looking at her.

"I feel like I would be betraying Kara's trust to talk about that. What I will say is that she's very motivated to attend the Academy and become a Viper pilot. I don't think she'll let anything stand in her way of accomplishing that goal…not even her feelings for Lee."

"Conrad Burgher told me she was good…an _uncanny natural ability_ was the way he put it, I think."

"In so many ways she's John made over. You should hear them go at it sometimes. She's very verbal…quite the _smart-mouth_ as he puts it, and of course he won't let her get away with it. It's almost comical. She also has a strong belief that she's somehow destined to be part of," Laura lowered her voice, "getting rid of you-know-who."

Bill looked surprised. "She knows about the plan?"

Laura realized she had probably said too much and hopefully covered her mistake. "She told us one evening that she's believed for several years she has a destiny to be part of…something bigger. She has no idea yet what that will be. She just knows that she needs to attend the Academy and go on to Flight School."

Bill grunted again. "How does John feel about it?"

"He's resigned himself to it. He's more at peace with it now that he knows he'll be training her in the simulator. I imagine he's going to be hard on her."

"If she's as good as Burgher thinks she is, then she'll make it."

"How are things going on your end?"

"I've had good news in the last week. Tom Zarek's men found something on Tauron that's going to help us. He'll get it to me on the next tylium barge. I'm still working on a few other details."

"Is there anything that we can do to help you, Bill…anything?"

"Maybe later."

"I realize how outspoken I was with you the day after Carolanne's death. I hope you don't think I over-stepped the bounds of our friendship…that I said anything I shouldn't have."

"No."

They sat staring at each other for a few moments. She tried to imagine what he was thinking.

"I need to go," he finally said and stood.

"I need to think about getting back as well." She put her hand on his arm. "Please keep in touch."

He put his hand over hers as they walked to the door. "I will. Tell John I'm probably going to give him a call about that apartment."

...

Kara sat at a table in Zeno's waiting for Lee and Sharon and Karl to meet her. She thought she would be the last one there since she didn't get off work until seven o'clock, but she was the first one to arrive. She had already ordered a beer when she saw Sharon walk in and spot her immediately. Kara didn't even have to wave at her. Did Sharon zero in on her so quickly because she was a Cylon? No, maybe it was the blond hair she noticed. Maybe Sharon just had good eyesight, the kind of eyesight a pilot needed.

"Hi," Sharon said as she sat down.

"Want a beer?" Kara asked.

"I'll wait for Karl."

"The only reason I get away with ordering beer is the bartender remembers the fake ID I used. He hasn't carded me in a long time."

"You don't have it any more?"

"My dad made me give it to him. No, that's not true. _I_ gave it to him. I want him to trust me."

"But you order beer anyway?"

Kara shrugged. "I usually drink just one. It's not as big a deal as he makes it." She laughed. "He acts like I'm on my way to being a hard-drinking, hot-tempered pilot with a frak-em and forget-em attitude. I think he's afraid I'm too much like he was years ago."

"Karl told me about what happened after your dad flew you off Picon. That's some story."

"Yeah. What about your parents?"

"Do you know anything about the mining colony of Troy?"

Kara shook her head.

"It's a small planet in the Helios Beta system. The atmosphere was too thin for humans so for years the Cylons worked the mines there. After the First War when the Cylons left and took all the worker drones with them…a huge dome was built so human miners and their families could live on Troy. When I was younger something happened to the dome, an accident and everyone died, my parents, too."

"Where were you?"

"I was visiting my grandmother here on Caprica. I stayed with her."

"Are you still living with her?"

"No, she died. I still live in her apartment."

"Are you moving onto campus at the Academy?"

"I think so."

Kara took a deep breath. "Would you like to room with me?"

"I thought you'd be rooming with Maggie."

Kara smiled. "Been there, done that. We're getting along okay now, but I don't know if I want to do the roommate thing with her again. I don't think she'd want to room with me either."

Sharon suddenly smiled. "Okay, sure. We can be roommates."

"Since they won't let you room with Karl," Kara laughed.

"You've roomed with him."

"Karl is my best friend. We lived in the same little house for a while and then we shared a tent in the refugee camp." Kara grinned. "He snores."

"Speaking of Karl," Sharon said. "Here he comes."

Karl joined them.

"Meet my new roommate," Kara said.

"Cool," Karl said. "Where's Lee?"

"He called about an hour ago and said he had to do something before he could meet us. He didn't say what."

Karl ordered beer for him and Sharon. "I got my Academy entrance packet in the mail today. My class schedule is in there and about a million forms that have to be filled out and sent back. We'll be filling out paperwork for the next week. What about you two?"

"I haven't been back to Laura's yet. I came straight here from work. Can't you tell?" Kara answered as she pointed to the black t-shirt and jeans.

"Me too," Sharon said.

"Where do you work?" Kara asked her.

Karl said, "Tell her. Kara will get a kick out of it."

"For a travel agency. I do clerical work."

"That's cool."

"Yeah," Karl said. "She gets discounts on trips. A week before we start at the Academy, I'm going to quit my job and Sharon and I are going to take a trip somewhere."

Kara glanced up and saw Lee come in. She could tell before he got to the table that he was in a bad mood.

She gave him a questioning look.

"Later," was all he said.

They spent the next hour talking mostly about the Academy. Lee ranked his teachers in order from hardest to easiest, from best to worst. It didn't surprise her at all that he thought his best teacher was also his hardest. It also came as no surprise to her that it was Colonel Burgher.

He had some advice for them, too. "One thing you need to do is start working out and getting in good shape before you get there. There's two PE teachers and both of them are former drill instructors. They will work your butt hard. The better shape you're in, the easier it will be."

"I've been running on my days off," Kara said.

"You need to start working out with weights. Your legs need to be really strong to fly a Viper. Get John to add you onto his health club membership. He said his doctor had cleared him to work out again."

"He did. He takes his flight physical in two days."

"I thought he was going to teach at the Academy this fall." Karl said.

"He is, but he still want to keep his pilot's license up to date."

They all left shortly after nine o'clock. Karl and Sharon walked toward the subway.

"Do you want to go back to my apartment?" Lee asked.

"I'm working tomorrow. I can't stay long."

Lee shrugged. "Whatever."

They began walking in that direction. "What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing."

"Does it have to do with your dad?"

"It's not open to discussion."

Kara saw the boxes of books sitting on the floor as soon as Lee unlocked the door of his apartment.

"He's selling the house, isn't he? Laura said he told her…"

Instead of answering, Lee pulled her to him and kissed her hard instead of the gentle, almost hesitant way he usually started. Before she had gotten over the shock, he jerked the t-shirt out of the waistband of her jeans and slid his hands around her, against her bare skin.

She twisted her mouth away from his. "What's going on…"

He was breathing hard as he tugged the t-shirt over her head and threw it on the couch. He reached for the zipper of her jeans.

"Lee…slow down…wait a minute." She grabbed his hand.

"Are you saying you don't want to?"

"Not like this. What is the matter with you?"

"Just forget it… just frakking forget it." He grabbed her t-shirt off the couch and shoved it toward her before he walked into the kitchen and stood with his hands on the counter, his back turned to her.

She followed him and saw his shoulders begin to shake. Gently she put her arms around him from behind and held him.

"He's just wiping it out…like their life together never existed…like our life there never existed…like it means nothing to him. Most of the furniture is already gone...even my room..."

"Sometimes you have to move on. Maybe it's just too painful for him to stay there. He's the one living with all the memories. You need to cut your dad some slack, Lee."

"Your dad offered to let him move into his apartment, the one he was living in before he and Laura got together."

"And? What's wrong with that?"

"I just didn't think John would…I don't know."

"Didn't think John would _what_?"

"Nothing. Forget it." Lee wiped his eyes with his hand.

"No, I'm not going to forget it. Why are you mad at _my_ father for offering _your_ father a place to stay?"

Lee turned around. "I thought John was _my_ friend."

"He is. Lee, what is wrong with you? Do you think he can't be friends with you and your father both?"

"Never mind. I said forget it. I'll call you a transport."

"No, I'm not walking out of here tonight with you thinking bad of my father. You mean a lot to him. My dad thinks of you as his best friend. Who did he ask to be in his wedding? Huh? Who did he ask to stand up with him?"

"You're right."

"So what was that all about…that…when we first got into the apartment? You've never been like that with me before."

"I don't know, Kara. I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking…I just wanted…"

"Wanted what? Some sex to take your mind off your dad selling the house?"

He couldn't look at her. "I don't know."

"So we're not going to talk about it."

"I don't know what you want me to say."

Kara put her t-shirt back on. "What I _want_ you to do is be honest with me about what you're feeling."

Lee shook his head. "I don't know what I'm feeling."

"Then maybe you need to _think_ about it some more. That's what you're best at…thinking about things. It's late. I've got to work tomorrow. Call the transport." She walked toward the door and he followed her.

"You're not walking out on me, are you?" He asked.

"As in breaking up with you?"

"Yeah. Are you dumping me?"

"No, I'm not breaking up with you. I'm just going home. You need to talk to my dad, but more important you need to talk to your dad."

"He and I don't have anything left to say to each other."

"Yes, you do. And one day you'll look back and realize how dumb this whole thing was. You know, just forget about calling a transport. I'll do it myself."

Kara rode the elevator down to the ground floor and went out onto the street. She didn't have to call a transport. One was letting someone out on the corner and she caught it before the driver pulled away. She gave him Laura's address and settled back in the seat, letting her hurt and anger smolder for the entire ride home.

She let herself quietly into the apartment. John was sitting on one end of the couch. Laura was stretched out asleep on her side with her head on the top of his leg. He had one hand on her shoulder and was holding a book in the other. He put the book down.

"Waiting up on me?" Kara asked softly.

He nodded. "I was getting worried. I was just about to call you."

"I was at Zeno's. Then Lee and I went back to his place."

"Oh," John said. "That explains it."

"No." Kara felt tears start to form. "Lee acted like a real jerk tonight."

"What happened?"

"He got some books and stuff from his father's house after work, and now's he's all mad about his dad selling the place. We had a fight."

"Is he upset about me offering my apartment to Bill?"

"Yeah."

"I thought he might be."

"He's not being reasonable."

"No."

"I walked out."

"You broke up?"

"No, I just walked out tonight. I told him he needed to talk to you and to his dad, too."

Laura opened her eyes and stretched. When she saw Kara she said, "You got a big packet from the Academy in the mail today. I put it on your dresser."

Kara looked at her father. "We can talk later. Oh, you need to add me to your health club membership so I can start working out with weights. Lee said I would do better at the Academy if I was in good shape."

"Lee should know. I'll do it tomorrow."

Laura sat up. "Did John tell you what we found out from the ultrasound today?"

She shook her head.

"You're going to have a brother."

Two pairs of green eyes met and shared the memory of the Oracle's words.

Then Kara grinned. "Haven't I been saying that all along?"

...

Lee lay in bed in the dark unable to sleep. In the distance he heard several sirens and a few minutes later the thumping of a helicopter's rotors as it passed overhead. Somewhere there was probably an accident. Somewhere a life might be hanging in the balance, and here he was angry, still aroused, and feeling sorry for himself.

He had frakked up with Kara tonight, frakked up badly and he knew it. If there was one thing he should never had done, it was to say anything about his anger that John had offered Bill a place to stay. He should never have implied to Kara that it had upset him, that he felt like John should have let his father find his own place. Lee knew he was wrong to take it as a personal betrayal of their friendship. He had known, even as he had spoken the words, how unfair they were to John. John _was_ his friend. He knew that. But John was Bill's friend, too. He knew that as well. Lee knew how childish it was to think John should now exclude Bill from his life the way Lee had done. He realized how childish he was being. How silly it was to think…_if you're my friend, you can't be his friend._

He rolled over and looked at the clock. Nearly two a.m. He groaned. He had to get up in less than five hours. The day would be hell to get through on very little sleep. There had been no terrorist suspects to question in Caprica City for the last month. Major Parker had them all doing data analysis now, sifting through thousands of phone records of suspects looking for patterns, reading page after page of surveillance notes looking for anomalies, looking for connections to other suspected terrorists. It had to be the most boring and sleep-inducing work he had ever done in his life.

He wondered if Zak would still be awake and momentarily contemplated calling him before he dismissed the thought. He knew Zak had dated Maggie several times in the two weeks since the celebratory dinner. They had even double dated once, going to see an action movie. Zak had been surprised by how into the movie Kara and Maggie had gotten, how they had argued afterward about whether or not a particular weapon would do what the special effects guys had made it do. It hadn't surprised Lee at all.

He assumed Zak had slept with Maggie, but Kara had told him over the weekend that Maggie wasn't easy and that she thought Maggie probably still had a thing for Karl, so maybe Zak was still hoping he would get lucky with her. He couldn't imagine Zak continuing to see her if she didn't eventually give in. Of course Zak had never confined himself to one girl, either. He was probably sleeping with at least one other girl, probably two, so maybe sleeping with Maggie wasn't a priority for him.

They had all gone to Zeno's after the movie date, and he had once noticed Zak looking at Kara in a way that disturbed him. When he'd confronted Zak later, though, Zak had just told him to back off. He'd told Lee that he thought Kara was beyond tough…_awesome and radically cool_ was the way Zak described her, but that he would never make a move on her as long as she was with Lee. What disturbed Lee even more was that he could tell Kara liked Zak. They seemed to have gotten over their fight at the cemetery and seemed to be developing a kind of kidding, easy-going friendship. That thought bothered him so much he couldn't let himself pursue it any further.

Was that part of what had caused him to act the way he did tonight…fear that he would lose Kara the same way he had lost Blaire...fear that had made him act like a greedy jerk? The thought of Kara being with someone else made him feel sick. The thought of her being with Zak made him even sicker. Why was he doing this to himself? Why was he playing mind games with himself? Torturing himself this way? He knew that Kara and Karl had a friendship that had lasted for years and had never crossed the line. He knew it, and still he was torturing himself with thoughts of Kara and Zak. He imagined Ackerman laughing at him.

Finally he got up and logged onto his computer. He went to the web site called _TheEverymanJournal _and to the page for a person who called himself _Martin Spiller_ but who Lee knew was really Neil Speigel. Lee checked for an updated blog and found that the most recent one was posted three days ago, one he had already read. Sometimes Speigel went for a week, sometimes two weeks without updating. He imagined Neil sitting in a cyber café somewhere in Sovana, using someone else's computer, his fingers moving, sending the words in a steady stream of bits and bytes, of binary ones and zeros out over the web, telling his story to anyone on Caprica who was interested enough to read it.

Lee scanned the dated entries that Neil had placed since he had escaped months before from the military prison in Sovana. He finally found the one he wanted, placed a month after the prisoners had escaped, not Neil's first blog, but his seventh. Lee had read it before. He had read if officially, analytically following Parker's orders, as he had read all of Neil's entries, looking for something, anything about the resistance. Tonight he read part of this particular entry once again.

_The eel came to the bars of the cage… to the boy in the cage and showed him the way…to reach out as a human…the only warm one in a pit of razor-talking cold bloods…and the eel said… _If you got another chance, what would you do with your life?…what would you do with your life? _The question torments the boy who is to die…die in front of a wall…die from hot metal bullets fired from cold metal hands…with no more chances…so the boy does something that night…the boy decides…if he gets away from the razors to do something else with his life._

Lee knew as soon as he had read the blog the first time who the _eel_ was. He recognized the anagram for his name. He read again…_the only warm one in a pit of razor-talking cold bloods_. Lee had been the main one to question Neil. He had actually been the one who had broken him, and yet Neil saw him as the only warm one at the prison. Neil must have sensed Lee's concern for a fifteen-year-old boy who had been on his own since he was twelve, selling himself to survive in the harsh and unforgiving world of a refugee camp.

Now Lee wondered how he could feel that much care and concern about Neil Speigel, about a boy he had met and questioned for less than a week, and feel such anger and bitterness toward the father he had known all of his life.

Had his father been telling the truth? Had it really come down to a choice of saving his marriage and his wife or saving the planet? Or was his anger at his father deeper-rooted than that? Was he repaying Bill Adama for years of neglect by cutting his father out of his life, punishing him now for the sins of the past?

Lee put his head down on the little table in his bedroom that held his laptop computer. He shut his eyes and wondered what his father would say if he posed the same question to him that he had posed to Neil Speigel…_If you got another chance, what would you do with your life?_ He wondered if he should give their relationship another chance. The question was still on his mind as sleep finally claimed him.

...

Kara knocked on the door of her former apartment and waited for Karl to open it. He was barefoot, wearing jeans and a white t-shirt and carrying a towel. He had obviously just gotten out of the shower.

"Come in. I haven't been home long." He rubbed his hair with the towel as Kara followed him into the kitchen.

She put her packet from the Academy down on one end of the kitchen table and saw his forms spread out over the other end. She had been gone from here barely five months and already much of her life here was fading in her memory. She looked at the table and remembered the night that Jack had cut the bullet out of her leg. Another lifetime.

"Are you still working five a.m. until one-thirty?"

"Yeah. That's a schedule I won't mind giving up in a few months. Are you excited?"

"A little scared, too."

"Yeah, me too. Maggs has already filled everything out and mailed it. She did it the same day the packet came."

"Typical. Speaking of Maggie, what do you think about her and Zak?"

Karl shrugged. "I guess she likes him okay. She's dated him a couple of times. You know she's not going to talk to me about it. I just heard her telling Jared they were going out."

"You think they're sleeping together?"

"I don't know. It's none of my business. From what you've told me about Zak and his girlfriends, she'd be stupid to, but that's her decision."

"Let me see your schedule." Kara took hers out and compared it to Karl's. "Yes! We've got Basic Flight together under Colonel Burgher. And of course my dad will be teaching me the simulator. You get somebody else because you're going to fly a Raptor."

"That's all…just one class together?"

"Math with a Major Lewellan and, uh-oh, Colonial History with Connelly. We might have to get that changed since we have some…history," Kara snickered.

"We can't," Karl said. "I've already checked. He's the only one teaching it."

"Have you talked to Sharon?" Kara asked nonchalantly.

"About?"

"Her schedule?"

"We're not in any of the same classes which is probably better for my concentration."

"So how do you feel about her?"

Karl shrugged.

"Are you _in love_?" She asked in a teasing voice and prayed his answer was _no_.

"I can't afford to get serious about anybody yet. We've got a year at the Academy, twelve weeks of Flight School and then a year on a battlestar before we could even think about…being together."

"Being together…as in settling down and getting married?"

"Yeah, that kind of being together."

"How does she feel about you?"

Karl shrugged again. "She likes me."

Kara laughed. "Right. Just _likes_ you?"

"She likes me."

"I guess you two are frakking each other."

"Probably not near as often as you and Lee."

"We had a fight…sort of. I haven't talked to him for a couple of days."

"Frak or fight, huh? What happened?"

"Long story. In a nutshell he won't talk to his dad because Lee blames him for letting his mother overdose. The whole thing is really frakked up now. I'm giving myself a chance to cool off before I try to talk to him again. If I don't we'll only end up in another fight."

"He's lucky he still has a father." Karl looked away for a minute and Kara felt his emotion. Karl had been particularly close to his father.

"Exactly," she said.

"So how is it going with you and your dad?"

"We've had our differences, but we keep working at it." She grinned. "I'm going to have a little brother. They went earlier this week and Laura had an ultrasound. She showed me the picture. It's this really cool 3-D image. It's definitely a boy." She laughed. "Yeah, _definitely_ a boy…just like the Oracle said."

"Don't tell me you've wasted your money on her again?"

"Me and my dad both. He doesn't believe…or he didn't. Maybe he does a little bit now. She told him he was going to have a son."

"I guess you're glad you're finally getting a brother."

"What do you mean _finally_? I've had a brother ever since I met you. You're my best friend and big brother. You always will be."

He put his arm around her briefly. "I've missed having you here. I've missed talking to you."

"We'll be together at the Academy soon. Just think, a couple more months."

"So let's get busy and get these forms filled out."

"Okay. I'd like to be gone before Jared gets home from work. Even if he is dating somebody else, I don't want to see him."

...

Kara and her father sat in a restaurant in the northern part of the city waiting for Lissa.

"This feels weird," John said. "Something about it doesn't feel right."

"What do you mean?" Kara asked apprehensively. "Like something is going to happen?"

"No. I feel like I'm cheating on Laura. It doesn't feel right."

"Just think about it like you're sacrificing for the cause…taking one for the team."

"Right." He gave her one of what she had come to think of as his _dad_ looks. "Lissa will probably be late. I know it's a Saturday, but she's probably working. She may even stand us up."

"We'll give her fifteen more minutes. Then we're going to order. I'm hungry."

Her father picked up his cup of coffee. "Lee called me a few days ago from work. He apologized for getting upset about me offering my apartment to his dad. I told him he needed to apologize to you, too."

"I haven't talked to him."

"He hasn't called?"

"No, he's called. I just let it go to voice mail. I'm not sure I'm ready to talk to him."

"What's it been now…a week?"

"Almost two."

"Aren't you doing the same thing to him that he's doing to his dad?"

Kara thought about what her father had just said. "I guess I am. I'll call him later. I just didn't want to get into another fight with him. We've always been…I don't know…one way or the other."

"Frak or fight?" Her father asked.

She couldn't look at him. Karl had said the same thing. "Something like that."

"Do you believe Lee is the one you're destined to be with?"

Kara nodded.

"Then you can't let this go on any longer. Laura and I had some problems. In the beginning I wasn't sure we were going to make it as a couple. I was ready to back away and let her…well, I was ready to back away, and you know who told me to talk to her? You know who told me to tell Laura that I love her?"

"Who?"

"Lee. That's who. So talk to him, Kara."

"I can't believe you're telling me this. I thought you'd be glad if we broke up."

"Why do you think that?"

Kara shrugged. "Because you think I'm too young to…be with somebody."

"I was wrong. Lee loves you. I've seen it in his eyes when he looks at you. He loves you as much as he'll ever be capable of loving anybody, and there's nobody who can love him the way that I think you can. But it's never going to be perfect or easy…not with me and Laura…not with you and Lee. We've all got flaws and we've all got problems. We've all been damaged by what life has done to us, Lee maybe most of all. I just don't want to see you give up and let this thing with him go before you give it a chance. If my daughter has to be with somebody, I want it to be my best friend."

"Wow," Kara sat for a moment before she said it again. "Wow. That was some speech, Dad."

He looked sheepish. "I guess even I have my moments."

Kara looked up. Lissa had just walked in. "Well put on your team jersey. Your old girlfriend is here. She looks awfully _fixed up and sexy_ to have been at work."

She got the _dad_ look again.

...

That night Kara knocked on the door of Lee's apartment and waited. When he opened it, he had a dishtowel in his hand. They looked at one another for a moment before he stepped back and let her walk past him.

"I was just doing some cleaning and…putting things away."

She looked at the floor. The boxes of books were gone. There was a new bookcase against one wall, the kind sold by the big box stores that you put together. On the top of it were several model ships…a Raptor and a smaller Viper…and a much larger battlestar. She walked over to it and looked at the tiny lettering. The _Galactica_.

Lee walked up beside her. "The landing bays slide out. I used to have six little Vipers that could be fired out of the launch tubes by pulling back a little spring. Over the years I lost all of them. Zak launched a couple of them into the fireplace one winter…when we had a fire burning in it. He thought it was funny to see them melt."

She picked up the model Viper, a Mark II almost a foot long. "You put this together?"

"Yeah. I guess I take after my dad in that way. He's always had a thing about models, too. Only he likes old sailing ships. I put the Viper together when I was eleven or twelve."

Kara looked at the perfectly crafted little ship, at the precise placement of the decals, at the tiny pilot seated so accurately inside.

"What's this?" She asked picking up a trophy with a Viper on top.

"My Top Gun trophy from Flight School."

Carefully she put the trophy back on the bookcase and turned. Without saying another word they were in each other's arms.

"I was afraid you weren't coming back," he finally said, and she could hear the raw emotion in his voice.

"I've missed you," she choked back her tears and barely managed to get the words out.

He kissed her, the gentle start that she loved, the way their mouths came together, the way he tilted her head. She felt herself melting, melting into him as he hardened against her and the kiss deepened. Yes, this was what she wanted, this was what she needed, to be in his arms like this.

"I've missed you, too," he said. "You can't know how much I've missed you."

"Show me," she whispered.

He took her hand and led her to his bedroom where he slowly and gently undressed her and then took his time showing her, showing her just how much he had missed her and wanted her and loved her.

A long time later he got up and went into the kitchen. When he returned he had a soft drink. They lay side by side on the bed and shared it, sipping carefully to avoid spilling it.

"My dad and I met Lissa for lunch today."

"And?"

"She was surprised to see me. I think she thought my dad would be alone. I think she thought he might have wanted to see her again. He had to be careful what he said to her over the phone when he asked her. He said he wasn't supposed to know anything about her work."

"He's not. I saw her interview. After _somebody_ blew up the lab, all the people who worked out there were interviewed. Based on the interview, I think she really cared about your dad. Maybe she still does. That's why I don't understand why she was frakking Dr. Baltar."

"Lissa was frakking _him_?"

"John caught them in bed together."

"Eww…gross. I'm glad I didn't know that today while I was sitting there trying to act dumb. Of course a lot of what she was talking about went way over my head anyway."

"What was the answer? Does she think Cylons could be detected with a blood or tissue test?"

"She thinks they probably could. But that's where she lost me as to what you would have to look for. I think she lost my dad, too."

"So it's not a simple test."

"No. It doesn't sound like it."

"Could she do it?"

"She won't. She said if she got caught she would be fired, maybe even prosecuted, maybe even killed. She doesn't think it's any big deal anyway to know who the Cylons are. I could tell she doesn't really care. That made my dad really angry."

"I guess that leaves Baltar. My dad is going to have to ask Gaius Baltar to help us."

"Do you think he will? Wouldn't the same thing happen to Baltar if he got caught?"

"Probably, but he's not working for a Cylon right now. Maybe he's even down on the Cylons for throwing him off the hybrid baby project even though I think he's still frakking Natasi."

"Baltar's frakking a Cylon, too?"

"I don't think Baltar knows how to keep it in his pants."

"Eww. Super gross. Lissa said the hybrid baby is due in a couple of weeks. It's going to be a boy. She also said that Simon had found whatever chemical or something they were looking for and there would be more hybrid babies soon. We didn't stay too much longer after that. My dad was upset by then. After we left the restaurant, he took me out to a private airfield and showed me his ship. He passed his flight physical. If we'd had more time he would have taken me up, but we had to get back because him and Laura were going out to eat with somebody named Scott and his wife tonight."

"Probably Scott Michelson, the Secretary of Transportation."

"My dad's going to take me up soon and start teaching me to fly."

"When I was a kid, maybe seven or eight, my dad took us out to the airfield. He was home for a while, maybe a month or more. I don't remember, but he took me and Zak out to the airfield and let us sit in his Viper. I was so excited I almost…I almost wet my pants. Zak just wanted us to get through at the airfield so we could go to Kings Bay Park and ride the roller coaster and the other rides. Somebody took a picture of us that day at the airfield. My mom always kept it by her bed. She had another picture, too. The day she and my dad got married. Their wedding picture. My mom was beautiful then. She looked so happy even though she was pregnant with me."

All those hopes and dreams," Kara asked. "Where do they go?"

"Killed by neglect…by my dad's neglect."

"I don't believe another person can kill your dreams unless you let them. She should have told him a long time ago to either try harder of she was going to find somebody who would treat her like she wanted to be treated."

"That's the difference between you and her, Kara. If somebody did you the way my dad did her all those years go, you would have said _frak you_ and moved on. My mom couldn't seem do that so she escaped into the bottom of a bottle."

"Zak said she was fragile."

"She was."

They lay in silence for a long time. Finally he asked, "Are we okay? You and me…are we okay?"

Kara squeezed his arm. "Yeah. We're okay. Did my dad tell you they're having a little boy? I'm getting a brother."

"No, we didn't talk long. I just apologized for acting like a jerk. I think I caught him off guard. So it's a boy."

"Yeah, just like the Oracle said. She told my father his son would map the stars on the way to Earth."

"That's…interesting."

"You think?"

"What else did she say?"

"That she sees wings in my future and that my destiny doesn't lie always in this place and…the rest will probably make you angry."

"What? She sees you frakking my brother or something."

"No. Please don't start that kind of talk."

"So how is her prophecy going to make me angry."

"Because…the Cylon I shot at the lab is part of my destiny. Another copy of him."

"You're going to frak…"

"No. This has nothing to do with frakking. Nothing. But somehow he will be part of the plan…part of your dad's plan to get rid of the Cylons."

"Oh, that's a good one. A Cylon is going to help us get rid of his fellow skinjobs? And then what? He tells us to off him and voila, no more Cylons?"

"I don't know, Lee. I'm not the Oracle. I should never have mentioned this to you. I should have known you wouldn't understand."

"You haven't given me much to go on," he said a little hotly.

"That's because I don't know yet. But I will. I'll know when the time is right."

Lee snorted. "You don't suppose he would let us wire him to a nuke and send him aboard the resurrection ship, do you?"

"No, that's a stupid…" Kara stopped. For a few moments she didn't think either one of them breathed.

"Holy frakking Hera," Lee finally said.

"It can't be that simple. That would never work."

"It wouldn't have to be a nuke," Lee said and she could tell his mind was racing. "John was the one who said it wouldn't have to be a nuke. A smaller conventional device placed near the ship's reactor core would do the same thing."

"Wouldn't that be just as bad when the reactor core explodes? Wouldn't that poison the atmosphere with radiation?"

"Okay, so he sets the explosive and then gets them to jump away."

Kara snorted. "That would be a neat trick."

"I never said it would be easy."

"Yeah, and who's going to be the one to convince Leo…this Cylon to kill his fellow-Cylons…his brothers and sisters as Laura says Cavil calls the rest of them? Who's going to convince him to blow himself up along with any chance he has of resurrecting?"

"Maybe that's your _destiny_. Maybe that's what your part in this plan is…convincing the Cylon to help us."

"I've got to go back to see the Oracle. This is getting really complicated."

"You'd better wait. We're a long way from being ready to do something like that."

"Yeah, I've got to make it through the Academy and Flight School first."

"Did you say his name is _Leo_?"

"That's close enough."

Lee mused. "I think I'll call him Cyleon. Leo the Cyleon."

Kara rolled over on him. "You're almost as funny as my father."

"And a hundred times funnier than mine," he said before he pulled her down and kissed her.

...

Laura sat in her doctor's office as he reviewed her chart. He smiled and looked up. "Everything looks good…good heartbeat and good ultrasound for the baby. You could afford to gain a few more pounds, but overall you're doing fine. Your blood pressure is good, insulin levels are good. Right now you're on schedule to deliver a healthy baby in mid-November."

Laura smiled back at him. "The baby is very active. I feel him moving a great deal. He's moving right now."

The doctor looked at her chart again. "Your triple-screen blood work showed no abnormalities. Based on your age if we'd seen anything abnormal, I would have recommended an amniocentis. When will you be forty?"

"September," Laura answered him.

"And your husband?"

"He's forty-two...forty-three in December. He was born on the Solstice."

"You're both older than most first-time parents."

"He has a daughter who will be seventeen in several weeks so he's had this experience before."

"Healthy?"

Laura smiled. "Extremely so."

"If you don't mind the question, how long had you been trying before you got pregnant?"

Laura blushed. "We weren't trying. I didn't think I could get pregnant. We took a vacation…a long weekend together. I'm almost certain it happened then. We'd only been seeing each a few months."

"So this pregnancy wasn't planned?"

"No. But I'm happy about it now. I'm more than happy."

"I have a number of patients who would be very envious at the ease with which you conceived…especially given your age."

Laura gave him a puzzled look. "Why?"

"I'm seeing more and more women much younger than you with primary infertility…primary meaning they've never conceived a child before. Almost as many with secondary infertility…meaning they've had a child or children and can't get pregnant again."

"_Really_?" Laura asked. "What seems to be the problem?"

"That I can't say. After I've gone the standard route, the blood tests, ovulation test, sperm motility and viability on the husband or partner, I refer them to a colleague of mine…a fertility specialist. I saw him at a medical association dinner recently. He said business is booming. They've added two new physicians to the practice and still can't keep up with requests for appointments."

"Could you give me his name and how I can reach him?"

"I hardly think you need his services."

"It's not his services I'm interested in. I would like some information from him."

"You would be wasting your time and his. Certainly you understand he's bound by strict patient confidentiality standards."

"Oh, yes. I understand that. Let me tell you a disturbing statistic. For the last fifteen or twenty years the birth rate among a certain group of young women who use a…particular government service has remained in the fifty to sixty percent range. Last year that percent dropped to twelve. This year it will go even lower."

For a long time the doctor didn't say anything. "You're sure about that?"

"I got it directly from the Secretary of Health and Human Services."

He opened his drawer and took out one of his business cards. On the back he scribbled a name and phone number before he pushed it across the desk to her. "My colleague. I'll tell him to expect your call."

"Thank you." She stood. "I'll see you in two weeks then."

"One other thing I just thought of. I don't know if it's statistically significant or not. A large number are my patients with this problem are on Colonial Medical Assistance. I don't refer them because CMA won't pay for fertility treatments so my colleague may not have a comprehensive picture of everything that's happening. He's dealing with privately insured patients or couples who can afford the high cost of the treatments. Another interesting fact I've noticed. A disproportionate number of my infertile patients also spent time in one of the refugee camps."

"Oh, dear gods," Laura said. "My husband's daughter was in one of those camps for nearly three years."

"You might encourage her to come see me."

"She's not quite seventeen. She certainly doesn't want to get pregnant."

"It wouldn't hurt to let us check her, get some baseline blood work."

"I'll…talk to her. But I'd like to talk to your friend and colleague first. I don't want to alarm her unnecessarily."

"I understand."

Laura walked out of the medical plaza into the warm summer afternoon and found, as she walked toward her waiting car and driver, that there was a prayer on her lips…a prayer for Kara that nothing had happened to her in the camp that would prevent her from ever having children however far in the future that might be. She prayed to Aphrodite, goddess of love and fertility and to Demeter, goddess of the harvest and of the cycles of nature that Kara had been spared whatever unknown horror had been visited on at least some of the women in the refugee camps. She prayed that one day Kara would feel a child grow and move within her the way she now felt her own child move.

And she prayed that however far in the future that day might be, Lee would have the chance to become a better father than his own had been.

TBC…


	42. Sweet Seventeen

Chapter 42

Sweet Seventeen

_During the fourth year of Cylon occupation, the military's Academy on Caprica was shaken when a faculty member was found dead early one morning near the jogging trail just before the end of the first term. The death was later proved to be murder, and cadets were ordered to travel in pairs or larger groups around campus. The perpetrator was never caught. _

_-Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War_

"Happy Birthday!" Everyone in the room shouted at once as Lee opened the door of his apartment. Kara looked around. There was Karl and Sharon and Maggie and Zak.

"Oh, my gods," Kara said. "I told you not to…" she ducked her head in embarrassment. "You guys didn't have to."

"Yes, we did," Karl said before he came over and hugged her. "How many times do you turn seventeen?"

"I'm so going to pay you back for this," she laughed. "Okay, whose idea was it?"

"You turning seventeen?" Lee asked innocently. "I think you can blame John for that…something he did seventeen years and nine months ago."

"No, I mean the party."

Zak grinned. "We all came up with it."

"What?" Kara laughed. "You all got together and said, _What can we do that will embarrass Kara on her birthday?_"

"Something like that," Karl told her. "We're not through, yet." He put his hands over her eyes and guided her into the kitchen. When he removed them, she saw a cake on the table, seventeen candles lit, and several wrapped gifts.

"Lee was baking all afternoon," Zak snickered. "I brought the candles."

Kara could tell by looking at the cake that it had come from a bakery. It was far too fancy for an amateur effort.

"Make a wish, blow out the candles, and then look at it," Lee told her. "Go on. I'm not the cook because I wanted us to be able to eat it, but I did have it made just for you."

Kara shut her eyes. "I wish…"

"No," Maggie said. "Not out loud. If you want the wish to come true you can't say it out loud."

"Okay." Silently Kara wished for a great year at the Academy. She took a deep breath and blew. All of the candles were extinguished except one.

"Ooooo," Zak said. "Couldn't get them all at once? I don't guess your wish about my brother will come true."

Kara blew again. The candle simply would not go out.

Karl couldn't keep a straight face any longer and started laughing.

"Is this somebody's idea of a joke?"

Zak pulled the candle out of the cake, turned on the faucet and held it under the water. "Trick candle," he said. "Your wish will come true. Now look at the cake my brother is so proud of."

Kara looked at the surface of the cake. The bakery had imposed the picture of a Viper onto the icing, a Mark II just like she would train in.

"Keep looking," Lee said.

Standing near the side of the Viper was a little plastic doll dressed in a commercial pilot's uniform. The doll had blond hair.

"They didn't have military pilots so the uniform is all wrong, but it's the thought that counts, right?"

Kara felt for a few moments like she was going to cry. "You guys didn't have to do this."

"What? You're not going to cry like a big baby, are you?" Zak teased.

"I wouldn't cry if you held me down and rubbed onions in my eyes," she retorted.

Zak looked at Karl. "Has she always been this tough?"

"I've only known her since she was eight, but yeah…yeah, she's always been the toughest girl I've ever known. Hell, she's tougher than most guys I know. Get her to tell you the story sometime of how she got her job."

Kara rolled her eyes. "Let's not."

"Let's do," Lee said. "You never told me the whole story."

Kara looked at Karl. "You like the story so much, you tell it."

"Kara was walking to a job interview through a neighborhood we'd told her to stay out of and she came up on this punk robbing the driver of one of MediFirst's trucks, so she puts her mother's Mossinger against the dude's head and tells him to drop the knife. He made the mistake of telling her she didn't have the guts to pull the trigger."

"Lords of Kobol," Zak said. "You shot him?"

"No, I didn't _shoot_ him. And that's not exactly the way it happened. He told me he didn't think I had the guts or the bullets. I told him that it was his choice. He could walk away or die. I told him I didn't care one way or the other. I didn't. I think he realized that."

"I guess he walked away then?"

"After he called me a _crazy bitch_ and dropped his switchblade which I still carry today when I'm on the bike. I keep it tucked in my boot." She glanced at Lee as she thought of Ackerman and knew Lee was also remembering the day they met. "A girl never can tell when she's going to need to defend herself."

"Tell them what your dad gave you for your birthday," Lee said

"A motorcycle," she said. "Jack Fisk had an older Ducarvo that he'd fixed up. I tried to buy it a month ago, but he told me he'd already sold it. He didn't mention that my dad was the person he'd sold it to."

"Oh, cool," Karl said. "I know how much you love riding."

"Yeah. I'm quitting my job in two weeks so I can go to the Academy so…anyway, I'll have one to ride when I'm home. I can get my speed fix."

"A Viper will give you all the speed fix you need," Lee said.

"I'm almost a year away from flying a real Viper. I got to do something in the meantime."

"So let's cut that cake and turn on some music and party," Zak said.

"Here, let me cut it." Maggie picked up the knife.

"Good idea. Kara's no good with anything but a switchblade," Lee joked.

For the next hour they drank beer or ambrosia and ate cake and danced and talked and cut up. Everyone was in a good mood.

Eventually Kara went to the kitchen to refill her drink. Zak followed her. "So what does it feel like to ride a motorcycle like you do on your job?"

"Like nothing else in the world. A couple of weeks ago I filled in for one of the night riders. I took an emergency delivery over to University Hospital about two in the morning and afterward they didn't have another delivery for me right away, so I took the long way back to MediFirst, the loop out on the I-6. There's something about laying down over the bike, riding fast at night when the weather is warm and there's not much traffic. I'm going to miss it."

"Do you think that's something I'd like to do?"

Kara shrugged. "I don't know. You've got to be willing to ride in all kinds of weather, all kinds of traffic. You've got to be dependable. People's lives are sometimes riding on that bike with you."

"Naw…then it's probably not for me. I don't want anybody's life depending on me. Did I ever tell you I think you're about the most awesomely cool girl I've ever met, and I hope you don't hold it against me for anything I've ever said to you or for being the complete frak-up I am?"

Kara grinned. "Are you drunk, Zak?"

"Me, drunk? I never get drunk."

His slurred words told her otherwise. She took the bottle of ambrosia from his hand. "I think maybe you are. You need to get back to your date. If you leave her alone much longer, she and Sharon might get in a fight over Karl."

"Is that why she won't frak me? She has a thing for Agathon?"

"Crap," Kara said. "Me and my big mouth."

"I thought maybe she was…you know…secretly into girls or something."

Kara rolled her eyes. "So if a girl won't jump in the sack with you on the first date, then you think she's gay?"

"I don't know why I keep dating her. It's been like…I've dated her like about ten times and all she'll do is kiss me goodnight." He snorted. "Not even any tongue. She won't even kiss me with any tongue."

Kara started laughing and found she had trouble stopping. "Ten dates and no tongue? I'll bet that's some kind of record for you. I'll bet that's never happened to you in your life. I'll bet that's killing you…you being so _hot_ and all."

"I didn't mean it like that."

"How did you mean it?"

"I don't score with _every_ girl I date."

"Just most of them."

He grinned and shrugged. "That probably says more about my choice of girls than it says about me."

"So why do you keep dating Maggs if she won't even share a little tongue with you?"

"Sooner or later she's bound to see my good qualities."

"Which are where? Behind your zipper?" Kara laughed again. He was drunk enough she doubted he'd remember their conversation in the morning. "You're a real bad boy, aren't you, Zak. A total bad boy."

"You like bad boys, don't you?"

It was Kara's turn to grin and shrug.

"Is Lee bad enough for you?"

She thought about some of the things she and Lee had done. She thought about the couch that night after the wedding reception and the shower the next morning.

"Probably badder than you think. Probably way badder."

"If you weren't with Lee, would you even consider going out with me?"

"I don't know. Probably not." She smiled.

"Why?"

"Because I don't like being just another score to a guy. Maggs doesn't either. That's all girls are to you and that's why she won't sleep with you."

"Do you like me just a little bit?"

"Yeah, Zak, I like you just a little bit."

"Did I ever tell you that you're the most awesomely cool…"

"Yeah, Zak, you did. Let's go back to the rest of the party. And you need to quit drinking. You're awesomely drunk."

Later that night after the others were gone, Kara and Lee sat on the couch listening to the new CD that Karl had given her. The soft jazz of the piano and clarinet duo took her far back into her childhood.

"I don't know where the hell Karl found that CD. That's the man I thought was my father for years…until that night leaving Picon. Dreilide Thrace. He was married to my mother until they split up when I was eight. I always wondered why he never tried to see me after that."

"He made a move on you, didn't he?"

"What?"

"Oh, come on, Kara. Don't act stupid. My brother made a move on you, didn't he?"

"He was drunk, Lee. He's just a big kid. He doesn't know but one way to relate to a girl. He doesn't even understand why Maggie won't frak him. Besides the fact that she's still got a thing for Karl."

Lee sat in silence for a long time. She could tell he was angry.

"Let it go," she finally said.

"Zak's got a thing for you."

She rolled her eyes. "Like I can help that. I'm not going to fight with you about Zak. There's nothing to fight about."

"You like him. I can tell you like him."

"I like big brown-eyed puppies, too. That's what Zak reminds me of. I love you."

"Have you ever thought about you and him…you know…?"

"No! We're not going to do this. We're not going to get in a fight over your brother. I don't want to be with Zak. I want to be with you."

"Show me then," he said.

"Hey, it's my birthday. How about you show me? Show me what a bad boy you can be."

He pulled her to him and kissed her as his hand slid under her shirt, under her bra and over her breast. His fingers found her nipple and squeezed. She moaned softly, her hands reaching for his zipper.

He caught her hand and stopped her. "Not yet," he whispered. "You're the birthday girl. This is all about you tonight. You want a bad boy…you'll get a bad boy."

She moaned again, a soft little whimper. This was going to be so good. Oh, she knew tonight was going to be so good.

...

That same evening Laura Roslin opened the door to Bill Adama and Gaius Baltar.

"Gentlemen," she said politely, "please come in." She noticed Baltar eye her maternity top. She wondered if he had not known until tonight that she was pregnant. She had not seen him in months, not since that morning she was leaving President Adar's office.

She closed the door and led them into the den. John was standing near the bar. "Bill," he said. "Dr. Baltar. Could I offer either of you a drink?"

"I'll take a whiskey," Bill said.

Baltar quickly said, "No, thank you."

John handed Bill the drink and poured one for himself. They all sat.

"I realize this is a bit awkward," Laura said, "but we wanted to make this look like a social occasion instead of a business meeting. We'd like to discuss your findings about the drug-addicted women in the CMA program whom you've been studying. What have you found out about why their birth rate has dropped so drastically?"

Gaius Baltar had lost none of his haughty attitude. "First I'd like to say I resent being…summoned here like I report to you. If the President hadn't…"

"We know," Bill said impatiently. "Adar has blessed this meeting. We also have a directive from the Secretary of Health and Human Services giving permission for you to discuss this with us. She spoke with you yesterday. She's the one you report to if I'm not mistaken."

"This is far above your understanding," Baltar said. "This is medical research…not _budgets_." His lip curled in a disdainful smile as he made the thinly veiled dig at Laura.

"Humor us," Laura said sweetly.

"I hardly think I can teach you years of microbiology in ten minutes."

Laura remembered a phrase that Lee had used. "We're not asking for a complex medical dissertation. Bottom-line it for us."

"Very well," Baltar's smile was smug. "The blood of all the women I tested showed high IgM antibody counts, also higher than normal levels of interferon of the IFN-alpha type."

"In layman's terms," Bill said, again impatiently. "We all acknowledge that you're a genius. You don't need to prove it by showing off or don't you know how to present it so we can understand you?"

The smug smile disappeared. "All the women I've tested have been infected with some type of as-yet unidentified virus. I think it's an engineered virus. If the electron scanning microscope at the government lab where I'm working right now was better… " he made a small sniffing noise and left the sentence unfinished.

John spoke for the first time. "By engineered you mean created, not naturally occurring."

Baltar gave him a small nod in agreement.

"Created by whom?" Laura asked.

"Well now that's a very good question?"

"More importantly," John said, "what does it do…this virus…what does it do?"

"It's quite stunning in its simplicity," Baltar said. "As I'm sure you're all aware, viruses can be very selective as to the type of cells they will bind with. Once this particular virus is introduced into the woman's body, it travels via the blood stream to the endometrium, the lining of the uterus, where it lies dormant until it detects the presence of a blastocyst."

"A what?" Bill asked.

"An embryo, although technically it's not an embryo at that stage. It's just a clump of fertilized cells, the beginning of a new life. The virus attacks and kills the blastocyst before it ever has a chance to implant in the uterine wall. The woman never realizes she conceived. Other than that, the virus does the woman no harm...except when first infected, she would suffer mild flu-like symptoms for a few days. It's actually the perfect method of birth control."

Laura was horrified. "But it's permanent. The woman will never be able to bear a child. As long as she has this virus in her body she will never be able to have children."

"Correct," Baltar said. "Not such a bad thing in the case of these drug-addicted women. They can't care for themselves, much less a child."

"That's not the point," John said.

Laura looked at her husband. She could tell he was getting upset with Baltar. She shook her head slightly and said to Baltar, "How do you think these women were infected with this…engineered virus?"

"I don't have an answer at this point."

Bill said more impatiently, "Give us a theory. I'm sure you've got at least one of those. Is it like catching a cold?"

"No," Baltar said derisively. "It's not an air-borne virus. Someone can't sneeze on you and cause this. If that were the case there would be virtually no pregnant women on Caprica." He glanced at Laura again.

"How, then, is it communicated? And when did it start?" Laura asked and tried to temper her own impatience with a proper respect for Baltar's obvious intelligence and knowledge.

"Something they were given…a drug, an injection, a contaminated needle. Possibly even an infected partner. There are dozens of potential ways. It could be anything that introduced the virus into their bloodstream. As for when it started, I estimate slightly more than two years ago based on when we started seeing the decline in birth rates late last year."

"Could it have been an illegal drug?" She asked.

Baltar shrugged. "Possibly. Although that would not be my first guess. Your friend, my new boss, has asked me to study another group of women who are getting Colonial Medical Assistance and whose birth rate is also dropping. These women have never used illegal drugs. I'm finding the same problem with them."

"Were…" Laura said hesitantly, "were any of them…did any of them mention spending time in one of the refugee camps?"

"I don't know," Baltar said, although she could now tell his curiosity was piqued. "I don't recall that question being asked on their intake interview. I would have to say that no, I certainly don't think _all_ of them were in a refugee camp. The older sister of one of my lab technicians is part of the study and I know they've lived in Caprica City all their lives."

"That brings us back to who created the virus," Bill said. "And why?"

"I can tell you who," John said, his anger coming through again. "The gods damned Cylons, that's who. And I can probably tell you why. What insures the survival of any species? Females having babies. As soon as there are no human babies, we have the end of humans as a species."

"That's utterly ridiculous," Baltar said, but his voice had lost its conviction.

"Is there any cure?" Bill asked.

Baltar shook his head. "I don't know. There are a number of antiviral medications, but I doubt they would be effective against something like this. An engineered virus would need an engineered antiviral and the creation of an antiviral drug is an incredibly complex process. I was asked to determine the cause of the problem, not find a cure for it. That's an entirely different area of research."

"We need to know how widespread this is," Laura said. "The only women who are even aware they have a problem are the ones who are trying to conceive…or the ones in Dr. Baltar's study group. We need to know how many women have been infected with this virus."

"Well, it obviously isn't affecting _everyone_," Baltar said and she saw his eyes go to her abdomen again.

Suddenly Laura had an epiphany, a moment where everything seemed to fall into place, something that had never been a consideration for her. "Oh, dear gods, it's their birth control. The virus was introduced in their birth control…pills or patch or injection or whatever. All women on Colonial Medical Assistance are offered free birth control. That's possible, isn't it Dr. Baltar…to introduce a virus that way?"

Gaius Baltar stared for a moment as if he were remembering something. "Yes…yes that's certainly possible." His eyes flared with something like excitement. "Yes, it could be introduced that way. It could be introduced via a pill, but a surer way would be a sealed patch or the contraceptive injections and implants."

"The same assistance was offered to the women in the refugee camps. The government provided free birth control. We knew how terrible an environment the camps would be to raise a child. We offered…for the interim until we built better housing…we offered them free…oh, dear gods."

"Laura, this was not your fault," Bill said quickly.

"Kara," John was barely able to say her name.

"Was _not_ on birth control in the camp, John. I know. She and I have talked. We've got to find out who provides the birth control substances to the government…which pharmaceutical company. It's only one. The contract is put out each year for bids. We…Health and Human Services…naturally takes the lowest one."

"I can tell you," Baltar said. "It's Capgen Labs. We had to use them for all our supplies on…both of my projects. They've gotten the contract each year since…the negotiations."

"Capgen. Doesn't ring a bell. I'll check them out." Bill volunteered.

"They're not publically traded," John said. "I…keep up with the Caprican stock market. And if a company is not publically traded, it can be a lot more secretive about who owns and runs it."

"If they have a government contract, I'll find out about them. Leave that up to me." Bill said with finality.

Baltar stood. "Well, this has been an interesting evening. I don't think I have anything I can add at this point. If you don't mind, I'll be going."

Laura walked with him to the door. She lowered her voice, "If I wanted to have John's daughter tested to make sure she hasn't been infected, what should I do?"

"Call me and bring her to the lab. I'll draw her blood and test it since I know what to look for. If I see the antibodies, I'll call you. I would then recommend taking her to a physician for an endometrial biopsy. It will show the virus if she's been infected. That's the only absolute way to tell."

"Thank you, Dr. Baltar," Laura said.

He nodded and she closed the door behind him. She closed her eyes momentarily before walking back into the den. She knew that Kara had not been on any kind of birth control in the refugee camp, but she was now wearing a birth control patch. Laura prayed that is was not made by Capgen Labs.

John had just poured another drink for himself and one for Bill when Laura resumed her seat. Both men were uncharacteristically quiet.

"Well," she finally broke the silence. "I think you can say we have a problem."

"A big problem," Bill echoed her. "I never realized how big it might be until you said that only the women who were trying to get pregnant might have sought treatment. What about the millions of women out there who use some form of birth control and aren't even aware?"

"Gods damned Cylons," John said again.

"It just doesn't make sense," Laura said. "Lissa said Cylons can't keep copying themselves forever and need humans to continue perpetuating their…species. If they need human women to be their…their baby factories, then why render them incapable of bearing children. It makes absolutely no sense."

"Unless the Cylons have a cure," John said, "some way to control the virus or cure it. Think of the kind of leverage that would give them if they were the ones holding all the cards, so to speak. What if in a few years the only way a woman could have a child was to get implanted with a hybrid?"

"Dear gods. Oh, dear gods. That's just too diabolical."

"We're talking about the Cylons," Bill said. "I think John's on to something. I wouldn't put anything past them."

"We forgot to ask Baltar about a test for determining who is a Cylon," Laura said.

"I think that's the least of our worries right now." Bill downed the rest of his second drink. "We'll talk to Dr. Baltar again. We'll ask him about a Cylon test some other time. Now, I'm going to follow Baltar's example and call it a night. John, when do you start at the Academy?"

"Next week. Faculty starts a week before the students."

"Looking forward to it?"

"I am. I'm ready to train as many pilots as we can. If tonight has done nothing else, it's shown me how much we need to be rid of the Cylons before they can cause us any more harm. Those Raiders learned between the First and Second Wars if what you can call happening in those mechanical brains learning. I'm sure they're still learning. We'll need the best pilots we can to go against them."

"I know we do, and we'll win this time."

Laura walked with Bill to the door. "It's good to see you again. Even if the circumstances are terrible. I'm sure that without your personal _invitation_ Baltar wouldn't have shown up tonight."

"We'll have another chance to talk to the good doctor. Something tells me he knows more than he's saying."

"I got that feeling, too. While we were talking I got the feeling he remembered something. He's more tied in to this than he's letting us know." She squeezed his hand. "Goodnight, Bill."

When she came back into the den, John was gone. She looked out on the terrace. He was seated on one of the heavy, padded lounge chairs. She went out and closed the door behind her.

"Are you all right?"

"I didn't want you and Bill to think I was eavesdropping."

"Oh, John. Please don't. Not tonight."

"I'm sorry." They sat for a while in silence. "I swear to the gods if Kara has been…harmed…I swear I'll put a bullet between Cavil's eyes if it's the last thing I ever do."

"That's the alcohol talking. At least I hope that's the alcohol talking. What would happen to me and our son if you did something like that? Do you think the next copy of Cavil would let us live?"

"No. You're right. It's the alcohol talking. I would never do anything to put you in danger."

She got up from her chair and sat down on the side of his chair. He slid over and made room for her as she wiggled in beside him. He put his arm around her.

"Kara is going to be fine. One day in the future, she and Lee will make you a grandfather. You'll see."

"A grandfather," John mused. "I cannot wrap my head around that concept. I'm not even a father again yet."

Laura took his hand and put it on her belly. "Feel that? Your son begs to differ. He has a pair of very strong legs."

"Don't tell Kara that. She'll try to find a flight suit for a baby. She'll have him dressed up like a little Viper pilot before he can walk."

Laura laughed softly. "She's probably going to do that anyway."

...

When Kara wandered into the kitchen the next morning in her pajamas, her father glanced up from the newspaper. Laura had just poured herself a cup of tea and was carrying it back to the table.

"So how was the surprise party?" John asked her.

"You knew?"

"Lee told me."

"And you didn't tell me…you rat."

Laura smiled. "Who was there?"

"Karl and Sharon and Maggie and Zak."

"You six have been hanging out a lot together lately."

Kara shrugged. "We have a lot of fun. It's going to end in two weeks, though. We'll all have to start studying…well everybody except Lee and Zak although Lee said something about going to War College in the spring." She noticed her father kept looking at her. "What?" She finally asked.

He pointed to the side of his neck and grinned. Her hand flew to her own throat. She suddenly realized what he saw. Last night Lee had…they'd both gotten carried away.

"How bad?" She asked.

"Very impressive."

She walked quickly out of the kitchen, down the hall and into the bathroom. She looked at her neck in the mirror. He was right. It was a very impressive hickey. Damn. She would catch hell from everyone at work the next day. She wondered what was worse, wearing a long sleeve black turtleneck in the summer or letting them see the hickey.

Laura walked to the door. "I think I have a sleeveless black turtleneck if you'd like to cover that for work tomorrow."

"You must be reading my mind. Thanks. That would be great. Lee's not usually…he doesn't usually…"

Laura smiled. "You don't need to explain anything to me. Several times I've had to wear a scarf around my neck to work."

Kara looked at her and Laura wondered if she had said too much. She doubted that Kara wanted any information about hers and John's love life. Suddenly Kara laughed. "I'm glad I'm not the only one. I'll remember that if he stays on my case about this."

"Kara," Laura said gently, "one time we talked about your chosen method of birth control. You told me you had a patch. Who makes it?"

"You mean like where do I get them? At the drug store. I have a prescription."

"No, I mean who manufactures them. Which pharmaceutical company?"

Kara walked out of the bathroom and into her bedroom. Laura followed. Kara opened the top drawer of her dresser, took out a small box and handed it to her. Laura looked at the box. It was _not_ Capgen. She felt almost weak with relief.

"Have your patches always come from this same company?"

"I guess. My insurance pays for them. Is something wrong?" Kara asked.

"No, nothing is wrong. I'd still like for you to go with me and have blood drawn for a test. I want to make sure."

"Sure of what?"

"We think…your father and I have reason to believe that some patches were possibly infected with a virus."

"A virus? Like chickenpox?"

Laura didn't want to unnecessarily alarm Kara, but she wasn't going to lie to her either. "Not exactly. This virus gets in the bloodstream and causes reproductive problems."

"What kind of problems?"

"Infertility."

"Isn't that what a patch is supposed to do?"

"This virus makes it permanent."

"Oh. How did that happen? How did a virus get on birth control patches?"

"We're looking into that now. It may be more than just patches that are affected."

"It's the Cylons, isn't it? It's the motherfrakking Cylons."

"We've all rather hastily jumped to that same conclusion. Please don't say anything until we have a chance to prove it."

"But you're saying that I'm okay. I haven't got this virus. How can you be sure?"

"I can't. I'm basing it on the fact that your patch comes from a different pharmaceutical company than the one we think is making the infected patches."

"So what should I do?"

"If you can get off work for an hour tomorrow and go with me to a lab, someone will draw a small blood sample and test it."

"Sure."

"Your father is very upset about this, so let's not mention it until we find out the results. Do you agree?"

"I'm not going to tell Lee either."

"No, there's no point in alarming him needlessly."

When they walked back into the kitchen, Kara looked at her father and grinned. "Don't say a word. I hear you put a couple of awesome hickeys on Laura."

John started laughing. "Damn, I was going to see if you wanted to go with me and take the ship up this afternoon, but I'm not sure I can take the smart mouth for that long."

"Oh, please," Kara said. "I can zip my lips like you've never seen. Please."

He smiled. "I need another cup of coffee."

Kara took his cup and walked to the coffee maker. "More coffee coming up, Major Gallagher, _sir_."

John winked at Laura. "I'm finally learning. With Kara it's all about the right motivation."

...

Laura had her driver wait in front of the drab brick building that housed the government research lab. No wonder Gaius Baltar had a sour attitude. This building was in a part of town that had never been completely rebuilt after the bombing nearly four years earlier. She knew it couldn't compare to the state-of-the-art lab in the North Caprica Research Park that had housed his former facility.

She heard a motorcycle approach and slow down. It pulled to the curb in the space in front of the car. "Watch the motorcycle for us while we're inside," she told her driver.

"Yes, ma'am."

Laura got out. Kara took off the helmet and swung her leg over the bike. "Could I leave this in the car? I'm afraid somebody will swipe it off the bike."

"Certainly."

Kara put the helmet on the back seat and unzipped the leather jacket. "This is a crummy section of town. I'm surprised the government has something down here."

"The rent must be right," Laura said.

Together they walked up the steps. Security was better than it had first appeared. Laura had to ring a buzzer and tell someone through an intercom who she was there to see.

Kara looked up. "Security cameras," she said eyeing the corners of the building and above the door.

The door buzzed and clicked and they were able to enter. They went to the security desk and Laura repeated her request. "We're here to see Dr. Gaius Baltar."

"Someone's on the way," the guard told her.

That someone turned out to be a somber-looking young man in a white lab coat. "Come with me." He sounded like someone had interrupted either an important job or his lunch.

Laura and Kara looked at each other as they followed him down a long corridor and to an elevator. So much for friendliness. The young man twice used a badge to get through doors and then a keycode on the elevator that took them to the third floor. They went down another long corridor before he stopped and tapped on a door. He turned and left them.

Gaius Baltar opened the door. The small room was crowded with file cabinets. A desk was pushed against one wall. Everything in the room was old, the two chairs, the small table overflowing with stacked folders and the wooden coat rack in one corner. The only new device was Dr. Baltar's computer. He also had a laptop sitting on his desk.

Kara looked around. It hardly seemed like a place one would find a doctor and scientist as brilliant as she had heard he was. She tried not to think about him frakking Lissa and the Cylon.

"I would really like to thank you for doing this for us," Laura said to him. "This is Kara."

He look Kara over, taking in the black jeans, black turtleneck and black leather jacket. He even glanced at her feet and saw the black motorcycle boots.

"Rather hot today for leather, isn't it?"

"Not when you're on a motorcycle."

"Remove the jacket, please. I need to draw some blood. Sit." He pointed to the chair beside his desk. He had what he needed on his desk, the rubber tubing he tied around her bicep, the packets that held the alcohol-soaked wipes that he used to clean the inside of her arm and the syringe and two small vials that he used to collect the blood after he stuck her.

The whole thing took less than a minute. He was good. She hardly felt the stick. He withdrew the needle and pressed a clean gauze pad over the tiny puncture.

"Hold that in place for a minute," he said.

His touch creeped her out, but she managed a smile. "How long will it take to get the results?"

"I can go downstairs and run this now if you can wait fifteen or twenty minutes."

"I'll wait. I'm on my lunch hour."

Baltar gathered the vials of blood and left. Kara got up. "Sit down," she told Laura as she wandered around the small room. There was a yellowing chart on one wall behind the file cabinets. The Periodic Table of the Chemical Elements. She opened a drawer of one of the cabinets. The folders inside were also yellowing. Everything in this room was old.

"He must keep it all on his computer. This stuff is years old." Kara heard footsteps approaching. "That was fast. He hasn't been gone five minutes."

"That's not him," Laura said. "It's a woman. Those are heels. Hear them click?"

The door opened. "Hello, Gaius, how are…" the platinum blond stopped in surprise. She was also dressed in black, a short black skirt and sheer top over a black bra. Kara thought she looked like the hookers who walked Sixty-Fourth Street near the intersection of Medea.

"Natasi," Laura said. "This is a surprise. I thought you had severed your ties with Dr. Baltar."

"Not all of them," Natasi purred. She eyed Laura's maternity suit. "Gaius told me you'd been naughty with that handsome pilot of yours."

"He's my husband."

"And my father," Kara said.

Natasi eyed her as well. "Handsome father, pretty daughter." She turned back to Laura. "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same question."

"My visit is social. And yours?" Natasi asked.

"Mine is business."

"What sort of business?"

"None of yours," Kara said hotly. "It's none of a Cylon's business why we're here." She stepped around the side of the file cabinet. "Come on, Laura, let's go. We can talk to Dr. Baltar later."

Natasi picked up a pen from Baltar's desk and rubbed it on her cheek. She smiled. "He'll tell me."

"Frakking Cylon," Kara said. "And he's a frakking Cylon-lover."

Natasi picked up a gauze pad from the desk. "A blood test? Do you want to become a surrogate? Do you want to bear a Cylon child? Do you think you're good enough to bear a Cylon child?"

Laura saw the anger sweep Kara's face.

"Kara," Laura said sharply and grabbed her arm. "Don't."

Her words fell on deaf ears. Kara jerked her arm free from Laura's grasp and slugged Natasi. Natasi's head barely moved. Kara's fist felt like she had slammed it into a wall. She grabbed her fist with the other hand and clenched her teeth to keep from crying out.

"Oh, dear gods, Kara, stop." Laura jerked her away from Natasi and out the door.

They met Gaius Baltar at the end of the hall. "Leaving? I thought you wanted the results."

They stopped. "You have them?" Laura asked.

"I thought that was the point of my going downstairs to the lab just now…to get the results as soon as possible."

"Well?" Laura asked.

Baltar held up a small sheet of paper. "The news is good, Kara. No antibodies. You haven't been infected with the virus."

Laura took the piece of paper from his hand and put it in her purse.

"Oh," Kara said and felt tears form in her eyes as much from her throbbing fist as from his news.

"Thank you," Laura said. "We are very much in your debt. Now we really do need to go. By the way you have a visitor waiting for you."

"A visitor?"

"Yeah, the Cylon you're frakking," Kara snarled.

The shock clearly registered on Baltar's face. "Natasi is _here_?"

"You never quit working with them, did you? You bastard. You traitor."

"Kara, that's enough," Laura said in her steel-edged voice. "Thank you again, Dr. Baltar."

Laura and Kara rode the elevator down to the first floor and walked outside in silence. "Let me see your hand," Laura said.

"I'm okay. My hand is okay."

"It is not. It's swollen and already bruising. You need to get it on ice. You can't ride a motorcycle with your hand like that. Let me call John. He can get a transport down here and take the motorcycle back to MediFirst. I'll have my driver take you home. If we get it on ice this afternoon, you may be able to work tomorrow…that is if it isn't broken."

"It's not broken. I can still move it."

"You probably need to go to the emergency center for an x-ray."

Laura moved a few steps away and made a call. When she walked back, she said, "Your father just finished a staff meeting at the Academy for new faculty members. He'll be here in about twenty minutes."

"People might call them skin jobs, but it feels like metal underneath. Damn, I've never hit anything so hard in my life."

"Bill said that the autopsy of the man who shot your father looked normal. There was nothing in it that indicated he was a Cylon, so they aren't metal underneath. I'm sure you left quite a bruise on Natasi's jaw. And you really must stop hitting people. John told me about what you did to Zak."

"He deserved it just like Natasi deserved it…thinking I'd let somebody put a _thing_ like that in me…have a frakking Cylon baby. I'd shoot myself first."

"Kara, she was toying with you. She thinks humans are rash and undisciplined and I'm afraid you've helped confirm her opinion of us. She thinks we've strayed far from the divine…far from God's plan for us. I heard all about her ideas when I met with her months ago to discuss the course she plans to teach at the University this fall."

"Do you think she's _toying_ with Baltar?"

"Possibly. Who can possibly know what goes on in the mind of a Cylon?"

Kara snickered. "With that hooker outfit she was wearing I doubt Baltar was thinking about her _mind_. I'll bet he's frakking her on his desk right now."

"Oh, Kara, please," Laura made a face. "I haven't felt sick in several months. Please don't make me lose my lunch. That is _not_ a picture I want in my mind."

"Sorry," Kara looked sheepish. It was a gross image.

Suddenly another thought gelled for Laura as she thought of what Natasi had asked Kara. _Do you want to bear a Cylon child?_ "Oh, dear gods, they don't want humans to have just hybrid babies, they want us to have Cylon babies as well…genetically pure Cylons. Masters and slaves."

"Why would they need slaves?" Kara asked. "They've got their worker drones and centurions."

"It's just a thought. It somehow fits my idea of how they want to dominate us the way we dominated them for years. Now why don't we wait in the car. It's hot standing out here on the sidewalk."

A transport finally pulled up and her father got out. He was wearing the regulation blue military duty uniform, his collar pins indicating his rank of major, and on his chest were the wings of a senior pilot. Laura and Kara got out of the car. Without a word John walked over and took Kara's hand. She winced and clenched her teeth as he examined it carefully.

"Nothing's broken," he said.

"How can you be sure?" Laura asked him.

"Because I've been in enough fights to know. A little ice and it will be good as new."

Kara grinned at Laura. "Told you."

"You two are so much alike it's uncanny."

"Dad, that's a powerful bike," Kara said. "You think you can handle it?"

"I think I can manage. Now you let Laura drop you at the apartment and get some ice on that hand. I'll be home as soon as I take this back to MediFirst and tell Jack you had an accident with your hand. Then you and I will talk about why you feel the need to keep punching people."

"I didn't punch a person. I punched a gods damned Cylon."

He walked over and got on the motorcycle. "Bring me the key, will you?" Kara walked over to the bike and handed him the key. He grinned, winked at her and said too softly for Laura to hear. "Way to go, baby." As she walked away, he said louder and she knew for Laura's benefit, "We're still going to have a talk when I get home. I want to hear all about it."

"Sure thing, Dad," Kara said and smiled. "I'll be glad to tell you all about it."

...

Their small group divided between male and female on their reactions to Kara slugging the Cylon. Karl and Zak thought it was cool. Maggie and Sharon were more reticent. Lee said he understood why she did it, but still thought she had made a mistake.

They were all sitting at Zeno's on Saturday night, the last Saturday night before four of them had to report to the Academy on the following Monday.

"What you've just done, Kara," Lee said, "is to bring yourself to the attention of the Cylons."

Kara shrugged. "Why do I care?"

"I just think it's a bad move. You don't want to be on the list of people they watch. Think about it."

She shrugged.

"Well, I think it was cool and took a lot of guts," Zak said.

"It doesn't take guts," Maggie said. "It just takes acting without thinking."

"Which is what you need in the cockpit if you're toe-to-toe with a Cylon Raider, huh, Maggs? You don't spend a lot of time _thinking_ about it or you're dead."

"I don't agree," Lee said. "It takes more than instinct. It takes skill and brains. You do the drills over and over until…"

"Until it becomes instinct," Kara said, "until you don't even have to think. Until you know what that Raider is going to do before it makes a move."

"It's not always that easy. You'll see," Lee smiled. "Just because you flew Burgher's kindergarten sim doesn't mean they're all that easy."

"She's going to fly circles around you, big bro," Zak said. "I'll bet my next paycheck on it."

"Like you bet it on the championship pyramid game?"

"Frak you," Zak said in a tone that wasn't too friendly.

"Boys, boys," Karl finally said. "Quit snarking at each other. This is not Battle Strategy 101."

Kara smiled. "Yeah, be cool…_boys_."

Lee turned to Sharon. "You're awfully quiet tonight. No opinions to throw in the ring?"

"I don't blame Kara for what she did. Nobody should make a woman have a baby. Having a baby is…it's a wonderful thing…a very personal thing. Nobody should make that decision for you."

"Whoa, what's this about having babies?" Karl asked.

"That's what started the whole thing…Baltar's Cylon slut asking me if I wanted to have a Cylon kid." Kara answered him.

"You don't know that she's a _slut_," Maggie snickered. "Maybe she _loves_ him."

Kara said. "Yeah, right. Maybe somebody sat down at a keyboard in the Cylon basestar and keyed, _Fall in love with that creepy horndog Gaius Baltar_. And then they downloaded it into her computer brain and suddenly she thinks she loves him."

Everyone laughed except Sharon. "I don't think that's being fair to her," she said.

Karl was the one who commented, and he did it with more emotion than Kara had seen him show in a long time.

"_Fair_? Fair to a Cylon? Since when were they _fair_ to us? Since they killed about twenty billion of us? Since they killed my parents and Maggie's parents and my sister and Kara's mom?"

"I didn't mean to start anything," Sharon said contritely and rubbed her hand briefly across her forehead.

"Hey," Lee said. "Let's forget all this Cylon stuff and have a good time tonight. You kids have got to start school on Monday."

"Us kids?" Kara playfully punched him on the arm. "Oh, you're such an old man, are you?"

"No, I'm thinking of myself as a bad boy tonight." They shared a look that made Kara suddenly want to be back at his apartment alone with him.

"Lords of Kobol," Zak said, "if _you're_ a bad boy, I'm totally beyond redemption."

Kara smiled. "I'm not giving up on you yet, Zak. One day you'll realize that there's more to life than drinking ambrosia and frakking girls."

"There is?" Zak managed to get the mock surprise just perfect.

They all laughed, the subject of Cylons momentarily forgotten.

...

Everything Kara took to the Academy on Monday morning fit into her big duffle bag. She would get her uniforms later that day. All she brought were an extra pair of jeans, some t-shirts, her underwear and a few personal items like hairbrush and shampoo. She looked around the small room with its two metal frame single beds. There were two small closets, two small dressers and two modular study desks. The Academy-provided linens, blanket and pillow were stacked on the foot of her bed. She picked up the pillow, sniffed it and wished she had brought hers from home.

She remembered the page of instructions and the diagrams telling her how to make up her bed. She snickered at the thought. Who didn't know how to make up a bed? _Step one: Spread the sheet evenly over the surface of the mattress._ There was a cute hand-drawn diagram showing a sheet overhanging a mattress evenly on both sides._ Step two: Tuck the top and bottom overlay tightly and smoothly under the mattress. _There were eight steps in all. She snorted. Lords of Kobol, what was somebody going to do? Inspect her handiwork? She read the last sentence. _Bunks are subject to inspection at any time daily when cadet is not in said bunk._ She rolled her eyes. That sucked. Not that she was a slob, but keeping a perfectly made up bunk was, in her opinion, a waste of time. Maggie on the other hand was probably eating this up.

Sharon had not yet arrived and Kara wondered if she was upset about the subject of their conversation on Saturday night. Why had Sharon defended the Cylon? Was it because Sharon was defending a _sister_ as Laura said Cavil called them? Or was it because she didn't truly understand that a Cylon was a machine, a programmed machine? Being fair to a Cylon was like being fair to her calculator or her computer.

Then Kara thought of Leoben and the lonely existence he seemed to live. Did Leoben have feelings? Did he have feelings when he thought he was a human? Was he different now that he knew he was a Cylon? She had finally asked her father what his contact had found out about Leoben. There was nothing to report, her father had said. Leoben lived above the bookstore and rarely went anywhere except to the corner grocery and occasionally to a small diner. He never went to the park or to a concert or to the Caprica Gallery of Art. He sold his books and kept to himself.

The only interesting fact that had emerged from weeks of watching him was that D'Anna Biers, the reporter Laura suspected of being another Cylon, had twice visited the bookstore, but she had purchased books each time so it might have been a coincidence. After weeks of having Leoben watched and seeing nothing suspicious, John had finally called it off.

Kara had not been back to the bookstore since the day she and her father had been there. She hadn't wanted John's contact to see her visiting for one thing, but more importantly, she didn't know what to say to Leoben now. She only knew that when the time was right for her to go back, she would know it.

She was sitting deep in thought, cross-legged on her bare mattress, when she heard a sound and looked up. Sharon had just come in with a big bag slung over one shoulder and pulling another one. She dropped the shoulder bag on her mattress.

"Wow," Sharon said. "You're already unpacked and everything."

"I came early with my dad. He had to be here for some sort of faculty breakfast and I didn't see any reason to get a transport later. He finally bought a car a couple of weeks ago. He sat down and did the math about how much it would cost to get a transport out here five days a week as opposed to having a car and decided the car was cheaper. He said they would need it to carry all the baby stuff around anyway."

Sharon began to unpack. "When's their baby due?"

"November sixteenth. Laura says plus or minus a week. Look, I hope you're not upset about Saturday night. Sometimes I say things I shouldn't. Karl, too."

Sharon smiled. "Don't I know that?"

"So we're okay?"

"We're okay."

"My dad told me I would probably stand in a lot of lines today and not to get impatient. He told me I needed to learn patience."

Her father was right about the lines. They stood in line to get their uniforms, to get their books, and to get lunch in the cafeteria. That afternoon they stood in line in their new uniforms…light blue shirts and dark blue trousers…to file in to the opening assembly where Colonel Charles Winters welcomed their class and introduced the faculty to them. Besides Hugh Connelly, there was only one other faculty member in civilian clothes, a beautiful dark-haired woman wearing a business suit who would be teaching Colonial Literature. When she stood briefly during Colonel Winter's introduction, Kara realized with a shock that it was Mrs. Peele. She was so surprised that she missed the woman's real name.

She looked at the way the faculty members were seated on the stage, Hugh Connelly was on one side of her father and Mrs. Peele on the other. Colonel Winters introduced the two physical education teachers and mentioned that they were both former drill instructors like Lee had said. Captain Reider, a male and Captain Riddick, a female. Kara wasn't sure who looked tougher.

When the assembly was over and they were filing out, Kara asked Sharon, "Who is the woman, the civilian who is teaching Colonial Lit? I didn't catch her name."

"That's Fiona Nagala. She's a widow. Her husband was Admiral Nagala. He died when the _Atlantia_ was destroyed over Picon."

"Wow," Kara said.

So the admiral's widow was a member of the resistance. Kara sincerely hoped she didn't have her as an instructor. Having Connelly for Colonial History was going to be hard enough, but she had no choice. Connelly was the only one teaching the course. When she got back to the room after dinner that night, she got her schedule and compared it to the grid of classes with the instructor's names.

"Oh, no, I've got Mrs. Nagala for Colonial Lit," Kara said with a little moan.

"What's so bad about that?" Sharon asked.

"I…she looks like she'll be hard."

"I thought she looked nice."

"Nice and hard," Kara sighed and thought about her birthday wish that she would have a good year at the Academy. She looked at the rest of her instructors on the grid. She had the woman, Captain Riddick, for PE. That was fine. Her own mother had been a drill instructor in the Marines for a while. Kara knew most of her drills by heart. Sometimes when she misbehaved her mother would bark out an order. _Drop and give me thirty pushups, now, soldier. That's an order_. And Kara would obey. _Thirty pushups, yes, sir._ She was glad she had been working out for the last two months.

That night as she lay in her narrow new bed trying to get accustomed to the starched sheets, so different from the soft sheets on her bed at Laura's apartment, Kara thought of her mother again. She wondered what her mother would think of her now, going to the Academy and learning to fly a Viper like her father.

_I'm going to take out as many Cylons as I can for you, Mom._ She saw her mother again as she stood in the doorway of the ship that last night on Picon. In her mind she was wearing her full combat gear. It didn't matter what Zak Adama had said. Her mother would always be a hero to her.

So many things had changed in her life in a year. Last September she was still struggling to adapt to life in Caprica City after nearly three years in the refugee camp. She still thought her father was dead. She was learning to ride a motorcycle. And she was still dreaming of finding a blue-eyed prince with wings over his heart.

Now she had her father again…and a new mother…and a baby brother on the way. She was at the Academy like she had wanted to be since she was a little girl. And out of millions of people, she had found her blue-eyed prince, Apollo, the sun god. She almost pinched herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming.

Kara smiled and thought of the birthday card her father had given her two weeks earlier, the card that meant more to her than the motorcycle. She thought of what he had written inside, words she had read so many times she had memorized them.

_To my daughter, not my baby any longer, but who has always owned my heart, I give you something that is part of me, something that means more to me than I can express. As you go to the Academy and train to become a Viper pilot, I give you my call sign with the hope that it will bring you the luck it brought me. I give you 'Starbuck'._

She touched the pendant that she now wore around her neck on a gold chain, the pendant Lee had given her, the small round disk, the golden sun with tiny stars engraved around the outer edge and her initial, _K_, in the center. He swore to her that he and John had not discussed the gifts they were going to give her, but she still wondered.

They could not have given her anything more perfect.

The sun and stars. Her name and his.

_Starbuck and Apollo._

TBC…


	43. Plebes

Chapter 43

Plebes

_During the fourth year of Cylon occupation, the government terminated its contract with CapGen Labs as the supplier of all pharmaceutical supplies to its medical assistance programs and the government supported school system. The President sent Marines to shut down the plant after contamination was found in a number of vaccines. The nature of the contamination was never explained to the public. _

_-Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War_

Reveille sounded at the Academy at 6:00. Kara had no problem getting up. In fact she was already awake. On the days she rode the bike, she got up at 5:30. Sharon had no trouble getting up either. They hit the showers and were dressed in their uniforms, bunks made up, and waiting in their room at 6:30 just like they had been instructed the night before.

They waited. Sharon finally sat down in her desk chair. Kara walked over and looked out one of the two windows. The view was the back side of the Academy, the steep, wooded hill that led down to the parade ground and playing fields in the distance. The leaves on the hardwood trees were just beginning to turn their autumn colors. Kara could see part of the hard-packed jogging trail that snaked through the woods from the gym to the soccer field and back.

Suddenly Sharon jumped up and hissed. "Turn around. Now!"

Kara turned quickly. Sharon was either paying close attention or she had exceptionally good hearing.

The door of the room opened. A female clad in an officer's blue duty uniform entered. Kara recognized the lieutenant's pins on the collar. They were identical to Lee's.

"Attention," she barked.

Kara was familiar with that command. Her mother had taught her all about _attention_. She drew herself up stiffly, shoulders back, chin tucked in, eyes straight ahead. Sharon had more difficulty.

"Trouble with _attention_, cadet?" The lieutenant asked.

Sharon glanced at Kara and imitated her. "No."

"No, _what_?"

"N_o, sir,_" Sharon said.

"I didn't hear you."

"_No, sir!_" Sharon said louder.

The lieutenant inspected their bunks and closets. The step-by-step bed-making instructions that had seemed so silly the day before took on a new meaning. Kara was glad she had followed them.

"Cadet Thrace, out in the hall, stand at attention and wait. No speaking. Cadet Valerii, you will remake your bunk the proper way as instructed while I watch."

Kara marched out and stood with her back inches from the wall. It was nearly five minutes before Sharon joined her. Kara didn't dare glance at her but she felt anger, or possibly shame, coming from Sharon.

The lieutenant moved to the next door. On the other side of the hall, another officer was doing the same thing. Kara stood at attention, blanked her mind and tried to ignore her empty, growling stomach as cadets gradually filled the sides of the hallway. They stood for nearly twenty minutes until all the rooms were inspected and the rest of the cadets had joined them. At 7:00 they marched to breakfast where they were instructed to eat in silence, eyes straight ahead.

A young officer sat at the head of each table of twelve cadets. Kara didn't dare look around. She knew better. Lee had told her what to expect. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Sharon turn her head slightly. She knew Sharon was probably looking for Karl.

"Eyes straight ahead," Kara hissed. She was shocked at how loud her whispered words sounded at the near silence of the dining hall.

The officer was on her feet and behind them immediately. "Do we have a problem, cadets?"

"No, sir," Kara said and Sharon echoed her.

"The order was eyes straight ahead and eat in silence. Both of you on the floor. Give me twenty-five pushups to my count. One…two…three…"

_Damn, damn, damn,_ Kara thought as she obeyed. _I feel like I'm back on Picon._ She knew that every cadet in the cafeteria was aware of what was happening, but no one dared to look. _Eyes straight ahead, eat in silence_ had far more meaning for them than it had a few minutes earlier.

She and Sharon both made it through the fast-paced pushups, but near the end Kara could feel the muscles of her arms begin to burn. Sharon kept her head down, but Kara thought she made it look a lot easier than it was. Kara was nauseated by the time she finished. Breakfast had lost its appeal. Sharon must have felt the same way. Biceps trembling, Kara sat rigidly erect through the rest of the meal in silence.

At 7:30 they marched back to the dorm. Their first class started at 8:00. The lieutenant followed them into their room. Kara and Sharon stood at attention facing the windows.

"I am Lieutenant Shelley Sydell. I am here to see that you learn to obey orders. Do you understand what an order is?"

"Yes, sir," Kara and Sharon said in unison.

"Do you understand that orders are to be obeyed?"

"Yes, sir."

Sydell walked up close behind Sharon. "What was so interesting in the cafeteria that you disobeyed an order, Cadet Valerii?"

"Nothing, sir."

"Nothing?"

"No, sir. Curiosity, sir."

"Curiosity. Do you know what curiosity did to the cat, cadet?"

"No, sir."

"Find out what curiosity did to the cat and report back to me at lunch today."

"Yes, sir."

Kara heard Sydell's voice close behind her right ear. "And you, Cadet Thrace, do you have a problem keeping your mouth shut?"

"No, sir."

"_No, sir_?"

"Yes, sir, I have a big problem keeping my mouth shut."

"And what do we do when we identify a problem?"

"We solve it, sir."

"We solve it. How do you suggest we solve this one?"

"I keep my mouth shut when I'm ordered to keep my mouth shut, sir."

"You won't get another warning. I know who your father is. Don't think that will make a difference in the way you'll be treated. You're just another plebe to us. Disobey another order and you'll be walking off demerits around the quad for everyone to see, including your father." Sydell lowered her voice. "That will make him real proud of you, won't it? For a hero of the First Cylon War to have a frak-up for a daughter?"

Kara felt the anger rising in her. Sydell just had to mention her father. She just had to push that button. She wondered how long it would take for him to hear about breakfast this morning. She clenched her teeth and kept her eyes straight ahead, willing her hand not to curl into a fist.

"Do we understand each other?" Sydell asked.

"Yes, sir."

"Cadet Valerii, what is a plebe?"

"A plebe is a first-year at the Academy, sir."

"A plebe is the lowliest of the low. A plebe is lower than worm shit. Remember it. I'm going to be watching both of you. You're dismissed. Get your books and go to class."

Walking across the quad, Sharon kept her eyes down. "I'm sorry for getting you into trouble."

"Don't worry about it. It would have happened sooner or later. I have a problem keeping my mouth shut. It'll probably happen again before I learn. Were you looking for Karl?"

"Yeah."

"He must have come in after us and been sitting behind us."

"We got off to a great start, didn't we?"

"We aren't the first and we won't be the last."

"What did she mean about the frakking cat?"

"You never head that old saying? My mother used to tell me that all the time when I was a little girl to keep me out of…her husband's music stuff. She'd say, _Curiosity killed the cat, Kara. Don't be the cat_."

"No, I must have missed that one. I guess I'd better repeat that to Sydell after lunch. I'm sure she didn't mean it literally. You don't think, do you?"

"No, of course not. They don't kill you for disobeying orders. They just make you wish you were dead."

"What are you going to do if they tell your dad?"

Kara snorted. "I'm more worried about what he's going to tell me. I'm here provisionally because of my age. I won't have to screw up much and I'll get booted out. So what class do you have first?"

"Colonial Literature then Chemistry then PE with Reider, then lunch then Chem Lab in the afternoon. You?"

"Colonial History then Colonial Lit, then PE with Riddick then lunch then Basic Flight with Colonel Burgher. I do the simulator right after. We don't actually start in the simulator until next week." Kara made a face. "I get to hear my dad give us a lecture today." She snickered. "At least it will be everybody getting it and not just me."

"I do Basic Flight and the simulator tomorrow. I'm on a Monday-Wednesday schedule for learning to fly."

"Yeah, Karl and I do Tuesday-Thursday."

"I wish we could trade classes," Sharon said

"No you don't. You and Karl would just distract each other."

Sharon smiled. "Maybe you're right. The last thing I need to do is get him in trouble, too. He might not be as understanding."

Kara was the last one to arrive in Hugh Connelly's Colonial History class. She walked in and quietly took a seat in the back. She saw Karl on the other side of the room. He glanced at her. She smiled at him and got a brief smile in return.

Connelly began calling the names alphabetically on his roster as soon as she sat down. Karl's was the first name he called. Hers was the last.

Silently she counted the number of heads in the room as he passed out the class syllabus containing what would be covered in each class and which chapters of the history book were required reading. There were nineteen students in the class which would last an hour and a half.

Connelly spent the first twenty minutes talking about his background, his teaching experience and his expectations of them. He briefly mentioned that he had spent time in a refugee camp near Antioch as, he said, he knew some of the current students at the Academy had done. He mentioned the size of the camp and the harsh conditions of the earliest days. But he also said that he had a few very good memories from the camp. As his eyes moved around the classroom, they stopped briefly on her and then moved on.

At the end of the class, she walked up to Connelly's desk. There were several students still in the classroom. She was afraid not to acknowledge knowing him in the camp in case someone else knew of it, but she didn't want to seem too familiar with him, either. Karl was the only one who knew the truth about her and Connelly and she knew he would never betray her. She noticed, though, that Karl stayed behind, too.

"Hello, Mr. Connelly. I'm Kara Thrace. I met you in the refugee camp in Antioch. You used to watch my team play soccer…mine and Karl's team. It was just before the flu epidemic, I think."

She was aware that she had the undivided attention of Karl and the other two remaining students.

"Cadet Thrace, I certainly do remember you. Perhaps later in the semester you…and maybe Karl, too…would be willing to speak to us about what life was like for you. The camps are a part of our history that we can't ignore."

"Yes, sir," she answered. Their eyes locked for a moment and she smiled. "It wasn't all bad."

"No," he smiled more warmly now. "I certainly agree with you. There were some very good moments I'll never forget."

"It's nice to see you again, sir."

She turned and left the room, proud of how well they had both handled the inevitable meeting. Karl followed her.

Out in the hall he imitated her. "_It wasn't all bad_. It was all I could do not to bust out laughing. Connelly probably needs a cold shower now if he's remembering the way I found the two of you."

"Oh, frak you." She didn't think Karl would ever understand exactly what Connelly meant to her.

"So you and Sharon have already frakked up. You made it all the way to breakfast on the second day. Way to go, Kara."

"We can't all be Mr. Perfect so quit acting like an asshole about it. Where do you go next?"

"PE with Riddick. I've got to double-time it over to the gym or I'll be late. Tell Sharon I'll try to see her later."

"Yeah, sure."

Kara sighed as she climbed the stairs to the third floor of the Language Arts and History Building and her next class, Colonial Literature. She loved Lee Adama, but she couldn't deny that Hugh Connelly was a very hot-looking guy. She wondered how long it would be before a cadet or two made a move on him despite the gold band he wore on his ring finger, a move none would probably dare make on an officer.

Fiona Nagala, or Mrs. Peele as Kara knew her, was as cool as Hugh Connelly when they met again, this time as student and teacher. That didn't surprise Kara at all. The admiral's widow was a very cool and classy woman. Mrs. Nagala was dressed in one of her expensive-looking business suits. The gold earrings and pin added just the right touch. Kara thought of Laura. Yeah, some women were just born knowing how to look their best. In the bright light of the classroom, however, Kara could tell that Fiona Nagala was probably in her early forties instead of early thirties like Kara had thought in the dim light of the restaurant.

Mrs. Nagala was still a very beautiful woman, though. Kara thought briefly of how Fiona had been seated next to her father during yesterday's assembly. They were both in the resistance. Did they know each other? She wondered if her father would tell her. She wondered if her father and the widow Nagala had ever been more than acquaintances.

Kara glanced around the room. It looked like many of the cadets in her history class were also in this class.

Mrs. Nagala stood. "Good morning, cadets. I would like for each of you to stand, tell me your name, and tell me a few sentences about yourself before we move on to what we'll be covering in class. I'll start. My name is Fiona Nagala. My late husband was Admiral Nagala, commander of the battlestar _Atlantia_. For those of you unfamiliar with the _Atlantia's_ story, I understand you'll cover it in your Battle Strategy class during second term. I was born on Libran, educated on Picon at the University. I met and married my husband when he was stationed there at Fleet Headquarters. I was visiting my brother here in Caprica City when the Cylons attacked us. For those of you who don't already know, my brother is Colonel Charles Winters, the Academy's administrator. Until this year I taught part-time at Caprica University. I look forward to teaching each and every one of you. Now, we'll start on this side of the room. Please stand and introduce yourself."

Kara was the last one to stand. By that time she was more than a little nervous. She hadn't stood in a classroom in a long, long time. She took a deep breath and saw Fiona Nagala give her an encouraging smile.

"My name is Kara Thrace. I was born on Picon and my mom was a Marine and the night after…after the Cylon basestar exploded and nuked the atmosphere, my dad…borrowed a ship and flew me here, but we got separated that night so for a long time I thought he was dead. But not long ago we found each other again, so that's good. I spent a couple of years in a refugee camp near Antioch before I came to Caprica City. For the last year I rode a motorcycle and delivered medicine to hospitals and clinics. And I want to be a Viper pilot just like my dad so here I am. And since everybody will find out sooner or later anyway, and I like to be up front about everything, I'll just go ahead and tell everyone now that Major John Gallagher who is teaching the Mark II simulator is my dad. And he has a lot of experience in a Viper because he fought in the First War."

Kara sat down to complete silence. From Mrs. Nagala's look, nothing Kara had said was a surprise to her.

"Thank you, Cadet Thrace. I can certainly say that your story is one of the most interesting ones I've heard so far. I'm sure that your brief introduction just touched the surface."

Kara grinned and shrugged. That was an understatement. Her PE class was going to be a piece of cake after what she had just done. She could handle a hundred pushups better than she could handle standing up and talking in class.

Kara and Sharon lined up for lunch with their fellow classmates and ate in silence again. This time they managed to keep their eyes straight ahead and to remain silent without an incident.

Back in the room before afternoon classes, Kara could tell Sharon was troubled.

"What's wrong?"

"Captain Reider is a creep."

"Why? What did he do?"

"He didn't do anything. It's just the way he looks at some of us. It made my skin crawl. How was Captain Riddick?"

"Tough," Kara smiled. "Almost as tough as my mom. Well, I'm off to the class I've been looking forward to all day, Basic Flight."

Sharon finally smiled. "Colonel Burgher's little pet."

"Let's go…before we're late and Lieutenant Rydell finds another reason to bust us."

"It's _Sydell_," Sharon said. "Shelley _Sydell_. Don't screw up her name or you will be in trouble."

Together they once again walked across the quad, this time to the Math and Sciences Building. Sharon stayed on the first floor and headed toward the chemistry lab. Kara climbed the stairs to the third floor. She felt shy when she entered the classroom. She was the only one who got a nod of acknowledgement from the colonel. She took a seat near the front. Karl, she noticed, sat in the back. Colonel Burgher waited until the last cadet was seated before he closed the door. To Kara's surprise, Burgher didn't call the role.

"I don't take attendance. You miss my class at your own risk. I am very prone to give unannounced tests. If you miss one and are not dead or in the infirmary, you flunk for the semester. If you are having trouble keeping up or if there is something you don't understand, come talk to me. My office hours and location are posted on the bulletin board beside the door of this classroom. Since we have two new simulator instructors, I will be available to my students much more this semester. The ten of you in this room right now want to become pilots. Basic Flight is where it all begins. If you don't learn it here, then you could die up there. That's why attendance in this class is important. I'll repeat. Miss at your own risk. If you have a question or if I call on you, please state your last name prefaced with _cadet_. Is there anyone who doesn't understand what I just said, or are there any questions?"

There was complete silence in the room. Kara understood better now why Lee had said Colonel Burgher was his hardest teacher, but also his best. With no questions from his students, the colonel began his first class with them.

"Birds do it. Many insects do it. Why can't we humans do it, too? Why can't we fly?"

Kara thought of the notebook full of his Basic Flight notes that Lee had given her after that Sunday months ago when she had shown off in the simulator. She had read it many times. Tentatively she raised her hand. Burgher nodded at her.

"I'm Cadet Thrace. Because we can't generate enough lift to overcome gravity, sir."

She wondered how many of the other cadets were thinking _show-off_. In this class, though, she didn't care.

"Because we can't generate enough lift to overcome gravity. Our bodies are simply not designed for it. Very good, Cadet Thrace. The basics of flight…lift, thrust, drag and gravity. In the atmosphere of a planet we deal with all four. Outside of a planet's atmosphere, only one…thrust. What creates thrust?"

A male voice behind her said, "Cadet Pike. The ship's engines, sir."

"The ship's engines. Correct, Cadet Pike."

"And lift?"

"Cadet Thrace. The wings, sir," Kara answered.

"Technically it's the flow of air over and under the wings. When we are in a planet's gravitational pull, in the atmosphere, we need the wings to achieve lift. That's why the design of ships that fly only in the atmosphere and those that fly only in space have different designs. Not that you can't fly a ship designed for space in the atmosphere, but you must overcome the smaller lift-generating wings by using more thrust…both horizontal and vertical. In space you don't need lift so the wings become important as stabilizers for the fuselage. Also when you are landing on another ship such as a battlestar and come under its artificial gravitational field. The wings are also very handy places to put tactical weapons."

He walked to the front wall of the classroom and pulled down a large picture of a Viper before he walked to the side of the classroom so they all could see. "The Mark II Viper. In my opinion one of the sweetest rides the aviation engineers have ever produced. The later Mark models are bigger and faster and heavier. They carry more firepower and far more complex computer technology, but this little ship, the one you'll be doing your first simulation training in, is the most maneuverable of them all. This is a ship that _you_ fly. You don't rely on a computer to do it for you. Learn to fly this Viper. Learn to fly it well, and you'll be a top-notch pilot no matter what you're seated in."

At his words Kara felt excitement grip her that was almost sexual in nature. She wanted…oh how she wanted…to be back in that simulator's cockpit. No barrel rolling across the runway would ever take her by surprise again.

At the end of the class, Burgher asked her to stay behind. She sat until the classroom emptied.

"Welcome to the Academy, Cadet Thrace. I'm very glad to see you here."

"Thank you, sir," she beamed.

"How is Lieutenant Adama?"

"Good. He's good, sir."

"I got a nice letter from him several weeks ago thanking me for seeing the two of you that Sunday afternoon, and also asking me to write a letter of recommendation. It seems he's applied to the War College out here for the second term."

"Yes, sir."

"I've already written the letter. He's one of the brightest and hardest-working young men I've ever taught. Well, good luck to you both. You'd better get downstairs. You don't want to be late for your father's first sim class."

"No, sir."

Kara hurried down the three flights of stairs to the basement. Her father was just about to close the door. "You were almost tardy on your first day, cadet."

"I was talking to Colonel Burgher at his invitation," she hissed as she passed him and took a seat in the amphitheater. "Sir," she added as an afterthought.

She glanced around. There were nearly two dozen cadets in the room, all of whom she knew wanted to become Viper pilots. Since some of them were also in her Colonial Lit class, she was sure by now that all of them knew the instructor was her father.

He addressed the issue of their relationship briefly as he told them a little about himself and his qualifications to teach the simulator. But he was also quick to tell them that she would be treated like any other cadet. He talked for a few minutes about the differences between the simulator and flying a real Viper…identical controls, identical response, but not the same feel of being in a ship in the air. Then he told them that they were going to watch a few _home movies_, as he called them. He told them that what they were going to see had been taken from the gun cameras of a number of different Vipers in both Cylon Wars. He told them the sequences were graphic. He told them that they would see good men and women, good pilots die as their ships were destroyed, but that they would see many Cylon Raiders destroyed as well.

"This is what you're training to do," John said. "Remember that. You need to see up front the things that go wrong as well as the things that go right. If this upsets you, then maybe being a Viper pilot isn't the route you want to take. It's better to learn early whether you're going to be able to handle it or not."

He pressed a button on the remote control in his hand. Film footage from the computer's hard drive displayed on a big white screen at the front of the amphitheater. Kara watched the mostly black and white, sometimes grainy images flickering in front of her. Her father froze the image frequently, long enough to use a laser pointer and talk about what was happening in each sequence. Then he would replay the sequence in slow motion. They all watched spellbound for the next thirty-five minutes.

At the end he brought up the lights and passed out the schedule for the thirty-minute allotment they would get once per week in the simulator starting the following week. Kara saw that she was slotted for the last time on Thursday afternoons. She almost moaned out loud. She was going to have to wait over a week before she sat in the simulator cockpit. Her father knew patience was not easy for her. Had he done it on purpose?

"Don't worry that you get only thirty minutes a week during first term. Second term it goes to an hour per week. I don't mind if you occasionally have to switch places with someone if you'll let me know beforehand. Now are there any questions?"

"Cadet Pike, sir. Did any of that footage come from your gun cameras?"

"Possibly. I compiled this from a large library of file footage. I was looking for sequences that were the clearest indications of what your opponents can do and the best illustrations of ways to counter their moves. What you have to remember is that these things are machines. They don't get nervous. They don't worry about a girlfriend or boyfriend down on a planet somewhere. They're programmed to do one thing and one thing only in combat…that is to _kill you_. Don't ever forget that they are very, very good at it. They never hesitate, they never lose their concentration or their nerve, and they don't care if another Raider is in trouble. But…the thing that makes them so deadly is also the same thing that makes them vulnerable. They can't think like a human does. They make the same moves over and over because somebody programmed them that way."

Kara spoke up and said something that Lee had told her. "Cadet Thrace, sir. I heard that the newest Raiders have been upgraded with some ability to learn, that they've been give some artificial intelligence. Is that true?"

John smiled. "I've heard that rumor. I hesitate to claim it as fact because as far as I know, the Cylons haven't invited us to participate in designing or programming their ships. You've brought up an interesting theory, though, and one that more research is being done on right now. You can rest assured that we'll address all new features we learn about. I still believe that a good human fighter pilot will take out a machine every single time, artificial intelligence or not."

"Cadet Pike. Then why did we lose to them, sir? If we're so good, how did we lose?"

"We were greatly outnumbered the last time. We were outnumbered _and_ outgunned. It doesn't matter how high the skill level of the pilots when you're faced with an overwhelming enemy force. Our average kill ratio was three to one, a lot higher than that for some pilots. But even a much higher kill ratio can't make up for sheer numbers and human fatigue. I was on the _Galactica_ for the last three days and nights of fighting before the truce was called. I saw what I already knew was our pilots' only weakness…the effect of days and nights of fighting against a foe who can launch wave after of wave of machines at you. Machines don't get tired, machines don't need rest, and machines don't feel the demoralizing, almost paralyzing pain of seeing their wingman and best friend blown out of the sky."

A quiet voice spoke up from the back, "Cadet Reilly, sir. Do you think we'll fight them again?"

"There's probably not a man or woman on Caprica who doesn't harbor the dream that someday we'll be free to rule our own cities and build battlestars again, but that won't be my decision. What I'm here to do is to see to it that if that day ever comes, I've helped us put the best-trained pilots in the air."

"Cadet Clark. How many confirmed kills did you have, sir?"

"You know that's not really important. If I say a number, it's going to sound like I'm boasting. What's important is that I learned something every single time I went out…and that I made it back. That's what's important…coming back alive so you can go out again and kill more of them. A good fighter pilot is a master of defense as well as offense. Those are two of the things I'm going to teach all of you…after you learn the basics of flying the Mark II. Now, do any of you have any more questions?" John waited for a few seconds and then said, "If not, I'll see you back here Thursday afternoon and I'll talk about the simulator and how it works. Look at the instrument panel diagrams in your Basic Flight textbook. That will help with what we'll be covering. Dismissed everyone."

Kara stood with the rest of them. "Cadet Thrace," her father said. "I'd like a word."

He'd heard about breakfast. She could tell by his tone. She walked down from the amphitheater onto the concrete floor. "Yeah," said in a low voice. "I've already frakked up."

"Yeah? _Yeah_?"

"Yes, sir. I've already frakked up, sir."

He shook his head but she could tell he wasn't too angry. "What was it? The mouth?"

She nodded and then said, "Yes, sir."

"You'll think before you open it next time, I hope. They mean business out here, Kara. This is what you want. You want to be a Viper pilot."

"But making us sit at the table and not talk and look straight ahead is just…stupid…in my opinion…sir."

"Kara, baby…Cadet Thrace…okay, I'm having trouble switching gears, too. It probably is stupid…staring straight ahead and eating in silence. But…that's not the point. What's it's all about is learning discipline and learning to obey orders. That's the military. You obey orders. All the way down the chain of command, you obey orders. You don't question them. You obey them. Even if they seem stupid. That's what you've got to learn."

"I thought you'd kick my ass about this."

"Do I need to?"

Kara finally smiled. "No…sir. If you didn't have another class of nuggets coming in, I'd hug you."

"It's the thought that counts." He lowered his voice. "I love you, baby. Behave yourself. Think before you open that mouth."

"I love you too, Dad. By the way, _you_ did a great job teaching this first class. Those home movies were perfect. You and Colonel Burgher are the best team out here. You rock."

"We _rock?_ I'll pass that along to the colonel. There's a faculty luncheon on Sunday and we're supposed to bring our spouses. Laura and I will stop by afterwards and see you."

"I'll be around…studying. You know we can't leave campus for a month."

"I heard that."

Kara rolled her eyes. "I can't even talk to Lee since I couldn't bring my mobile phone. I got five minutes on the phone downstairs in the dorm last night. He's coming over Saturday night and we're going to a movie on campus together…some stupid classic movie in the big auditorium, but at least I get to see him. He has to be gone by midnight, though."

John looked her in the eye. "Don't do anything stupid."

"Like what?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about."

"Dad! We're not _that_ stupid."

"Everybody's _that_ stupid at one time or another. Just don't let it be you. If you get caught somewhere you're not supposed to be doing something you're not supposed to be doing, then it's a one-way ticket home. Keep that in mind."

"You're just loving this, aren't you?"

He smiled. "Just remember one thing…how good it will be when you finally get a weekend pass in a month."

"That's forever," Kara moaned.

"No, it's not. It's three weeks and five days. Now I've got to meet and greet and teach another group of nuggets. I'll see you in class on Thursday."

Kara turned smartly. "Yes, sir."

Before she started studying that night, she asked Sharon. "Have you seen Karl, yet?"

"Not since the assembly yesterday."

"I saw him after Colonial History. He said to tell you _hello_."

Sharon smiled. "I saw Maggie. We're in Chemistry together. I met her roommate, Diana Seelix. She seems nice."

"Did Maggie know her before?"

"No, she let them assign her."

"Is Maggs going to keep dating Zak?" Kara asked. Since the night of her birthday party two weeks earlier, she hadn't seen Zak. She had avoided the subject of Zak with Lee instead of get into another argument about him.

"I don't know. Class started and we had to shut up. How long did Maggie and Karl's relationship last?"

Kara shrugged. "It started in the camp. I don't know. Over a year. Closer to two."

"Wow, that long. Karl won't talk about the camp to me. Was it that bad?"

"It wasn't good."

"Do you both…hate the Cylons because you spent time in the camp?"

"Not just because we were in the camp. Mostly because they killed our families and friends."

"Do you think they're all bad? Does Karl think they're all bad?"

"Yeah," Kara answered. "As far as I know, they're all bad…even the skinjobs."

Kara thought of Leoben. She didn't think he was bad, but she couldn't say that to Sharon. If Sharon really was a Cylon, Kara didn't think she was bad, either. But then what did she know about skinjobs, especially the ones who thought they were humans?

Sharon rubbed the tips of her fingers against her forehead several times. "The skinjobs…I wonder…"

"What?" Kara finally asked.

"I don't remember what I was going to say. That's funny. I had a thought and then it was just gone."

"You'd better hope that doesn't happen during a test," Kara snickered.

"Yeah, that would be a real bummer."

…

Kara was waiting in the lobby of her dorm when Lee arrived Saturday night. He wore the same type of visitor badge that they had both worn when they had visited Colonel Burgher. The lieutenant on duty at the desk checked the badge and wrote down his name.

Lee looked so good. He looked so damn good in the dark slacks and blue sweater. Gods, she wanted to jump into his arms and wrap her legs around him. Instead she walked coolly over to the front desk where the lieutenant spoke to her.

"You're signing out for the movie, Cadet Thrace?"

"Yes, sir."

"Curfew is 23:30. Your guest must be back at the gate no later than midnight."

"Yes, sir," Kara repeated as she wrote her name on the sign-out log. The lieutenant had written _Movie on campus_ in the box beside her signature.

Outside in the beautiful autumn evening, she and Lee walked to the auditorium.

"You look good in the uniform," he said.

"You look good in that blue sweater. Of course you look better without it."

"Don't, Kara. There is no way in hell we can do anything."

"I know," she said in a voice that sounded more like a moan of pain. "I've been taking cold showers all week."

"You think you have," Lee retorted. "Please, don't get me started."

"My dad is secretly loving this."

"I met him at McGee's last night. I think's he's glad he accepted the teaching job. I was barely a mile from here. I kept thinking about how close we were. How close and at the same time how far away."

"I was studying last night. On a _Friday night_. Me. Studying. Reading a couple of chapters of a book for my Colonial Lit class. Admiral Nagala's widow is teaching the class."

"No kidding," Lee said in surprise. "She wasn't here when I was."

"No, she was at Caprica U then. This is her first term at the Academy. Colonel Winters is her brother."

They reached the auditorium, went in and found seats. "No kidding. What's she like?" Lee asked.

"Beautiful. She reminds me of Lissa…only older and about a hundred times classier."

"I never did understand what your dad saw in Lissa. No, I understand it, but I never thought she was the one for him. Laura is right for him."

"My dad was with Lissa so he could keep tabs on whatever Baltar and the Cylons were up to for...the you-know-who."

"He told you that?"

"Not in those exact words, but yeah. He also needed a place to live that wasn't in his name. He was staying off the grid for a while due to his…other life. Frakking Lissa was a fringe benefit. My dad and Laura are coming out here tomorrow for some kind of faculty lunch. I'll get to see them afterwards."

"Where are Karl and Sharon tonight? Didn't they want to see the movie?"

"Karl said he'd already seen it a couple of times on television. I think they were going for a walk and then over to the student union for a drink…a soft drink, of course, or some ice cream or something."

The lights dimmed. Very carefully Lee slid his hand over and took hers. Oh, gods, his touch just made her desire for him that much stronger. She bit her lip and tried to concentrate on the screen.

The movie was an older one, a classic about a soldier's struggle to adapt to civilian life after years of fighting during the First Cylon War. There were flashback scenes to the fighting. The special effects guys had done a great job making the Cylons look real. When they killed the hero's best friend during a firefight, Kara wanted to jump up and start shooting. That's how real it felt to her. She wondered if that's how her mother had died. She hoped it was quick, like it was for the hero's friend. She hoped her mother had died from a bullet and not slowly and painfully from radiation poisoning.

In the end the hero had given up on trying to adapt to life in the city. He had retreated to a small cabin in the wilderness of Tauron. He left behind the woman who loved him and his brother who had tried for the whole movie to help him and his aging parents who couldn't understand why he was leaving.

After the movie as she and Lee walked back toward her dorm, they talked about it. Lee saw hope in the ending…that the wilderness experience would help heal the former soldier. Kara saw only a man who had given up and quit trying. They argued about it all the way back to her dorm.

As they neared the door, Kara looked at her watch. It was nearly 11:00. or 23:00 as she was now supposed to think of it. She had half an hour before she had to check in.

They kept walking, past the dorm, across the quad and past the History building. On the far side of the faculty lot were several large trees. She quickly pulled Lee behind the largest tree trunk and out of the bright lights of the parking lot. He pressed her up against the tree and kissed her. She felt like it had been a year instead of a week. He wanted to stop with that one kiss. She wouldn't let him. She put her hand on the back of his neck and held him. He gave in. The kiss deepened.

Two minutes of kissing, two minutes of his hand on her breast, even on the outside of her uniform shirt, and she was craving the release that only he could give her. She started to tug at the zipper of her trousers.

Lee grabbed her hand. "No," he whispered sharply. "If we get caught…it's not worth it Kara. We need to quit now and I need to walk you back to your dorm."

She grasped him through his slacks. "You want this as much as I do."

He groaned. "I know. I know. It would be so easy. We just can't tonight." He pulled away from her and walked a short distance away, his hands jammed in his pockets. He turned. "I won't let you risk your whole career for a couple of minutes."

"Fine. Great. Be a tough guy. Suffering is supposed to be good for the soul, right? Well my soul should be in great shape now."

"Kara, you need to learn to put things in perspective. You need to start growing up. I know you're just seventeen, but you're the one who wanted this. You wanted to come to the Academy this year. I told you how rough the first term is. I told you how restricted your life would be. Did you really think you were going to get to play in the simulator all day? Didn't you believe me?"

Kara knew he was right. He had told her, but she was still angry. She didn't answer him.

"Suck it up, Kara. You're a soldier now."

She straightened her uniform and redid her hair in the ponytail.

"Come on," he said. "I'll walk you back to the dorm."

They walked in silence, keeping a respectful distance from each other. Outside her dorm he leaned in and gently kissed her. "I love you," he whispered.

"Think about me when you're in the shower tonight."

He snorted. "Who else would I think about?"

"I love you, too," she whispered quickly and went inside. Three more weeks. Damn. How was she going to make it? What was it about not being able to have something that made it seem like the most important thing in the world?

Sharon was already in her bunk with the lights out when Kara tiptoed into the room. She opened the blinds on her side and stripes of moonlight painted her bunk. Kara took off her uniform and hung it in the closet. Clad in only a t-shirt and her panties she crawled under the covers. The window was open just a crack and she caught the faint scent of burning leaves. That smell always took her back to her early childhood, to the big, older house she had lived in with her mother and Dreilide Thrace. In the autumn he would rake the fallen leaves into a big pile in the back yard and burn them. The smell of burning leaves always made her think of him…of the musician…and of a life that seemed now almost like it had never been. She fell asleep wondering if her real father liked the smell of burning leaves as much as she did.

The dream was better than good. And wilder than anything she had ever done in her life. Lee was sitting on her motorcycle and she was facing him, straddling him with her legs hooked around his, and he was deep inside her. It was crazy because she didn't know how they had gotten that way, only that they were in a parking lot somewhere at night…a warm dark night…and they were naked as traffic zipped by on the road beside them. Lee was holding her tightly as she moved on him and the feeling just kept getting better and better. Her eyes closed, her head fell back. It was so good…so good…and she was so close.

She felt his mouth on her neck. Oh, gods. That's all it took. But when she looked at him again, it was no longer Lee her legs were wrapped around…no longer Lee who was naked on the bike with her.

It was Zak.

…

John let Laura out in front of the Admin Building where the luncheon was being held. "I'm going to park," he said. "You can go in and sit down if you'd like."

"No, it's a beautiful day. I'll wait for you here."

As he drove around the side of the building toward the parking lot in back, she saw Hugh Connelly and his wife Stacey come up the steps. They greeted each other. She told them that John was parking the car, and they stood and waited with her. Stacey showed her a picture of Elaina. Laura could hardly believe the little girl was sixteen months old. It seemed to her like such a short time ago that she had gotten the call from Hugh telling her about Elaina's birth.

She finally saw John come up the steps. There was a dark-haired woman wearing sunglasses walking with him.

"Who is that?" Laura asked Hugh.

"Fiona Nagala. The Admiral's widow. She teaches Colonial Lit. She and I are the only civilians on the faculty."

"Oh," Laura answered. "She looks very stylish. And slim. I feel like a whale."

"You do not look like a whale," Stacey Connelly said. "By the time I was six-months pregnant with Elaina, I was twice as big as you are. You barely look pregnant at all."

Laura smiled. "I got off to a rough start. I was sick a lot of the time. My doctor is encouraging me to put on a few more pounds."

John and Mrs. Nagala reached them and John made the introduction. When Fiona took off her sunglasses to shake Laura's hand, Laura realized with a shock that she was the woman who had been at John's apartment that night…that terrible night she had walked out on him. John had claimed this woman was part of the resistance. Had that been a lie? Was she in fact a lover? She glanced at her husband and could read nothing in his look.

Fiona apparently had not gotten a good look at her on that night, though. Or she graciously pretended not to recognize her. Laura didn't know which.

As she shook Laura's hand, Laura noticed that despite having been a widow for four years, Mrs. Nagala still wore a wide gold band on her ring finger. Laura suddenly felt something she hadn't felt in a long time. She felt a twinge of jealousy. Was she imaging it, or did her husband and Hugh Connelly both seem a bit smitten by the Admiral's widow? She caught Stacey's eye. Stacey noticed it, too. She watched as Stacey wrapped her arm possessively through Hugh's.

"Shall we go in?" Fiona asked. "We don't want to keep Chuck waiting."

_Chuck_? Was that how Fiona had gotten the teaching job at the Academy? Was she a friend of Colonel Winters? Were they dating? Were _they_ lovers, too?

Laura took John's arm as they started up the steps of the Admin Building. Fiona was in front of her. "Have you known Chuck Winters long?" Laura asked.

Fiona waited until Laura and John caught up with her. "All my life. He's my older brother. He's the one who introduced me to my husband."

After the luncheon which seemed interminably long to Laura, she and John walked across campus toward Kara's dorm.

"Is Mrs. Nagala still in the _resistance_?" Laura finally asked, hating herself for not being able to let it go.

"Probably. I didn't ask. She didn't tell."

"So you haven't seen her since…that night?"

"No. I met her out here along with the rest of the faculty."

"Did you know she was Chuck Winters' sister?"

"Not until she mentioned it during lunch one day last week."

"You and Fiona eat lunch together?" Laura could no longer hide the jealousy in her voice.

"We sit at the same big table with a dozen other faculty members if you want to call that eating lunch together. You eat lunch with Bill Adama a lot…just the two of you. You meet him for tea. I've never said anything to you about that."

"I don't meet him for lunch _a lot_. And I've known Bill for years."

"Well, I've never slept with Fiona."

"Would you like to?" Laura fired back quickly, unable to conceal the anger in her voice.

"Uh-oh. I don't like where this is headed. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have mentioned your prior relationship with Bill."

"You didn't answer my question."

"I shouldn't have to. I love you, Laura. I don't want to be with anyone but you."

She sighed. "I'm sorry. Being fat and pregnant has made me bitchy."

"Oh, for the gods sakes, you are not fat or bitchy. You've never been more beautiful to me than you are right now."

She slipped her hand into his and they walked in silence the rest of the way to Kara's dorm. What had made her act like that?

They went into the lobby. The lieutenant at the front desk stood and saluted John.

"At ease," he said. "Would you call Cadet Thrace's room and tell her that her parents are here to see her."

"Yes, sir."

Three minutes later Kara came down the stairs. John put his arm around her and hugged her. Laura did the same thing.

"Let's walk," Kara said. She didn't want to sit in the dorm's lobby where everybody was coming and going.

"Okay," John said. "I've got to go over to the simulator room and get something. I also need to see Conrad Burgher for a minute."

They walked to the quad and Kara and Laura sat on one of the stone benches while her father went into the building.

"You look good in your uniform," Laura said.

Kara grinned. "Thanks. That's a pretty dress and jacket."

"Thank you. John said Lee was coming out last night and that you were going to a movie."

"Here on campus. Yeah."

"Life has changed drastically for you again, hasn't it?"

Kara nodded. "Lee told me how tough the first term would be. He told me about not being able to leave campus for a month and no mobile phones and closed study at night. I have to sign out to even go to the library. And sign in there. I don't even have email outside the Academy."

"Has it been tough physically?"

"It would have been hell if I hadn't been in decent shape. Some of the cadets are really struggling. Captain Riddick…she's my PE teacher…she kind of reminds me of my mom…except for the red hair. My mom was a blond, like me. I think that's about the only thing I got from her."

"I understand she was very tough," Laura said gently. "Like you."

"Yeah she was tough. I should be that tough. I should be tougher than I am. I almost got into a fight with Lee last night because we were kissing and I wanted to…he knew we couldn't. I was stupid. I should have been tougher. If we'd gotten caught, I would have been kicked out."

"Lee's only looking after your best interest. I'm sure that…stopping was just as difficult for him."

"I was angry at him. I was angry at him when I went up to my room. It was stupid. And then I had this…terrible dream. It started out with Lee and it ended with Zak and I would never…I don't even feel that way about Zak…but I dreamed about him…me and him. Is that sick or what?"

Laura thought of the dreams she's had about Bill Adama so many years ago. "No, it's not sick. You just said you were angry at Lee. Maybe the dream was your way of working through that anger. Maybe in dreams we try to work through…issues we have. It's nice to think so anyway."

"You're right." Kara took a deep breath. She felt a lot better. "Me and Lee…we've just got this thing…him and me just click so totally when we're…well, you know."

"Yes, Kara. I do know what that's like."

"When you were my age…did you…did you and Lee's dad…did you feel that way about him…like Lee and I do about each other? It won't bother me if you say _yes_ because you didn't know my dad then."

"That was all so long ago."

The sat in silence for a while. Laura had evaded Kara's question and they both knew it. It was really not a topic that Laura wanted to discuss, but she didn't want John's daughter to be unable to confide in her. Confidence meant sharing.

Laura said, "At one time Bill was more romantic than he is now. Years ago when we were falling in love he took me to North Lake Park outside the city. It's a nice park with a lake that has a small island in the middle. We sailed out to the island. He had brought wine and I brought sandwiches. We had quite the romantic evening. Then he went to a battlestar and fought the Cylons. He was very different when he came back."

"He didn't love you anymore?" Kara asked in shock.

"He loved me, but he was harder and tougher. He was used to…everything happening quickly…to making quick decisions. He expected the same thing from me. He tried to force me to make a quick decision…to decide between him and my education and my family."

"Oh." Kara tried to imagine Commander Adama as a young man…like Lee was now. She thought of the picture Lee had shown her, the picture taken at the airfield when Lee and Zak were young. The commander had looked so different then. He had looked more like the man Laura had loved.

Laura went on. "When Bill asked me to choose, I couldn't think…I couldn't make such an important decision about the rest of my life that fast. When I hesitated, he walked out on me. He married Carolanne shortly afterward. "

"He knocked her up. Lee told me."

Laura laughed softly. "Just like your father did to me."

"I didn't mean…" Kara started.

Laura was still smiling. "No, it's all right. I just pray to the gods that our son grows up to be as fine a young man as Lee. I would feel blessed to have a son like him."

"They're still not speaking to each other…Lee and his dad."

"That's not Bill's choice."

"You know, that's one bad thing about Lee. He's stubborn and unforgiving. The last time I mentioned it, he told me it wasn't my business. If I mention it again, we'll just get in another fight about it."

"He's a lot like Bill," Laura said. "Proud, stubborn, always thinks he's right."

"Isn't that the truth? It would kill me if my dad and me stopped talking."

"John is very different from Bill and Lee. He would never stop talking to you, no matter what you did."

"Thank the gods," Kara smiled. "I just keep putting him to the test. Me and my smart mouth just keep putting him to the test."

Laura patted Kara's leg. "He loves you, Kara. He loves you so very much."

"I think Lee loves his dad. I think he respects him."

"I'm sure he does. And I know Bill loves Lee. Bill loves Lee and Zak both. He's just never known how to show it."

"He put his career before his family."

"Yes," Laura sighed. "But many men…and women do the same thing."

"Do you think…you know if Lee and I ever have a kid…I mean a long time in the future…not anytime soon…do you think Lee would be a good father?"

"I think so. I think he's smart enough to know not to repeat the past…not to repeat his own father's mistakes."

"I'm not sure I would be a good mother."

"Only you will know if that's the right choice for you."

"Do you think about it?"

"Whether I'll be a good mother? Of course I do. My whole adult life I've had my career. I didn't think I would ever have a child. In many ways I still can't quite get used to the idea that in a few months a tiny little person will be depending on me."

"And my dad, too. Depending on my dad, too. He's going to be such a good father to your little boy. And I'm going to be a good sister."

At that moment her son moved and Laura suddenly felt a sense of family, something she hadn't felt since she'd lost her parents and brother fourteen years earlier. Sitting beside Kara on a hard stone bench at the Academy, she suddenly felt like they were a family, her and John and Kara and the baby, that this was what her life had always been leading her to.

She had no idea what the future held for them, but she sighed and closed her eyes for a moment on that beautiful autumn day and felt herself very blessed.

…

Gaius Baltar once again sat in the den with Laura, John and Bill on a Saturday evening. A month had passed since their last meeting, two weeks since classes had started at the Academy.

Laura had just placed a small glass vial, barely bigger than her thumb, on the coffee table in front of him.

She watched him now as he regarded it much like he might regard a snake.

"Don't worry, Dr. Baltar, this is not some pathogen that will harm you. It's a vial of measles vaccine, the same vaccine that is routinely given to children before their first year of school. It's manufactured by CapGen Labs. I'd like for you to test it and compare the results to your…other findings."

Baltar still had not reached for the small vial. "This is highly irregular. This is not the way this type of thing is done."

"These are highly irregular times," Bill said. "Are you refusing to help us?"

"What exactly do you want me to do?"

Laura answered him. "We want you to tell us if this vial has been infected with the same engineered virus as the women you've tested."

"It's a measles vaccine, not birth control."

"That's why we've got to act and act now. If I'm to go to the Secretary of Health and Human Services and in turn to the President with our findings, we've got to be absolutely certain. If we're to curtail the government's relationship with CapGen Labs and break the contract, if we're to put them out of business, we must have proof. You know what this virus looks like. You're the only one who can help us prove it."

"And you seriously think a company as old and respected as CapGen would infect a vaccine given to children? That's insane. How can you judge an entire company by the contents of one little vial? How do I know it hasn't been…tampered with?"

"How the hell could we tamper with it?" Bill said harshly. "We don't even know what we're dealing with. Laura has gone to a great deal of trouble to get that vial of vaccine without arousing suspicion. Can you imagine the kind of wholesale panic something like this would cause if it got out? We're talking about Caprica's children, for the gods sakes. We've got to know without a doubt before we take this to the President and ask him to shut them down."

Laura and Bill and John shared a look.

"What?" Baltar said uneasily.

"CapGen is a Cylon operation," Bill said. "We suspected it. Now we're certain."

"That's not possible," Baltar said. "CapGen has been in business for many years…since I was a student here on Caprica. I worked for them for several summers. That was…years ago…years before the Cylons…before we came under their control."

John was turning his drink glass in his hand, watching the deep, amber colored whiskey remain level as he tilted the glass. "Where are you from, Dr. Baltar? Your accent makes it hard to tell."

Laura watched Gaius Baltar as he obviously engaged in some kind of inner struggle. Finally he said, "Aerilon. I was born on Aerilon."

"Aerilon is mostly agricultural. Did your family own a lot of land? Lord of the manor type of thing? Is that where you got the aristocratic accent, going to the best of private schools, rubbing elbows with the elite, knocking a polo ball around?"

"I trained myself to speak properly…unlike some from my home planet. I started when I was ten. At a certain level of...society...people _do_ judge you by the way you speak."

Laura wondered if his comment had been directed at Bill or her husband. She certainly didn't think it was directed at her this time.

"You were ashamed of your parents' speech?" John wasn't going to let it go.

"My…father was a dairy farmer. He had a dairy farm…outside a small town. Naturally his dialect was rural."

"You left there when you were how old? Eighteen? And never went back? Ashamed of your old man because he had dirt under his fingernails and didn't know how to speak properly?"

"Yes, eighteen. I left when I was eighteen. If you know all of this why are you asking me these questions?"

"To see if you're capable of telling the truth. Bill, why don't you tell Dr. Baltar what you found out about CapGen Labs?"

"Four years ago CapGen Labs was sold to a man who apparently exists only on paper. It's taken nearly a month, but a highly trained operative finally managed to get a photograph of who we now think is running CapGen. I realize this was taken from a great distance and through a chain-link fence, but take a look. Do you recognize anyone?"

Bill pushed a grainy eight by ten photograph across the coffee table. Gaius picked it up. Laura saw the cascade of emotions race across his face. He threw the photograph back on the table. "This is some sort of trick."

"No trick, Gaius," Laura said softly. "It's your Cylon friend Simon, isn't it? Or a copy of him. And look there, beside him, your Cylon lover. Or a copy of her."

"I don't believe it."

"You'd better start believing it," Bill said.

John was still looking at his drink. "It puts things in a different light now, doesn't it, doctor? I mean working with the Cylons to make hybrid babies is bad enough, but helping the Cylons with the genocide of the human race is an entirely different ballgame."

"I have nothing…nothing whatsoever to do with CapGen Labs. I swear to you. I have no knowledge of anything that's being done out there."

Again Laura said softly, "But something you did when you were working with them on the hybrid baby project helped them, didn't it? Something that they took and ran with. It's been four years, Gaius. You said a month ago that you thought this virus was introduced two years ago. Given a year for research, what had you discovered at the end of that first year that would have helped them?"

"Nothing! We hadn't even gotten the first successful hybrid fertilization at that point. We were researching the possible…the possible reasons why…we were experimenting on…using a particular technique with…gene splicing on…on…" he suddenly stopped for a moment, his eyes widening at some memory. "I did nothing! This cannot be blamed on me!"

"Congratulations doctor," John said almost as softly as Laura. "You've helped sign the death warrant of your fellow humans. How does it feel to know you helped render a generation of little girls incapable of having babies?"

"You miserable son of a bitch," Bill said. "I ought to wring your scrawny neck."

"I'll flip you for it, Bill," John said, putting his drink on the table and taking a coin from his pocket.

Baltar jumped up from his chair and turned to Laura. "You can't let them…"

"Take the vial, Dr. Baltar. Confirm our theory. Confirm that this vaccine is infected with your engineered virus. You owe it to Caprica's children…to the lives that you've ruined."

Baltar snatched the small vial from the table and fled from the room. Laura followed him in order to make sure the door was closed behind him. When she returned to the den, Bill and John were again morosely silent.

John finally spoke. "He deserves to go before a firing squad. That's what all traitors deserve."

"Not yet," Laura said. "We've all agreed we still need him. If there is anyone on Caprica who might be able to find out the truth about that virus and its cure or a way around the sterility problem, then it's him. Given the chance, he may still redeem himself. I don't think he knew three years ago what his findings were going to be used to do. I think he was as horrified as we were to find out that CapGen may have been putting this virus into vaccines as well as birth control. The gods only know what else they've put it into."

"How is he going to come up with a cure by himself?" Bill asked. "You don't think _Simon_ is going to help him, do you?"

"No, I think the Cylons already have a cure or at least a way around the sterility issue. I don't think they would have done this otherwise. I think the one who is going to help Dr. Baltar is his lover. If there is a weak link in the Cylons on this project, it's her. I think she actually cares for him."

"_Cares for him_," John said. "She's a machine, Laura. Machines don't _care_ for anyone."

"Maybe it's not caring the way we know it. Maybe it's programming. I heard something in her voice that day at the lab, something that wasn't there during the negotiations. I think she _believes_ that she cares for him, and that makes her vulnerable. It makes anyone vulnerable. The trick will be getting Baltar to exploit her, use her and betray her if need be."

"Then make it look like it's in _his_ best interest. That's all we need to do. He is one selfish bastard."

"How long do we give him before I get in touch with him again?" Bill asked.

"A few days," Laura answered. "It shouldn't take him any longer than that to determine if that vaccine is infected."

Bill stood. "Agreed."

Laura again walked with him to the door. "How are you doing, Bill?"

He avoided her eyes. "Keeping busy."

"Has the house sold, yet?"

"I have a contract on it. A young couple with a six-year-old. They're waiting on their loan to be processed."

"Do you like living in John's apartment?"

"It's nice…very convenient."

"John and I are having a small dinner party next Saturday night. We'd like for you to come."

"I don't know about a dinner party."

"John has invited Colonel Burgher and his wife. I've asked Hugh and Stacey Connelly. We'd very much like for you to come, too."

"Saul Tigh is going to be on Caprica next weekend. He and I usually get together."

"Well, by all means we'll ask Saul and Ellen, too."

"All right," Bill smiled.

"Then you'll come?"

"I will."

"Good. You're welcome to bring a date."

He shook his head. "Thank you for thinking of me."

She squeezed his hand. "Always."

Laura walked back into the den. John looked at her. "Well?"

"He accepted. I said I'd also ask Saul and Ellen Tigh. Saul is going to be on Caprica next weekend."

"Oh, frak," John said.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"No, what's wrong? Do you have a problem with Saul Tigh?"

"Not with him."

"Ellen?"

"If we can keep her out of the booze she might be all right. Of course Hugh Connelly is going to be here. He's young and good-looking. That might be enough to distract her."

Laura finally realized what he was talking about. "Did Ellen Tigh come on to you?"

"Who hasn't she come on to? Just don't seat her beside me or across from me at the table, okay? She has a problem keeping her shoes on."

"Oh, dear gods. Poor Saul."

"Don't feel sorry for him. He puts up with it. Feel sorry for whoever Ellen is playing footsy with. Is Bill bringing anyone?"

"No."

"I'd like to…damn, no matter how I say this, it's probably going to make you mad."

"What?"

"I'd like to ask Fiona Nagala…just as a dinner partner for Bill, mind you…not that I'm trying to…fix him up or anything. I just don't want him to feel awkward being the odd man at dinner. And she's a classy lady. Bill knew her husband. I don't know if he ever met her or not, but she's Chuck Winter's sister and Bill knows Chuck." John shrugged. "It's just a thought."

Laura wasn't sure whether what she was feeling at the moment had to do with her husband and Fiona or Bill and Fiona. She just knew that she didn't like the feeling.

"By all means," she said coolly. "Ask her. I'm sure Bill would enjoy her company. You and Hugh certainly seemed to enjoy it at the faculty luncheon."

"Damn, I knew I should have kept my mouth shut."

"I'm fine."

"No, you're not. Bill is lonely, Laura. I don't understand why you can't see that. His wife is dead. His sons aren't speaking to him. He works all the gods damned time. He…needs to do something besides go home alone every night to an empty, dark apartment and more work…and a bottle of booze."

"Well, I'm sure the charming widow Nagala will be a great cure for that."

"Are you jealous thinking Bill might…enjoy spending time with another woman? That he might ask someone else to lunch?"

"Of course not. Why would I care about that?"

"Because you know he's still in love with you."

"I don't know any such thing," Laura snapped, ignoring what her heart had always told her.

"Then what's wrong? We're not going to revisit this thing about me and her, are we? Because I thought I'd made it clear that I am _not_ interested in her like that. Have we got another problem that we need to talk about?"

Laura felt tears sting her eyes. She struggled to understand the complex emotions she was feeling at the moment. Maybe it was everything…the idea of Bill and Fiona, but also the idea that John might find another woman attractive and desirable. She wondered suddenly if she and John would still be together if they didn't have a child on the way…if he would have stayed with her or moved on to someone like Fiona.

He came over and wrapped his arms around her. "It was just a thought," he said softly. "I won't ask her. I wouldn't do anything to upset you. I was just thinking about Bill. You see, one time I was like Bill is now. I'd lost Kara's mother and I thought I'd lost Kara. I was alone here on Caprica, sleeping on a cot in a hangar outside of Delphi, and I was drinking way too much. Bill's lost his wife and for all intents and purposes right now he's lost both of his sons. He's definitely drinking too much. I just thought…" he smoothed back her hair and kissed her forehead. "But I don't want you upset. I love you too much."

She put her arms around him as her tears spilled over. "I've been worried about Bill, too. He _is_ lonely. He _has_ been working too hard, trying to carry the fate of the human race on his shoulders. If the Cylons succeed in their plan, it might not even be an issue much longer. The gods only know how much bigger this problem is…how many more vaccines and drugs may have been infected with that virus. If they succeed in rendering us sterile, then in several generations we'll be gone or we'll have become nothing but their incubators for a race of human-Cylon hybrids or even pure Cylons. Ask her. Ask Fiona to dinner. Bill deserves a chance at happiness. It may be very short-lived."

He turned her face up to his. "You know, I think we've both made way too much out of this. It's just a dinner party. Who knows? Bill and Fiona might not even hit it off."

"You know better. Fiona Nagala is the kind of woman who can charm the socks off every man she meets."

John smiled before he leaned down to kiss her. "Only if somebody hasn't beat her to it."

TBC…


	44. Picnic

Chapter 44

Picnic

_During the winter of the fourth year of Cylon occupation, several Cylon Raiders crashed into Kings Bay as their computer systems and their transponders apparently failed. The Cylons were never able to recover them. _

_-Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War_

"Cadet Thrace, name the gauges, starting with the top left, moving horizontally," her father said to her as he sat at the top of the steps leading up to the simulator's cockpit. He had a clipboard in his hand.

Kara was seated in the simulator's cockpit, almost high on the feeling of being back in there again.

With the smallest of eye rolls,she said, "Radio-magnetic compass, main computer screen, altimeter, vertical speed indicator, torque indicator, air speed indicator, turn coordinator and attitude indicator." She pointed to one on the far right. "Fuel gauge."

John pressed a button on the remote control in his hand and the main computer screen came on. "What does this configuration show?"

"Landing."

"Be more specific."

"Landing on a battlestar."

"It's called inbound landing status, not _landing on a battlestar_. Are you level?"

"No, sir." At least the _sir_ was becoming automatic now when she answered a question with _yes_ or _no_.

"What would you do to correct?"

"I would adjust my attitude, sir."

Her father snickered.

"Oh, funny," she said. "You did that on purpose. When am I going to get to do something besides sit in the cockpit and answer dumb questions?"

"When you know the instruments and what they indicate." He changed the computer screen again.

"That's the dradis."

"Showing what?"

"Six contacts. All Colonial signals."

"And now?"

"Weapons systems active, guns are armed."

They kept it up for fifteen minutes. Her father asking questions, changing the screen and asking more questions.

"I've only got fifteen minutes left," she moaned. "I want to fly."

"Tell me something, Cadet Thrace. If Colonel Burgher was sitting here instead of me, would you be whining to him about wanting to fly?"

"No, sir," Kara answered.

"Would you think he knew what he was doing by running you through these drills?"

"Yes, sir. But they're boring. They're _so_ _boring_. Lee is the only person I know who would get off on something like this."

"Why do you think we're doing this?"

"So you can watch me suffer. I know the stupid instruments. I don't need to keep doing this."

Her father's voice finally betrayed his irritation. "We're doing these _boring drills_ so that it becomes second nature to you. So that when you're up there and you see a particular screen or a reading on a particular gauge, you don't have to stop and think, _now what the hell does that mean_? You'll know what it means."

Kara hung her head. "I know. I just want to fly this thing so bad."

John lowered his voice. "I know you do, baby, and you're going to get to. You've just got to be patient. Now I'm going to start a sequence running that involves the main screen and some of the gauges. I want you to look at them and tell me what's going on."

He pressed a button on the control and all the gauges reset to zero or a neutral position. The sequence started.

"I'm taking off."

"From the ground or being launched from a battlestar?"

Kara hesitated.

"Look at your gauges…altimeter and air speed."

"From the ground."

They kept at the same drills for another fifteen minutes. Finally her father said, "Congratulations, Cadet Thrace, you made it through your first simulator class."

"I don't get to fly even a few minutes?"

"Not this time. Next time."

"There's nobody coming in after me. Let me stay another fifteen minutes, pu-leeeze. Let me show you how I can get over that barrel when I'm landing."

"I can't. If I do it for you, then I'll have to do it for everybody, or I'll be accused of favoritism. Colonel Burgher warned me about that. So did Colonel Winters Even Bill."

"Bill? Commander Adama? What business is it of his?"

"He was thinking about both of us. He doesn't want to see me get in trouble…or you."

"Yeah, well he ought to tend to his own business first before he starts minding somebody else's."

"Meaning?"

"He should try to talk to Lee."

"He did try. He didn't get very far."

"What did he do, leave Lee a voice message? _Son, call me ASAP to talk about our problems. That's an order. Dad_."

"Lords of Kobol, Kara. What's wrong with you? Now you're taking Lee's side? I thought you two fought over this very thing. Only you thought Lee should be the one to talk to his father."

Kara shrugged.

"Come on. Get out of the cockpit," he said gently.

He stood up and climbed down the steps. Kara followed him. At the bottom he put his arms around her. "What's wrong, baby? Are you having a tough time?"

"I miss Lee."

"You'll get to see him Saturday night."

"I miss you, too. I miss being able to sit down at night and talk to you. I miss us going to lunch together. It seems like I just got you back and now we're student and teacher and I have to call you _sir_."

She heard her father take a deep breath. "You're not the only one who's having a tough time with it. One of the reasons I took this job was so that I could see you more often. Do you wish you'd waited another year?"

"Sometimes. But I'm here now and I'm going to stick it out."

"You're tough. Like your mother. You'll make it."

"So I get to fly next week?"

"You get to fly next week. I love you, Kara. I'm not trying to make this hard for you, but I've got to be fair."

"I know, Dad. I love you, too. How's Laura?"

"She's fine. We're having a small dinner party Saturday night. Your favorite instructor Colonel Burgher is going to be there…and your next favorite, Hugh Connelly…and your third favorite, Mrs. Nagala."

"Why'd you invite her? Do you have a thing for her?"

"No, I don't have a _thing_ for her. We've invited Bill and we need a dinner partner for him. Colonel Tigh and his wife are going to be there, too."

"The ones who were standing with Commander Adama at the funeral?"

"That's them."

"Is she always all over her husband like that? I thought it was tacky at a funeral. Gods, one time she had her hand on his butt."

"Ellen is a very…hands-on type of woman."

"Well, have a good time."

"Behave yourself with Lee."

Kara thought of the previous Saturday. "Don't worry. I think you've got Lee on your payroll. That priest Elosha would be proud of him."

…

Kara walked out of the Math and Sciences Building a few minutes later. Karl was sitting on one of the stone benches in the quad. For a few seconds she thought he had a cigarette in his mouth, but as she walked up, she realized it was the stick of a candy sucker.

He took it out of his mouth. "I was wondering when you were going to show up. How was the simulator?"

"I did boring drills. I haven't gotten to fly, yet. What are you doing in the Raptor simulator?"

"Boring drills."

They laughed. "Must be a conspiracy. Where'd you get the sucker?"

"Some girl in my math class. It doesn't mean anything. She had an extra one. Don't you remember? My mom used to buy these by the bag."

"I remember. She kept them in a big bowl on the kitchen counter. Marie would always pick out the cherry ones. Should I mention to Sharon that you've got someone _sweet_ on you?" Kara snickered.

"It doesn't matter. She's not the jealous type. Not like Maggs at all."

"You really like her, don't you?"

"Yeah, I really like her."

"You're lucky…having your girlfriend right here at the Academy."

"Yeah, I'm really lucky. We've been here a couple of weeks and I've kissed her goodnight one time outside of the dorm."

"Hey, at least you get to see her and talk to her. I don't even get to see Lee or talk to him except once every couple of nights for five minutes on the downstairs phone…and I have to sign up for that. It's worse than being in prison."

"You're going to get out in two weeks. We all get a weekend pass."

"And I can't wait. I already know what Lee and I are going to do that weekend. On Saturday morning I'm going to go get him on the bike and we're going to ride up to North Lake Park. Have you ever been there?"

"Nope. Where is it?"

"About twenty miles north of the city. I looked it up on Map Finder a couple of nights ago. We're going to get some sandwiches and a bottle of wine and we're going to sail out to the island in the middle of the lake and have a picnic."

"You'd better be careful with the wine and riding the bike. A DWI will get you kicked out of here in a hurry."

"You're right. Maybe we'll take soft drinks instead. We'll pretend it's wine. Come on. Walk with me back to the dorm. I'll tell Sharon to come down and see you before we have to line up for chow with Lieutenant Orders-Must-Be-Obeyed Sydell."

"Sharon will probably be in the shower. She's started jogging in the afternoons, but I'll walk with you anyway."

Kara grinned. "I'm glad Sharon isn't the jealous type."

Karl grinned, too. "It wouldn't do her any good. No more than it did Maggie."

…

"My earrings," Laura said. "Where are my earrings? I had them in my hand two minutes ago and now they're gone. They were my mother's. The little emerald and diamond ones." She could clearly hear the frustration in her own voice. "Our guests will be here any minute and I've lost my earrings."

"You didn't lose them. You put them down somewhere. Retrace your steps. Where have you been?" John finished knotting his necktie and straightened it.

"The closet. I've only been to the closet to get my dress."

"Your closet is the size of an apartment I once rented on Picon. Walk back in there."

She walked back into the closet. There were the earrings. She had put them down on her lingerie chest. She came back out and walked into the bathroom to stand in front of the mirror and put them on. John walked in and she lifted her hair in the back for him to zip her dress.

"You're not going to wear those heels all night, are you?"

"What else am I going to wear? My bedroom slippers? Just because I'm pregnant, I can't wear stylish shoes?" She snapped.

"Whoa, calm down. Jennet is in the kitchen watching the chef. Everything is under control. Take a deep breath. It's just a couple of friends coming over for dinner."

He was right. Laura didn't know why she had gotten so uptight over this dinner party.

"Okay," John smiled. "Who's going to get here first?"

"I know who will get here last…the Tighs."

"I agree. The one time I met Bill and Carolanne and Lee for dinner with the Tighs, they were almost twenty minutes late. Ellen found a way to let us know what had delayed them."

"Dear gods, what did she say. _Forgive our tardiness. We were having sex_?"

"No, I think she said she had waylaid Saul on the way to the shower that night."

"I hope she has better manners than to say something like that in front of our guests. I doubt they would appreciate that kind of bedroom humor."

"I wouldn't put anything past her. Just be prepared."

"Why does her husband put up with her behavior? Why doesn't he stop her?"

"He'd have more luck stopping a tsunami."

"He must love her deeply. Last week you mentioned something about her…extramarital proclivities."

"Tigh's not the only one she waylays on the way to the shower. She was frakking one of the cargo pilots who flew with me for a while. They met in a bar. Sometimes I'd see her waiting for him in the parking lot when we got back from a flight. It lasted a couple of months before she moved on to someone else. Apparently she's…uh…good at…whatever."

Laura smiled. "Well, she had better keep her hands to herself tonight…or at least keep them off you."

John grinned. "My little wildcat has claws,"

"Has she ever…made a play for Bill?"

"I don't know. I doubt it. It wouldn't do her any good."

"I believe that. Bill would never think of doing such a thing…even if Saul Tigh weren't his friend. Bill is an honorable man."

"Thank the gods."

"What does that mean?"

Laura didn't get an answer because they both heard the doorbell ring.

"I'll get it," John said. "You finish whatever you need to do. You look beautiful tonight, just like always."

When she walked into the den a minute later, John was mixing a drink for Conrad Burgher and his wife Portia. She knew that the colonel was in his late fifties. His wife was probably near his age. They were dressed conservatively, the colonel in a dark turtleneck and sports coat, his wife in a long-sleeved black dress. The colonel still had a lot of hair, but it was nearly white. His wife's graying hair was cut short in a stylish bob. They looked like they belonged together.

Fiona Nagala arrived next. She was dressed in a stunning burgundy cocktail dress that accentuated her slim but very shapely figure.

Laura looked down at her own loose-fitting jade-green dress and tried to force the word _whale_ from her thoughts.

Fiona was followed in short order by Hugh and Stacey Connelly and finally by Bill Adama. Laura let John handle the introduction of Bill and Fiona.

Bill was obviously surprised to see the admiral's widow, but Laura could tell he was also pleased.

"Bill Adama," Fiona said with both surprise and pleasure in her voice. "It's been years." She walked toward Bill, both hands extended.

"Too many," Bill said. "Far too many." He clasped her hands with both of his the way he had done Laura many times. Fiona air-kissed his cheek. Laura felt another tiny dart of jealousy.

"You two know each other?" She asked.

Fiona turned to her. "Bill and my late husband served together on the_ Galactica_ during the First War. I met Bill for the first time at our wedding if I remember correctly."

"You're right," Bill said. He turned to the rest of them. "Theo Nagala was my CAG, one of the finest men I've ever served under."

Bill still held Fiona's hands. "I never had the chance to express my condolences."

"Thank you," she said. "You're very kind."

"Drink…Bill? Fiona?" John asked.

Bill finally released Fiona's hands and walked to the bar. "I'll take my usual."

"No thank you," Fiona said. "Maybe later." She walked over to Laura. "You have a beautiful apartment. That painting is by the Libran artist Winston Arendale, isn't it? I was born on Libran. My mother was very into the art scene there. She and a friend ran a gallery for years."

"Then you know your artwork," Laura replied. "Yes, it's an Arendale. My father bought that painting years ago when he was serving as the Caprican ambassador to Libran."

"You father was Ambassador Roslin. I'd forgotten that." Laura walked with her over to the Connellys and the Burghers. Bill and John joined them.

They all chatted for the next ten minutes waiting for the Tighs to arrive.

"I'm going to check on the kitchen," Laura said. "I won't be but a minute." She glanced at her watch. She had been right about the Tighs. They were fifteen minutes late.

Fiona followed her. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Oh, no, thank you. My housekeeper is here. I've hired a chef and he brought someone to help serve. I could never pull this kind of thing off on my own. I'm useless in the kitchen."

Just before Laura went through the door, Fiona lowered her voice. "I take it that I'm here as Bill's dinner partner."

Laura stopped. "John didn't mention that to you?"

Fiona smiled. "He just invited me to a small dinner party. I felt like I was to be a single man's partner."

Laura sighed. "Men. John overlooked a rather major detail."

Fiona now smiled. "My husband was no good at those kinds of details, either. I thought Bill was married."

"He's a widower…several months now."

"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that."

"I apologize, Fiona, that John didn't explain anything to you. I hope this isn't awkward for you."

"Oh, no. I'm fine. I'm very glad to see Bill. And please, call me Fi. That's what my friends call me. Now, I'll go back and talk to my dinner partner and your other guests."

…

Kara sat in the dorm lobby that Saturday night once again waiting for Lee to arrive. Lieutenant _Orders-Must-Be-Obeyed_ Sydell was on the front desk tonight. From time to time Kara glanced at her. The lieutenant looked at her, too, every time someone's date came through the door. Kara wondered what was going through her mind. _What kind of guy would date a frak-up like you?_

Kara saw Lee walk in the front door, glance at Shelley, and then stop. Even across the room she could see his face change. Kara stood and walked to the desk. The lieutenant wasn't looking at her anymore. She was looking at Lee. Finally Kara got it. Lee and Lieutenant Sydell knew each other.

He walked over to the desk. "Hello, Shelley."

"Lee Adama. It's been…it's been…how long?"

"Two years. Over two years. How are you?"

"Fine. You?"

"Good."

Kara watched Shelley's face as she made the connection between Lee and Kara. Kara actually saw the moment the lieutenant realized that Lee was here to see her. She saw the muscles of Shelley's jaw harden.

"You'll need to sign the log," she said, suddenly all business. "Where are you going?"

"Over to the student union to meet some friends."

Kara signed her name and together she and Lee walked into the cool evening.

"So how do you know _her_?" Kara asked before they were down the steps.

"We graduated together."

"Did you date her?"

"For a while."

"Did you frak her?"

"Kara, I'm not…"

"You frakked her? The dragon lady who's been watching me and Sharon like a hawk and you frakked her. Lords of Kobol! She'll really be on my case now."

"Why has she been watching you and Sharon?"

"Because Sharon didn't know how to make up her bunk, and the first morning at breakfast, we…got in a little trouble. Sydell busted us. We had to do twenty-five pushups in the cafeteria."

Lee sighed. "Damn, Kara. And since then?"

"We haven't gotten busted for anything since then, but she watches us all the time like she's waiting for us to screw up big time so she can bust us again. I can't believe you frakked that bitch. She is so not your type."

"That's enough," Lee said. "She is not a bitch. She's doing her job. And I'm not going to talk about her with you. It happened over two years ago. I haven't seen her since we graduated."

"Why did you break up?"

"I started dating Blaire. Now drop it. You and I see each other a couple of hours a week now. I don't want to spend it fighting with you."

"Okay."

"I saw your buddy Sam Anders at Zeno's the other night. He asked about you. I told him you were learning to be a kick-ass Viper pilot. I think he drooled on the table."

Kara ignored his remark. "What was he doing at Zeno's?"

"I was meeting Zak and he tagged along. Zak's gone to work for the firm that does the PR for the Buccaneers."

"Zak isn't working at Bull's Eye anymore?"

"Nope. I figured you already knew that."

"How would I know that?"

"Maggie."

"Maggs and I don't have any classes together. We're not even on the same floor in the dorm. It's not like I can roam around from room to room chatting up everybody. I've only seen her a few times crossing the quad and we just said _hi_. I haven't stopped to catch up on her _love life_," Kara said sarcastically. "Not that she'd talk about it to me, anyway. I'm surprised Zak's still dating her considering she won't even kiss him with any tongue."

"Who told you that?"

"Zak. That night at my birthday party when he was drunk."

Lee snorted. "And you believed him? Man, are you naïve. Zak won't date a girl more than twice unless she sleeps with him. He told me and Sam last night that his roommate had walked in on him and Maggie frakking on the couch the weekend before you started here at the Academy."

Kara was stunned. "He lied to me. Your brother lied to me."

"Of course he lied to you. Zak tells girls what he thinks will make _him_ look the best to them. Apparently he decided that you liked gentlemen bad boys."

"Son of a bitch," Kara said hotly. "I hate it when somebody lies to me like that. He should have just kept his damn mouth shut. I hope Maggie dumps him."

She thought of the hot dream she'd had two weeks before, the dream that had started with Lee and ended with Zak. She was even more grossed out than she had been.

"Kara, listen to me. Zak's screwed up. Mom and Dad screwed him up bad. He doesn't know how to feel anything genuine for anybody. He never knew what love was like growing up. He was always trying to get Mom to notice him, trying to get her to love him."

"And you weren't?"

"Not like Zak. It was so important to him. And then he got old enough and discovered girls and that took over his life. He's looking for something and I don't know if he'll ever find it."

"So I should feel sorry for Zak?"

Lee shrugged. "I'm not trying to tell you how to feel about Zak. You can make up your own mind."

Her hand brushed his, their little fingers locked. "One more week," she said. "Six days. I get out of here at 16:00 next Friday afternoon and don't have to be back until the same time Sunday afternoon. I know what we're going to do next Saturday. We're taking the bike and we're going on a picnic."

"What happened to Friday night? You skipped right over Friday night."

Kara grinned. "I didn't think I'd have to explain to you what we're going to do next Friday night."

…

The chef Laura had hired was in a snit. "It will be ruined…ruined, I tell you, if we wait any longer. I have my reputation to think of. If you don't go ahead and start the meal, I will not be responsible. You can serve it yourself."

Laura looked at her watch. The Tighs were now officially thirty minutes late. She made a decision. "Let's begin. I'll go ask my guests to be seated."

At that moment, the doorbell rang.

"The gods be praised," the chef said dramatically.

Ellen and Saul Tigh had arrived.

Laura walked into the den. Ellen had just taken off her shawl and dropped it on a chair. She was wearing a sleeveless black dress that looked fairly conservative until she turned around. The entire back of the dress from her hips to the neckline was sheer mesh. It was obvious she was not wearing anything underneath.

Before Ellen could start toward the bar, Laura said. "I hate to rush everyone to the dinner table, but my chef says we must start the meal or the coq au vin will not be fit to eat.

Ellen giggled and said coyly. "Is that _cock_ as in _rooster I __or the other kind_?"

Laura saw Stacey's shocked look. The admiral's widow walked over to the Tighs. "I don't believe we've met. I'm Fiona Nagala. I teach at the Academy with John, Hugh and Conrad. Colonel Tigh, I believe you served on the _Galactica_ with my late husband, Theo Nagala."

Laura saw Ellen look Fiona up and down. Bill walked over. "He did, Fiona, Saul is now the XO of the _Galactica_ and this is his wife, Ellen. Now, shouldn't we get started with the nice meal Laura has waiting for us tonight."

Seating had been a chore that Laura had spent time working out. To make sure that it was observed, she even had Tory make some nice place cards with everyone's name on them. She put John at one end of the table and she sat at the other end. She put Ellen Tigh on her right and Saul beside Ellen. Across from Ellen she put Colonel Burgher's wife. Neither Ellen's hands nor her feet could stray.

"I want to sit here," Ellen pouted as she swapped Bill Adama's place card with her own. "I want to talk to the history teacher. I need a refresher course in Colonial History."

Oh, gods. That put her directly across from Hugh Connelly. John had been right. Ellen had zeroed in on the handsome young teacher.

Without making a scene Laura didn't know how to get Ellen back to her original place. She looked beseechingly at Bill.

"Ellen," Bill said and caught her arm just as she was starting to sit down. "I'd like to sit beside Mrs. Nagala this evening. We have a lot to catch up on."

"Well, pooh," Ellen replied, but she allowed Bill to steer her to her original seat.

Laura smiled her thanks to Bill. One crisis averted.

The young man helping the chef with the meal came out and poured the wine. Next came the appetizer of shrimp, which Laura almost inhaled because she was so hungry. Eating this late she knew she would probably have indigestion. _Thank you, Ellen Tigh_, she thought.

Ellen picked at her food, concentrating instead on the wine. "So how is life in the government these days…as boring as it was before the Cylons?"

Laura wasn't sure whether Ellen's question had been addressed to her or to Bill, but she chose to answer. "Very much the same as always."

"How does it feel to work for the Cylons?" Ellen asked in a conspiratorial tone. "I always wondered how it would feel…to work for a machine."

"Ellen!" Tigh said.

"We don't work for _them_," Bill said. Laura could tell he was struggling to maintain his composure. "We work for the people of Caprica."

"We have a rule at the Academy," Fiona said and smiled sweetly. "We don't talk about the Cylons at mealtime. It's _very_ bad for the digestion."

"Oh, pooh," Ellen said. "I want to hear about the _skinjobs_. Saul has only met that Cavil one time when he came on board the _Galactica_. You and Bill get to see them every day. Do they really look just like we do close up…or do they look like the wax people at the museum?"

"Neither Bill nor I see them _every day_, but they look just like me or you…_wrinkles_ and all," Laura said sweetly. "Except Natasi, of course. She's quite beautiful. Even close up. Her skin is absolutely flawless and her figure is perfect. It's easy to see how some men might become…enchanted by her." She thought of Gaius Baltar. "And now that's enough talk about the Cylons."

"Amen," said Bill.

After dinner and despite the coolness of the evening, the men retreated to the terrace. Bill, Saul Tigh and Colonel Burgher had cigars. There was an after dinner drink of coffee and cognac. She knew Hugh Connelly didn't smoke and hoped John wouldn't.

The women stayed in the den. Ellen was like a caged tigress. She prowled around the room, finally sitting in a chair and then moving to the sofa. After five minutes she got up and poured a glass of ambrosia. "My favorite drink," she eyed the green liquor. "Mine and Saul's favorite drink. It's very expensive now, but I don't guess that's a problem for you. I guess you make more than you did when you were a schoolteacher."

"John keeps our bar stocked," Laura said. "I haven't touched a drop of alcohol since I found out I was expecting."

Ellen giggled in a throaty way. "_Expecting_. That's such an old fashioned term. It makes me want to say expecting _what_?"

"Do you have children?" Fiona asked Ellen.

"No. Saul and I were never blessed with children. Or cursed." Another giggle. "I'm not sure which. They take up so much of your time…and energy."

"Time and energy that I'm sure you like to spend on other things," Stacey Connelly finally spoke up, not trying to hide the sarcasm in her voice. Then her voice changed. "I can't imagine not having my little girl, not having Elaina. I love every minute I get to spend with her."

"How old is she?" Fiona asked.

"Sixteen months. Do you have children?"

"I had a daughter," Fiona said quietly. "She had a rare form of leukemia. When she was twelve, I brought her here from Picon. There was a doctor at the Caprica Oncology Institute who was treating her with an experimental drug. She went into remission. Then the Cylons attacked and bombed the plant near Sovana where the drug was made. The Institute ran out of it. Three months later my daughter was dead."

Laura suddenly understood Fiona Nagala's hatred of the Cylons and her involvement in the resistance. It had as much to do with losing her child as it did with losing her husband.

Colonel Burgher's wife put her hand to her mouth as tears came to her eyes. "You poor dear. My oldest son was a pilot. He was on board the _Solaria_. We lost him because of the Cylons, too."

Laura said, "There's not one of us here tonight whose life hasn't been touched in a negative way by them. That's one reason, Ellen that we don't like to talk about the Cylons."

"Well, pooh. I'll just go join my husband. I can tell when I'm not wanted." Drink in hand she got up and flounced out to the terrace.

Laura rubbed her forehead. She would give anything to be able to have a drink. "I'm so very sorry," she said to the other women.

"Laura, it's not your fault," Stacey said. "That woman must have been raised by wolves or something. Where did she learn her manners?"

Within five minutes, Hugh Connelly and Colonel Burgher came inside.

"We've got to get back to Elaina," Hugh said. "We told the babysitter we'd be home by ten."

"Portia and I need to be going as well," Colonel Burgher said. "Thank you for inviting us tonight."

Laura walked with them to the door. Stacey Connelly said, "We enjoyed it. We'll have to get together soon, maybe in a smaller group."

Laura got her point. "Certainly."

"I'm sorry," Fiona said when Laura came back into the den and the two of them were alone. "I seem to have broken up the party."

"Oh, no, it wasn't you. We both know what happened. If I might ask, how is John's daughter Kara doing in your class?"

"She's struggling a bit. Most of the cadets who spent any time in one of the refugee camps are struggling. I'm certainly going to take that into consideration when I grade my tests and papers. I know Hugh is going to do the same thing. The important thing is that she's trying."

"I wish we could have done more for the young people in the camps in the way of education, but for nearly two years it was a constant battle just to get them food and a few meager medical supplies."

"No one blames the government, Laura. What's the point of trying to educate children if they're starving? We know you did all you could for them. I know that you personally did more for them than anyone else…going against Cavil over those shiploads of supplies out at the airbase."

"I'd have gone against a thousand Cavils for those poor hungry people. I despise him. I pray every time I go to the President's office that I don't see him. In my opinion he's a monster."

"They're all monsters," Fiona said with a far-away look in her eyes.

"I'm so very sorry about your daughter."

"I'm just now to the point that I can talk about it…just now to the point that I can manage a full-time job. If it weren't for Chuck and his generosity, I don't know what I would have done. He's kindly opened his home to me for the last four years."

"Does John know?"

"I haven't mentioned it to anyone out at the Academy. Chuck knows, of course. We were staying with him while Mia was being treated. You know Chuck's son was on board the _Atlantia _with Theo when it was lost."

"Bill mentioned that to me."

"Chuck's marriage didn't survive it. His wife blamed him for pushing their son into the military…into being a pilot. She left him. He's been very…wary of any sort of relationship since then."

"I…dated Chuck several times….before I started seeing John."

"I know. Chuck thinks very highly of you."

"Chuck is a very nice man."

Fiona's eyes took on a mischievous look. "Should I tell him you said that?"

"Of course." Laura smiled. "But it won't get him any extra money in his budget."

"What happened to Bill's wife? You said he's a widower."

"She died of an overdose several months ago. Bill says it was an accident. His oldest son says otherwise. Carolanne had a drinking problem for years. I guess we'll never know."

"John said you had known Bill since you were young…that your fathers were close friends."

"That's right."

"If Bill should ask me out, would I be making a mistake to accept?"

Their eyes locked and suddenly there was a moment of complete clarity between them, a moment when they both understood what Fiona was really asking her. _Is Bill Adama still in love with you?_

"I'm…the wrong person to answer that question."

Fiona smiled. "I was afraid of that."

"Bill is a wonderful man," Laura said quickly and with conviction. "He's just a very private man…a hard man to get to know."

"I didn't say I was going to turn him down," Fiona smiled. "I just like to know the rules we're all playing by. There has been only one man in my life since I lost my husband. I had a very foolish affair shortly after my daughter died. I was nearly insane with grief. He was the proverbial rock I could cling to, but he was also married. I realized after several months what a terrible mistake I had made. I ended it and have never looked back despite the fact that he continues to call me from time to time. He and his wife also lost a son during the holocaust. They're still struggling…as are many I know."

Laura thought of her own brief affair many years earlier with the man who was now President of the Colonies…or Colony as some referred to his title.

"We all make mistakes," she said softly to Fiona. "Some of us are lucky enough to learn from them. And if you wait for Bill to ask you out, you may be waiting forever. He's a bit on the reticent side. If you want to…pursue anything with him, you'll probably have to do the asking."

"Thank you. I'll keep that in mind. He was very attentive during dinner tonight, but that may mean nothing."

"He's a gentleman when it comes to the ladies. He always has been."

"So was my late husband, my dear Theo. And so is your husband."

"Yes."

"John and I rarely speak of anything personal out at the Academy, but when he does, it's always about you or his daughter or the baby. I've never met a man who is looking forward to becoming a father again any more than he is. You're very lucky having him here with you. My daughter Mia barely knew her father. He was gone so much of the time."

"Bill was gone a great deal, too, when his sons were growing up. I don't…I probably shouldn't say anything because I know Bill would resent it, but he and his two sons are estranged now over his wife's tragic death. They both blame him for not doing more to help her. It's the cause of…a great deal of sadness in his life. Bill has a very demanding job. He works far too many hours. He had to make a choice. His marriage suffered. I only mention this because if you're going to become…better acquainted with Bill, you'll have to deal with it."

Once again their eyes locked. Once again a moment of understanding passed between them. "Bill is lucky to have you as a close friend," Fiona said.

Laura smiled. "We have another connection as well. Bill's oldest son Lee is in love with Kara…as she is with him."

"Ah, the mysterious forces that bring our lives together and bind them are beyond our comprehension, don't you think?"

The terrace door opened and a nearly drunk Ellen Tigh, supported by her husband, stumbled in.

Laura stood and looked at Fiona. "I agree, although sometimes I could do without a few of those mysterious forces bringing people into my life."

Fiona also stood. "It's been a lovely evening. Thank you, Laura and John for thinking of me. Bill, would you like to share a transport with me?"

Bill put his empty drink glass on the bar. "I live close enough that I'm walking, but I'll be glad to call a transport and wait with you."

"You don't mind?"

"Well, ta-ta," Ellen said. "It's been fun. I look forward to the next time. Good ambrosia, John. Goooood ambrosia." She made an exaggerated wink at John and had a spasm of giggles.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it."

Laura and John walked with them to the door. "Goodnight, everyone."

As soon as the door was shut she breathed a huge sigh of relief. Laura walked back into the den and kicked off her shoes. "What a night. I'm glad it's over. What did you men talk about?"

John loosened his tie and unbuttoned the top button of his shirt. "You know Ellen Tigh is almost obsessed with the Cylons. She must have asked Bill a dozen questions about Cavil. Bill was polite, but I could tell it was beginning to get on his nerves. Tigh couldn't shut her up even though she was sitting on his lap the whole time."

"Poor Saul."

"A woman like that brings out the worst in any man. When he's with her he's under her spell and when they're apart, he spends all his time wondering who she's doing."

"You mean _what_ she's doing?"

"No, I mean _who_ she's doing. Bill and Saul are coming over here tomorrow night."

"Why?"

"Bill wants us to talk and he wants Saul involved. Saul is functioning as his eyes and ears among the battlestars."

"But not Ellen. Please, gods, don't tell me I have to entertain Ellen while you men talk."

"No, Ellen's not invited. We want to talk about the plan. I think Bill's finally ready to admit he needs help with some parts of it."

"Should I find somewhere else to go, then?"

"Bill didn't say anything about not wanting you here. He probably knew I wouldn't go for that."

"That's good…because I don't like to be run out of my apartment…our apartment."

John smiled and teased her gently, "You know you said _our baby_ a long time before you said _our apartment_."

Laura started laughing. "Dear gods, did I?"

…

Kara and Lee sat in the student union at a small table. Karl and Sharon were dancing.

"How is rooming with Sharon going so far?" Lee asked.

"Fine. She and I are getting along fine."

"Any thoughts on what we discussed about her that night after the celebration dinner?"

"No. I don't even know what I'm supposed to be looking for."

"None of us do."

"The only thing that gave Leo…the other Cylon…away is that I shot him at the lab that night and then there he was at the book…at the place where he works. Even after I went in and talked to him, I still kept thinking I'd made a mistake. I even asked him if he had a twin brother. He seems so…normal. Just like Sharon."

"Look at her dancing with Karl. You're right, they look normal."

"Karl really likes her. He told me. If she turns out to be a Cylon, it will kill him. How's that Cylon-detector test coming?"

"It's on hold for right now. They've got Dr. Baltar working on something else."

"What's more important than a Cylon detector?"

"Finding the cure for some kind of virus."

"Oh, yeah. _That_ virus. Have you talked to your dad?"

"Not yet."

"He's at a dinner party tonight that Laura and my dad are having. They invited Mrs. Nagala for him. My dad said your dad needed a dinner partner."

"Great. I'm happy for him."

Kara rolled her eyes. "You don't sound like you're happy."

"What do you expect me to say? My mom's been gone, what, three months? I'm sure he's ready to get right back into the social scene. He sold the house fast enough. I'm sure he's already forgotten her the same way."

"You're not being fair to your dad. My mom died and I didn't get all bitched up when my dad married Laura."

"He didn't do it three months after your mom died, either. It was more like three years."

"It wouldn't make any difference if your dad waited three years. You'd still be mad at him."

"Let's drop this. I don't want to talk about it. What did you do in the simulator this week?"

"The third week and I finally got to fly Colonel Burgher's kindergarten sim...after my dad made me do twenty minutes of boring drills."

"So you finally got to fly."

"I finally got to fly. My dad made me do the sim twice."

"No crashes?"

Kara snickered. "The computer deducted a couple of points on the first landing because I started it too soon but I knew that barrel was coming. I gave it just the right amount of vertical thrust and got over it. My dad was like, _okay, I know you've done this before_. So he ran it again and that time he left the barrel thing out and it almost frakked me up since I was expecting it. I almost gave it vertical thrust anyway, but I didn't. I had a perfect landing."

"No points deducted?"

"No points deducted. My dad tried to act cool, but I could tell he was impressed. He was like, _all right don't go getting cocky on me_."

"Did you know Burgher has a sim that no cadet has ever been able to fly?"

"You told me that last weekend. I asked my dad."

"What did he say?"

"He just smiled and said, _what's the fun of something no one can fly_?"

"I didn't say no one's ever flown it. I said _no cadet_ has ever flown it. Your dad's probably flown it. He flies all the sims before the cadets do."

"You should have known better than to tell me that."

"Sets you on fire, doesn't it?"

"Just for that you have to dance with me. Come on. It's a nice slow one."

"You know what that's going to do to both of us, don't you?"

Kara pulled him to his feet and put her arms around his neck. He put his arms around her waist and they began moving to the music.

"Now I get to embarrass myself. You are so going to pay for this."

She put her cheek against his. "Is that a promise?"

…

Laura answered the door on Sunday evening to Bill Adama and Saul Tigh. The colonel walked ahead of them into the den.

"I guess you saw Fiona safely away last night," Laura said to Bill.

He smiled. "She walked back to the apartment with me and we had a drink. Then I called a transport for her. She loves the historic district."

Laura tried to read his look but couldn't.

Bill lowered his voice. "Tigh is ashamed of Ellen's actions last night, but don't expect an apology."

"How does his self-esteem handle it?"

"He's used to it."

"Do you men want me to retire to my bedroom while you discuss your military plan?"

"No, Laura. We'd like for you to stay. John and I both do and Saul will get used to it."

They walked into the den where John handed Bill a drink. Tigh already had one. Laura took her favorite chair.

John looked at Bill. "You want to get things started. I believe this is your show."

"To bring you up to date, Tom Zarek's men found a small vein of labradorite on Tauron and we now have enough to finish manufacturing the jump keys for the battlestars. That's the good news. The bad news is that the _Nautilus_ was able to recover only one nuclear warhead from the sunken military transport ship in the North Sea. I was counting on three. My plan was to deliver the nukes to three of the battlestars and have them target three of the four basestars. We would get the coordinates of the basestars, jump two battlestars apiece on top of them, fire the nukes and then jump away before they exploded. The eight remaining battlestars could then jump into Caprica's atmosphere and take out the resurrection ship. That's not going to work, now, though, with only one nuke. I'm open for any suggestions."

"We can't manage to manufacture a couple of nuclear missiles?" Tigh asked.

"Afraid not. We have the knowledge. We can't get our hands on the fissionable material. No human can get within a mile of any installation that uses nuclear power. We can't even get near the old radioactive dumping sites. So no go on making any more nukes."

John asked, "What if you took out the resurrection ship with a conventional weapon? What if there was a way to get a small, conventional weapon aboard, get it near enough to the ship's own reactor…and set it off?"

Tigh chuckled and said, "How do you propose to do that? Have someone stroll on board carrying a bomb?"

"I think we'd have to get one of them to help us."

Tigh snorted. "One of them? One of the Cylons?" He looked at Laura. "How much did he have to drink before we got here?"

Bill said, "I'm listening."

John said, "Here's my question. If we could do that, get a bomb on board close to the basestar's reactor, would it work?"

"It would work. You've got an idea or you wouldn't have said anything." Bill looked at Laura. "Do you know what he's talking about?"

She shook her head. "All of this is news to me."

Bill looked back at John. "Out with it."

"I might know where to locate another Cylon. Another skinjob. It's just possible this skinjob might be willing to help us."

"Gods damn it, man," Tigh said. "You know where there's another skinjob and you kept your mouth shut? What are you? Some kind of Cylon lover?"

"Watch it, colonel," John said. "You don't want to go there."

"Gentlemen," Laura said. "Colonel Tigh, you should know better than to call my husband a Cylon lover. A Cylon tried to kill me and very nearly killed him."

"Back off, Saul," Bill said. "If John's kept quiet until now, he's got his reasons."

"I'm trying to figure out a way to verify it. Until I do that, I'm not saying anything."

"How did you come by this information?" Bill asked. "Is it reliable? Do you trust the man who gave it to you?"

"I'll just put it this way…I got it from someone who belonged to the same Thursday night triad club I used to belong to. I believe it's reliable. I'm working on verification of the information. What I need you to tell me is exactly how big an explosive you think we'd need to take out a basestar's reactor and could one person carry it."

"I'll get some engineers working on it right away," Bill said.

"One other question. Do you think it's possible to get…to capture…whatever you might want to call it…a Cylon Raider intact? I know that a Raider flies with every military ship on every training exercise. We need to capture one."

"Capture a Raider?" Laura asked. "Do you mean shoot one down?"

"No, we can't shoot one down. We can't tip our hand to the Cylons that we have weapons yet. I know it sounds crazy, but if we could get our hands on one, maybe we could reverse engineer its…brain…for lack of a better word. If not, maybe we could figure out how its transponder works…whatever it is that lets the Cylon basestars know it's a Cylon."

"I see where you're going with that," Bill said and Laura heard an edge of excitement come into his voice. "Everyone just assumed it was impossible to do, but maybe…just maybe. Let me ask my engineers about that, too."

John said, "If you could hit it in just the right place with an electromagnetic pulse and screw up its programming, you might be able to force it to land if it was closer to the planet than to its basestar. I think if we could get one of them to ditch in shallow water…like out in the bay, we could salvage it and…okay, I know it's crazy. It would probably never work."

"No. I like it. Let me get with my chief engineer and see what he thinks."

Laura looked at Saul Tigh. "How is morale aboard the _Galactica_?"

Tigh snorted. "It's been better. How is your little project with Dr. Baltar coming?"

Laura looked questioningly at Bill and he answered. "I filled Tigh in on what we've found out so far."

"I haven't spoken with Dr. Baltar since last weekend. He communicated to Bill that the measles vaccine we asked him to test was tainted with the engineered virus. The results are on the President's desk right now. We expect him to act on it before the end of next week. We're fairly certain he's going to shut down CapGen Labs."

"The trouble is," Bill added, "that it may be years before we have a clue how widespread the damage that was done. As soon as the plant is shut down, we'll begin testing everything made out there. Then maybe we can get an estimate of how many people…how many women were infected."

Saul got up and helped himself to another drink of ambrosia. "It makes me wish we could go backwards…back before all this germ warfare or whatever the hell the Cylons have done. I liked it better when a fight was straightforward…when you faced your enemy like a man…when you didn't have to worry about some gods damned skinjob slipping something into a vaccine given to schoolchildren."

"If word of this gets out," Laura said, "there will be panic on Caprica. Parents will stop allowing their children to be vaccinated against anything. Think of how vulnerable that would leave us against all those childhood diseases we've almost eradicated through our vaccination programs."

"There will have to be a cover story," Bill said. "As much as I despise lies of that nature, Laura's right. We can't allow it to get out. We'll have to come up with a cover story as to why CapGen is being shut down."

John also got up and poured another drink. "What are you going to do if Cavil refuses to let the President close the plant?"

"He won't stand in the way. The Cylons are still holding most of the cards. He won't push the issue yet."

"The hybrid child was born," John said. "A boy. He's fine. The surrogate let them take the child as agreed. He's gone to adoptive parents. Lissa didn't know where or who."

Laura looked at him in surprise. "When did you find that out?"

"Friday. I talked to Lissa. She's agreed to keep me informed of what's happening on that project. They've got six more hybrids on the way…all still in the first trimester, but looking good so far."

Bill said, "Dr. Baltar has reluctantly agreed to try to find out whether the Cylons have a cure for the engineered virus or not. I think he's going to string us along for as long as he can. I think he's not only under the spell of that skinjob, I think he's afraid of her, too."

Saul finished his second drink. "Like I said, I prefer a straightforward fight. I like to look at my enemy and know he's my enemy."

"I'm afraid those days are over, my friend," Bill said. "We still don't have a clue how many skinjobs there are. You could be sitting right beside one these days and not know it."

"A scary thought, isn't it?" John said.

"Keep working on your theoretical Cylon," Bill said. "I'll talk to my engineer about the other ideas. Now, Saul and I are leaving. He's going back to the _Galactica_ on tomorrow's personnel transport and Ellen threatened to have my hide if I kept him a minute longer than necessary tonight."

Laura walked them to the door. When she came back into the den, John immediately said, "I didn't want to tell you what Lissa said on Friday because I knew you had the dinner party on your mind, and today, I quite honestly forgot about it until we started talking."

"It's all right. Why haven't you mentioned the other things to me…knowing about another Cylon and using it to get a bomb onto the resurrection ship…and the idea about capturing a Raider and taking it apart?"

"Because none of those were my ideas exactly."

"Whose ideas were they…exactly?"

"Lee and Kara came up with the one about using the Cylon…and the other one…that was Kara's idea. That was my daughter and her totally out-of-the-box way of thinking about things."

"You didn't mind taking credit for them, though."

"Think about it a minute. How seriously do you think Bill would have taken it if I started by saying, _My seventeen-year-old daughter has a way-out idea I'd like for you to listen to_? Bill would have shut me down right then. Tigh would have, too. Believe me, if any of this works, you can bet I'll give credit where it's due."

"Do you really think it's possible? Could it really work?"

"In theory I think it could. Bill's engineers will tell us if it could be implemented in any kind of practical way. Just think about it. If we could get a Raider and engineer it to fly remotely, we could load it with explosives and send it right into the landing bay of that basetar."

"When did Kara tell you about her idea?"

"Thursday after she did her thirty minutes in the simulator. Lee told her last weekend that Colonel Burgher had a sim that no cadet had ever been able to fly."

"Does he?"

"He does. It set her on fire. We started talking about Cylon Raiders, and she said it was a shame we couldn't figure out a way to _catch one_, I believe is how she put it. I asked her what she would do with one if we caught it, and she said _take it apart and find out what makes it tick_. We laughed about it, but then she said maybe we could build one just like it. It started me thinking."

"Are you going to let her try to fly the colonel's impossible sim?"

"When she's learned more. Maybe at the end of second term. She can't handle it yet. It's way too advanced for her."

"How do you know? Have you flown it?"

He grinned. "What do you think?"

"And how did you do?"

"Crashed and burned on the first run. The killer part is that it's timed. One little mistake anywhere in the sim and you run out of time because a mistake throws you back to the beginning, but the timer keeps going."

"And on the second run?"

He smiled. "I nailed it with eight seconds to spare. One thing I've always been able to do is learn from my mistakes."

…

Kara broke the silence in Lee's bedroom. "Laura and John are expecting us to meet them for dinner at Channing's in thirty minutes."

Lee lay on his back still breathing hard. "Lords of Kobol, Kara, I can't move. There's no way I can take a shower, get dressed, and get us over there in thirty minutes."

"What a little wimp," Kara grinned. "I'll take a shower first. You lay here in bed and rest. You need to get yourself in better shape." She leaned over and kissed him. "Riding that desk for Major Parker has made you soft."

"Riding a desk is not what did it. I think it was that third time in an hour and a half that did it."

"Are you complaining?"

"No complaints. I understand now why you skipped over Friday night when you were telling me what we were going to do this weekend."

"Because you would have spent all week fantasizing about it."

"Go. Shower. Just don't use all the hot water."

Kara snickered. "Yeah, for once you don't need a _cold_ shower, do you?"

"The way I feel right now, I'll never need a cold shower again."

Kara got out of bed and stretched before heading for the bathroom. "Did I mention we're going on a picnic tomorrow?"

"Where?"

"To North Lake Park. Ever been there?"

"No. Why are we going there?"

"Somebody told me about it. The lake has an island in the middle. We're going to rent a sailboat."

"Rent a sailboat? I don't know anything about sailing. My dad is the sailor in the family. Do _you_ know anything about sailing?"

"No, but how hard can it be?"

"Are you sure you don't want to rethink this picnic?"

"Nope. I told my dad to make sure the bike was ready. I think he's been riding it some. Laura would have a fit if she knew."

"We're taking the bike?"

"All the way. It's supposed to be sunny and eighty degrees tomorrow."

"Then I guess I'd better get back here tonight in time to make sure my last will and testament is in order."

"Oh, funny. You're almost as funny as my dad."

"And a hundred times funnier than mine," he said.

Kara smiled. "You say that every time."

…

They took the I-6 Motorway north out of the city. Six miles on the freeway and they exited onto the S-52, a four-lane secondary road. Kara was struck by a sense of déjà vu. Seven miles up the S-52 she turned onto a narrower two-lane secondary road, the S-419. It wound into the hills over the city and would take them to the park. She saw the sign up ahead, the sign to the dirt road, service access road 1192 where she had come the night she and her dad and another guy had taken out the Cylon lab, the night she'd gotten shot.

She was still accelerating as she passed the sign, a flash of blue in her peripheral vision. She was surprised at the sudden wash of memories and was glad it was a bright and beautiful autumn day instead of night.

"You need to slow down," Lee shouted above the sound of the bike's engine and the wind whistling past their helmets. "We haven't got a Raider on our tail."

Kara eased back on the throttle. He was right. The car chasing them was all in her imagination. They were alone on the road.

Ten miles later she saw the sign for North Lake Park and carefully pulled into the gravel lot. She moaned. It looked like half of Caprica City had decided to do the same thing today. The parking lot was almost full. To make matters worse, the island was closed to visitors.

"Rented to a wedding party," the guy at the boat dock told them.

"Somebody rented the whole island?" Kara asked.

"Yep. Some rich dude's daughter is getting married in the big gazebo. We're ferrying people across starting after lunch. Nobody is out there now but the people who are setting up the tents for the catering and doing the flowers and stuff."

"What's the going rate for an island?" Lee asked.

"For the whole day and night like this, fifty thousand cubits."

"Fifty thousand!" Kara said in shock. "Fifty thousand cubits when they could do it at a big temple for a few hundred?"

"By the time they pay the caterer and all the rest of it, it'll end up costing them a hundred thou easy, more than that if you throw in the cost of the bride's dress and putting up all the guests at the lodge a mile from here. Maybe a hundred twenty-five, thirty thou, maybe more. You'd be surprised by how often this island gets booked for big weddings. This is the third straight weekend."

"Somebody on Caprica is still making money," Kara said.

"Has it always been like this?" Lee asked.

"Naw. Twenty, thirty years ago my dad rented sailboats here. The island was mostly wilderness. A few camp sites, trees so thick you couldn't see the sky once you was twenty feet from shore. It was a great spot, nice and private like. Now it's commerce central. That's progress for you."

"So can we still find a place to have a picnic?" Lee asked.

"Sure. Walk around the lake a mile, maybe two you might find an empty spot. But don't go too far into the woods."

"Why not?"

"It ain't safe."

"Why is it not safe?" Lee asked.

"A couple of rival gangs started hanging out here a few months back. They've robbed a few picnickers who've got off away from the shore and other people."

"So this is not the spot if you want privacy?" Kara asked.

"Nope, it's sure not. You'd be better off renting a room."

They walked over a mile along the trail by the lake before they found a small grassy spot that someone else hadn't already claimed. Kara unzipped the backpack and took out the sandwiches and canned soft drinks.

"The drinks are probably warm by now."

Lee pulled the ring on his drink can without comment.

"What?" Kara said.

"I'm wondering what we're doing here?"

"Having a picnic."

"No, I mean here. I've never heard of this place. Who told you about it?"

Kara shrugged. "I heard the island was a nice romantic place for a picnic. I guess it was a long time ago."

Suddenly Lee knew. He just knew. "Laura and my dad."

"Yeah."

"Damn, Kara. What are you trying to do? Live their memories?"

"Eat your sandwich." She took a sip of her drink and lay back on the grass. "It seemed like a good idea at the time. I just wish we could have gone out to the island."

"What difference would that have made?"

"I don't know. Forget it. We'll leave after we eat."

He lay back on the grass beside her. "It's okay. It's nice here. I could do with a nap."

They stayed at the park for several hours, napping, talking and occasionally kissing. In the late afternoon as they walked back toward the parking lot, they heard the faint strains of a band playing out on the island.

"Nice day for a wedding," Kara said as they walked hand in hand, "if you're into that sort of thing." She expected a smart remark from Lee but got nothing.

On the way back into the city Kara impulsively turned off onto the service road she had taken on that frigid night many months earlier. She rode slowly until she reached the dip in the road. She stopped the bike, raised the visor of her helmet and turned to Lee.

"This is where I got shot."

"What are we doing here?"

"Reliving my memories this time. My dad calls it _exorcising ghosts_."

"Isn't this private property?"

"It's a service access road for a couple of mobile phone towers."

She rode slowly down the road. The three stones were still stacked at the entrance to the path. She carefully turned the bike down it.

"Where are we going, Kara?"

"You'll see."

She rode all the way to the clearing where she stopped and had Lee get off before she turned the bike around and switched off the engine. She unfastened her helmet and walked through the woods looking for the place she had lain on the ground and fired the rifle that night. She finally found it.

"There, right there is where I was when I…I shot them." She was surprised that after all this time her voice faltered.

"Are you okay?"

"It just feels weird, that's all…like it was some sort of dream."

"Come on. Let's go back. The sun will be going down soon. It's already getting cooler."

Together they walked back to the bike. Suddenly Kara grinned and unzipped her leather jacket. She took it off and threw it on the ground. The t-shirt came over her head next.

"What the hell are you doing, Kara?"

She sat down on the ground and started untying her boots. "What does it look like I'm doing?"

"It looks like you're taking off your clothes."

She pulled her boots off and stood. She unzipped her jeans. "Come on, Lee."

"You can't be serious."

"Why not?"

"You want to…to…do it here on the ground?"

"No, here on the bike."

"I don't believe you. We can't do it on the bike."

"Why not?"

"We might get caught."

"By what? A squirrel? Come on, Lee. Show me what a bad boy you can be."

"You're insane, Kara. You're way past insane."

She was down to her underwear before she went over and put her arms around his neck and kissed him. In less than a minute he was more willing. She unzipped his jeans. He was definitely changing his mind.

"Get on the bike," she said. "Just like this."

By that time he wanted her as much as she wanted him. He sat on the bike and helped her onto his lap. She wrapped her legs over his. She was panting as she asked him. "You like…being a bad boy?"

"I…love…being a…bad boy…with you."

Yes, oh yes, this was how it was supposed to be. This was who she was supposed to be with. The dream faded, everything faded except her and Lee, here and now on the bike.

As the rays of the setting sun cast the clearing in a soft, fiery light, Kara held tightly to Lee, riding the tide of pleasure to its climax, exorcising more on that golden afternoon than the ghosts of a long ago winter night.

TBC…


	45. Special Mission

Chapter 45

Special Mission

_During the fourth year of Cylon occupation, President Adar announced that he would not seek a second term in office. Several candidates immediately declared their intentions of running for the office including Scott Michelson, the Secretary of Transportation and three members of the Quorum of Twelve. At the time Adar deferred his endorsement of any of them as his successor. _

_-Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War_

Lee Adama pulled his car, the car that had once belonged to his mother, into the parking garage of Laura and John's apartment building and carefully nosed into a visitor's spot. Something was going on…he just didn't know what. John had been vague when he had called Lee at work that morning and asked him to come over after dinner on a Wednesday night.

He hoped it didn't have anything to do with Kara. She seemed to be doing all right at the Academy. At least she told him she was doing okay. Lee racked his brain trying to find a reason for tonight's invitation and finding nothing that stood out for him, he finally got out of the car, locked it and rode the elevator up to the lobby.

He went to the front desk and the doorman checked his name before he went back to the elevator. The doorman pressed a button that released the elevator and Lee was able to ride to the eighth floor. John answered the doorbell. He was still in his uniform.

"Come in. I just got home. Laura's in the den. Talk to her while I change clothes."

Lee walked into the den. Laura was sitting in a comfortable chair. He had not seen her in two weeks, not since the weekend that Kara had been home and they had met at Channing's. Lee and Kara had been only ten minutes late. Lee had taken the blame, saying he'd been delayed at work. It wasn't a complete lie. He had left five minutes late, but he also knew neither John nor Laura bought it. They were just nice enough not to call him on it. Lee knew that John and probably Laura, too, had recognized the post-sex glow that he and Kara both had.

Laura smiled. "Hello, Lee. Get a drink if you'd like one. You know where we keep everything. I'd get one for you, but getting out of this chair once I sit down is becoming more of a chore every day."

"How are you, Laura?"

"Feeling like a whale with a month to go."

"You don't look like one," Lee said. He went to the cabinet, opened it and poured a small glass of ambrosia.

"Go ahead and pour one for John if you would. I know he'll want one. And pour a straight whiskey, please."

Lee put the stopper back in the bottle of ambrosia. "I take it the whiskey is not for you."

"No. It's for your father."

Lee took a deep breath. He didn't turn around and he didn't pour the glass of whiskey. He felt like he had been punched in the gut. With his back still to her, he picked up the glass of ambrosia. "Could I ask what this is all about?"

"I'd rather John and your father explained it. I'm not a military person."

Lee finally turned around although he looked at the drink in his hand instead of her. "I don't like being blindsided. You and John should have known better."

"The reason John asked you to come over tonight is not to try to get you and your father to patch things up. They have another reason…something to do with your father's plan. But you shouldn't keep carrying a grudge," Laura said gently. "It's as hard on you as it is on him. Life is too short, Lee. Bill loves you."

"Meaning no disrespect, Laura, but my relationship with my father is not your business or John's either."

"Lee, there is something far more important at stake now than your personal feelings. It's time for you to put the past behind you. Bill is more than willing for the sake of what needs to be done."

"Thanks for the drink," Lee said. He started to leave.

John stood in the doorway rolling up the sleeves of his white shirt. "Sit down, Lee. Or are we going to have to find another pilot for this mission?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Your dad is going to explain it to you. I'm not asking you to get all teary-eyed and have a love fest with Bill. You can stay and find out what we've got in mind…or leave. It's up to you."

"I just got through telling Laura that I don't like being blindsided."

"This wasn't Laura's idea. It was mine. So if you have something to say, you say it to me. Make your choice, Lee. If you stay, you treat your father with the respect that's due his rank and his experience. Or you go now and we find another pilot to train for a special mission. I won't have you stay and act like a jerk."

Lee sat down. "Why don't you tell me how you _really_ feel?"

John went over to the bar and got his drink.

Laura could feel the tension between the two men. "I know I'm not involved in this the way you two are, but may I say something?"

"Sure," her husband said.

"Lee, John loves you like a son, and you're his best friend, but he's got a great deal of respect for your father. They're friends, too. From the time your mother died, he's been trying to juggle the two relationships. That hasn't always been easy for him. We all need to move forward. To do anything else is…counterproductive. We have a common enemy. We should be fighting them and not each other."

Lee finally nodded before he took a sip of his drink. "What happened to the Siren's Kiss?"

John grinned. The tension broke. "I hid it before the dinner party we had a couple of weeks ago. I didn't want Ellen Tigh finishing what little is left. I'm saving that for a special toast."

Lee saw him look at Laura and knew what John was saving it for, the birth of their son. "I hope there's enough for me to be included in that toast."

"You and Kara both."

The doorbell rang. Without a word John walked out of the den. Lee felt his stomach lurch.

"It's all right, Lee," Laura said softly. "Your father loves you. Please give him a chance."

Bill Adama walked into the den. The first thought Lee had was that his father had lost weight. The second was wondering where the silver in his father's hair had come from. It wasn't there at the funeral…or he hadn't noticed.

Lee stood. "Dad."

Bill stopped. "Son."

Neither one seemed to know exactly what to do.

John walked to the bar. "Let me get you a whiskey, Bill."

"Make it a small one," Bill said. "I've got some paperwork to finish tonight when I get back to the apartment."

"Please have a seat," Laura said.

Bill sat on one end of the couch. "How are you, Laura?"

She smiled. "Getting bigger by the day and still a month to go."

"Are you still working?"

"Of course she is," John said. "None of us can get her to slow down. I told her she might as well just have the doc come to the office and deliver the baby so she can get right back to work."

Laura smiled and gave him a look. "He exaggerates, Bill. I have slowed down."

"By slowing down she means she comes home before dark most evenings."

"Not to add to things, but Adar still thinks you should run for the Presidency next year. He doesn't think you would have any serious competition. He's going to announce soon that he's not seeking a second term."

"President Laura Roslin," Lee said. "I like it. What would that make you, John? First Man instead of First Lady?"

"Funny, Lee."

"So what's this special mission you need a pilot for?"

John gestured to Bill. "First your dad is going to catch you up on what's happened so far with part of the plan. Then we'll talk about the mission."

For the next ten minutes Bill Adama talked about the progress of part of his plan to rid Caprica of the Cylons. He ended by saying, "We think it's possible to shoot down a Raider, without firing a traditional weapon at it. My chief engineer studied the problem and has come up with something. He's rigged an electromagnetic pulse generator that he thinks can be fitted into one of the Viper's wing roots where the kinetic energy weapon usually goes. He's scaled it down to fit in the same casing and given it almost pinpoint accuracy. They're working on a mounting now that will hold it all in place. It should be ready in a month."

"The purpose being?" Lee asked.

"To shoot down a Cylon Raider by disrupting its programming," John answered. "Screw up its electronic brain and cause it to crash or land. We won't know for sure until we give it a try."

"What good is a crashed Raider going to do us?"

"We're going to try to lure it to a low altitude and crash it into the bay," Bill said. "We don't think the Cylons will try to retrieve it."

"And then what?"

"We retrieve it and try to reverse engineer it," John said. "What we'd really like to find out is the way it signals the base star that it's a Cylon ship. If we could duplicate that, we'd have an easier time getting something on board."

"Something? You mean like a bomb?"

"Exactly."

"And you want me to be the pilot who fires this…electromagnetic pulse beam at a Cylon Raider and gets it to crash into the bay?"

Bill nodded. "I want someone with a high level of skill that I can trust."

"It may take more than one try," John said. "The engineer is going to have to guess at the strength of the pulse since none of us really understands Cylon technology. Too much and we could damage the ship beyond getting anything out of it. Wipe its brain clean so to speak. Too little and it just shakes its head and flies away, after it shoots you down, of course. If the engineer errs, we want it to be on the _too much_ side on the first try."

"This mission won't be without danger, son. If the Raider thinks you're going to open fire on it, then it could shoot you down before you disable it."

John said, "We think if you lure it out over the bay while you're on a routine training mission, you might be able to stall it long enough to pinpoint the spot on its _head_…for lack of a better term…to fire the pulse weapon. We think if you aim at the eye…its red eye…that would be the place to hit it. But we don't know that for sure."

Bill Adama finished the small drink. "We're not asking for an answer tonight, Lee. Think about it. If you decide to help us, then I'll clear it with Major Parker without telling him the exact nature of the mission."

"My answer is _yes_," Lee said. "Both of you should have known it would be _yes_."

John said. "Colonel Burgher is helping me and we're programming a practice sim for you."

"A sim?" Lee snorted. "You don't think I can do this without practicing it in a simulator?"

His father looked at John and then back at him. "This has never been done before. It's not like you're going to be able to see the electromagnetic pulse as you fire it. But John is certain they can program a sim that will show you exactly how to line up on the Raider. The minute you go head-to-head with it, you're not going to have but a second before it will start firing at you. You don't want to miss. You _can't afford_ to miss."

John grinned. "If you'd like, I can have Kara test it and see if she thinks you can handle it."

"Right," Lee said. "I'll bet she'd love that."

Bill stood. "I'll leave you two to talk about the sim. I need to get back to my paperwork."

Laura pushed herself up from her chair. "I'll walk with you to the door and let John and Lee talk."

"Goodnight, John." Bill said and then added hesitantly, "it's good to see you again, son."

Lee nodded. "Dad."

Bill and Laura walked into the foyer. "I think all things considered that went very well," she said to him.

"I'll admit I had my doubts he'd stay and hear me out. I'm glad I was wrong."

"Are you really sure you want him to fly this mission?"

"No father wants to put his child in danger, but Lee is the best man for the job. He's a good pilot. You flew with him back from Sovana. You know how careful he is. He'll do it right. And I can trust him. _We_ can trust him."

Laura couldn't stop herself from asking. "Have you seen Fiona since our little get-together two weeks ago?"

Bill smiled. "We had dinner together Saturday night. She asked me."

Laura smiled as well. "I'm glad. You need to get out more. You work too hard. Fi is a very nice woman."

"Yes, she is."

Their eyes locked. _But she's not you._ Did his look really say that or did she just imagine it?

"Goodnight, Bill."

"Goodnight, Laura. Think about slowing down, will you?"

She smiled. "When you do."

She closed the door behind him. As she walked back into the den and took her seat, Lee was saying to John, "So Kara is doing okay in the simulator?"

"She's doing great. We had to work on her attitude at first. She's too eager…she wants to get ahead of herself. She resented having to do all the drills. She still resents it because that's the way each session starts. She just wants to get in that cockpit and fly."

"The drills are worth it," Lee said.

"That's what I keep telling her. It was Kara's idea, you know, to bring down a Raider intact if we could….her idea to pick its brain and its transponder apart."

"Does my dad know that?"

"Not yet, but we'll have a conversation one day soon and I'll tell him. I'm glad you two…are speaking to each other. It's a start."

Lee shrugged. "He looks tired."

"He's looked tired since the day I met him, over four years ago, back there on the _Galactica_," John said.

"He hadn't slept much for days by the time you came on board. You didn't look so hot, either, especially with that cut under your eye. Of course that didn't bother some people."

Laura looked up. "Oh, really? Who might that have been?"

"Thanks, Lee," John said.

"Sorry. I wasn't thinking."

John gave Laura a sheepish look. "I met Lissa on the _Galactica_. She was working as a medical technician for Doc Cottle."

"And how long was it before she put her boots outside your door? My guess is less than twenty-four hours."

Lee looked at John. "I didn't tell her about that. I swear."

Laura smiled. "No, I can't let Lee take the blame for that. You both seem to have forgotten that I'm acquainted with someone else who served on a battlestar."

John gave Lee a warning glance.

"Not that I've ever been on a battlestar," she continued, "but I was curious about how something like that is done. I asked."

Lee had a brief flash of being in a bunk with Kara. Wishful thinking or a vision of the future? He stood. "I'm heading home. John, give me a call when you and Colonel Burgher have that sim ready."

"It's almost ready now. Could you come out after work on Friday afternoon…about 16:00?"

"I'll be there," Lee said.

"Good. I'll leave word at the gate."

"John can see me out, Laura. You don't need to get up again."

When John walked back into the den, Laura teased him. "Is a battlestar where you learned to be so quiet while you make love?"

He shrugged. "Is that a complaint?"

"Absolutely not. Isn't it a bit strange, thought, doing that in your bunk with other pilots in the same room?"

"The bunks have heavy privacy curtains."

"There's still not much privacy, though, is there?"

"That's why it's an unwritten rule. You do it as quietly as you can. There's always somebody trying to sleep…and you don't want to rub it in that you're getting lucky. So no, it's not too private, but at the same time, you mostly don't care."

"I'm sure you got lucky often."

"We need to quit talking about this."

She smiled. "Why?"

He took a deep breath. "Why do you think?"

"Because you're thinking about…getting lucky?"

He nodded. "And I know we can't."

"The doctor will tell me when we have to stop. I know I'm not as…versatile as I was or as attractive to you."

"Why do you keep going there? You are as beautiful…and as attractive to me as you've ever been." He walked over and took her hands and helped her to her feet. "You're more beautiful."

She leaned up and whispered to him, "Do you remember when we were in the shower a month ago and you were behind me?"

"That's not something I'll ever forget. Are you saying…?"

She put his hand on her belly. "Our son is sleeping right now and you're so quiet when you make love that I'm sure you won't wake him up."

...

Kara's left leg was aching as she jammed the thruster pedal toward the firewall and pulled the Viper simulator through a tight turn in pursuit of the Raider that had just passed her. She had missed the shot, missed hitting it and now she had to finish the job. As she completed the turn, though, she saw she was in trouble. Instead of one Raider, she was now facing six coming at her from all directions. She got four of them before one got her and the sim screen went blank.

She sat in the cockpit burning with fury and embarrassment. "Do I have time for another try?"

"Not today," her father said. "You want to tell me what you did wrong?"

"Besides getting blown out of the sky?" She asked, her voice still shaking.

"There are no second chances up there. The simulator is for learning so let's critique it. Pull it apart for me and tell me where you made your mistakes."

"I should have hit the Raider the first time, but when I missed, I should have kept going. I should have stayed with my wingman and waited until we could both turn together. Then it would have been two against six instead of one against six."

"You're exactly right. Your wingman is not just a decoration. You fly together for a reason."

"I'll try to remember that."

"No, you _will _remember that. There may come a time when you're forced to take on seemingly unbeatable odds. But don't ever do it unless there's no other way. You're no good to the fleet if you get yourself killed. Remember that. Now climb out of the Viper. We're through for today. You're already a sim ahead of the rest of your class. You'll get another chance at this one next week."

Kara climbed down the steps. She was suddenly aware of her sweaty t-shirt under her uniform as she stood in the cooler air outside the simulator's cockpit. During the last two weeks the sims had gotten harder. As her father was shutting the computer system down, she walked over to the desk on the far side of the room.

"It just gets to me when I frak up like that."

Wordlessly he put his arms around her. It had become a ritual for them. No matter how her session in the simulator went, she got a hug from her father.

"Don't worry, baby. You're getting this better than anyone else. You're better than any other cadet I'm teaching and I'm not saying that just because you're my daughter."

She stepped back and grinned. "It's probably because my old man was some kind of hot-shot Viper pilot during the First Cylon War. He was kind enough to give me some good genes."

"Guess who's going to be out here tomorrow afternoon?"

"Who?"

"Your one and only."

"Lee? Why is he going to be out here?"

"He's going to fly a mission for us in about a month. Colonel Burgher and I wrote a training sim for it."

"A mission? Like what?"

"You remember your idea about capturing a Raider and picking its brain apart?"

"Lords of Kobol, Dad. You didn't take that seriously, did you? I was just joking."

"This is classified and I probably shouldn't be talking about it. Bill took it seriously enough to figure out a way to do it…in theory of course. Lee is going to fly the mission."

"How? What's he going to do?"

"He'll fly a special Viper fitted with a modified electromagnetic pulse generator where the kinetic energy weapon is usually housed. He's going to scramble the Raider's brain somewhere out over the bay. We hope it won't break up on impact and that we can get something out of it after we retrieve it."

"Why Lee? It's dangerous. Why him? Can't somebody else do it?"

"We trust him and he volunteered. He could always have turned us down."

"But something could happen to him. He could…get…he could…" Kara couldn't finish her thought aloud. It still ran through her mind. _He could get killed. _

"Kara, every pilot takes a chance every time he or she goes up. It's an understood risk."

"But this is different. This is taking an _extra big chance_."

"It's an important mission. We wouldn't have asked Lee if we didn't think he could handle it."

"So does that mean he's talking to his father?"

"They may never have a close relationship, but they are speaking to each other again. Now, he'll be here at 16:00 tomorrow. I can't let you in while he's flying the sim because it's classified, but we should be through by 17:00. If you want to drop by and see him for a few minutes after he gets through, I'll find a reason to go up to my office or go see Colonel Burgher."

Kara grinned. "You're the coolest dad in the whole world…sir."

"And you're the coolest daughter…Cadet Thrace."

...

Friday afternoon Lee walked to the door of Major Parker's office at exactly 15:30. "I'm leaving for the Academy, sir. Have a nice weekend."

"Thank you, lieutenant. Good look with Project Broken Moon."

"Yes, sir."

Lee had learned the official name of the mission only a day earlier when his father had called telling Lee that he had cleared an early leave time on Friday with Major Parker. Parker didn't know the exact nature of the mission, only that Lee needed to spend some time at the Academy.

He walked out to the parking lot and his car. Normally he rode the subway out to the base rather than fight the motorway traffic, but since he was going out to the Academy today, he had driven. His thoughts were on the mission and the sim he was going to fly, but his thoughts were also on Kara. John had called him last night and told him that he had given Kara permission to visit the sim room after Lee finished. He would get to see Kara tonight, maybe even kiss her.

He drove the short distance up the I-6 Motorway before he exited onto the wide boulevard that looped back toward the city and led to the Academy. Driving on the I-6 made him think of the Saturday two weeks earlier that he and Kara had gone on the picnic. He still wasn't sure why she had wanted to do something his father and Laura Roslin had done so many years earlier, but he couldn't think of the ending to their adventure without the inevitable twist of desire in his gut.

Not a day had gone by since then that he hadn't thought of them naked on her motorcycle in a small clearing in the woods far above a Cylon lab with the setting sun turning everything gold around them. He would never have dreamed they could have done it like that or that it could have been so good.

Now as he approached the gates to the Academy and slowed down, he forced his thoughts back to the present. Ten minutes later he was on the second floor of the Math and Sciences Building and outside John's office a few door away from Colonel Burgher's. The colonel was sitting inside talking to John.

Because he was in uniform, Lee came to attention.

"At ease. Come on in, Lee." John gestured to the other chair in the small office. "Shut the door."

Lee sat on the edge of the chair. "I talked to my father this morning. He's pleased with the progress his engineer has made. We're still on schedule to do this mission near the end of November."

Colonel Burgher said, "I got the specs for the, uh, weapon, by courier from your father's engineer last week. John and I think we've come up with something that will help you prep for your flight. We've modified one of the standard Raider confrontation sims, toned it down since the Raider won't be in a combat-ready position in the beginning, and we've turned the KEW weapon into a beam of light something like a laser so you can get a feel for aiming it."

Lee was suddenly overwhelmed by the enormity of what they were going to do and what was expected of him. "Yes, sir," was all he could manage.

John smiled. "Conrad did most of the programming on this sim. He worked on it through the weekend. I'm still learning."

"Have either of you flown it?" Lee asked.

"I have," John said. "Hitting that red eye dead-on is tricky. It took me a couple of run-throughs before I could do it consistently. Timing's an issue, too, but we knew that from the beginning. If you wait a second too late, the Raider will nail you. Go too soon and miss and it will nail you, too. But don't worry. You'll get a feel for it."

Lee took a deep breath. "That's easy for you to say. You've flown plenty of combat missions."

"You'll do fine, Lee," Colonel Burgher said. "You're welcome to come practice in the simulator as often as you'd like when the cadets aren't using it."

"Thank you, sir."

"Come on," John said. "Let's go downstairs before you freak yourself out even more than you are now."

On the sixth run of the sim, Lee finally managed to hit the Raider just a few inches from the red eye. On the first five tries he had missed it by more than a foot each time. Twice he'd missed the Cylon altogether because he'd aimed high.

He heard John's voice. "Again?"

"No, I need a minute." Lee climbed out of the cockpit and walked around.

"You're too uptight, Lee. You're over-thinking. You need to relax and trust your instincts."

Lee clenched and unclenched his fists and rolled his shoulders. "That's easy for you to say. It's not your mission."

"Hell, I'd love to fly this mission, but I'll never get clearance to fly a Viper again because of the leg, even though the one I have now is as good as the real one…maybe even better. Rules are rules."

"I know you'd nail it. Have you let Kara try the sim?"

"No, I haven't let Kara try the sim."

"Are you going to?"

"This is a classified mission, Lee. Kara's not part of it."

"You think she could do it?"

"Do I think she could fly the mission? Of course not. The closest she's come to flying a real Viper is this simulator. Do I think she could fly the sim? Probably. She's good, Lee. My daughter is good."

"I believe it. I can tell just by the way she rides that motorcycle. She has grace and a feel for riding. It's almost like she becomes part of the machine."

"That's exactly what I'm talking about. You need to quit thinking and become part of the machine, part of your ship. Now get back up there in that cockpit and don't over-think it. We'll do the sim one more time tonight and then we'll quit."

Lee climbed back into the simulator. He thought of Kara and the way she rode the bike. He relaxed. The sim started. He saw the Raider off his starboard side. He banked toward it. The Raider turned with him. He tightened the arc of his turn. As they came face to face he slowed his speed and fired. The narrow beam of light that represented the magnetic pulse shot out. It hit the Raider squarely on its red eye.

_Yes_, he said to himself. Yes! Yes! Yes!

"Perfect," John said. "Now get out of the cockpit. You want to quit today on a good run. I know you're tired. You need to come back and do this every week until you fly the mission."

Lee climbed from the cockpit, his adrenalin still pumping. He was smiling.

"I bet you didn't think I could do it."

"I knew you could do it. You've just got to learn to trust your instincts as much as you trust your instruments. Now you need to wait here for a couple of minutes. I've got to go upstairs. I'll be gone about half an hour. I'm sure somebody's waiting outside the sim room to see you. You know if you leave, the door will lock behind you. You won't be able to get back in. But then neither will anybody else."

As John went out the door, Kara came in. Lee heard the door click shut. Kara was in his arms in seconds. He didn't know if she had ever felt this good against him before. Without a word he kissed her hard and felt her response fire his blood.

He pulled the uniform shirt out of her trousers and got his hand against her skin. He heard the sharp intake of her breath. They stood like that for a few minutes, their hands eagerly exploring.

"Where?" She whispered.

He glanced toward the cockpit.

"It's not going to be as easy as it was on the bike," she grinned. "Maybe over at the desk with you sitting in the chair would be better."

"I like a challenge. I think I'm up for it today."

"Oh, yeah, you're definitely _up_ for it. After you," she said.

He could hardly wait to feel her, but she was right. It wasn't as easy as he had thought. He refused to give up, though, and they finally found the right position with both of them facing forward, Kara leaning back against his chest.

He groaned as he entered her. It was almost too good from the beginning. He tried to think of something, anything to make it last longer. He felt her hands on his thighs, felt her fingers dig into his muscles, finally heard her choked cry.

"I love you, Kara," he managed to say as he gave in to the feeling, "I love you."

The back of her head was against his shoulder. A few moments later he found her mouth. The adrenalin edge was finally gone. His breathing slowed and he kissed her gently.

"I love you, too, bad boy," she whispered. "Do you think anybody's ever frakked in Colonel Burgher's simulator before?"

"I never heard about it if they did."

"Don't you just love being the first?"

"More than you can imagine."

They were dressed and sitting beside each other on the front row of the amphitheater when her father returned. Lee had his arm across the top of her seat. To look at them he was sure John wouldn't realize what they had just done.

"You know, I think I forgot to turn off the closed-circuit camera. I hope you kids didn't get too frisky."

Lee saw Kara's eyes widen. "Closed-circuit camera."

John grinned. "Just kidding. The camera's out in the hallway…pointing at the door."

Kara stood. "You get funnier every day, Dad. I guess I'd better be going. I've got to be in the chow line in fifteen minutes with Lieutenant Orders-Must-Be…Lieutenant Sydell."

"How are things going with you and the lieutenant?" Lee asked.

Kara shrugged. "She's still watching me like a hawk."

"Good," her father said. "It'll keep you out of trouble."

"Get Lee to tell you how he frakked my CO. He won't talk to me about it."

They walked to the door and John checked it to make sure it was locked behind them.

"Which one was she?" John finally asked Lee.

"Which one?" Kara said in surprise. "There was more than one?"

"Thanks, John," Lee said. "Is this is payback for what I said to Laura the other night?"

"How many more don't I know about?" Kara asked.

"Tomorrow night. We'll talk tomorrow night. I'll be at your dorm at nineteen hundred. You're going to be late for dinner. Go."

He watched as Kara jogged across the quad. He remembered how he had lined up with his classmates for chow his first term at the Academy. No, she didn't want to be late.

Lee and John walked toward the parking lot.

"You did good today, Lee. You're going to do fine on this mission."

"If I don't, it won't be from lack of practicing. Someday you need to let Kara try the sim."

"I'll probably do that."

"You need to let her try to fly Burgher's impossible sim, too."

"When she's ready. We're still working on patience and discipline…unlike some people I know."

...

The following Thursday as Kara left the Math and Sciences Building after her weekly simulator class with her dad, she looked at her watch. No, she wasn't later than usual. The days were getting shorter and the temperature colder. She had not worn her jacket and jogged across the quad and all the way to her dorm to keep warm. The room was dark when she opened the door, and she wondered for a moment if Sharon was still in the shower.

She pushed the light switch. Movement at the foot of Sharon's bunk caught her eye. She jumped.

"Lords of Kobol, Sharon, what are you doing sitting on the floor in the dark like that?"

Sharon was wearing her bathrobe. Her hair was wet like she had come from the shower. She was sitting in the small three-foot space between the foot of her bunk and the door of her small closet. She had her knees pulled against her chest.

"He raped her," Sharon said.

"What?"

"Captain Reider."

"Captain Reider raped somebody? Who?"

"A girl in my PE class."

"Captain Reider raped a girl in your class? In front of everybody?"

"They were in the equipment room. I found a soccer ball on the jogging trail and I returned it. I walked to the door. He was so busy on top of her that he didn't see me."

"How do you know he was raping her? Was she fighting? Was she screaming or something? Maybe they were just doing it."

"She wasn't fighting. She was just laying there while he did it to her. She was crying."

"What did you do?"

"Nothing. I walked away."

"Did she see you?"

"No. I should have done something. I should have stopped him. I knew there was something creepy about him."

"Look, Sharon, even if it wasn't rape, he was still way beyond the red line. You know how we got that talk about the red line. There's not supposed to be any kind of stuff like that going on between an instructor and a cadet…even if they both want to do it. Reider was doing something he shouldn't have been doing no matter what."

"I don't know what to do." Sharon rubbed her forehead. "I know it was beyond the red line, but it would be his word against mine. What if I'm wrong?"

"If the girl talked…if she came forward…"

"She's not doing very good in class."

"So you think she was getting her grade another way? I'm going to tell my dad."

"No!" Sharon stood. "You can't! I'm afraid Reider will find some way to get me kicked out of school. I've got to finish…I've got to learn to fly a Raptor. Nothing can interfere with that. You've got to promise me, Kara. Promise me!"

"But Reider shouldn't be allowed to get away with it. If he really raped her, he should go to jail or something. At the very least he should be fired."

"Promise me," Sharon said. "Not a word to anybody. I'll talk to her. I'll see if I can get her to go to Colonel Winters."

"All right. I promise. Now you'd better get dressed. We've got to be in line for chow in six minutes. You don't want to give Sydell a reason to bust us. Mid-terms start next week and then we get a week away from this place. You don't want to spend it walking off demerits on the quad."

Sharon got up and shed her robe without the least bit of hesitation as she quickly pulled on underwear and her uniform. Kara had noticed Sharon's lack of modesty before. She acted like she had spent time in one of the refugee camps.

Standing at attention in the hall a few minutes later, Kara couldn't stop thinking of how wrong it was for an instructor to use his power to coerce a cadet into having sex. Sex for grades. And the students who did it were called _grade grubbers_. She'd heard it happened everywhere. She suddenly wished she hadn't promised Sharon to keep quiet. Guys like Reider needed to be stopped. He needed to be stopped before he did it again.

Sharon stood at attention beside her, their shoulders nearly touching, as Lt. Sydell walked by them. Kara knew Sharon's eyes were straight ahead as were her own. She also knew Sharon was thinking about Reider as well. Were the laws of the Colonies programmed into Cylons or was some attempt made to program them with morality? How did you program morals? How did you program a knowledge of right and wrong?

Kara suddenly thought about Leoben. If she asked him, would he tell her?

...

Friday at 12:30 Laura's desk phone buzzed. Tory said, "Mrs. Nagala is here."

"Send her in," Laura said. She had been surprised on Monday when Fiona had called and asked her to have lunch on Friday. Laura had accepted and said she would make reservations somewhere nearby for them.

Fiona was dressed in a conservatively cut plum-colored suit accessorized with a beautiful silk scarf in shades of purple, lavender and magenta. The word _hickey_ immediately came into Laura's mind. Surely not.

"What a wonderful office," Fiona said. "Mine at the Academy isn't much larger than your desk."

"Neither is John's. Please come in and sit down. I have reservations at the Capital Club for one o'clock. Would you like some coffee or tea?"

"Thank you. I'll wait. I had several cups of coffee this morning."

"You don't have classes on Friday?" Laura asked.

"I finish at eleven. I usually keep office hours the rest of the day and use the time to prepare my lessons and grade papers. Mid-terms start next week."

"I taught school for several years before I entered public service," Laura said. "I remember mid-terms and finals very well."

"I wondered about your background," Fiona said. "So it was in education?"

"Yes."

Fiona gestured to a framed picture on Laura's desk. "May I?"

Laura handed the framed eight-by-ten photograph to Fiona. It was her favorite of all the pictures the wedding photographer had taken. She and John were dancing, looking at each other. Even with the heels she wore, John was still half a head taller than her.

"This is beautiful. Where was it taken?"

"At our wedding reception."

"I've never seen two people look more in love. You are very lucky."

"Thank you," Laura said softly. "I wasn't even aware the photographer took that picture until we got the proofs. It was instantly my favorite. I think John has the same picture on his desk at the Academy."

"I've never been to John's office…never even been in that building. How long have you been married?"

"Since April. I'm sure you can do the math. I was almost three months pregnant at our wedding."

"All the more reason to be in love."

"You said you had met Bill at your wedding."

"Almost twenty years ago on Picon. Theo was at Fleet Headquarters. Bill had just gotten an appointment to his staff. He was there for two years before he was posted back to the _Galactica_ as her CAG. Theo was very fond of Bill. He had a great deal of respect for him. Bill moved up quickly. He's going to be promoted again, but I'm sure you already know."

Laura looked at Fiona in surprise. "Bill is going to be promoted?"

"To Admiral. You didn't know?"

"I saw Bill just last week. He came over to meet with Lee and John. He didn't mention anything about a promotion."

"Bill is very modest and unpretentious. And then again, maybe I shouldn't have said anything yet. It's not going to happen until January. He probably wouldn't have told me, but I asked him if he shouldn't be in line for another promotion."

Laura smiled to cover the hurt she was feeling. She and Bill had been close friends for the last four years and he'd told Fiona of his promotion first.

"When did he tell you?"

"Last Saturday night. We had dinner and went back to his apartment for a drink. I'm afraid we sat up far too late talking. Chuck was pacing the floor when I got back to the house. He thought something had happened to me. Now that I have a full-time job, I'm seriously going to think about getting my own place."

"You don't have a mobile phone?" Laura asked in surprise.

"It was turned off."

"Well, I'm…very happy for Bill...about the promotion."

"You're hurt that he didn't tell you first."

"No, of course not."

"Yes, you are. I know that twenty years ago Bill was in love with someone other than his wife. He…thought about divorcing, but he had an infant son. My husband was his CO and his friend. Bill talked to Theo about it on more than one occasion. Theo shouldn't have, but he told me. I didn't know who the other woman was until I met you. I knew as soon as you looked at him for help with Ellen Tigh during the dinner party. I saw it in his eyes."

"I wasn't _the other woman_," Laura said coolly. "My relationship with Bill ended before his marriage…by his choice. We didn't see each other for many years, not until we served together on the negotiating team. We've become very close friends since then."

"Ah, but you know what our romantic poets say, a man never forgets his first love. And neither does a woman."

"I've moved on," Laura said. "Bill made a choice over twenty years ago and he made the same choice four years ago. It wasn't me either time."

"Have you ever thought there might have been a reason?"

Laura suddenly smiled as she felt the baby move. "Right now I wouldn't change my life for anything."

Fiona put the picture back on Laura's desk. "I'm very envious of you."

"You're very forthright."

Fiona laughed. "Outspoken is more like it. My father was a linguistics professor at Libran University. He was also the faculty advisor of the Debate Club. He encouraged me from the time I was a little girl to speak up…within reason, of course."

"You were a daddy's girl, too?"

"I certainly was."

Laura glanced at her watch and pushed herself to her feet. "We should go or we'll be late for lunch. I think we might have a great deal in common...besides being daddy's girls."

"Something more than Bill Adama?" Fiona asked with a mischievous look.

"More than Bill. When are you seeing him again?"

"Saturday night. We're going to dinner. I would ask you and John to join us, but…" Fiona left the sentence unfinished.

"No, you're perfectly right. Bill needs to…he needs to move on."

Fiona smiled. "Are you having a boy or a girl or do you know?"

"A boy."

"The moment your son is born, the rest of the world will cease to exist for you for a while. Even Bill Adama."

"Then I leave Bill in your capable hands," Laura said.

"Oh my," Fiona said. "Couldn't you have found another way of phrasing that?"

Both women laughed as they walked out of Laura's office.

"That's a lovely scarf," Laura said.

"Thank you. It covers my wrinkles very well."

...

The last Friday in October, Kara and Lee sat in a booth at Zeno's. She had finished her mid-term exams that afternoon. She had the entire next week free before she had to report back to the Academy. Sharon had gotten a discount on a trip from the travel agency where she used to work, and she and Karl were going to a beach south of Delphi for the week. Kara was jealous.

"I'm sorry I couldn't get off," Lee said. "But with this mission coming up in two weeks, I couldn't."

"It's okay. There'll be other times. The mission...are you sure you won't rethink..."

"Kara, we've been over that a hundred times. I'm going to do the mission."

"Okay. No more questions about the mission."

"How do you think you did on your mid-terms?"

"I know I did good on Basic Flight. I knew every single question on the exam. My dad didn't give a mid-term exactly. He's averaging the scores of all our sims to come up with a grade."

"That's what Colonel Burgher always did."

"I did good in that, too. The rest, I don't know. I guess I'll see when I get back."

Kara glanced at the door. Frogman had just come in alone. He passed her and Lee on his way to a booth in the back. She knew he recognized her, but he didn't acknowledge her. He was still following resistance protocol.

"I'll be back in a minute," she said to Lee. "I need to speak to somebody."

"Your former contact in that exclusive club you and your dad belonged to?"

"He's a nice guy."

"Should I be jealous?" Lee grinned.

Kara snorted. "He's as old as my father." She got up, walked to the back booth and sat down across from Frogman.

"Hi. Waiting for someone?"

Frogman gave her one of his rare smiles. "How are you?"

"Studying hard. I'm at the Academy now. I'm going to be a pilot like my dad."

"I see you're dating one of the Adama brothers."

She smiled and nodded.

"Does he know about what you did before?"

"He knows. I told you we could trust him. We're really all on the same side."

"I'd like to think so."

"You'll see. Well, I just wanted to say _hi_. You're not getting ready to blow something else up, are you?"

Frogman smiled again. "Good luck with your career as a pilot. Give my regards to your father."

"Thanks. Maybe I'll see you in here again sometime."

As Kara walked back to the booth she and Lee were sharing, she saw Mrs. Nagala come in the door. Tonight instead of one of the business suits, Mrs. Nagala, or Mrs. Peele as Kara guessed Frogman would call her, was wearing black jeans and a heavy black sweater. Her dark hair was down around her shoulders instead of pulled back like she wore it in class. In the dim light she looked younger and a lot sexier than she did at the Academy. They passed each other just before Kara sat down. Mrs. Nagala acknowledged her with a smile but didn't speak.

"Frogman's _date_?" Lee asked.

"That's Mrs. Nagala."

"You're kidding. _That's_ the admiral's widow? He must have been about twenty years older than her."

"And she's not dating Frogman. That's business. She's dating your dad."

"Oh, great," Lee said. "You and your dad quit your…involvement with Frogman's group and now my dad is seeing somebody who's in the same situation."

"She probably told him. If he keeps seeing her, then that's his decision."

"I wonder if Colonel Winters knows?"

Kara shrugged. "She's not an operative. She's just a messenger. That's all she does. She carries information."

"My dad still needs to know."

"It's not up to you to tell him. I trusted you with something. You're not going to betray me, are you?"

"No, Kara. I'm not going to betray you."

"Good, because I want to go back to your apartment with you tonight."

"And that's contingent on me keeping my mouth shut?"

Kara grinned. "It's hard to kiss with your mouth shut, isn't it?"

Lee shut his eyes for a moment. Kara knew exactly how to distract him. He thought about the picnic again and the Viper simulator.

"How long is it going to take you to finish that beer?"

"It's getting warm, anyway. Let's go."

Lee threw several cubits on the table. "You talked me into it. Isn't my bedroom going to seem a little tame after a simulator cockpit?"

"I'll settle for it. It's a lot more comfortable."

"So, no bad boy tonight?"

"I didn't say that."

...

Kara got up early on Saturday morning. She knew she could sleep in today, but the thing Sharon had told her about Captain Reider had been on her mind for the last two weeks. She had asked Sharon only once if she'd seen the girl that Reider had raped or coerced into having sex. But Sharon had said the girl had not been in PE since the incident.

Kara dressed and went into the kitchen. She got juice from the refrigerator and a bagel that she smeared with honey and sat at the kitchen table and ate. Then she found the pad that Jennet used to make her grocery list, tore out a page, and wrote a note for her dad or Laura, whichever one of them got up first.

_Gone for a ride on the bike. Be back before lunch. Kara _

She went back to her bedroom, pulled on a heavy sweater, got her black leather jacket, her gloves, helmet and the keys to the bike. She rode over to MediFirst. Jack was in his office. He was glad to see her, and they sat and drank coffee and talked for nearly an hour.

He told her that the emergency deliveries had slowed down a great deal since a new pharmaceutical manufacturing plant had been completed near Sovana and hospitals could now stock more drugs. He said he envisioned a day in the future when emergency deliveries might dwindle to a few per day. They were still delivering to the clinics, though, and picking up the unused drugs in the evening. He said crime in some sections of the city was worse than ever.

The biggest news Jack had, though, was that Galen Tyrol had quit and joined the military. Jack said Tyrol had been in a relationship with a young woman and it had ended because she didn't want to marry him. Tyrol had just finished basic training and was soon going to be posted to a battlestar on the deck crew.

Kara could tell Jack was sorry to lose his chief mechanic and a young man whose skill and knowledge he had grown to respect.

A little after nine o'clock she told him she'd kept him long enough and that she would come back to see him over winter break. She told him she loved having her own bike.

Nine thirty found her parked on the street outside Leoben's bookstore. The bookstore opened at nine. She sat on the bike for a few minutes trying to make up her mind. She felt almost like she had the first time she'd come here, a week after she'd been shot. She knew her father would be furious if he knew where she was. Lee would be furious, too. She took a deep breath and got off the bike.

The bell tinkled as she opened the door. She looked around. The bookstore seemed to be deserted. Then Leoben walked out from a door in the back with a coffee cup in his hand.

Kara walked over to the counter. For a few moments he simply looked at her. Finally he said, "How long have you known?"

She looked at the floor before she looked back up at him. "From the beginning."

"What beginning?"

"I met you in the camp. And then I saw you…a couple of places here in Caprica City. You said you'd never been to Antioch. You said you didn't have a twin brother. There were a couple of other things, too. How long have you known?"

"I knew for sure that day you and your father came in. Before that it had been flashes…strange memories…a place with red lights…a bathtub full of goo. And not being able to remember my childhood. Just the last couple of years."

"Why are you running this bookstore?"

"I don't know. I live a simple life. I sell books and talk to people."

"Haven't any of the…others…ever contacted you?"

"No. Why didn't you turn me in? Why didn't your father?"

"I made him promise not to."

"Why?"

"Because my destiny is somehow linked to yours. I don't know how. I don't understand it, yet. The Oracle told me."

"The Oracle told you that our destinies are linked?"

"Yeah."

"She called me by name?"

"No. She said the one who didn't know what he was. At the time you didn't."

"After you left that day with your father, I kept waiting for someone to come. I kept waiting for a bullet or a bomb or being tied to a chair in a little room."

"You'd just resurrect and come back."

"It's called downloading. When this…body dies, our consciousness…our memories download into another body."

"Up on the the resurrection hub?"

"That's right."

"Why don't you have a place down here on the planet where you can download?"

"I don't know. Maybe there is a place like that."

"How do you know right from wrong?"

"The law?"

"No, anybody can read about laws. How do you know what's right and what's wrong?"

"You mean like morality?"

"I guess that's what I'm asking. Like there's no law against lying to someone, but it's still wrong."

"How do _you_ know what's right and wrong?"

"My mother taught me. But you didn't have a mother. How do you know?"

"I guess it was put into my mind at some point."

"You mean your programming?"

"I can't think of it like that anymore than you can. Did your mother program morality into you?"

"No. She taught me."

"What's the difference how you come by a set of morals?"

Kara couldn't think of a way to answer him. "Do you think what you did was right…killing all those humans?"

"What did we do that humans haven't been doing to each other for many thousands of years?"

"My dad said the difference is that you were going to wipe out the whole human race."

"That would never have been my decision…not my choice."

"But Cavil would do it."

"He didn't, though. He stopped before he did it."

"Only because he wanted to figure out a way to make hybrids and he needed our help. At that lab outside the city, they made a baby that's half-human, half-Cylon. It was born a few weeks ago. The mother gave it up and the Cylons took it somewhere."

Kara saw Leoben's face harden. "You're sure about that?"

"I'm sure. Cavil also had a virus made that keeps girls from having babies. He had another Cylon put it in vaccines given to little kids."

Leoben shook his head. "I don't believe that."

"It's true. My dad thinks the only way a woman will be able to have a baby in the future is to get implanted with a hybrid or a pure Cylon since Cylons can't make babies."

Leoben repeated. "I don't believe it."

"Laura said it's just another way for you to commit genocide."

"Me?" Leoben said angrily. "Why do you keep lumping me in with the ones who have done this? If what you're saying is true, I didn't make any of those decisions."

"But you're one of _them_. If it came down to the wire, you'd side with _them_. You'd side with your own kind."

"You're sure about that?"

"Do you believe what they've done is wrong? Morally wrong?"

She saw the inner struggle reflected on his face. Finally he said, "Yes."

"Why don't you go see the Oracle and see what she has to say?"

"What if she can tell…what I am? What if she tells somebody?"

Kara shrugged. "I didn't think about that."

"You'll have to go see her for me. You said our destinies were linked."

The bell over the door tinkled and an elderly couple walked in.

"Maybe I'll do that. I'd better go."

"You'll come back, won't you?"

"When the time is right. When I know something."

"I'll be waiting."

TBC…


	46. Project Broken Moon

Chapter 46

Project Broken Moon

_During the fourth year of the Cylon occupation, the government quietly reopened an investigation into the disaster that had claimed over three thousand lives on the mining colony of Troy two years prior to the Cylon attack. No definitive conclusions were ever reached as the bulk of the research conducted by the Colonial Federation of Mines was on the Colony of Scorpia when it was destroyed during the Second Cylon War. _

_-Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War_

On Sunday morning Laura woke up early with a backache that did not go away even as she carefully rolled over in the bed. She shifted several times trying to get comfortable with no success. She looked at the clock. Five thirty in the morning and still dark. She sat up.

"Is something wrong?" John said softly.

"I woke you. I'm sorry. It's my back." As she sat there the first mild contraction gripped her. "Oh."

"What?"

"A little twinge."

"A pain?"

"A little one."

"Should we go to the hospital?"

"Not yet. I need to see if it happens again."

"Lay down. I'll rub your back."

She felt his hand against the small of her back. She lay on her side and he pulled the covers over her shoulders. She grew warm and relaxed as he gently rubbed her tight muscles. She was almost asleep when another mild contraction gripped her. Even though she knew she shouldn't, even though her childbirth classes had taught her she should breathe through a contraction, she still held her breath.

"Another one?" John asked.

"Yes."

"Bad?"

"Not too bad."

"We should go to the hospital."

"Not yet. It was over twenty minutes since the first one. I don't want to go too soon. They'll just send me home."

"I'd like to take this opportunity to remind you that I don't know anything about delivering babies and neither does Kara."

"I'm not due for another nine days. And you went to every single childbirth class with me."

"So I could hold your hand and tell you to breathe, not deliver the baby."

"Let's get up and get you some breakfast and we'll go for a walk."

"A walk? It's barely light outside and it's cold."

"By the time you eat, the sun will be up, and we do have coats."

"I don't believe this. You're in labor and you want to go for a walk?"

"I'm not absolutely certain I'm in labor, and yes, that's what I want to do."

An hour later as they circled the block for the second time, Laura had a stronger and longer contraction eighteen minutes after the last one. She stopped and clutched John's hand. At least she remembered to breathe this time.

"That's it," he said. "We're going to the hospital whether you want to go or not."

When she could speak again, she said meekly, "All right. You talked me into it."

When they got back to the apartment, Kara was in the kitchen. "Where have you been? I didn't think you would go to the hospital without leaving me a note."

"We were out walking," John said. "And now we're on our way to the hospital. Wait here, Laura. I'll get your bag."

"The baby? But it's not the sixteenth."

"Tell your brother that," Laura said as she put her hands on the kitchen counter to support herself. The backache that had disappeared almost completely gripped her again.

"I'm going with you," Kara quickly said and stuffed the last of a piece of toast in her mouth.

"You might be stuck there all day. My contractions aren't that close yet."

"I don't mind sitting in the waiting room. Somebody we both know has been trying to teach me patience."

John came back into the kitchen and handed Laura's bag to Kara. "Come on, let's go." He took Laura's arm.

"He doesn't always practice what he preaches," Kara said.

"Watch the mouth," her father snapped.

Several hours later, Kara called Lee. "Guess where I am?"

"Where?"

"The hospital."

"Oh, frak, what happened?"

"Nothing happened. Laura got admitted a couple of hours ago. I'm probably going to get a brother today. I'm in the maternity waiting room up on the second floor."

"You want some company?"

"I'd love some company," Kara said. "I've already looked at every magazine in here, even the ones about babies. All I can say is I'm glad it's not me."

Lee got there forty-five minutes later. Laura was in the private wing of the maternity floor at Caprica University Hospital. There was no one else in the waiting room when he walked in.

"How is she?" Lee asked.

"My dad came out a few minutes ago. The nurse midwife said she's doing fine…whatever that means."

"How is John doing?"

"He's…I can tell he's nervous. Laura won't take anything for the pain yet, and I can tell it's freaking him out. He can't stand to see her hurting."

"Your dad knows something about pain."

"That's why it's getting to him so bad."

Lee took Kara's hand. "How are you doing?"

"Fine. I'm good. I'm learning patience."

"What are they going to name the baby?"

"They argued about it for the last month. Laura wanted to name him after my father. Dad said he doesn't want a junior because a kid should have his own identity, so I think they're going to name him Braedon which was his father's name and Stewart which was her father's name."

"Braedon Stewart Gallagher. I like it. Do you want anything to eat or drink? There's a little café at the other end of the hall. I know because I turned the wrong way when I got off the elevator."

"Yeah, let's go grab a bite. I'm sure this is going to take a while."

...

"You're doing fine," the nurse midwife said to Laura as another contraction ended. "Have you made a decision on the epidural? I'll send for the anesthesiologist. It will take her about fifteen minutes to get here."

"Not yet."

"Please," John said. "You don't need to do this. Please, take the painkiller."

"It's not you having this baby. It's me. It's my decision. I haven't touched anything since I found out I was pregnant. No alcohol. No aspirin. I don't want anything."

John looked at the midwife. "How about giving it to me, then? Damn, this is killing me watching her go through this."

The midwife smiled as she took a cold cloth and wiped Laura's face. "Is he going to pass out on us?"

"I hardly think so. He's no stranger to hospitals…or blood or pain."

"It's different when it's my pain," John said.

An hour later Laura was beginning to regret her decision to refuse the epidural. The pain was almost constant now, the contractions so hard she was having trouble breathing through them. She was sure she had crushed John's hands she had been squeezing them so hard. Her doctor walked in and conferred with the midwife before he checked her. If he told her she was doing fine, she was going to scream. He didn't tell her anything other than to push.

Ten minutes later their son entered the world and cried almost immediately.

"Fine set of lungs on that one," the midwife said.

Laura collapsed back against the pillows on the bed and shut her eyes.

John still had her hand and she felt him bring it gently to his face where he kissed her palm. She was too exhausted at the moment to open her eyes.

"Seven pounds fourteen ounces, twenty-two inches long," she heard the midwife say. "He's going to be tall, like his father."

Five minutes later her son was placed in her arms and Laura understood what Fiona had meant when she said the rest of the world would cease to exist for her for a while. She had never seen anything so beautiful in her life. She had made it through the entire birth without shedding a tear. Now they filled her eyes and spilled over. She ran her fingers gently over her son's silky brown hair.

"There, dear," the midwife said as she pulled a small blue cotton toboggan on the baby's head. "We don't want him getting cold."

"He's got blue eyes," Laura said. "Dark blue eyes."

"Most babies do have blue eyes," the doctor said. "In four to six months you should have a better idea of what color they'll be."

"I want them to be green." Laura looked at John. "You'd better go tell Kara. And please go get something to eat. You've been with me all day. It's late afternoon."

...

Kara sat cross-legged on the couch, her shoes on the floor. "It's taking a long time for Laura to have the baby. I hope nothing's wrong. What time is it?"

"Ten minutes later than it was the last time you asked me."

"So it's what? 5:30? Sorry, 17:30?"

"That's right."

"What if it takes all night?"

"I don't think it will take all night."

"Oh, you're suddenly the expert on having babies. When I was in the camp I heard about this woman who was in labor for three days."

Lee shook his head. "I'm sure all kinds of stories went around the camp…true or not."

"Oh, so now you're an expert on the camp, too?"

"Lords of Kobol, Kara, chill out. Laura is getting the best of care, and I could do without the arguing right now. The mission has been moved up. It's on go for tomorrow."

"Tomorrow? And you're just now telling me? When did you find that out?"

"My dad called me right before I left to come here. It's going to rain tomorrow. There will be a low cloud cover. That will work in our favor. Nobody will be able to see what we do. The less interest we generate the better."

"Tomorrow," Kara repeated. "Are you ready to do it tomorrow?"

"As ready as I'll ever be. I think I've gotten the hang of aiming the pulse generator."

"You think?"

"I've got it."

"So you're just going to take off like it's a normal mission?"

"Just like normal."

"And then you're going to shoot down a Cylon Raider over the bay?"

"That's the plan."

"Can I come out to the base tomorrow?"

"No."

"Why not? If Laura hadn't had the baby, my dad was going to be there. He said he was going to be in the Comm Center at the base when you flew the mission."

"Your dad is in the military. I know it's the reserves, but it's still the military. You're just a cadet."

"Is your dad going to be there?"

"I doubt it. He's got better things to do."

"What better things? What better things than seeing how his son flies the most important mission of his career? Your dad put this whole thing together."

"With a lot of help from his chief engineer and your dad and Colonel Burgher."

"It was my crazy idea. Don't you think that gives me a right to be there?"

Before Lee could answer John walked into the waiting room. Kara had never seen him smiling like he was. "Seven pounds, fourteen ounces, twenty-two inches long, born at 4:44. Kara, you can go back and see Laura for a few minutes. And see your little brother, too. I'll sit here with Lee."

"Why can't Lee go, too?"

"Because when I left, Laura was still feeding the baby."

"Oh," Kara said. "Yeah, I don't guess you want Lee looking at Laura's boobs."

John rolled his eyes. "Go see your little brother, smart mouth. Room 2402."

Kara was grinning as she got up and left the waiting room.

"Congratulations," Lee said. "How does it feel to be a dad again?"

"It hasn't sunk in yet. We weren't expecting it to happen quite this soon.

"My dad called this morning. The mission has been moved up to tomorrow because of the weather."

"Damn. I'm sorry, but I won't be able to be there. If Laura and little Braedon do okay, we'll be going home tomorrow after lunch."

"That's okay. I understand."

"I'm going to stay here tonight, so will you take Kara home?"

"Sure, John. Kara wants to come out to the airbase tomorrow."

"I can understand why. Your dad could probably arrange it. I'm going to call him in a few minutes to tell him about the baby. He asked me last week to let him know. Do you want me to ask him about Kara being there?"

"Why not? If I frak it up, she'll find out soon enough."

"You're not going to frak it up, Lee."

"Tell my stomach that."

...

Kara knocked lightly on the door of room 2402 and then went in. Laura looked up and smiled. "Come in," she said softly.

Kara walked over to the bed and looked at the baby in Laura's arms. Her brother now appeared to be sleeping. "He's so little."

"Not so little," Laura said. "Almost eight pounds. Do you want to hold him?"

"You trust me with him?"

"Of course. Just support his neck."

Gently Kara lifted her brother from Laura's arms and Laura buttoned the front of her gown. He opened his eyes briefly, the tiny fist coming to his mouth. "I held a couple of babies in the camp. Sometimes when I was doing laundry one of the mothers would ask me to hold her kid. Most of them carried their babies in some kind of sling made out of material."

"Now you can buy the same thing for several hundred cubits in the high-end baby stores. I'm sure they made theirs from a few cubits worth of material."

Kara lifted the edge of her brother's cap. "I see brown hair."

"Like your father's. Braedon's eyes are blue now, but I hope they change. I hope he has yours and John's beautiful green eyes."

"He's got to have something from you," Kara said as she handed her brother back to Laura. "If he's lucky, he'll have your brains."

Laura smiled and Kara thought of what the Oracle had said, that her brother would map the stars on the way to Earth. He'd need brains to do that. She started to tell Laura and changed her mind. Now was not the time.

"Have you talked to Lee?"

"He's here with me, out in the waiting room. John wouldn't let him come back here because he thought you were feeding Braedon."

"He's welcome to come back now if he wants. I'm going to try to sleep before Braedon is awake and hungry again."

"Lee's flying the mission tomorrow."

"So soon? I thought it wasn't for two weeks."

"It got moved up. They're ready and the weather is going to cooperate."

"I definitely need to wish him luck."

Kara went back to the waiting room and brought Lee back with her. John was on the phone.

"Wow," Lee said. "He's…really…a pretty baby."

He didn't know what else to say. Most babies looked alike to him...not that he'd seen that many of them.

"Thank you," Laura said. "So tomorrow is your big mission."

"Yes."

"Nervous?"

"A little bit."

"Well I certainly wish you luck. I'm sure you'll be successful."

"Thank you."

John walked into the room. "I called Bill. I called Colonel Burgher and Colonel Winters and I talked to Fiona like you asked. She wants you to call her tomorrow after we get home or the next day, whenever you feel like it. I forgot to call Billy and Tory. I'll do that in a few minutes."

"We'd better be going," Lee said. "Congratulations to both of you."

Kara hugged her father, holding on to him longer than usual. The love they felt for each other was all there in the hug. She knew her dad had a son now, but she also knew it would never take anything away from what he felt for her.

"You'll always be my little girl," he whispered and his voice caught.

She nodded, not trusting herself to speak.

As she and Lee walked to the parking deck of the hospital and Lee's car, he took her hand. "John asked my dad about letting you come out to the base tomorrow."

"And?"

"He's going to call me later tonight."

"What time do you take off?"

"I'm usually in the air by 9:00 for a routine training mission. We're not going to deviate much from that. I went out to the base after I got off work on Thursday and looked at the Viper. Just looking at it you can't tell it's been altered in any way."

"That was the general idea, wasn't it? Make it so the pulse generator isn't detectable?"

Lee's mobile phone chirped and he looked at the caller ID. "My dad. I didn't expect him to call this soon."

"Answer it," Kara said eagerly.

He did. After listening a few moments he turned to her. "He wants us to meet him for dinner at Channing's tonight. Are you game?"

"Sure. Why not?"

"Yeah, Dad. We'll be there." He ended the call. "I haven't seen him since that night two weeks ago at your dad and Laura's. I've talked to him a couple of times, but we haven't seen each other."

"It's about time, then," Kara answered.

Commander Adama was already seated at a table when they arrived at the restaurant. As they walked up to the table, he stood. He was casually dressed in dark green fatigues and a tan sweater. An older-looking navy pea coat was hanging on the back of his chair.

"Hello, sir," Kara said almost shyly.

"Dad," Lee said.

"Kara. Lee." Bill nodded at them.

They sat. "What would you like to drink?" Bill asked them.

"I'll have a beer," Kara said.

"Water," Lee said. "In view of tomorrow."

Bill smiled at Kara. "Are you old enough to drink legally?"

"No, sir."

The waitress came over to their table. "Two waters and a cup of coffee."

"Make that a cup of hot tea instead of one of the waters," Kara said.

"How is Laura?" Bill asked.

"She and the baby are fine. My dad on the other hand needs something to anchor him to the ground. He's so happy that he's in the clouds somewhere."

Bill was still looking at her. "I know how he feels. I remember when both of my sons were born."

"How? You weren't there," Lee said.

"Yes, I was, son."

"Mom said…"

"I was there. I didn't make it back to Caprica until a few hours after Zak was born, but I was there at the hospital when you were born."

Kara glanced at Lee and saw the play of emotions over his face.

"My dad wasn't there when I was born," Kara said. "In fact he didn't know anything about me until I was almost five months old."

"You were there when I was born?" Lee said to his father.

"I held you when you were ten minutes old."

"I…I didn't know that." They all sat without speaking for a minute. Finally Lee said. "About tomorrow…."

"You're going to do fine."

"It was Kara's idea," Lee said.

"John mentioned that. He said Kara has a way of thinking out-of-the-box."

"It was…I was joking when I said it to him. I didn't think anyone would take me seriously."

Bill smiled. "Don't hesitate to mention any more out-of-the-box ideas you might have."

"I'd like to come out to the airbase tomorrow morning."

Bill placed a small card on the table. "Come to the gate at 8:00 tomorrow. Have the MPs call that extension and I'll have someone meet you and bring you to the Comm Center."

"Thank you, sir."

"You're going to be there?" Lee asked his father.

"Where else would I be?" He reached into his pocket, pulled out a cigarette lighter and placed it on the table in front of Lee.

Lee picked it up. "My grandfather's lucky lighter."

"Bring it back to me, son. I always light my cigars with it. It's never failed me. Never. Just like it never failed your grandfather."

After the meal, Bill refused a ride saying he wanted to walk. In the car Lee sat for a few minutes before he started the engine.

"What's the matter?" Kara asked.

"Nothing," Lee said as he pulled away from the curb.

"Is it that hard for you to admit you've been wrong about him loving you?"

"My place or yours?" Lee asked.

Kara sighed. Lee was impossible sometime. "Take me by John and Laura's apartment. I'll get my uniform and my toothbrush. I'll spend the night with you."

"I don't know how much sleep I'm going to get. I might keep you awake."

Kara grinned. "Do you hear me complaining?"

...

Lee was awake at five a.m. He got quietly out of bed and went into the bathroom where he took a shower, shaved and put on his underwear. When he walked into the kitchen, Kara was sitting at the table in a pair of his sweatpants and a t-shirt. She had started a pot of coffee. It smelled good.

He sat down at the table. "Thanks. I slept better than I thought I would."

"Thanks to me."

"Thanks to you." He smiled. "You have a way of…"

"What?" She grinned. "Wearing you out?"

"Something like that."

"You're going to be fine, Lee. You're going to shoot that Raider down and then you're going to come back to the base just like any other routine training mission."

"So you're John's stand-in this morning. I get the pep-talk from you instead of him?"

"Afraid so."

The coffee stopped dripping. He got up and poured two cups. His nerves were so on edge that he probably should go easy on the caffeine. He wondered what Kara would do if he didn't come back. How long would it be before she moved on with her life? How long before she found somebody else? How long would it take her to forget him?

He felt her arms wrap around him from behind. "Wherever you are right now, don't go there."

"Pre-flight jitters."

"I'm going to take a shower."

When she got out of the bathroom, Lee was dressed in his uniform. The lights in the bedroom were turned off and he was standing at the window looking at the gray dawn and rainwater running down the other side of the glass.

"The weather is crap just like the weatherman predicted."

Kara dropped the towel on the bed and pulled on her underwear and then her uniform. "I forgot my raincoat."

"I've got an extra one. It'll be a little big but it's got a hood."

Silently they rode the elevator down to the parking garage. "You got the lighter?" Kara asked him.

"In my pocket. I'm going to take you to the hanger with me. It's too early to drop you at the gate. My dad won't be there yet. I'll have somebody drive you to the main building closer to eight."

Kara seemed to understand his need for silence as they rode out to the base. The wind whipped sheets of rain across the I-6. At least they were going out of the city instead of coming into it. Traffic still crawled.

Lee went over and over the mission plan in his mind. It was simple. It was no different from any routine mission with the exception that he was going to fly out over the bay and he was going to go head-to-head with a Cylon Raider that had been programmed to shoot him down the minute he deviated from a standard training mission.

He held his ID badge up to the car window and the MP at the smaller gate of the airfield waved him through after opening the heavy chain link gate. Lee knew he saw the base sticker on the inside of the windshield and didn't want to get out of his dry booth to check the car. He should have asked for Kara's ID, but he didn't. He saw the military raincoat and opened the gate.

Lee pulled up outside the hanger and parked. Before he opened the door, he looked at Kara. She reached over, put her hand on the back of his neck and pulled him to her. The kiss was hard and had nothing to do with sex. It was fierce and passionate, almost like she was trying to give something of herself to him.

She finally drew back. "For luck. You come back to me, damn it. You come back. You kill that Raider and you come back."

"I love you."

They pulled up their hoods, got out of the car, and ran for the side door of the hanger.

There were eight Vipers inside. The one he would fly was in the middle, pointing at the huge doors which were still closed.

"I've got to go suit up. The lockers are at the back. Come on."

Feeling like she was in a vaulted temple, she walked with him.

There were greetings as he passed crewmembers who were getting his ship ready for the flight. The Crew Chief and one other crewman were the only two who knew what was in the Viper's KEW housing. They had helped the engineer and his team install and test it.

"Morning, sir…Morning, lieutenant…Rotten weather for flying, sir."

Lee smiled and acknowledged each with a nod. They kept walking. He didn't want to have to explain Kara to anyone yet.

They walked through the doors to the locker room. He punched in the combination code on his locker and opened the door. Without a word he took off his watch and stripped to his underwear and tank top before he pulled on his flight suit. He put on the boots, fastened the air-tight seal at both ankles. One of the crew members would fasten the seal at his wrists after he put on his gloves. He got his helmet out of the top of his locker. He looked at the chronometer mounted in the cuff of his right sleeve. Nearly eight.

"I've got to go through pre-flight. I'm going to have one of the guys drive you up to the main building. Just go inside. There will be an ensign at the front desk. Have him call the extension my father gave you and say you're downstairs. He'll send somebody for you."

"Right. The lighter."

"Thanks. I almost forgot." He opened his locker again and took it out of his trouser pocket. He had Kara snap it into the left sleeve pocket of his flight suit.

She saw the squadron patch on his shoulder. She knew the Viper patch was on his right shoulder. "One day I'm going to have one of these flight suits, too."

"I'm sure you will."

They walked out of the locker room. He found the Crew Chief. "I need someone to drive Cadet Thrace up to the main building. My father is expecting her."

"Yes, sir. Follow me, Cadet Thrace."

Before she followed the Chief, she looked at Lee one more time and hoped the love she felt for him showed in her eyes. The Chief told a young female crewman to drive Kara to the main building. A few minutes later they were in a jeep and on their way. The rain had slacked, but in the closed jeep, Kara could see little of the base.

Five minutes later she was at the front desk. She gave the ensign the extension and waited. She was surprised that the commander himself came to get her.

The ensign was on his feet immediately and came to attention.

"As you were," Bill said.

Kara felt nervous in the presence of the commander this morning. Last night at dinner had seemed different. "Good morning, sir. Great weather, isn't it?"

"Just what we ordered," Bill said. "Come with me."

They went to an elevator and rode up to the third floor. As they were walking down the hallway, Kara passed two young women in uniform. The wavy brown hair of one of them was pulled back in a ponytail instead of down around her shoulders, but Kara was almost certain it was Lee's former girlfriend Blaire, the girl she had met at her father and Laura's wedding reception. Blaire was with a pretty, dark-skinned woman whose hair was also pulled back. They both saluted the commander as they passed. Could that be Dee? Could that be Blaire's roommate who had been coming on to Lee at Zeno's almost a year ago?

She knew they both worked in the Comm Center. Laura had told her that Billy had been unable to help Blaire get a government job and that she had reenlisted. Kara had to stop herself from looking back at the two women. She was almost sure, though, that Blaire had recognized her as well.

Bill stopped and opened a door. Kara went through. They were in a cooler, darker room filled with dradis screens and men and women sitting at consoles. They were wearing headsets and speaking into the curved mouthpieces.

A man walked over to them. Kara recognized his rank of major from his collar pins.

The commander said, "This is Kara Thrace. Kara, this is Major Steadman. He's in charge of the Comm Center."

They nodded at each other. "Good morning, sir."

"Kara is a special friend of my son's. She's also John Gallagher's daughter."

The major smiled broadly. "Welcome aboard."

"Thank you, sir."

"Is he in the air yet?" The commander asked.

"Not yet, sir. I believe they've just towed his Viper out of the hanger. He should be next in line to take off. If you'd like to come down to the end of this row, I have a place you can sit and monitor the mission. I wasn't expecting but one person, sir. I only have one chair available."

"No problem. I'll stand," Kara said and smiled at Bill. "I'm not sure I could sit still anyway."

...

Lee sat on the runway waiting for clearance to launch. He ran down the instrument check another time.

"Viper Four-Five-Zero," the voice in his helmet crackled, "proceed to runway Eight-Charlie-Alpha."

"Copy that. Runway Eight-Charlie-Alpha."

Five minutes later he was airborne and the Raider appeared off his starboard side as expected. He climbed to the altitude where he usually began his training exercises. He was far too high to take on the Cylon. At this altitude there was no guarantee that the Raider would land in the bay even if the plan worked. And wherever it landed, it would be in pieces. The idea was to get it down intact.

He put the Viper through the first set of training exercises before he slowly began his descent. He watched the altimeter unwinding as he neared the surface. The rain and low cloud cover kept him from seeing the bay, but he could tell by his flight coordinates that he was over it. He knew the Raider was still off his starboard side. He could see it on his dradis, but he could no longer make visual contact. The cloud cover was too thick. Damn. Hitting that red eye depended on being able to see it.

He bled more altitude and thought he caught a glimpse of the metal quarter-moon shaped ship that flew with him. The name of the mission suddenly struck him. Project Broken Moon. He wondered who had come up with that. He dropped lower still. The Raider stayed with him.

He was barely five hundred feet above the water when the clouds and fog cleared to the point that he could see the Raider well enough to take a shot at it.

He heard the voice of the air traffic controller. "Viper Four-Five-Zero you have dropped below the hard deck. Resume altitude of three thousand feet."

"This is Viper Four-Five-Zero. I am having instrument difficulties and must rely on visual."

So far so good. The coordinates for the first attempt were coming up fast. He slowed his speed and banked to starboard. At first the Raider stayed on a straight course. Then something in its computer must have indicated Lee's deviation. The Raider turned toward him.

Lee tightened his turn. An alarm in the cockpit began sounding. The Raider had a missile lock on him. Lee saw the red eye and fired the pulse weapon. He almost expected the see the beam of light shoot out like it had so many times in the simulator. Instead nothing happened. Gods, had he missed it completely?

The red eye went out, the cockpit alarm stopped blaring, and the Raider dropped like a stone toward the bay. Lee followed it down. It hit the water hard with its wingtips pointing skyward and disappeared in a matter of seconds. _Yes_!

He could hardly keep the exultation out of his voice as he said, "This is Viper Four-Five-Zero. My escort seems to have developed some type of technical malfunction. It has crashed into the bay. Repeat it has crashed into the bay at the following coordinates." Lee relayed the approximate point at which the Raider had hit the water.

His joy was short-lived, however. The radio in his helmet crackled again. "Viper Four-Five-Zero you have an inbound Raider approaching at high speed south-southwest. Repeat an inbound Raider."

Damn. Damn. Damn. There it was on his dradis screen. Coming fast. In less than a minute it would be in missile range. He was in an unarmed Viper. There was nowhere to hide. Cloud cover meant nothing to a Cylon.

He thought of Kara. Would she ever know how much he loved her?

At the airbase Kara knew something was wrong even before the ensign gave Lee the warning. She saw the blip on the dradis getting closer to his Viper by the second. And she knew what was going to happen unless Lee did something fast.

The commander was seated in from of her. She grabbed his shoulder. "Tell Lee to fly up the coast toward the big hydroelectric power plant. The cooling towers will mess up the Raider's missile lock on his heat signature."

"Do it," Bill Adama barked to the ensign without hesitation. He turned to Kara. "Good thinking."

She shrugged. "It's what I would do."

Lee heard the instructions and immediately banked into a steep northward turn. He jammed the thruster pedal against the firewall and pulled the throttle back as far as it would go causing the afterburners to kick in. He could see the fuel gauge's needle dropping as the engines sucked in the tylium. He was getting every ounce of speed from the Viper he could get and he was still miles from the power station. Even though the Cylon had not managed to get a missile lock on him, it was still closing rapidly. If he kept his present rate of speed, he would overshoot the power station so fast that the heat from the cooling towers would probably offer him very little benefit. He dived toward the water and slowed his speed. Skimming along barely a hundred feet off the surface he hoped if the Raider did get a shot at him, he could eject and be in the water before it got him with its guns.

"What the hell is he doing?" Bill asked. "He's slowing down."

"No, no," Kara said. "That's all right. If he makes it to the power plant he can get behind the towers and play cat and mouse with the Raider. He's going to take it on. He's going to take on that Raider."

"He's going to get himself killed," Bill said. "The Raider is gaining too fast. He should just eject, damn it."

"No. Lee's smart. He knows what he's doing."

"I hope so."

"It's what I would do," Kara said. "It's either that or ditch a four-million cubit ship in the ocean. And we don't have Vipers to spare right now."

"I'd rather lose every damn ship in the fleet than lose my son." Bill said so softly that Kara was sure that no one else heard him.

The cooling towers of the power station had never looked so good to Lee. He pulled a quick hundred-eighty degree turn as soon as he was past the first one and brought his Viper to a near stop, using the vertical thrusters to keep his ship in the air. He watched his dradis. His instinct told him that he had hit the first Raider with too strong a beam, and he decreased the electromagnetic pulse.

The Raider closed the distance in thirty seconds. As soon as it was past the tower, it turned, its red eye seeking him. Lee circled the tower and came out the other side lining up on the Raider as he cleared the massive concrete structure. He pulled the trigger on the weapon. The red eye dimmed but didn't go out. The Raider wobbled. Lee turned, flying low out over the water. The Raider was on his tail but had not gone to guns up or gotten a missile lock on him. He slowed and toned down the pulse again. The Raider slowed with him. Lee pulled his Viper into another fast one-eighty turn. He fired the weapon again.

The red eye dimmed to almost nothing. The Raider descended and slid along the surface of the water before a wingtip caught and it flipped. It sank just as fast as the other one had. Lee marked the coordinates.

He quickly climbed to a thousand feet. His dradis screen was clear. "This is Viper Four-Five-Zero. I am near bingo fuel and returning to base. My second escort appears to have suffered the same sort of technical malfunction as the first and has also gone into the ocean."

Kara punched a fist into the air. "Yes! He did it! Yes!"

Bill took several deep breaths in obvious relief. He turned to the ensign on the comm. "Tell my…tell Lieutenant Adama to come to the main building on base as soon as he lands that bird."

"Yes, sir."

"No, belay that. Tell him to wait in the hanger. We're going to him."

"Yes, sir."

Kara was nearly giddy with relief. Lee had done it. Why had she ever doubted he would?

Bill turned to Major Steadman. "Call the hanger and have the Crew Chief send someone to pick us up."

"Yes, sir," the major answered. "Offer your son my congratulations."

Bill didn't speak until they were in the elevator. "My son probably owes his life to you. I don't know if either one of us would have thought of the hydroelectric plant. How did you?"

"My dad and I have a video game we play. One of us is the Raider and the other one is the Viper. We take turns. We played it all summer on the nights Laura was working late. It drives her crazy so we never play when she's home. I don't remember which one of us figured out that the heat from a power plant's cooling towers messes up a ship's heat signature."

"So my son owes his life to a video game?"

"Your son owes his life to a hell of a piece of flying…sir. My dad probably couldn't have done it better."

Bill didn't say anything, but for the first time that morning, he smiled. He probably realized that Kara had just paid Lee the ultimate compliment.

Lee was still high on adrenalin when his Viper was towed into the hanger. How could he be cool and go through post-flight when his heart was pounding like a jack-hammer in his chest? How could he climb nonchalantly out of the cockpit when he'd just put not one but two Cylon Raiders into the bay? His palms were so sweaty inside his gloves that the linings were saturated.

He knew that even now a salvage vessel was probably already on site where the first Raider had plunged into the bay. He wondered how long it would take for divers to reach it. He wondered how long it would take to retrieve the second Raider. He wondered if his father's engineers would be able to get anything out of them.

Inside the hanger he released the canopy of the Viper and slid it back. A crewmember had the ladder up to his ship almost immediately. Lee unfastened his helmet and looked up. The Crew Chief was waiting to take it.

"How was the flight, sir?"

Lee handed the helmet to him. "My escort had some kind of trouble. He went into the bay. In fact two of them did. It looked like it might have been some kind of electrical malfunction."

"Sir, your father is on his way out here."

Lee was surprised. "My father is coming to the hanger?"

"Yes, sir. It didn't take long for word to get around that your, uh, escort had some problems."

The Crew Chief backed down the ladder and Lee climbed out of the cockpit. He wasn't all the way down the steps when the side door opened and his father and Kara walked in. He wanted her in his arms, but he knew they both needed to show some restraint in front of the crew.

"Commander on deck," the Crew Chief shouted and everyone stopped what they were doing and came to attention.

"As you were," Bill said. He and Kara walked over to Lee. "Congratulations, son."

"Thank you, sir. I have something that I believe belongs to you." He looked at Kara and then at his left arm. She took the lighter out of the sleeve pocket and gave it to him. He handed it to his father.

His father took it and flicked it. The flame flared strong and bright. "It never fails."

"Whose idea was the power plant?" Lee asked.

"Who plays video games with her father?" Bill answered.

"I hope I get to see the footage from your gun cameras," Kara said.

"You know this was a classified mission," Bill said.

"Who pulled your son's classified mission out of the fire, sir?"

"Kara, you can't talk to my dad like that."

Bill Adama smiled. "I'm cutting her some slack today."

"I'm sorry, sir" Kara said sheepishly. "Lee, your fancy flying saved your ass. I knew you could do it."

Lee grinned. "Is this the post-flight pep talk?"

Bill put the lighter into his pocket. He turned to Lee. "I need to see you back in the main building as soon as you get out of your flight suit and get a shower. Major Steadman's office on the third floor. We're going to debrief the mission."

"Yes, sir."

"Sir," Kara said, "If you could drop me at the gate, I can catch the subway back to the apartment. Laura and my dad should be home soon."

Lee looked at Kara. "I'll call you as soon as I can."

He watched her walk to the door of the hanger with his father. At the moment he felt like he didn't need his Viper to fly.

The rain had stopped when the jeep pulled up to the main gate and let Kara out. She took out her mobile phone and called her father. His phone went to voice mail so she didn't leave a message.

She walked to the subway stop. John and Laura were at the apartment when she got there.

"I tried to call," she told him. "You didn't answer."

"I turned my phone off in the hospital. I forgot to turn it back on."

"How're Laura and Braedon?"

"Both sleeping at the moment. How did it go this morning?"

Kara grinned. "You're not going to believe it."

"Try me."

"Lee got two of them?"

"Two? How did he do that?"

"I'll tell you what I think happened and then when you see the gun camera footage, you can tell me if I'm right. He got the first one out in the bay where he was supposed to. He got the second one up near the power plant."

"The power plant? How did he wind up there?"

"You know in the video game how we…"

"Don't tell me it was your idea to send him up there?"

"Dad, let me finish. A second Raider came after him. It was either that or ditch the Viper in the ocean."

"He should have ditched."

"You wouldn't have."

"You're right. Lee did exactly what I would have done. Start at the beginning and go slow. I didn't get much sleep last night."

"That's too bad," Kara said. "I slept fine…when I finally got to sleep."

Her father lay down on the couch, adjusted one of the pillows behind his head and shut his eyes.

"How did Lee sleep?"

"You know where I was?"

"Where else would you be? He needed you with him. When I accepted you and Lee being together, I accepted the whole thing."

"Why don't you take a nap? You're tired. I can tell you this later when you're awake enough to appreciate it."

"I love you, baby."

"You've got a new baby now."

"You'll always be my baby girl. The day I pin your wings on you, you'll still be my baby girl."

...

Two nights later she and Lee and her father and Laura drank the last of the Siren's Kiss.

"To our son…and our daughter," John said.

"And to Lee's successful mission," Kara added.

"And to our future," Laura said.

"With no Cylons in it," Lee finished.

They raised their glasses. "So say we all."

...

On the second day back in class Karl was waiting for Kara outside the door to their Colonial History class. "I need to talk to you."

"How was the beach trip?"

"Did Sharon say something?"

"No. Should she have?"

"Will you meet me in the student union when you get out of class this afternoon?"

"Is something wrong?"

"I don't know. Can you be there by 15:00?"

"Yeah. I get out of Basic Flight at 14:30."

Karl was sitting at a table with a soft drink when she arrived. She sat down at the table. "So what's up?"

"Do you know if something has happened to Sharon lately?"

Kara thought of the incident with Captain Reider. "Why? What's wrong?"

"While we were on vacation she had a couple of nightmares."

"It was probably because she was sleeping with you."

"This isn't funny, Kara."

"Sorry. What kind of nightmares?"

"She said she couldn't remember. Has she had nightmares before?"

"If she did, she never woke me up. I don't know."

"You never heard her talking or crying in her sleep?"

"No."

"Would you tell me if you had?"

"Yes, Karl, I'd tell you if I'd heard her talking or crying in her sleep."

"She was…I don't know how to describe it exactly…she just didn't seem like herself. She was quieter…like she had something on her mind."

"Have you asked her if anything is bothering her?"

"Duh, Kara. Of course I asked her. She said it must be stress from mid-terms."

"You want me to talk to her?"

"Would you. I think if she'll tell anyone, she'll tell you."

Kara shrugged. "I'll see what I can do, but don't expect a miracle."

"Great," Karl said. "Great. I knew I could depend on you. How was your week off?"

"I got a new brother."

"No kidding. So Laura had the baby?"

"Yeah, my dad is taking this week off, too. Colonel Burgher is covering for him. I get to do my sim class with him this week. I'm uptight about that."

"Why? I heard you were doing great."

"Where did you hear that?"

"Word gets around."

"Like what?"

"I'm just saying the world is full of jealous people and some of them are cadets here at the Academy."

"Are you telling me that some cadets don't believe I've got the chops to fly a Viper? My dad is harder on me than he is on anybody else. Is somebody saying he's letting me off easy?"

"Maybe your father and Colonel Burgher both because they're friends. I know better, but some people are just petty and jealous."

"Let's just throw Hugh Connelly and Mrs. Nagala in there, too, since they're friends of Laura and my dad. I guess people think they're just giving me grades, too."

"I don't think anybody knows about them…yet."

"I've studied hard."

"I know that. I know you're good in the simulator. I remember how you used to kick everybody's ass in video games back on Picon."

"Yeah, well there's one place you can't fake it. When I get to Flight School after I graduate, I'll show them and everybody else. Who's saying this stuff anyway?"

"I'm not going to call any names and have you get kicked out of the Academy because you go confront them. Just let it go and chalk it up to them being jealous because they're not doing as good as you are. I'm your friend. Let me take up for you."

"Don't you do anything stupid."

"I won't."

Karl walked back to her dorm with her. Before she went inside, she looked at him. "After Flight School we're going to get assigned to the same battlestar, aren't we?"

"We'd better."

"It would be rough without my best friend to take up for me." She grinned. "I might have to kick somebody's ass."

When she got up to the room, Sharon was reading a chapter in her Colonial History book, and Kara didn't interrupt her to talk. She sat down on the other side of the modular desk and opened her own history book.

At 16:00 Sharon got up and changed her uniform for a pair of sweat pants and a sweat shirt. "I'm going out for a run. I'll be back in an hour."

"It's getting colder," Kara said.

"I'll be fine."

Karl was right. Something _was_ a little off about Sharon. She seemed more distant or more preoccupied. Kara wondered if it were just the thing with Reider or if something else was bothering her.

Sharon had a nightmare that night, the first one Kara had ever been aware of. Kara wasn't sure what woke her, but she looked across the room and felt a surge of fear. Sharon was crouched on the floor in an animalistic stance, like a wolf or a leopard getting ready to pounce. For a moment she could almost swear that Sharon's eyes briefly glowed a dull red. Kara blinked hard, thinking she was still half-asleep and dreaming herself. When she looked again, Sharon's eyes were dark.

"Sharon," she said softly. "Are you awake?"

"The dome is cracking," Sharon said in a soft but terrified voice. "There's no way out. We're going to die."

Kara got out of bed and carefully and slowly approached Sharon. She didn't want to turn on the light. She didn't want to do anything to startle her.

"Sharon, you're at the Academy. There is no dome. Everything is fine."

Sharon sniffed several times like a dog. "The atmosphere is too thin. It's poison."

Kara touched Sharon's shoulder. "The atmosphere is fine. You're fine. We're all fine here on Caprica."

"Cover it up. Cover it up so they don't know what we've done. Cover it up and we'll all be fine."

"Cover what up?"

"The truth."

With that Sharon got back into bed. The whole incident hadn't lasted two minutes, but it had freaked Kara out. Is that what Sharon had done at the beach with Karl?

She'd gotten the impression that Sharon's beach nightmares were the old-fashioned kind where you woke up soaked in sweat and unable to breath as some dark night terror faded into the recess of the dream world.

If Karl had found Sharon crouched tiger-like on the floor spouting words about a dome cracking, then no wonder he was concerned. The sight of Sharon on the floor had been more than spooky.

The next morning as they put on their uniforms, Kara said casually, "You had some kind of weird nightmare last night."

"No kidding," Sharon said, acting more like herself than she had since the end of the mid-term break.

"You were crouched on the floor like a cat talking about a dome."

Sharon looked totally puzzled. "That's too weird. I don't remember a bit of it."

"You don't remember telling me the dome was cracking and that the atmosphere was poison and there was no way out?"

"That's what happened on the mining colony of Troy where my parents lived. The dome cracked and the thin, poison atmosphere got in. Everybody died. But I couldn't have remembered that. I was here visiting my grandmother when it happened. She must have told me about it."

"You clearly said, '_The dome is cracking. There's no way out. We're going to die_.' You said, '_We're _going to die_.' _Not_ they're _going to die_._"

"My grandmother must have made it seem real to me."

"And you lived with your grandmother until she died last year?"

"That's right. What's with all the questions?"

"Karl told me you'd had a couple of nightmares while you were on vacation. Do you think that thing with Reider triggered them?"

"I don't know. Maybe."

"You saw him do something really bad. If you still don't want to turn him in or try to get the girl to come forward, then you should go talk to the Academy's counselor."

"You think I'm going crazy?"

"No. I think maybe you're having a reaction to what you saw him do. I think maybe your conscience is bothering you because you walked away and didn't handle the situation like you wanted to."

"We need to get lined up in the hall for breakfast," Sharon said.

"Think about it."

"I've been thinking about it. That's probably what's wrong."

On Thursday Kara stayed after her Colonial History class and waited until all the other students were gone. She walked up to Hugh Connelly's desk.

"How are Laura and your new brother?" He asked her.

"Good."

"And you?"

"I enjoyed the break. Can I ask you something about history?"

"Sure."

"Do you remember a disaster involving a mining colony on Troy?"

"Sure do. It happened about six years ago. Not long before the Cylons attacked us."

Something about the phrase _six years ago_ sounded familiar to Kara, something to do with the Cylons, but she couldn't remember what it was. "Do you remember exactly what happened?"

"The mining company had built a big dome on the surface of the planet and created an artificial atmosphere in order to house the miners and their families. The dome cracked and part of it collapsed. Everybody died. The lawsuits were still going on when the Cylons attacked. The Colonies lost their biggest source of tylium when that disaster occurred. The mining company never tried to go back there."

"So there's no way anybody could have survived it?"

"None. Why?"

"My roommate's parents died on Troy. She said she was here visiting her grandmother when it happened. Two nights ago she had a nightmare and was talking in her sleep about it like she was there. She clearly said, '_The dome is cracking. There's no way out. We're going to die_.' It sounded like she went through it herself."

"I can't explain her dream," Connelly said. "Maybe she did some research on it and read the reports. Maybe she's constructed a scenario in her mind of how her parents died. I wouldn't worry about it unless she keeps having nightmares."

"Something happened recently that might have stressed her out."

"Stress sometimes triggers nightmares. I had more than a few in the camp. Of course I had some good dreams, too."

They looked at each other and for a moment they shared the connection they had formed in the camp. She smiled. "So did I. Thanks for the extra history lesson."

Connelly also smiled. "Anytime, Kara."

"I've got to go or I'll be late for Colonial Lit."

As she climbed the stairs to the third floor, Kara had a rapid series of thoughts that came to her as questions. What if Sharon had been on Troy? What if she had been there when the dome had cracked? What if she had died and downloaded into a new body? What if Cavil or one of the other Cylons had tried to reprogram her to forget about Troy and implanted the memory about her parents instead? What if they hadn't completely wiped out the memory of Troy from her brain or whatever you called a Cylon's memory processor?

Then came a much darker thought. What if Sharon had somehow caused the disaster on Troy? What if she had done something to cause the dome to crack? Hadn't Connelly said that the Colonies lost their biggest source of tylium when Troy was abandoned after the disaster?

And why was Sharon here now at the Academy learning to fly a Raptor? Could she be a mole? A sleeper who would be activated after she learned to fly and was stationed on a battlestar?

That was the probably the most important question of all.

TBC…


	47. Suspicions

Chapter 47

Suspicions

_Near the beginning of President Adar's last year in office, Dr. Gaius Baltar was appointed to head a new research initiative into engineered virology. Dr. Baltar refused to disclose details of his latest government-sponsored project saying only that it was as leading edge and challenging as anything he had done thus far in his career. When asked during an interview what had attracted such a large number of female graduate assistants to the project, Dr. Baltar replied only that their success would allow all involved to 'write their own ticket in the field of virology'. _

_-Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War_

Kara Thrace sat in the cockpit of the simulator silently thanking her father for all the times he had made her go through the drills. Colonel Burgher was quickly checking off the gauges as she named them and told him what their status was.

"Very good," he said. "I see by John's notes that you're a sim ahead of the rest of your class."

"Yes, sir. I did the second and third sims on the same day. I didn't have any mistakes in the second one so he let me go ahead and do the third one."

"That's fine," the colonel said. "It will take me a minute for me to load the next sim. How is your father doing? And how are Laura and the baby?"

"All doing fine. He's called me every night this week. He's coming back to work on Monday."

"I'm sure you'll be glad to see him. I know I will be."

"Yes, sir."

"All right, Cadet Thrace. The sim is loaded. You will launch from a battlestar today. You haven't done that before."

"No, sir. Cool. Are there any surprises in this one?"

"Possibly. You should always be alert when you're in your Viper."

The space flight was routine. The training exercises simple and almost boring, but on her approach to the landing bay, she couldn't get her forward skid down. Oh, frak. Two out of three skids down was worse than no skids down. What should she do? Retract the skids and try to land anyway or wave off the landing, go around and try again?

She waved off the landing, retracted the skids and circled for another try. This time all deployed as they should have, and she made the trap and her first slightly bumpy but passable landing on a battlestar. The sim ended green instead of red. She must have made the right choice.

Colonel Burgher walked over to the simulator. "Under what conditions would you not have waved off and tried again, Cadet Thrace?"

"Um, if I had a Raider on my tail, sir."

"Under combat conditions. Correct. You would have put your ship down as best you could. That's what we'll practice next."

"Great," Kara said under her breath, forgetting for a moment that it wasn't her father listening to her. She got to practice crash landings or rather emergency landings as they were properly called.

"What was that, Cadet Thrace?"

"Nothing, sir. I hope I can manage it."

"I'm sure you can, or you will be able to after a couple or run-throughs. Think of it as another drill."

Kara grinned. Her father couldn't have said it better.

When her time in the simulator was over, she climbed down. She wished her father were there for her to get a hug. She walked over to the desk where Colonel Burgher was shutting down the computer that controlled the sim.

"Did I do okay today, sir?"

"You did fine, Cadet Thrace. You're as good as I thought you would be."

"Thank you, sir."

"I haven't had a chance to talk to Lieutenant Adama yet. Offer him my congratulations on his mission. I hear it went very well."

Kara grinned. "Yes, sir. He did some fancy flying."

"Let's just hope our engineers have as much luck extracting some information from those Raiders."

...

On Saturday night Kara once again waited in the lobby of her dorm for Lee. Front Desk duty had rotated around to Shelley Sydell again. Was Kara imagining it, or did the lieutenant have on makeup? Her dark blond hair was clipped up as usual, but it looked like lighter blond highlights had recently been added…maybe this afternoon. Was that for Lee's benefit or was there someone else Sydell was trying to impress?

The door opened. Lee walked in and went straight to the desk to sign the visitor log. Kara gave Shelley a full half-minute to talk to Lee before she got up and walked over to the desk. Kara was struck suddenly by the fact that when she wasn't giving orders, Shelley was a _very_ attractive woman. No wonder Lee had gone for her.

Lee looked at Kara, their eyes locked and his face changed. His blue eyes lit and he looked so glad to see her. They shared a smile. At that moment she felt almost sorry for Shelley.

"Ready?" Lee said as he helped her into her coat.

"As I'll ever be."

"Goodnight, Shelley," Lee said, almost as an afterthought.

"What do you think about her hair?" Kara asked as they walked down the front steps of the dorm. Her breath vaporized in the cold night air.

"I don't know. What about it?"

Kara smiled. "Nothing."

"Besides being blonder, it looked the same to me."

So he had noticed. "She was wearing makeup, too."

"I've seen her wearing makeup before. I took her to the winter dance the year we were cadets…a couple of weeks before we broke up."

"Are you going to take me to the winter dance this year?"

"Not unless you invite me. I'm not a cadet anymore. I can't show up on my own."

Kara punched his arm. "Funny. I'll think about it. One of the cadets in my Basic Flight class has already asked me. Cadet Pike."

"What did you tell him?"

"You'll know if I ask you…or not."

"Maybe Shelley needs a date, then. I'm sure she'll be a chaperone. Admin needs all the help it can get keeping horny cadets from sneaking off to make out."

"Oh, I'm sure Shelley would be thrilled to ask you," Kara said playing along. "She's not too bad…when she's not being a bitch."

"There you go again. What you call _being a bitch _is just her _doing her job_. And we've talked about her enough. The thing Shelley and I had only lasted for a couple of months. She dumped me when I started dating Blaire. End of story. I was never in love with her."

"I'm not going to the dance with Cadet Pike."

"I didn't think you were. So is this an official invitation? Do I need to take the dress grays to the cleaners?"

"Yeah, this is your official invitation."

"I accept. Do I get to see you in a dress again?"

"You know I'm not fond of wearing dresses."

"Come on, Kara. A couple of times a year isn't too much to ask."

"Okay, I'll wear a dress just for you. Speaking of Blaire, I think I saw her out at the base the day you flew your mission."

"You might have."

"I think she was with Dee."

"She probably was. They both work in the Comm Center."

"Laura thinks Blaire has moved in with Billy."

"I don't keep up with her. I really don't care. Could we stop talking about my old girlfriends, please?"

Lee was right. She was the one always bringing up the former girlfriends to him. He never mentioned them and he never said anything to her about Jared. Lee didn't seem as hung up on the past as she was…except when it came to his father. Kara took her hand out of her pocket and slid it into Lee's gloved hand.

"I hope you're not getting tired of going to the student union on Saturday night with me."

"Kara, as long as I'm with you I don't care where we go. Things will be better second semester. You'll get to leave campus on Friday and Saturday nights until midnight and you'll get more weekend passes. We can start going to McGee's or out to eat."

"Or back to your apartment."

"Or back to my apartment. I went by to see your dad and Laura before I came over here. Mrs. Nagala was there. She and Laura seem to have hit it off."

"That's what my dad said. How are things coming with getting the Raiders out of the ocean?"

"They've got one…the first one. The engineers have it at a hanger out in the boneyard. The diving crew is working on retrieving the second one. My dad said Cavil came to see him late that Monday afternoon and told him he had to open an investigation into what happened."

"Is your dad going to do it?"

"Of course. I'm sure they can come up with some kind of official-looking crap to feed Cavil."

"You're not going to be in trouble with the Cylons, are you?"

"I don't see how. I reported an instrument problem. They've got the recording of it. I'm sure it will be presented to Cavil like something happened to me and the Raider at the same time. I just made it back to base."

They got to the student union, went inside and found a small table. "Are Karl and Sharon meeting us?" Lee asked.

"I don't think so. Sharon was studying when I left. She's been acting weird lately."

"Define _weird_."

"Twice since we got back from mid-term break she's had a nightmare. One time she got out of bed and crouched on the floor. The other time she was just thrashing and mumbling. Karl told me she had a couple of nightmares while they were at the beach. I'm almost sure now that she's…what we talked about. There's just no way to prove it."

"Why do you think that?"

"I believe she was on the mining colony of Troy instead of her parents. I think she's starting to remember stuff…maybe not when she's awake, but when she's asleep."

"Define _stuff_."

"The first time she had a nightmare she talked about the dome cracking and everybody going to die. I asked Connelly what had happened on Troy and he told me it happened exactly like Sharon said. The dome cracked and part of it collapsed and let the poison atmosphere in. Everybody died. I think Sharon was there. I think she died and downloaded into another body that was put on Caprica sometime in the six years since the dome was destroyed. I don't think any of the skinjobs have been on the planet longer than six years."

"Why six years?"

"Because that's how long Leo told me he'd been running his business. I think Laura said that's how long that D'Anna person had worked as a reporter, too."

"That's interesting. Why did you say _downloaded_? I thought they called it _resurrecting_."

"We're the ones who called it resurrecting. Leo says they call it downloading. It fits. They've got computers for brains. Downloading is one of the terms Jared used when he talked about computers."

"When did Leo tell you that they _downloaded_?"

"I went by to see him the first Saturday I was home for break."

"You did _what_?"

"Keep your voice down."

"Does your dad know that?"

"No, and you'd better not tell him. I don't want to have this conversation with him yet."

"That was stupid, Kara. I can't believe you did that. Why in the hell did you go see that Cylon? He could have…you had no way of knowing you wouldn't be in danger. You said he knows what he is now. Don't you do that again. Ever!"

"He's not going to hurt me. I'm sure of it. His destiny is tied to mine in some way. The Oracle said it was."

"And you took that risk because of something the Oracle told you? Some fortune teller out to make a few cubits feeds you a line of crap and you throw all caution to the winds and go visit a…a machine that now knows he's one of them?"

"Yolanda Brenn is not a fortune teller trying to make a few cubits. She knows stuff. She knew about me living a lie when I was using Carrie Warner's ID, and she knew about my dad looking for me, and she knew about him and Laura having a boy, and she knew you were…you and me were going to get together."

"Lucky guesses."

"I don't think so."

"Kara, the whole prophecy thing is like religion. I do not believe in it. Your dad doesn't either."

"He didn't until Yolanda told him he was going to have a son who would map the stars on the way to Earth."

Lee rolled his eyes. "Was John drinking when she told him that?"

"No," Kara said hotly. "He was not drinking. Why are you so…so stubborn? Why can't you believe just a little bit?"

"I do believe. I believe in us, Kara. I believe in humans and our abilities to control our lives and find solutions to our problems. I don't believe some all powerful bunch of mystical beings dip a quill in our blood and write our fate on some celestial wall somewhere. We choose our own path. And everybody knows that Earth is just a myth. Believe me, your brother will not map the stars on the way to Earth."

"You think you know everything, don't you?"

"Let's not fight about this. Our time together is too short. Stay away from the…from Leo, Kara."

"Are you going to tell my dad?"

"Not if you tell me you won't go back to see him."

"And if I won't promise you that, are you going to rat me out?"

"Kara, I'm only thinking about you. I'm only thinking about what's best for you. Hanging out with…one of them is not in your best interest."

"I would hardly call one visit in a couple of months _hanging out,_" Kara said angrily. "I'm rooming with one of them, for the gods sakes. You don't get much more _hanging out_ than that."

Lee almost laughed. "I guess you're right. That just seems…different somehow."

Finally Kara said, "Okay, I agree with you, but I want you to do something for me, two things."

"What?"

"First, I want you to go with me the next time I go to see the Oracle. My dad went last time. I want you to go this time."

"Even though I don't believe?"

"Even though you don't believe."

"All right. And the other thing you want me to do?"

"I know you have clearance to data a lot of people don't have. Connelly said when the mines on Troy were abandoned, we lost our biggest supply of tylium. I want you to find out exactly what happened. Find out exactly how that dome was constructed. And find out if somebody could have done something to cause it to crack and collapse. There had to be some kind of an investigation. Somewhere there's a record of it. It seems to me like the only way it could have been done was with some kind of explosive planted high up on the dome and I'm not sure how Sharon could have done that. But I think you could probably find out."

Lee nodded. "All right. I could probably do a little investigating. Why do you think Sharon's started having nightmares about Troy now? It's been six years."

"Before we went on break, Sharon saw something…something she should have handled differently. I think it's frakked with her mind…or whatever you call their memory processors. I think part of her…programming wants to ignore it and part wants to do something about it."

"What did she see?"

"I promised her I wouldn't say anything."

"Oh, that's great. You tell me some of it but not all of it."

"She saw an instructor with a cadet."

"Having sex?"

"No, Lee, playing checkers," Kara said sarcastically.

"Consensual?"

"It was hard to tell. The girl wasn't fighting but she was crying. Now drop it. I'm not going to answer any more questions."

"That's bad, Kara. Who was it?"

"I've already said more than I should have. I promised Sharon I wouldn't say anything."

"And your promise to a Cy…to one of _them_ means that much to you?"

"Giving my word means that much to me."

Any further conversation they might have had was cut short as Karl walked up to their table. "Mind if I join you?"

"Have a seat," Kara said.

"What's up, Lee?"

"Not much. How are you doing, Karl?"

Karl shrugged.

"Missing Sharon," Kara teased.

"How many other cadets do you think are studying tonight?" Karl asked.

"Not many," Lee said and smiled. "Even I usually took Saturday nights off when I was here. There's some kind of old saying about the effects of all work and no play."

"Sharon's working on her paper for Colonial Lit. She's having a hard time with it," Karl said.

"She's doing great in everything but that," Kara added. "I think she had a perfect 4.0 in math at mid-term."

"She did," Karl said. "Colonial Lit is the only thing she didn't do great in. Mrs. Nagala has us reading stories that make you think. Some are deep. I'm not saying that Sharon can't handle it, but she asks me a lot of questions about why the characters in the stories do the things they do. I help her if I can, but I'm no frakking shrink."

"She does the same thing to me," Kara said. "Asks me questions about character's reactions. It's almost like she's a kid trying to learn about emotions."

"What's she doing her paper on?" Lee asked.

"_The Trial of Darius Liander._"

"That's heavy stuff," Lee remarked.

"I haven't read it yet," Karl said.

"It's about a pacifist who kills a child molester."

"Because he molested the guy's child?"

"No, the main character doesn't have any kids. He's not even married. That's what makes it so deep psychologically. You get to his motives little by little in the story. A lot of it is interior monologue. Pages and pages of it. It's hard reading."

"Holy Hera, and Sharon picked that to do her paper on?"

"Yep," Kara answered him. "Maybe that's what's giving her nightmares."

"That's an interesting theory," Karl said. "Has she talked to you about the nightmares?"

"Not really. I asked, but she doesn't remember having them."

"That's what she said at the beach."

"I told her she needs to talk to the Academy's counselor. I think she took offense."

"I'll mention it, too," Karl said. "That is if she'll quit studying long enough to go out with me. You don't know how lucky you are, Lee."

Lee smiled at Karl. "Yes, I do."

As Kara and Lee walked back to her dorm, he put his arm around her and pulled her to him.

"Don't get too wrapped up in this Sharon thing. Keep your mind on your studies."

"And on you?" Kara teased.

He smiled. "And me. When you're not studying."

They stopped at the bottom of the steps in front of her dorm. Other cadets and their dates were standing on the sidewalk waiting until the last possible minute to separate.

"I love you," Lee whispered and kissed her gently.

She put her arms around him and held him tightly. She wanted the feel of his body, but that was almost impossible through their heavy coats. She kissed him harder, felt the desire more acutely since she couldn't have him. She could tell he felt it, too, by the way his breathing changed.

He drew back finally and put his face against her neck. He breathed in the smell of her skin and let the desire wash over him. Gods, he loved her so much.

They couldn't seem to let go of each other.

"Come on Thrace," he heard one of the other female cadets call. "You're going to be late. Don't give Sydell a reason to bust you."

"Go," Lee said. "I'll talk to you later this week."

Walking back across campus to the visitor parking lot, Lee waited for his desire to stop tormenting him. Was it facing his own mortality against the Raider that had made his senses more acute and given him a sense of gratitude for life that he hadn't felt before? Was it seeing how quickly life could be snatched away, how quickly it could end, or was it something deeper than that? Would he feel this way if he'd never met Kara?

He tried to remember his exact feelings at the moment his cockpit alarm had told him the Raider had a missile lock on him. He couldn't remember what he had felt. Was that the effect of the adrenaline coursing through his body? Had that kept the feeling from registering? Or had his conscious mind blotted out the feeling…relegating it to some corner of his subconscious? Would it come back in a nightmare at some point in the future they way Sharon was now possibly dreaming of her death on Troy?

What he did remember in sharp and exquisite detail, however, was the way he and Kara had made love the night after his mission, how much time they had taken, how much he had savored every moment, every touch, each kiss, how he had held back longer than he thought he ever could. He could still see her above him, still see her face as she came. He had almost lost it then, but he still held back until she lay down against his chest and he rolled over on her. His thrusts were gentle at first, letting himself go a little more with each one until he felt her fingers dig into the muscles of his back, heard her whisper his name, soft and pleading, needing the release again as desperately as he did. With a groan he finally let the feeling take him, and for the second time since they had been together, he had the sense of touching something eternal with her, the completeness of being alive and in her arms as past, present and future merged in the fire of surrender.

And the stillness afterward, the peace and contentment as she lay in his arms. He remembered that, too. And the single tear that had rolled slowly down her cheek, the tear he had touched and then tasted. Salt like the ocean, like blood, like life.

"You came back to me," was all she had said.

He reached his car in the visitor lot and got in. He still wanted Kara despite the fact that his car was almost as cold as the shower he was probably going to have to take when he got home.

_You came back to me_. The gift of love...the five words she whispered to him and the salt of a tear.

...

"She won't help us," Gaius Baltar said to the small group in Laura Roslin's den. "In fact she denies that they had anything to do with the creation of any virus."

Laura turned the baby monitor on the table slightly more in her direction so she could hear her son if he began to cry. "By _they_ you mean the Cylons?"

"Who else would I mean?" Baltar snapped. "I did what you asked. I tried to get Natasi to help. She denies their involvement. I don't know what else I can do."

"You shouldn't have believed her," Bill Adama said. "She's lying."

"Of course she's lying," Laura said. "She's a Cylon. Do you really think she would admit to anything that…heinous?"

"Then why did you want me to ask her?"

"It was worth a shot," John said. "I guess your…influence with her is not as strong as we thought it was. Now you get to start working on a cure."

"Don't be ridiculous. You can't _cure_ a virus."

"If not a cure, then a way around it," Laura said. "An anti-viral drug…something that will suppress the effect of the virus and allow infected women to get pregnant."

"You're talking about years of research. I'm not a virologist."

"Job security," Bill said. "The President has already signed off on the funding."

"I would need a much better facility than I have now."

"That's being arranged."

"I would need a highly-trained staff."

Laura smiled. "You would have the means to hire whomever you want. It would be your project. Simon wouldn't be around telling you what to do on this one."

Laura could see Baltar begin to preen. "I'll admit it's…very tempting."

"I think it's time for you to dump your Cylon lover," John said.

Baltar looked at him. "You have no right to tell me how to conduct my private life."

"You're too easy, Dr. Baltar."

Laura saw Baltar's smile. "I…_date_ other women. You of all people should be aware of _that_, Captain Gallagher."

"It's Major Gallagher now," John said good-naturedly. "The point is you may…_date_ other women, but you're always available when the Cylon wants you. What do you think she would do if you'd just tell her _no_, tell her it's over. You think she might change her mind about helping you? You must have something she likes or she wouldn't have stuck around this long. What is that old saying about what absence does to the heart…if they have hearts."

Laura looked at her husband. "We can do without the sarcasm, John, but in theory I agree."

"Is there a chance she doesn't know what another one of her copies was involved in out at CapGen?" Bill asked.

"It's possible." Baltar sniffed. "I don't know how all of that works…the multiple copies thing. I don't know if they communicate or not."

"Have you thought about asking her if she's in contact with the others?" John said.

"No. It's not my concern how or even if they communicate."

"Then how do you know you're frakking the same one?"

"John, that's enough," Laura said and managed to keep from laughing.

Baltar ignored John and looked at Bill. "Where would my new facility be located?"

"At the Caprica Institute right in the heart of Caprica City. No long commute out to a research park. The newest and best facility in town."

"Near all the best bars and restaurants," John added. "I hear the Caprica Institute gets all the beautiful graduate assistants."

Laura gave her husband a look that said,_ Quit baiting Dr. Baltar._

"Well, it's certainly a tempting offer. I will give it a lot of thought. Yes, a lot of thought."

"I don't think you're going to refuse," Bill said. "Not if you want to remain on the government's payroll."

"I heard a rumor, Madame Secretary, that you might run for President. Is there any truth to that?"

Laura smiled to cover her shock. Dear gods, where did this man get his information? "What rumor mill are you listening to, Dr. Baltar?"

"My source is very reliable."

"So they do apparently share some things with each other. I haven't made a decision yet. The election isn't until next year. I don't know if I want to take on something like a Presidential campaign. My priorities are elsewhere right now."

She saw Gaius glance at the baby monitor on the table. He actually smiled at her.

"I should be going," he said. "I suppose you'll be in touch, commander, about when I move to my new research lab?"

Bill nodded.

Laura saw Baltar to the door and checked on Braedon. He was still sleeping. As she returned to the den she heard Bill tell John, "We got nothing from the first Raider's memory. All we found out is that the thing is part machine and part organic. My engineers didn't know what to do with it. I heard one of them suggested calling a veterinarian."

"Organic how?" John asked.

"I haven't been out there yet to look at it. I didn't want to take a chance that Cavil is having me followed. I don't want him knowing we're dissecting one of his ships. But basically what my engineers say is that it's metal on the outside and a mass of organic matter and tubes on the inside. They think they've figured out which one of the organs is the brain, but so far they're not sure how to extract data from it. They aren't getting any kind of readings from it at all. And they don't have a clue yet how it signals the basestar that it's a Cylon."

"Is there any chance the electromagnetic pulse was so strong it killed the thing or wiped its memory completely? Lee told me the pulse was turned to maximum when he hit the first one."

"There's always that chance. On Friday I was told that the engineers want to bring in a neuroscientist. I gave them the green light."

"What about the second Raider?"

"Divers from the salvage ship have located it. They should have it in a couple of days."

"Have Cavil and the other Cylons not made any attempt to retrieve their own ships?" Laura asked. "I find that really hard to believe."

"For one thing Lee gave the coordinates over a scrambled channel so they don't know exactly where to look and for another, the Cylons don't have any salvage ships. In fact the Cylons don't have any naval vessels at all. They travel strictly by air."

"But I'm sure they could commandeer one or more of our ships to do the searching for them."

John said, "They aren't going to miss two Raiders. They've got thousands on their basestars. I doubt it's dawned on Cavil that we could or would even try to retrieve his Raiders."

"This is good news for the plan, then?"

Bill answered her. "Very good…if we can figure the Raiders out. Right now, though, it looks like shooting them down will turn out to be a lot easier than finding out what makes them tick."

...

Lee walked into the break room at the base Tuesday morning to get a cup of coffee. Major Parker was standing at one of the windows that overlooked the parking lot. Lee had a brief flashback to the day he had seen Kara arrive on her motorcycle.

Parker glanced around. He had a mug of coffee.

"Good morning, sir," Lee said.

Parker nodded. "Did you have an uneventful training mission yesterday, Lieutenant Adama?"

"Yes, sir. It went completely according to schedule, although I think my Raider escort was six inches off my wingtip the whole time."

Parker nodded again. "You can probably expect that for a while…all things considered. Cold today, isn't it?"

"Yes, sir. The weatherman is predicting snow before the end of the week."

"That's all my son has talked about since we heard the forecast last night. He's eight. I promised him we'd go sledding if it snowed. I was too busy during our one big snow last year."

Lee remembered the destruction of the Cylon lab the previous January and the snow several weeks later. So much had happened since then.

"Sir, I'm helping a friend with, uh, a research project. I'm hoping you can point me in the right direction."

"Shoot."

"Do you remember the mining disaster on Troy?"

"A year or two before the war. Sure."

"If I wanted to find out something about how the dome was constructed, where would I look?"

"The plans would have been approved by and filed with the Central Office of the Colonial Bureau of Mines here on Caprica. Beyond that I'm afraid I can't help you much."

"That's a starting point. Thank you, sir."

At lunch Lee got a sandwich and a drink from the machine in the break room and took them back to his desk. He logged onto the government web site and found the page for the Colonial Bureau of Mines. He searched on the word _Troy_.

Nothing.

He searched on _domes._ Again nothing.

He looked at the index of Colonial mining sites. Troy was not listed.

Had Cavil made the government take everything about Troy off the site?

He picked up the phone and called his father. His office phone went to voice mail. He called his father's mobile phone. When Bill answered, Lee said, "Did I catch you at a bad time, Dad?"

"I'm eating lunch."

"I'm sorry. I'll call back later."

"No, go ahead. I'm alone."

"I'm trying to find out something about the mining colony on Troy."

"It was destroyed when the dome collapsed six, maybe seven years ago."

"I know that. Where would I find the plans for the dome and who could I talk to about the structure?"

"What's this all about, son?"

"I'd rather not say over the phone."

"Dinner tonight, then?"

"Sure, why not."

They met at Channing's. "You really like this place, don't you?" Lee asked.

"It's convenient. The food is good."

"I agree. The food is good."

"So why are you looking into Troy?"

"I'm helping Kara with a research project."

"_That's_ what this is all about? Helping Kara with her homework?"

"It's more involved than that. What about the government's records of the disaster?"

Bill confirmed what Lee already knew. "There's nothing electronic. I had my aide check. She's very good at finding anything on the government web sites. If it was ever there, it's not there anymore. There might be some boxes filled with records in a basement somewhere, but I don't have any idea where. I think Kara should just go with what was written in the news at the time."

"That's practically nothing. I checked. There aren't even any pictures."

"Access to Troy was tightly controlled after the accident. The media ships were kept away in deference to the families who had lost loved ones. What's this all about, Lee? This is more than some kind of homework project, isn't it?"

Lee lowered his voice. "You've got to keep this quiet for now, but we think…we think we've found another Cylon…another skinjob."

"I know. John mentioned him. He won't reveal the identity yet because he's not certain. How is he involved?"

"Not him. There might be another one. A female."

"D'Anna Biers? I know Laura suspects her."

"Not her."

"Another skinjob and you've been sitting on this information?" Even though his father kept his voice low, Lee could hear the tightly-controlled anger.

"That's just it. We don't know. Right now it's just a suspicion. We can't accuse someone on suspicion alone. That's why we're looking for proof. We need proof before we do anything otherwise no one on Caprica is safe. People would be accusing their neighbors because they didn't like their religious beliefs or their planet of origin."

"Spoken like your grandfather," Bill said. "What does this have to do with Troy?"

"Kara thinks the…suspect was there and died with the others. Then she downloaded into another body and is here on Caprica. Maybe a sleeper. She's at the Academy."

"I'll see what I can find out about the accident."

"Thanks, Dad."

"Are you doing all right, son? No post-mission stress?"

"I'm doing fine."

"How's Zak?"

"He's fine, too. I saw him at Zeno's late last week. He's got a new job now. He's doing PR for the Caprica Buccaneers."

"Good. I'm glad. I'd…I'd like to see him…talk to him."

"I don't know, Dad. I'm not sure he's ready."

"Life's too short, Lee. A year from now I hope to carry out my plan. Once we set everything in motion, there won't be any turning back. It will end one way or another for me…for all of us."

"I'll talk to him. I can't promise anything, but I'll try."

"That's all I can ask."

"How are you and Mrs. Nagala doing or is that none of my business?"

His father hesitated a few moments and then said, "I'm seeing her occasionally."

"I'm glad you're…getting out."

"I've missed seeing you, son. I'd like for us to start having dinner again…you and me…maybe once a week."

Lee nodded. He thought of the Raider and his brush with death. Life _was_ too short for grudges. "I'd like that, Dad."

...

Kara woke with a start, her heart pounding. She lay for a few moments straining to hear anything over the blood thudding in her ears and thought suddenly of the frigid night her father and another man had blown up a Cylon lab. Was that what had awakened her…a dream about shooting two Cylons?

She craned her neck and looked at the window. The dark night sky was featureless, clouds covering the moon, blotting out the stars. She wondered if it was snowing yet. Her eyes slowly came to rest on the digital clock on her desk a few feet away from her bunk…1:22 in the morning. She hadn't been asleep but a few hours.

She got out of bed. Even though the room wasn't cold, she shivered as she walked to the window and looked out. In the glow from the security light at the far end of the building, she could see a few small flakes of snow. There was no accumulation on the ground so it must have just started.

She shivered again and went back to her bed. As she settled under the covers, she glanced over at Sharon's bunk. It was empty.

Sharon must be in the bathroom. Kara waited. Twenty minutes later Sharon had not returned. Kara got up and pulled on a pair of sweatpants. The hall lights were dimmed but she still blinked after the darkness of the room. Quietly she padded barefoot down the hall to the big communal bathroom and went inside. She leaned down and looked under the stalls. No feet. And then she heard water running.

Kara walked around the far end of the wall that held the long row of sinks. The showers were on the other side. The water was running in the last shower. She walked to it. A pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt were piled on the floor. Sharon was standing in the shower, her hands propped against the wall, the water beating down on her.

"Sharon?" Kara said, and when Sharon didn't appear to hear her, she said it louder. "Sharon?"

Sharon jumped and turned off the water. "I think I got sick. I was in my bunk and then I was here in the shower."

"Sick? Throw-up sick?"

"I think so. I don't remember being sick, but I had to take a shower."

"You need a towel?"

"Yeah."

Kara hurried back to the room and got a clean towel from the top of Sharon's closet shelf.

"Thanks," Sharon said when Kara returned with it. She wrapped it around her and gathered her clothes from the floor. Kara looked both ways to make sure the hall was clear and they hurried back to the room.

"Do you still feel sick?" She asked Sharon.

"No, I feel fine now. Did I wake you up when I got out of bed?"

"I don't know what woke me up."

Maybe it _had_ been the door closing that had startled her into waking.

"Go back to sleep," Sharon said. "I'm fine now. Thanks."

Kara got back into bed but wasn't able to go back to sleep right away. Half an hour later she got up and looked out the window again. The snow was falling much harder. The narrow service road behind the dorm was already white. Several flakes swirled against the window pane and showed their crystal form for a split second before melting against the glass. Kara shivered again and crawled back into bed. She finally went to sleep thinking of tiny white flowers no bigger than her thumb and a man who was better than any prince in a book.

...

Laura sat in the nursery with her son against her shoulder. He wiggled slightly, the tiny fist coming to his mouth as he made soft smacking noises. He couldn't possibly still be hungry. She began to rock him gently. The rest of the world seemed far away from her right now. She had come to think of her life in two distinct phases, the time before her child's birth and after. She knew in many ways her life would never be the same.

John came quietly through the door and beckoned to her. She got up with her son still at her shoulder.

"Come look," he said softly. They walked into the den. It was light enough now to see the terrace was covered in white. "It snowed over four inches last night."

"Are you going to drive out to the Academy this morning?"

"The streets have already been cleared."

"Please be careful."

"I will."

"You know what snow makes me think of, don't you?" She asked him with a smile.

"The first time I kissed you?"

"Yes."

He put his arm around her. "Me too. I was hoping you'd say that."

"I think I realized that night my feelings for you were…more than I was willing to admit even to myself."

"And look what it got you," John said.

"A husband and a son."

"You're not sorry?"

"Never."

He leaned over and kissed her cheek and then gently kissed the top of their son's head. "I've got to go. I want to give myself plenty of time to get out to the Academy. I love you, Laura."

"I love you, too. Please be careful. And wear your heavy coat. It looks very cold out there."

...

"How do you feel this morning?" Kara asked Sharon just before they lined up in the hall to march to breakfast.

"Fine," Sharon said, "better than I've felt in a long time."

Because of the snow, fatigues tucked into high-topped duty boots were the dress for the day. They emerged from the dorm into a white world. Kara had never seen the Academy looking so beautiful.

They were allowed quiet conversation at lunch and dinner, but breakfast was still a silent meal. Perhaps that's why the young lieutenant who came in and hurried to the faculty table stood out so much.

Kara didn't have to turn her head. The faculty table was three tables in front of her. She saw the lieutenant lean down and whisper something to Colonel Winters. The colonel immediately put his napkin on his plate and got up. Something was wrong. She felt it in her gut.

When she got to her Colonial History class, Hugh Connelly wasn't there for the first time that semester. Kara sat down in the desk beside Karl.

"I wonder what's going on?"

"I don't know."

"Did you see the lieutenant come get Colonel Winters at breakfast?"

"No," Karl answered. "I was facing away from the faculty table."

Cadet Pike was sitting in front of Karl. He turned around. "There were about a dozen people including a couple of MPs out in the woods this morning. I could see them from my window when I went back to the dorm to get my books. It looked like they were on the jogging trail. It was hard to tell with all the snow."

"Gods," Kara said. "Surely somebody wasn't trying to jog early this morning and fell and broke something."

"I hope nobody's been out there all night," Karl said.

Hugh Connelly walked into the classroom. Kara could tell by the look on his face that something was very wrong.

"There's been a called assembly at ten o'clock this morning. You're to go straight to the Admin building and the auditorium at the end of this class."

Kara raised her hand. "What's wrong, sir?"

"I've been asked not to discuss anything. Colonel Winters will address the students at ten. I realize that concentrating on history this morning will be difficult, but please try."

At the end of the class, the cadets left the classroom in twos or threes. Kara and Karl stayed behind. Connelly began gathering his lecture notes. He didn't seem to want to look at them.

Kara walked up to the desk. "What happened?" Connelly looked up at her and hesitated. "Come on. You can tell us. Karl and I aren't going to say anything."

"An instructor was found dead on the jogging trail this morning."

"Dead?" Kara repeated incredulously.

Connelly nodded.

"Who?" Karl asked.

"Jeff Reider."

Kara's shock was so complete that her next question was barely a whisper. "Captain Reider is _dead_?"

"What happened?" Karl asked.

"I don't know," Connelly answered. "I got a call from Colonel Winters' aide just before class. He told me what had happened and said not to discuss it with the cadets. You'll have to wait for the assembly."

Karl took Kara's arm. "Come on. We don't want to be late."

They trudged in silence across the campus.

Karl finally said. "I thought you had Captain Riddick for PE."

"I do. Sharon has…had Captain Reider."

"She didn't like him."

"I know."

"She said he gave her the creeps."

"I wonder what happened to him? I wonder if he had an accident last night on the jogging trail and froze to death or something." But even as Kara said the words, a horrible thought was forming in her mind.

They reached the Admin Building and climbed the steps with a number of other cadets. Kara looked around for Sharon. She finally spotted her near the front. Kara and Karl took seats over halfway back.

Colonel Winters was brief and to the point. "I regret to inform you that one of our faculty members, Captain Jeffrey Reider, was found dead this morning near the jogging trail." He waited while a low murmur swept the assembled group of cadets. "As of right now we don't know a cause of death so I am asking all of you to exercise caution in your daily routine. Be aware of your circumstances at all times and try to travel in pairs. If any of you have any information regarding this situation, I ask that you come to my office immediately after this assembly. Because this is a military facility, investigators from a special military task force will be on campus shortly and will be questioning all students who were in any of Captain Reider's classes. I expect everyone who is questioned to cooperate fully. Now, our Academy counselor and priest, Dr. Yates, would like to say a few words."

Kara watched as Dr. Cybele Yates stepped up to the podium. "There are no adequate words in times of unexplained tragedy such as this. There will, of course, be a memorial service. We will let you know as soon as arrangements are made. I urge all of you to attend. My office will also be open to any of you who want to speak to me about your feelings. I'm prepared to call in extra priests and grief counselors. Please don't hesitate to contact me."

Dr. Yates stepped back and Colonel Winters stepped forward again. "I know it will be hard to resume your classes today, but that is what we must do. You're dismissed."

When they exited the auditorium, the sun had come out. The snow was sparkling like a million diamonds. Kara closed her eyes at the brilliance and thought once more of tiny white flowers and the man she loved. He was on the special task force of investigators. He would probably be here today or tomorrow, but as much as she wanted to see him, the circumstances made her feel sick.

"I wonder why Sharon didn't wait for us," Karl said. You don't think she's getting ready to dump me, do you?"

"Why would you think that?"

"It's just…something has happened. Things aren't the same with us anymore. It's like she's putting distance between us."

Kara knew what Karl meant. Sharon had been distant with her, too.

"It's probably nothing," Kara finally said, but somehow she knew that Sharon was distancing herself from them because she was dealing with a discovery that had to be freaking her out.

What would anybody do if he or she woke up one morning and realized he or she was a Cylon…a frakking machine? That's what Kara believed had happened to Sharon, and that's what Sharon was now struggling to deal with.

...

Just before noon that day Major Parker called Lee and several of his fellow interrogators into a conference room.

"We're going out to the Academy tomorrow morning and begin questioning cadets. There was a death on campus last night, an instructor by the name of Jeffrey Reider, a captain who taught Physical Education. The preliminary exam shows that he died of a broken neck. They've now ruled out an accident and are calling it a homicide."

"Why us?" Lee asked. "Does anyone think this is related to a terrorist group, sir?"

"We can't rule anything out at this point. I'll have a written brief for everyone before you leave work this afternoon. We'll meet here at 7:30 tomorrow morning. I'll have transportation for us."

After the short meeting, Lee followed Major Parker back to his office. "I'm sure you're aware, sir, that I date a cadet."

"Well aware," Parker said.

"Is that going to be an issue?"

Parker smiled. "Not unless she did it."

"I don't think the captain was one of her instructors…" Lee started.

"I was not serious, Lieutenant Adama. Of course if she is questioned for any reason, you will not be the one doing the questioning. But you're too good of an interrogator not to be involved. You relate well to young people and all of these cadets are young. It goes without saying that you can't discuss this investigation with Cadet Thrace in any way. And you should give me a list ASAP of any other cadets out there that you know. I'll make sure you don't get assigned to interview them."

"Understood, sir."

Lee went back to his desk, jotted down the list and took it back to Parker before he resumed his monotonous checking of phone records. The entire time, though, his mind was on the murder of an instructor. His thoughts kept going to the incident Kara had told him Sharon had witnessed, an instructor having sex, possibly not consensual, with a cadet. He needed to talk to Kara before the official questioning started, but he knew he couldn't. There were three phones downstairs that cadets could sign up for but they were side by side in a small alcove and nothing was private. Lee knew he could not take a chance on compromising an investigation. Kara had probably talked to John and John could talk to him.

Lee went over to John and Laura's that night. Their moods were somber. John poured two ambrosias.

"This is the first drink I've had since we finished the Siren's Kiss that night. I don't want to smell like alcohol when I hold my son, but damn, this was a hell of a day."

"Where's Laura?"

"Napping. She sleeps when Braedon sleeps. For the two weeks I was off, I got up at night when he woke up. I'd change him and bring him to Laura to feed. I'd have fed him, too, but I don't have the right equipment. Since I went back to work, Laura doesn't want me getting up during the night. I'll admit being awake every couple of hours takes its toll. Laura knows I can't sleep during the day like she can."

"I thought she would have hired a nanny."

"She probably going to. We've talked about it. So where does the task force figure into this thing at the Academy?"

"We're going to be questioning cadets," Lee said.

"Why? Do they think there's some resistance angle to the murder?"

"No. I think they're just using us because it's a military facility and they need the help. Have you seen Kara?"

"She came by after my last simulator session today. I walked with her back to her dorm because she was alone."

"I don't think Kara's in any danger. I don't think any cadet is."

"Why? What do you know? Is Parker privy to something Colonel Winters didn't tell us?"

"What did Kara say to you?"

"She has a theory about what happened to Reider."

Lee chose his words carefully. "Does it involve his…fondness for cadets?"

"It does. Kara either couldn't or wouldn't give me a name. I gave her hell for not coming to me sooner. I think it finally dawned on her late in our conversation that if Reider's…bad habit had been exposed earlier, he might have been out of a job, but he might also still be alive."

"I don't think one of Reider's victims did this. I saw a preliminary autopsy report before I left the base this afternoon. He had no defensive wounds. He was clearly surprised by his attacker. From the angle his neck was snapped, it would have taken someone big and very strong."

"A guy, then?"

"That's the assumption. One five feet ten inches tall give or take an inch or two."

John looked at Lee. "I'm sure at least one of Reider's victims has a boyfriend or a brother…or a father. If you identify the cadets who were his victims, we're that much closer to the killer."

"Don't forget, though, that whoever did this had to get onto a guarded military facility."

"I wouldn't think he came through the front gate. Do you know when Reider died?" John asked.

"The cold made establishing a time of death more difficult, but the estimate is between 23:00 yesterday and 2:00 this morning. That's another reason we don't think it was a cadet. They're in their rooms at night. No way one of them got out of a dorm without being seen. We're going to start questioning cadets tomorrow morning beginning with Reider's first PE class."

"Pay special attention to the class Kara's roommate is in," John said. "I did get that much from her."

"Thanks."

"Good luck," John said. "You know Kara has another theory."

"Does it involve her roommate?"

"It does."

"Motive, means and opportunity. That's what my grandfather said the prosecutor always has to prove. I don't see but one of those in Sharon's case."

"Motive?"

"Motive. She saw Reider having sex with a cadet. The girl wasn't fighting but she was crying. Sharon walked away. Maybe her guilt and dislike of Reider gave her motive, but I don't see her having either the strength to snap his neck like that or being able to get out of her dorm. So I think Kara's wrong."

"She found Sharon in the shower between 1:30 and 2:00 this morning. Sharon said she thought she'd gotten sick, but she didn't remember it. All she remembered was getting out of her bunk and then being in the shower."

"Damn," Lee said as the impact of what John had said hit him. "I don't want Kara involved in this."

"Since she's not in one of Reider's classes, she won't be. I'm telling you so you can direct your questions in a certain direction."

"John, I won't get to interview Sharon. I gave Major Parker a list of cadets that I know. Sharon was on the list. Someone else will talk to her."

"Then this thing may never be solved," John said. "Even if you find the cadet or cadets that Reider was having sex with, if Kara is right, it won't lead you anywhere."

"My dad's helping me look into the possibility that a copy of Sharon had something to do with the disaster on the Colony of Troy."

"Kara mentioned that, too. I wish I'd discouraged Kara when she mentioned rooming with her."

"Why?" Lee asked.

"Lords of Kobol, Lee, think about it. If Sharon is a Cylon and she had something to do with both the incident on Troy and with Reider's death, and she thinks Kara is on to her, what do you think she might do?"

John had just voiced the thought that had been hovering in Lee's subconscious since noon today.

"Kara's going to have to play dumb. She's going to have to back off even hinting to Sharon that she had any suspicions."

"That's exactly what I told her. Until they graduate, she is Sharon's roommate, nothing else. No questions, no poking around in Sharon's life, nothing."

"She'll have to leave that to me. I intend to pursue the thing about Troy. I think Kara's right. I think a copy of Sharon might have done it."

"Whatever you do, don't you put my daughter in danger. Don't you ask her to do anything that would put her in danger."

"No. I'd never do that."

"What are we going to do if we convince ourselves she's a Cylon, though? What then? How do we handle it?"

"I've been thinking about that," Lee said. "For days now I've been thinking about it. I think we try to turn her. I think between Kara and Karl we try to turn her to our cause without letting her know we're on to her."

"You think she'd betray her own kind for us?"

"Not for us. Not for humans. But I think she might do it for a lover and for a friend. I think Karl and Kara are our hope of getting to her."

"I hope you're right, Lee."

"I hope I'm right, too."

Laura walked sleepily into the den with her blouse partially unbuttoned and her son at her breast.

"We've got company," John said.

"Oops," Laura said and turned around.

"I'm leaving," Lee said to John as he got up. "I know you want to spend what's left of the evening with them."

John walked with him to the door. "Good luck tomorrow."

"Thanks."

Laura walked back into the den and sat down in her favorite chair. Braedon was at her shoulder.

"I didn't know Lee was here."

"He just stopped by to chat."

"About what happened today at the Academy?"

"How did you hear about that?"

"Fiona called before you got home. Do you want to talk about it?"

"No. I want to hold our son. That's what's important. Not dead instructors or Cylons. What's important is this beautiful new life we created."

Laura smiled as she handed Braedon to his father. She couldn't have said it better herself.

TBC…


	48. Winter Dance

Chapter 48

Winter Dance

_During the fourth year of Cylon occupation, Cavil forced the Quorum of Twelve to add an amendment to the Articles of Colonization that granted citizenship to all Cylons thus insuring their equality with humans in the eyes of the law. There was an inside joke that made the rounds in government circles claiming that President Adar had signed the amendment with disappearing ink. _

_-Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War_

The dress was midnight blue velvet and a gift from Laura. On the note Kara's father gave her along with the dress, Laura had penned, _Every girl should have a special dress for her first dance._ Apparently Laura didn't count the wedding and reception as Kara's first dance.

A portrait of Laura in a beautiful white dress had once hung in the room that had been redecorated to serve as Braedon's nursery. Laura wanted to put the portrait away. Kara's father had wanted to move it to their bedroom. He loved the painting of eighteen-year-old Laura with her wavy, shoulder-length hair and her serious smile.

Kara thought the smile looked more sad than serious. She had finally found the courage to ask Laura about it. Laura's answer had been no surprise. Bill Adama had been on a battlestar fighting Cylons when the portrait was painted. What Kara had seen in Laura's eyes, and what the artist had caught, was her love for Bill, her pain at their separation and her fears for his safety.

Laura and John had reached a compromise. The portrait now hung in the foyer. He got to see it every day when he came home and opened the door. She knew her father was aware of Laura's long-ago relationship with Bill. One day Kara thought she might gather the courage to ask her father why he wanted to see a portrait every day of Laura that was painted when she was in love with another man. It didn't make sense to her.

Standing by his car in the parking lot, her father teased her as he handed her the dress. "This makes three, baby. You're on your way to a whole closet full."

Kara gave him a look. She was okay with it, though. She could deal with owning three dresses.

"Tell Laura I said _thanks._ You mean she actually left Braedon long enough to go shopping?"

"She and Fiona were gone for a couple of hours last Saturday morning."

"She left him alone with _you_?"

Her father gave her the _dad_ look. "I got plenty of experience changing diapers when you were a baby."

"I guess I'll see you and Laura Saturday night. You can't ask me to dance, though. Some people already think you give me grades. That would just make it worse."

Her father shook his head as he hugged her. "You'll show them when you get to Flight School. They'll see how good you really are. You can't fake it in a real Viper."

Kara took the dress back to the dorm and hung it in her closet. Sharon was out jogging as she was every afternoon.

In the month since Captain Reider's death, Sharon had alternately been upbeat and then depressed and absent-minded. John and Lee had both talked to Kara about not pushing Sharon or asking her any questions. Kara could tell that both of them were fearful of arousing Sharon's suspicions.

For the first two weeks many of the other cadets had talked incessantly about the murder. That is until it became evident that no leads had been forthcoming.

True to his professional ethics, Lee had not once discussed any of his team's findings with her. What she had heard had been in the form of gossip and speculation, some of it true, some not. From Cadet Pike she heard that Reider was having sex with a cadet (true)…and that the cadet was going to be expelled (false). From a cadet in her PE class, she heard that the cadet, all five foot two of her, was a suspect in the murder (false). Kara's father told her that Colonel Winters had said that based on the forensic recreation of the murder, that the perpetrator was at least five foot nine. Sharon was almost five nine.

From another girl on her hall Kara heard that the cadet's father was being questioned. Kara later found out that the man was in a wheel chair and had been since the bombing of Caprica City. After that, Kara only half-way listened to the rumor mill. She was fairly certain that this copy of Sharon had found a way to kill Reider, just like a previous copy of Sharon had found a way to cause the dome on Troy to crack and collapse.

Destroying the mining colony on Troy was definitely something a Cylon would do. Kara could understand that as a Cylon mission, but Reider's murder was personal. Did that mean Sharon was evolving, becoming more human? Killing for revenge or from a vigilante sense of justice wasn't something a machine would do.

Because of Lee's involvement in Reider's murder investigation, he had not been able to continue his pursuit of information about Troy. He had found only one bit of information in a book in the Caprica City library…a photograph of the dome taken during construction when the dome was about sixty percent complete. He had made a copy of the page and the accompanying description. It was at his apartment. He told Kara he would not risk bringing it to the Academy. They would talk when she was home for winter break in two weeks.

Kara sat down at her desk and opened her history book, but found she couldn't remember what she was reading. She finally gave up and lay down on her bed and thought of Lee.

She was almost asleep when Sharon came into the room, her cheeks flushed from exertion and the cold. There was a box under her arm that she threw on her bunk.

"What's that?" Kara asked sleepily and yawned.

"My dress for the dance Saturday night. It came in the post today. I wasn't sure it was going to make it. Open it for me, will you? I've got to go grab a shower. I've got fifteen minutes until we have to be in line for dinner."

Kara found a pair of scissors and cut the wrapping tape at the ends of the box. Inside was a surprise. The dress had a ruffled neckline and a ruffle at the hem of the skirt. It was dark purple and almost frilly. No, it wasn't _almost_ frilly. It _was_ frilly. It was not the style of dress that Kara would have pictured for Sharon.

She took it out of the box and shook out the folds. It was frilly.

Sharon came into the room wrapped in a towel and stopped as Kara held up the dress. "That's not the dress I ordered. I can't believe they sent me the wrong frakking dress."

"What did you order?" Kara asked.

Sharon stood for a moment looking confused before she turned to her closet to get her uniform. "It didn't look like that. I'll have to find it on-line again."

"The dance is in two days. You won't have time to exchange it."

"Whatever," Sharon said. Kara sensed a shift in her mood again.

"It's a nice dress, Sharon. Karl will like it."

"Maybe I did order it. I talked to Maggie in chemistry today. She asked Zak to take her to the dance and he accepted."

Kara had not seen Zak since the night of her birthday party, since the night he had lied to her about his relationship with Maggie. Her father had told her that Mrs. Nagala had asked Bill to the dance. All three Adamas would be under the same roof for the first time since the day of the funeral.

"I didn't know he and Maggs were still dating," Kara said to Sharon.

"They saw each other a couple of times over mid-term break."

"She so deserves somebody better than Zak."

"I think she's just using him."

"Using him? For what?"

"What do you think?"

"You think Maggie….is using Zak…for sex?"

Sharon shook her head. "Not sex. I think Maggie still has a thing for Karl, so I think she's using Zak to make Karl jealous. She wants to get pretty and go to the dance so she asked Zak. Zak is good-looking."

"She didn't have to ask Zak to get a date for the dance. Cadet Saunders asked her. And he's cute, too."

"Flat Top?" Sharon snorted. "Zak is cuter."

"I don't think so. Besides, it takes more than looks," Kara said, thinking of the way Zak had lied, something Lee would never do. "And I don't think Maggie still has a thing for Karl. I know for sure he doesn't still have a thing for her."

"We need to get in line," Sharon said.

"Right."

That night Kara went downstairs and looked at the signup log for the three available phones. There was one five-minute slot at 21:05. She put her name down. When Lee answered his phone, she said, "I've only got five minutes, but I wanted you to know that Maggie asked Zak to the dance and he accepted. He'll be there Saturday night. My dad said your father is coming, too…with Mrs. Nagala."

"That's right. She asked him. I'd better tell Zak. I'd better tell Dad, too."

"Okay, I just wanted you to know."

"How are you?"

"I'm fine. Looking forward to Saturday night."

"So am I."

"Laura sent me a new dress."

"Another one?"

"It's blue."

"My favorite color."

"I'll see you Saturday. I've got to finish some math homework."

"Go study. I love you, Kara."

She glanced at the desk. The lieutenant on duty was a friend of Shelley Sydell's. Kara lowered her voice. "I love you, too."

...

"I hate it," Sharon said. "It looks like a party dress for a six-year-old."

"No, it doesn't."

"Your dress is a knockout."

Kara wished she had a full-length mirror instead of the small one on the inside of her closet door. The midnight blue velvet dress had a scooped neck, cap sleeves and v-shaped back. Her cleavage was hinted rather than shown. Of course if Lee looked down while they were dancing… Kara smiled and wondered if Laura had thought the same thing when she bought it.

"Come on. Let's go. Otherwise the guys will think we're up here primping."

"We sure don't want that," Sharon said.

They went down to the dorm lobby. Lee and Karl stood near one of the walls talking. Kara saw them both turn and look in her direction. She greeted the expression on Lee's face with a slight eye roll. She knew he was trying to reconcile the woman in the blue velvet dress with the uniform-clad cadet who had greeted him for the last four months in the lobby on Saturday nights.

Kara glanced at the front desk. Lieutenant Sydell was nowhere to be seen. Another lieutenant was on duty tonight. She wondered if that meant Sydell had a date for the dance.

Kara looked back at Lee. He hadn't taken his eyes off her. He helped her put on her coat as Karl helped Sharon with her coat. Together the four of them walked to the Admin Building and the banquet room that had been cleared for tonight's dance. White glitter-covered cardboard snowflakes hung from the ceiling. Two small lights rotated making the snowflakes look like they were moving.

As they walked into the ballroom, Kara asked, "Did it look this nice when you and Shelley were here together?"

"I don't remember what it looked like," Lee answered. "Let's go speak to your dad and Laura."

Hand in hand they walked over to the side of the room where the chaperones stood.

"Let me see the dress," Laura said. "Turn around." As Kara bashfully turned, Laura said. "You look beautiful."

"Thank you. So do you. I see you bought a blue dress, too."

She saw Laura glance at her father and smile. "I've had this one for a while. I wore it to the President's birthday party last February."

Her dad and Laura smiled at each other. The President's birthday party must have special meaning for them.

"Who's keeping Braedon tonight?" Kara asked.

"My former secretary, Adele. She raised three children so I trust her. Tory volunteered, but I don't think Tory has any experience with little ones. She's an only child."

John winked at Kara. "Our first real date since Braedon was born and we get to spend it chaperoning cadets."

Lee said, "I'm sure no one would notice if you slipped away early. It's not like you're the only faculty members here."

Out of the corner of her eye Kara saw Maggie and Zak walk in. Maggie looked beautiful in a strapless red dress. Zak had on a nice suit. They made a very nice looking couple. "Wow," Kara said.

Lee's gaze followed Kara's. The week before his brother had been in Zeno's with a petite blond, one of the Buccaneers' cheerleaders. He suddenly felt sorry for Maggie.

"We should go speak to them," he said to Kara.

John said. "We'll talk to you kids later."

He took Laura's hand and they walked toward a group of faculty members that included Colonel Winters and Colonel Burgher and their wives. Lee took Kara's hand and together they walked over to Maggie and Zak.

"Hot dress, Maggs," Kara said.

"Thanks. Back at you. Hey, Lee."

"Maggie.

Zak grinned. "Where do you get a drink around here?"

"You won't find any alcohol being served here tonight," Lee said.

"Who says?" Zak asked still grinning. He patted his suit jacket over the inside pocket. "All I need is something to mix it with."

"Lords of Kobol, Zak, you could get Maggie expelled."

"Chill, bro. I didn't say I was going to give her any of it."

Maggie looked uncomfortable. "I am not hearing any of this. I do not want to know anything about a flask."

Kara nudged Lee. Commander Adama and Mrs. Nagala had just walked in. Lee saw heads turn. His father was wearing his dress uniform. Mrs. Nagala's dark hair was down around her shoulders. Her dress was red and made similar to Maggie's. Fiona Nagala looked beautiful.

"Who's the babe that Dad is with?" Zak asked.

"Mrs. Nagala," Maggie said. "She teaches here."

"Damn, why wasn't she a teacher while I was here? I could have paid some serious attention in her class...maybe not to what she was teaching, but to her."

Kara glanced at Maggie. Her face was expressionless.

"Cool it, Zak" Lee said. "Mrs. Nagala is just a few years younger than Dad. I'll be glad to introduce you to her. You need to speak to Dad, too."

"Not yet. Maybe later," Zak patted his jacket again. "After I've had some refreshment."

The band began playing a slow song. "Come on, let's dance." Kara said to Lee. She'd had enough of Zak. "Maggie deserves better than your brother," she said after they were on the dance floor.

"I'm not going to argue with you."

"I just hope she hasn't really fallen for him."

"So do I," Lee said.

After the dance ended, Kara and Lee walked over to his father and Mrs. Nagala.

"Have you come up with any more out-of-the-box ideas?" The commander asked her. His tone was serious, but his eyes said he was teasing.

"I'm working on it," Kara smiled.

"You do that. We need all the help we can get." Bill Adama turned to Lee. "I see Zak is here."

Lee nodded.

"Should I go speak to him?"

"Let me talk to him first."

"Then I'm going to dance with Fiona." They walked out onto the dance floor. Bill took Fiona into his arms and they began to move to the music.

Kara wondered if before the evening was over, Bill would ask Laura to dance like he had done at the wedding reception.

"Your dad's a good dancer," she said to Lee.

"I'd never seen him dance with anyone before Laura and John's wedding. I didn't realize he knew how."

"Parents surprise us sometimes, don't they? I'd never seen my dad dance before then either."

Kara looked around for Sharon and Karl. She finally saw them on the far side of the room. Each had a cup of punch. Zak and Maggie had started dancing. Maggie was turning a few heads, too. She really did look good in her red dress. Zak was probably getting off big time thinking that other cadets were hot for his date.

Over Lee's shoulder she caught a glimpse of Shelley Sydell and a young, dark-haired man in an officer's dress gray uniform. Kara was too far away to see his rank, but he was probably a lieutenant, also.

"Lieutenant Sydell has a boyfriend."

Lee glanced around. "I don't think he's a _boyfriend_."

"Why not?"

"He graduated from the Academy with me and Shelley. I never thought he was interested in girls. His name is Felix Gaeta. I thought he was serving on the _Galactica_ as her tactical officer."

"Maybe he's back here on leave."

"He and Shelley are just friends."

Kara glanced over at Sharon and Karl again. They looked like they were arguing. "Uh-oh."

"What?"

"I think Sharon and Karl are having a fight. She's been in a bad mood for the last couple of days…ever since she got her dress and said it wasn't the one she ordered."

"You haven't said anything to her, have you?"

"No, Lee. I'm playing it cool just like you and dad told me to."

As Kara watched, Sharon shoved her cup of punch into Karl's hand and made her way around the edge of the dance floor to the exit. She left without looking back.

"That's not good. I'd better go check on her."

"Be careful," Lee said. "Don't follow her outside. You need permission to leave before the dance is over."

"Gods, Lee. I know the rules. I'm just going to look in the bathroom."

Sharon was standing at one of the sinks looking at her reflection in the mirror.

"What's up?" Kara asked.

Sharon didn't answer, just shook her head.

"It's not the dress, is it? Because you look…"

"He was looking at Maggie. I think he wants to ask her to dance."

Kara thought of what Karl had told her earlier in the semester, that Sharon wasn't the jealous type. This was a big change.

"I doubt it. Karl and Maggie split up last winter. She was too jealous and possessive for one thing. Karl had always been faithful to her, but she didn't believe it."

Sharon rubbed her forehead. "Do I sound jealous and possessive? Is that what this is? I'm jealous?"

"You don't need to worry about Karl. You're the one he's hot for."

The door opened and several female cadets walked in. Maggie was one of them.

"Stay away from Karl," Sharon said to Maggie.

"What are you talking about?" Maggie asked.

Sharon walked over to Maggie and pushed her shoulder slightly. "You and your red dress stay away from Karl. Now, get out of my way."

"What the frak is your problem," Maggie said. She looked at Kara. "What's her problem?"

Kara shrugged. "Come on, Sharon. Let's go."

Ignoring Kara, Sharon said to Maggie, "My problem is you."

Maggie pushed her back. "Get out of _my_ way, Valerii."

"Oh, frak," Kara said. "Knock it off, you two. This is a dance. We're not in the gym."

Several of the other cadets who had been in the bathroom hurried out. Several others remained. Kara guessed they wanted to see what was going to happen next.

Sharon pushed Maggie again, and Maggie swung. Sharon easily blocked her punch.

Maggie grunted and began rubbing her hand. Kara thought of the time she had hit Natasi.

"You want to try again?" Sharon asked.

Knowing it wasn't a wise move, Kara stepped between the two women. "Are you two crazy? Knock it off!"

At that moment, the door to the restroom opened and Shelley walked in. They all froze. Either Sydell quickly accessed the situation or someone had told her what was about to happen.

"Move away from each other," Sydell barked.

The three of them slowly moved apart.

"What's going on?"

"Nothing, sir," Kara said.

"Cadet Valerii? Cadet Edmondson?"

"Nothing, sir," they said in unison.

"Just fooling around, sir," Maggie said. "Playing, that's all."

"Is that right, Cadet Thrace?"

"Yes, sir."

Kara looked past Sydell's shoulder and fixed her gaze on a chipped tile in the restroom wall. She was sure if she looked Shelley in the eye, Shelley would know she was lying.

Shelley looked at the two cadets who had stayed to observe and who were suddenly very busy primping in front of the mirrors. "Are they telling me the truth?"

"We weren't paying attention, sir" one of them said.

"Leave us," Sydell said. "All of you. Out. Except you, CadetThrace. You stay."

Kara stood motionless, her eyes still on the wall. She could tell that Sharon hesitated. "Go," she said. "Tell Lee I'll be out in a few minutes." She finally shifted her eyes to Shelley's. "Otherwise he's going to come looking for me."

Before Sharon left, she said to Kara, "Two minutes. Then I'm coming back with your father."

As soon as the door closed, Shelley said, "Wherever you go, trouble always follows, doesn't it, Cadet Thrace?"

"It depends on what you call _trouble_…sir"

"What's the problem with your friends?"

"No problem."

"You think because your father teaches here and you date a commander's son that you're untouchable."

Kara felt her anger start to rise. "No, sir!"

"You think you can lie to me and get away with it? Somebody was ready to trade punches. What was the fight about? Who's got the problem? Who started it?" Kara remained silent. "Well, Cadet Thrace?"

"What's _your_ problem, _sir_? Is it my father or is it Lee? Have you got a problem with me because of Lee?"

"Watch it! You are way out of line. You don't want to go there."

"We don't have to _go_ there. We're _already_ _there_, aren't we, _sir_?"

The door opened and Laura walked in. "Oh, am I interrupting something?" she asked sweetly.

"No, ma'am," Shelley said.

"Are we through, then, _sir_?" Kara asked.

"We're through, Cadet Thrace. For now."

Kara walked out with Laura. "Thanks. I…it was about to get ugly. I might have been going home with you and my dad tonight. She was trying to push me into doing or saying something. She almost succeeded."

"Sharon came and got me."

"Shelley used to have a thing with Lee. She doesn't like me too much."

"I gathered that."

Her father and Lee were in the hallway.

"Look who I found," Laura said.

"I'm okay," Kara said to them. She realized her right hand was still clenched in a fist. Carefully she relaxed it. Her father looked questioningly at her.

"What's going on, Kara?"

"Later, Dad. Now is not the time to talk about it." They walked back into the ballroom.

"Do I need to talk to Shelley?" Lee asked.

"No, I can handle my own problems," Kara said. She realized that her mouth was dry. "Come on, let's get some punch." She turned. "Thanks again, Laura."

Zak and Maggie stood near the refreshment table. As soon as they had cups of punch, Maggie walked over. "What the hell is wrong with Sharon? She's acting like a nut case."

"She's been studying too hard."

"No future in that," Zak said.

"You should know," Kara retorted quickly.

"Whoa. That was uncalled for."

Kara snarked. "What's the matter? You don't like it when somebody tells the _truth_?"

"That's enough," Lee said. "Both of you. This is a dance. We're supposed to be having fun, for frak's sake."

"Well, while I'm getting a lecture on the truth, maybe I should go speak to Dad," Zak said. "Make his night and mine, too."

"I'll go with you," Lee said. "Will you be all right?" He asked Kara.

"Never better," she answered.

As soon as Lee and Zak walked away, Maggie said, "I know Zak dates other girls. So don't feel sorry for me."

Kara shrugged. "It's your life."

"That's right. It's my life. All I really care about is being a Raptor pilot. All I really want to do is kill Cylons. Jared chose his path. I chose mine."

"It's not always that black and white, Maggs."

"Yes, it is."

"So the only good Cylon is a dead Cylon?"

"You'd better believe it."

Kara sighed. There was no point in arguing.

...

Lee stopped Zak as they made their way around the edge of the dance floor. "Have you finished the flask yet?"

"Almost."

"What are you going to say to Dad?"

"_Hello_."

"That's all?"

"I think I'll tell him I approve of his taste in women."

"Zak…"

"Just screwing with you, Lee. I would like a better look at the famous Mrs. Nagala. She's hot. I guess Dad's frakking her."

"That's none of my business. None of yours, either."

"Yeah, well mom sure cut him off…last year. He…"

"Zak, stop," Lee finally felt his temper begin to rise. "That is way to much information. The entire world does not revolve around frakking."

Zak snorted. "Says the guy who's frakking one of the hottest girls on the planet."

"We're not going to talk about my relationship with Kara. That's none of your business, either."

"She doesn't like me, does she?"

"She did until you lied to her about Maggie. You should have just kept your mouth shut."

"When? When did I lie to her about Maggie?"

"At Kara's birthday party. You told her you and Maggie didn't have a relationship."

"Did I? Frak, I was drunk, Lee. I didn't lie to her on purpose."

"That's one of your problems, Zak. You were trying to impress her. You're always trying to impress girls, telling them what you think they want to hear whether it's the truth or not."

"On second thought, maybe going to talk to Dad right now is not such a good idea. I don't think I can handle it. Besides, you sound like you're taking over his job. I don't need both of you telling me what my problems are."

Lee watched Zak avoid the dancing couples as he walked across the dance floor and back to Maggie. Zak took Maggie's hand and led her away from Kara.

Kara started walking in Lee's direction. When they met, he said, "This evening has gone to hell, hasn't it?"

"Between Sharon and Maggie and Zak...and your friend who was just doing her job instead of being a _bitch_."

Lee ignored her last remark. "What happened to Karl and Sharon?"

"I don't know," Kara said. "Aren't they here?"

"I haven't seen them since Sharon came to get Laura. You want to tell me what happened in the bathroom?"

"Sharon and Maggie almost got into it. Sharon started it. I think she's losing it. I don't know what to do."

"There's nothing you can do. Stay out of it."

"I think she killed Captain Reider."

"How? How did she get out of your dorm? How did she get Reider to the jogging trail close to midnight, snap his neck, and then get back in without being seen? I just don't see how she could have done it."

"I don't know how, either, but I still think she did it."

"You know we can't pursue Sharon without involving you. I'm not willing to do that. I won't risk it."

"So she just goes free?"

"Unless we can find some real evidence that points the finger at her."

"Don't forget about the dome on Troy. She probably did that, too."

"Technically that couldn't have been _her_ since whoever destroyed that dome died there."

"What difference does it make if it was her or a copy? They're the same."

"You know this opens up a brand new legal issue. The person…Cylon…whoever was responsible for causing the disaster on Troy…if it _was_ sabotage…obviously died there. If…and that's a huge _if_…that could ever be proved, how could you legally put a _copy_ of the guilty party on trial?"

"You're asking the wrong person. I'm no lawyer."

"My grandfather would have loved to tackle something like this."

"Your grandfather would have defended a Cylon?"

"Probably. I'm not sure what would have fascinated him more, the Cylon part or blazing new trails in the law."

"I didn't think Cylons had any rights."

"Legally they don't. Not under Caprica's current judicial system. They're considered machines. Of course I hear Cavil's trying to change that. He wants the Cylons declared citizens."

"So then you could put a Cylon on trial?"

"If that happens we could. We couldn't right now."

"So what would you do with Sharon if she can't be put on trial?"

Lee shrugged. "What do you think, Kara?"

"Execute her? Are you saying if you knew Sharon had done it, you'd just execute her?"

"Not me, personally. But that's what would happen to her if we knew she was a Cylon and she'd committed a murder."

"Do you think that's right?"

"It's the law."

"That's not what I asked you, Lee. Do you think it would be right to just kill one of them without a trial or anything?"

"Don't you? They killed billions of us."

"We've killed a lot of us, too. All through history we've killed each other."

"Cylons are just machines who are programmed to kill humans. Don't you understand that? They're machines."

Kara thought of Leoben, at least the copy of him that she knew. "So now I guess you're going to tell me that killing one of them is just like unplugging a toaster. That's what Jared tried to tell me. We'll I can tell you it's not like that. I know what it feels like," she said, the emotion rising in her voice. "I know what it feels like to…pull that trigger. I killed two of them. Or don't you remember?"

"And they downloaded and two others took their places. How many copies of them do you think there are? Huh? How many?"

"I don't know. Lots probably."

"Just because you met one sleeper Cylon who hasn't killed yet doesn't mean he can't and won't."

"I don't believe it. Not him."

"You're too naïve, Kara. And we're going nowhere with this discussion. We're supposed to be having fun this evening."

"Yeah, that kind of went to hell early on, didn't it? There's Karl…by himself. He's heading for the refreshment table. We should go find out what happened."

When Kara and Lee got to him a minute later, Kara could tell Karl was upset.

"Sharon got permission to leave. She said she was sick. I walked her back to the dorm. What the hell is wrong with her?"

Kara took the cup of punch from Karl's hand and took a sip. "She thinks you wanted to dance with Maggs."

"That's crazy. Okay, yeah. I looked at Maggie. She looks good tonight. Lee probably looked at her, too. Hell, most of the guys in here tonight looked at her. It doesn't mean I want to drag her into the bushes. Been there and done that already. It didn't work. Will you talk to Sharon for me?"

Lee looked at Karl. "Kara's already gotten into trouble trying to keep Sharon and Maggie apart. You need to handle your problems with Sharon and leave Kara out of it."

"Hey, Lee, Karl's my friend. All he's asking me to do is talk to her."

"No, Lee's right," Karl said. "I need to take care of this myself. I'm going back to the dorm and see if she'll come down and talk to me. If she won't, I'm going back to my dorm. Dances suck when you're alone."

After he left, Kara said, "Don't come down on Karl again, okay. He's my friend. I probably wouldn't have survived without him."

"Yeah, you would have, Kara. You would have called the cops at the airport the night Zarek hijacked your dad's ship just like John told you to do, and you would have been waiting when he got back there four days later. You would have survived. You would have survived even without being as tough as you are. Even without Karl."

Kara realized that Lee was right. If she'd been alone that night she'd have called the police exactly like her father told her to do.

"Let Karl fight his own battles," Lee went on. "You don't want to be too involved in this. How do you think he's going to feel when he finds out she's a Cylon and you've known all along? Do you think he's going to let that one go? Do you think he'll chalk it up to you trying to protect him?"

"You think I should tell him what we suspect?"

"Is he in love with her?"

"I think so."

"That's your decision, Kara. You're his friend."

"I don't want to think about this now. Too much has happened. Dance with me. Just put your arms around me and dance with me."

Lee did as she asked, and Kara tried to forget the way things seemed to be spinning out of control with Sharon and Karl, tried to ignore the fact that her life was becoming infinitely more complicated than she had ever dreamed it could be.

…

Before the evening was over, Commander Adama made his way to Zak and spoke to him. Bill did not take Mrs. Nagala with him. Zak introduced Maggie who left them after a minute and then Zak and his father spoke briefly.

Lee wanted to join them, but Kara put her hand on his arm and stopped him. She reminded him of his advice to her and Karl. Zak and his father needed to work out their problems without Lee trying to run interference. Zak and his father ended their brief talk without any raised voices or angry gestures, so Kara considered it a victory. A big victory would have been a hug, but she guessed it was way too soon for that…if the commander was the kind of man who would hug his sons. At least with Zak it was a beginning.

Kara also noticed as she looked around that her father and Laura had already left. She was sure that Laura was anxious to get back to Braedon. Her father probably was, too. Or maybe they just wanted a few minutes alone together. Kara imagined them making out in the car in the faculty parking lot the way she had walked in and found them kissing one night during the summer. Kara smiled.

"What?" Lee asked.

"Nothing. Your dad and Zak did okay. Zak didn't walk away. They talked. That's a first step."

"You're right."

"And they did it without any help. It is now midnight. The dance is officially over. Are you ready to walk me back to the dorm?"

They got their coats and walked slowly, their arms linked, their hands stuffed into their pockets.

"I can't wait for spring," Kara said. "I'm already sick of winter."

"Aren't you forgetting winter break? I'm looking forward to that."

"I can't wait to kiss you knowing we're not going to have to stop."

At her dorm they stood at the bottom of the steps. "Two weeks," Lee whispered before he kissed her, their lips and noses cold in the frigid air.

Kara took a deep breath when the kiss ended. "Winter break has got to be better than the dance was tonight."

"A lot better," Lee said. "At least Karl and Sharon are going to the beach near Delphi again. You won't have to deal with their problems for a whole week."

"Won't that be nice?" Kara said before she kissed him again.

"I can tell you what will be nicer but it would just get me more hot and bothered than I am right now."

"I'm counting the days."

…

"Karl, Karl, slow down," Kara said. "I can't understand you." She sat up in bed, pulling the sheet against her chest.

"What?" Lee asked groggily. "Is it time to take you back to John and Laura's already?"

Kara shook her head and motioned for Lee to be quiet. "Where are you?"

"I'm here," Lee said, "right beside you." He hadn't opened his eyes.

"Not you," Kara hissed. "I'm talking to Karl. What? No, go ahead."

Lee opened his eyes. "I didn't hear your phone ring."

"I have it on vibrate," she whispered.

"Where the hell did you have it?"

Kara pointed to the bedside table. "Sure, Karl, come over." She ended the call and put her phone back on the table. The sheet dropped.

"Ummm," Lee said and pulled her back down beside him. His mouth found her nipple and he heard the sharp intake of her breath. "What did Karl want?"

"Oh, damn, don't do that. We've got to get dressed. Karl's on his way over here. He was calling from the spaceport."

Lee lay back on the pillow. The frustration was clear in his voice. "We've got three nights left of winter break including tonight. Can I ask why you invited Karl to come over?"

"He's back from the beach early. Something's wrong."

Lee rubbed both hands over his face. "What?"

"I don't know. That's why he's coming over. We'd better get dressed."

"You think they broke up?"

"He sounded way more upset than that."

Karl arrived twenty minutes later. Lee opened the door. He had never seen Karl look so distraught.

"Thanks. I appreciate this. Man, I know…this is…I…"

Kara walked over to Karl. Her eyes searched his. "What?"

"Sharon's dead," Karl managed to choke out.

Kara wasn't even aware that she had moved, but her arms were around Karl. "Oh, gods, no!"

Lee shut the door and went straight to the kitchen. When he came back he had a bottle of ambrosia and three glasses.

Kara helped Karl to the couch and sat down beside him. Lee poured a glass nearly full and handed it to Karl.

Karl took it. "Thanks."

Kara let him drink half the glass before she asked him. "What happened?"

"She drowned," Karl said, the anguish clear in his voice. "At the beach. She was there…and then…she was gone."

"You were together? You saw her drown?"

"No. I was on the beach along with about a thousand other people. She went for a swim. I saw her walk out into the surf. The guy beside us had a wireless. He was listening to a pyramid game. The Dominos and the Angels. It couldn't have been fifteen, twenty minutes until the end of the game. When I started looking for her, she was gone…vanished."

"You didn't see her…her body?" Kara asked.

Karl appeared not to hear the question. "I saw her walk into the surf. I lay back on the beach towel and listened to the rest of the game. When I sat up again, she was gone. I ran up and down the beach looking. I asked everybody. "

"Did you talk to the lifeguard?" Lee asked. "Did the Coast Patrol search for her?"

"There was no lifeguard where we were. I ran down the beach. I found…there was one further down the beach…he started asking me questions…did I see her get in trouble…did I see her go under…stuff like that. He called the local shore patrol and the police. They wanted to know if she could have gone back to the room…we went…her things were still there on the beach…on her towel…her sandals…that wrap thing she wore over her bathing suit…her sunglasses and hat…all still there. I…we went back to the room. She wasn't there. I went back to the beach. I stayed until dark."

"Oh, gods, Karl. I'm so sorry."

"But they didn't find her?" Lee asked.

"No. The policeman said the current was strong further out. He said if she swam out too far and got caught in it…she might never be…" Karl couldn't finish the sentence and turned up the glass of ambrosia. He drained it and picked up the bottle that Lee had put on the table beside the couch.

"When did it happen?" Lee asked.

"Four days ago."

"Are they still searching?"

"No. They called it off late yesterday. I didn't know what else to do. I got a flight this afternoon."

"Why didn't you call me?" Kara asked.

"Because I kept hoping," Karl said. "I just knew she was…going to be found and she would be all right. She's a good swimmer. She's strong." He put his head back against the couch and closed his eyes.

Kara looked at Lee. Suicide or accident? It didn't matter. If they were right…if Sharon was a Cylon, it wouldn't matter. She would be back.

"Did you and Sharon…how were things going with you two?" Kara asked gently.

"Not good…we…No! You're trying to say she did this on purpose? You think she _killed herself_?"

"I'm not saying anything, Karl. I just asked a question."

"Why? Did she say something to you?"

"She's…I don't know how to say this."

"Say what? Look at me, Kara! Gods damn it! Look at me! What are you not telling me?" Karl said roughly.

"Hey, Karl…" Lee started.

Kara held up her hand and shook her head and stopped Lee. She made her decision. She looked Karl straight in the eyes, her best friend since she was eight and he was nine, and her heart broke for him. Tears filled her eyes.

"She'll be back. Even if she drowned, she'll be back. She's a Cylon."

For one brief and terrible instant she thought he believed her. And then the denial filled his eyes. He got up and walked to the kitchen doorway before he turned. "What the hell are you trying to do?"

Lee said, "She's telling you the truth."

"No frakking way!" Karl said. "There's just no frakking way!"

Kara didn't know what else to say. She just held his gaze and forced herself not to look away. The moments of silence slid by, louder than any ticking clock.

"Prove it," Karl finally said.

"I can't. You're going to have to trust me on this one. You've been like a brother to me over half my life. I would never tell you something like this unless I believed it."

"How long have you thought she was a Cylon?" Karl asked the terrible question that Kara had hoped he wouldn't.

"I told you I still don't know how to prove it."

"How long?" She heard the anger in his voice as he asked the question a second time.

"Since last summer."

"What made you think…something must have made you think…?"

"My dad's old girlfriend was pretty sure she had seen her out at the Cylon lab, the one we blew up last winter…"

"You're saying Sharon was trying to have a hybrid baby?"

"Not your Sharon. Another copy of her. But Lissa wasn't absolutely certain it was her."

"And you let me…you knew I was…me and Sharon…that we were…and you never said a word?" The anger was stronger. "You never said a gods damned word?"

"Karl, we still can't prove it," Lee said.

Karl walked over to the couch. Kara stood. She was aware that Lee was on his feet, too, but this was between her and Karl. She thought of a day over four years ago when they had nearly fought over a rabbit. She thought of the anger and pain in Karl's eyes then.

"They killed my parents!" Karl said, his voice starting to break. "They killed my little sister! And you never said a gods damned word! I thought you were my friend."

She could say any number of things to him now. She could tell him she hadn't believed it was true at first…that she didn't think he would fall in love with Sharon…that she didn't believe it would last. But none of them would be enough to mend what she had damaged by her silence.

The tears in Kara's eyes spilled over. She almost wished Karl would hit her. It would be easier to take than the confused hurt and condemnation in his eyes. "You're my best friend. My brother. I love you." She reached for him.

He backed away. "No!" Tears spilled from his eyes, too. "No! Don't! You can't make it right by saying that."

Karl turned, picked up the suitcase he had dropped just inside the door, and walked out.

Kara started after him. Lee stopped her. "Let him go. You can't do anything for him right now. He needs time to come to terms with what he just heard."

"I can't let him leave like that."

"You've got to. He needs time to think."

Kara sat down on the couch. She thought of how Karl had always been there for her, of all they had been through together. She thought of how she had let him down.

Her face crumpled and she began to sob. Lee sat down beside her and put his arm around her. He knew there wasn't anything he could say that would make her feel better. He knew she needed time to come to terms with everything, too.

"I need to go," Kara finally said. "I know Dad doesn't wait up on me, but still…"

"It's okay. I'll take you," Lee said.

As he pulled out of the underground parking garage, Kara looked back up the street. "Stop! Stop!"

Lee slammed on the brakes. "What?"

Kara got out of the car and walked up the sidewalk. Karl was sitting on the front steps of Lee's apartment building.

"I don't want to go back to the apartment with Jared and Maggie. I'd been staying at Sharon's place. I don't want to go back there, either. I don't have anywhere to go."

"Come on. You can go home with me. Laura and my dad won't care if you sleep on the couch. Or I can sleep on the couch and you can have my bed."

"I don't know what to do."

Lee pulled up to the curb. "Come on," Kara said. They got into the car. "Karl's going home with me."

Lee drove them to the door. No one spoke during the six-mile trip. Karl got out. "I'll call you tomorrow," Lee said to Kara.

"Are you upset about this?"

"He could have stayed with me."

"Karl and I need to talk."

"Whatever."

"You're not okay with it."

"It's late. I need to get back and get some sleep. I've got to work tomorrow."

Kara got out of the car. Only after Lee pulled away from the curb did she realize he hadn't kissed her.

Upstairs in the apartment she went to the cabinet where Laura and her father kept the liquor. She got a bottle of ambrosia and poured two drinks.

Karl sat on one end of the couch. "I'll go back to the Academy tomorrow."

"On a Friday? No way. Stay here through the weekend. We'll go back together on Sunday."

"I need to talk to Colonel Winters."

"We'll go back early on Sunday. My dad will go with us."

Kara tried to imagine going back to the dorm knowing that Sharon wouldn't be coming back. And then she realized that Sharon would be back. She didn't know how or when, but Sharon would be back. The thought creeped her out completely. Sharon…but not Sharon…a copy. Would she be an exact copy…would she be able to pick up where the first Sharon had left off in her classes? Would she know all the cadets…know the routine…the rules…the code? Is that how downloading worked? The next copy knew what all the previous copies had known?

Again she thought about the way Sharon had walked into the surf and disappeared. Had she really drowned? And if she had, was it an accident or had the emotional deterioration Kara had witnessed over the last two months pushed Sharon into killing herself?

Karl got up and poured another glass of ambrosia. "What are you thinking?"

Kara shook her head. "I'm mostly numb right now. I'm sorry, Karl. I'm really sorry."

He nodded and turned up the glass. "What if you're wrong about her?"

"I'll get you a pillow and a blanket. Then I'm going to bed."

Her father came out of the doorway of his and Laura's bedroom while she was getting a blanket out of the hall closet.

"I heard voices," he said. "Is something wrong?"

"Karl's spending the night on the couch. It's a long story. I'll tell you in the morning."

"Are you okay, baby?"

She shrugged. "Life's a bitch sometimes. A real bitch."

"You want to talk now? I'll listen."

"Later. I'm too tired."

…

Karl was gone when she got up in the morning. She found Laura and her father in the kitchen. John was holding Braedon while Laura fixed breakfast.

He pointed to a folded piece of paper on the table. "Karl left that for you."

"When?"

"About thirty minutes ago."

"Did you read it?"

"No, I didn't read it. He left it for you."

She picked up the piece of paper and unfolded it. The note was short and to the point.

_Sharon's alive. I'm on my way to Myonia. I'll call you later._

"Where's Myonia?" Kara asked.

"It's a port city," her father answered. "About four hundred miles northeast of Delphi. Why?"

"That's a damned long way to swim," Kara answered. "Even for a Cylon."

TBC…


	49. Moonlight

Chapter 49

Moonlight

_During the fourth year of Cylon occupation Dr. Gaius Baltar was involved in an altercation outside a Caprican restaurant that became fodder for Caprica's tabloid press. Dr. Baltar refused to either confirm or deny that the shoving match caught on a bystander's mobile phone camera had been caused by his breakup with Natasi, the Cylon with whom he had been romantically linked for four years. The other woman involved was alleged to be a graduate assistant in Dr. Baltar's research lab. _

_-Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War_

Lee gave up trying to sleep at two o'clock in the morning. Sitting up on the side of the bed, he put his face in his hands and though once more of Kara, of the way he had driven away without kissing her, without even telling her goodnight. He wondered if she was asleep now or if she was still talking to Karl.

Karl. Kara's feelings for him had to have been there all along and Lee had been blind to them. Maybe he hadn't seen it before because he'd never seen Karl and Kara together in anything other than a social setting, but tonight for the first time, Lee had seen the depth of feeling between the two of them.

Kara loved Karl. Not in a romantic way, but with a solid core of trust and concern that was as deep as, or maybe stronger than, any kind of romance could be. She'd called him her brother. She saw him as family. Lee finally admitted to himself as he sat on the side of his bed that he was jealous. And he was going to have to deal with it.

Lee knew that Kara loved him, but she loved Karl, too. Maybe that's what was harder to take than anything else. Kara had made a choice tonight, and that choice had been her best friend. No, that wasn't being fair to Kara. She had chosen the one who had the most need for her. Tonight that had been Karl.

And now they had the problem of Sharon's _death_ and eventual return to deal with. He wondered how long it would take. Karl said it had happened four days ago. Was another Sharon already back on Caprica somewhere? How did the Cylons get a new copy from the resurrection hub? Put her in a Heavy Raider? Where would they drop her off? The spaceport at Delphi? Some secret location? How would she explain what had happened? Or would she come walking out of the ocean like some modern-day Aphrodite, born again of sea-foam and air?

Lee stood, pulled on a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt and went into the kitchen. He poured a glass of milk, took it back into his bedroom, and logged onto his computer. He brought up the web site for the newspaper _The Delphi Sun_ and scanned on the word _drownings _for the last week. He found two, neither of which fit Sharon and neither of which had a missing body.

He finally found two sentences dated the day before in the local news section under the tag line, _Academy cadet missing from Merona's North Beach. _

_Sharon Valerii, a twenty-year-old cadet at Caprica's military Academy, disappeared and is presumed drowned at Merona's North Beach near the resort of Ciera Villas. The Delphi Coast Patrol called off the search three days after a fellow cadet reported Miss Valerii missing following an afternoon swim._

It had apparently happened exactly the way Karl had said it did. Now the question remained…was it an accident or a suicide? Kara had gotten a strong reaction from Karl when she had suggested the latter possibility. And who should know better than Kara? She had been with Sharon on a daily basis for the last four months. She had watched Sharon struggle with events and seen her emotional deterioration as she dealt with the issue of Captain Reider and resurfacing memories of Troy. Sharon had also probably at some point realized what she was.

The previous week Lee had scanned the picture of the partially completed dome on Troy into his computer. He had meant to show it to Kara, but when she was over at his apartment, they seemed to forget about everything except each other. Now he brought up the picture again and read the description under it.

_An innovative design will give the Troy mining colonists the ability to maintain their dome with a fraction of the cost and labor involved in the maintenance of older domes and without the need for dangerous exterior missions to monitor the dome's integrity. The external ribs are duplicated on the interior surface with lightweight and sturdy hollow tubes with enough width to allow access to the dome's airtight seals along the full length of each rib._

The picture was not that clear, even with the photograph enhancement software Lee had, but he thought he could see one of the interior inspection tubes in the still-incomplete dome. Kara had been right. If Sharon had managed to get inside one of those tubes, she could have planted an explosive near the top. It wouldn't have taken much of a blast to destroy the integrity of one of the massive light-filtering panels that spanned the area between the dome's ribs. Even a small explosion would have compromised the air-tight seal and started a chain reaction that would have ultimately destroyed the dome…and killed everyone inside.

The investigation into the cause was still going on when the Cylons had attacked the Colonies, and those records were destroyed along with the Colony of Scorpia. Any reports and photographs that could have pointed to what was at fault were nuclear ashes now.

Lee shut off his computer and lay down on the bed. He thought of the bond between Kara and Karl again and tried not to let it further affect his mood. He wondered what Karl would do when Sharon returned. Would Karl believe it then, or would he convince himself that _his_ Sharon had survived? Gods, how could he accept her with even the possibility that she might be a Cylon? And what would Kara do? What would he do?

Lee closed his eyes. When he opened them again, his clock alarm was buzzing. He got up and groggily made his way to the shower. At least he had something to do at work today besides reviewing phone records. Major Parker wanted him to go over the evidence in Captain Reider's murder one more time, look at the scant forensics, and read the interviews looking for any new insights. That ought to keep him awake at least.

…

Kara's father poured another cup of coffee for both of them. "Okay, let me see if I understand what you've said. Sharon drowns and then a copy of her shows up alive in a port city over four hundred miles away."

Laura walked back into the kitchen after putting her sleeping son in his crib in the nursery. She turned on the burner under her tea kettle and stood with her back against the stove. "Your friend Karl is flying to Myonia to bring her back here?"

"I guess," Kara said. "I'll know more when he calls me."

"You told him what you suspect about her being a Cylon?" John asked.

"I had to. It was past time. I should never have let him get in this deep with her before I said something."

"Do you really think you could have influenced his feelings? If he was attracted to her, it might have had the opposite effect. It might have driven a wedge between you and him."

Kara winced as she remembered Karl's words. _They killed my parents! They killed my little sister! And you never said a gods damned word! I thought you were my friend._

"I probably drove a wedge between us by keeping quiet all this time. That was my mistake. If I'd said something to him sooner, he might not have kept dating her. Karl lost his whole family to the Cylons."

"Then why is he on his way to Myonia?" Laura asked. "If he hates the Cylons that much, why is he rushing to her side?"

"He loves her. And he doesn't believe me. She's going to come up with some crazy-ass story that will explain how she survived and wound up four hundred miles away, and he'll buy it."

"Do you think he'll tell her what you said?" Laura asked.

"It doesn't matter. If this copy of Sharon comes back to the Academy, I'm going to tell her what I think."

"Kara, you _cannot_ do that," her father said.

"Why? Because we think she killed Reider and you think she'll kill me, too?"

"They are machines. They are programmed to kill. They do it with no remorse and no regret. Human life means nothing to them. I will not let you take that chance."

"I know she's a Cylon and I think she killed Reider, but she's…for the last two months she's acted…she's acted as human as anyone I've ever known. She's jealous. That's human. The night of the dance she got mad because she thought Karl wanted to dance with Maggie. That's what the fight in the bathroom was about. Sharon was jealous. That's what I was trying to break up when Lieutenant Sydell walked in."

"Don't you think that makes Sharon all the more dangerous to you?" Laura asked gently. "You're very close to Karl, obviously. Aren't you afraid she'll turn that jealousy on you?"

"No. She knows Karl is like a brother to me. She knows how I feel about Lee."

"How do you explain her murder of Captain Reider?" Laura asked. "Certainly that wasn't sparked by jealousy?"

"I think that had something to do with…I don't know exactly how to say it. She saw Reider…having sex with a cadet. The cadet was crying. Sharon walked away. I think it started eating at her that she should have done something."

"And that led her to kill him?" Laura said, doubt in her voice. "There are any number of ways she could have dealt with the situation other than killing the man."

"But that's just it. Anything else would have called attention to herself. That's what I think she was trying to avoid."

Her father asked. "So you think the murder was Sharon's vigilante way of righting a wrong?"

Kara shrugged. "You're the one who just said Cylons kill without regret or remorse and that human life means nothing to them."

"The more I think about it, the more sense it makes. How is the investigation coming?" John asked.

"You know Lee can't talk to me about it. All he said is right now under Caprica's laws that if they had proof Sharon killed Captain Reider, that she would be executed without a trial."

"He's correct," Laura said. "And she should be."

"How can you say that?" Kara asked. "That's wrong. That's just as wrong as what she did."

"No, it's not," her father spoke up quickly. "They're machines. Nothing more. I don't care how much she looks like us, she's a machine."

"Your father's right," Laura said. "We can't let a machine become judge, jury and executioner any more than we can allow a human to do it. She should pay for her crime."

"_Crimes_," John said. "If she had anything to do with what happened on the mining colony. Thousands of humans lost their lives."

"Don't you understand?" Kara asked, the emotion rising in her voice. "If you execute her, she'll just download into another body, and she'll remember what you did, and it would ruin any chance of getting to her, of turning her to help us."

"Turning her?" Laura said incredulously. "Surely you don't think you could turn her against her own kind."

"She loves Karl. And I think…I think she looks at me like a friend. Don't either one of you understand that makes her different from the other Cylons? She's got feelings."

John said. "It's just programming. She's programmed to show certain responses to different events. That's all it is…programming. Don't let that fool you, Kara."

"I think with her it's different. When we first started at the Academy, Karl told me Sharon wasn't jealous. Now she is. I think she's evolving…changing. I think she could turn. She could help us. Leoben believes what the Cylons did is wrong. He's already on our side. He told me…" Kara realized from her father's expression that she had said too much.

"Told you what?" John asked.

"That they shouldn't have done what they did in destroying the Colonies. That they shouldn't be trying to create hybrids."

"When did he tell you that?"

"Who's Leoben?" Laura asked.

"Have you been back to see him?" Her father's tone of voice let Kara know how furious he was. "After you _promised me_ you would stay away from him?"

"I never promised you I'd stay away from him. You told me to, but I never promised."

"_Who is Leoben_?" Laura said a little more insistently.

"He's a Cylon," Kara answered her.

"When did you see him?" John asked.

"Two months ago, during mid-term break. And I'm going to see him again today or tomorrow."

"Like hell you are. I will not allow you to…"

"Shut up, both of you," Laura said in her steely voice. "Someone is going to tell me what is going on. Am I to understand that both my husband and his daughter know of another Cylon and neither one of you could be bothered to tell _me_?"

"I told you," Kara said. "I sent you a letter last year. I just didn't name him."

"That was _you_?" Again Laura's voice held her incredulity.

"That was me. And don't blame my dad for keeping his mouth shut. I made him promise not to tell anyone. It was one of the conditions for going to see him."

Laura turned on John. "You've actually met this…skinjob…this thing?"

"He's not a _thing_," Kara said hotly.

"Yeah, I've met him. He runs a business here in Caprica City."

"When? When did you meet him?"

"Last summer."

"How did you find him? How do you know he's a Cylon?"

"Quit blaming my dad for this," Kara said harshly. "_I_ found Leoben. I shot him. I shot him the same night I helped two guys blow up a Cylon lab. Not him. I shot a copy of him. It was the copy that I met in the refugee camp."

"She's telling the truth," John said. "I was there, too. I was one of the guys who blew up the lab."

Laura sat down in a chair. "Oh, dear gods. You were _both _in the resistance."

"That's all in the past," Kara said. "We quit."

"And yet you didn't think it was important enough to tell me that you were…communicating with another Cylon…one we know nothing about?"

"Somebody kept an eye on him for a long time," John said. "He's harmless. He runs his business. He talks to people. That's all he does. Somebody still checks on him from time to time. Nothing has changed since we started watching him."

"None of them are harmless," Laura said. "He's probably a sleeper. They still want to exterminate us. Given enough time, they'll succeed."

"Aren't you forgetting about Commander Adama's plan?" Kara asked.

"Bill's plan may not work," Laura said almost bitterly. "You have way too much faith in something that depends on a thousand things going right and nothing going wrong. Even Bill has his doubts about this grand plan of his. Bill can't guarantee us a future free of the Cylons no matter how much he wants to. All he will wind up doing is getting himself killed and his battlestars destroyed, and that will bring the wrath of the Cylons down on all of us."

"No, he won't," Kara said angrily. "He _will_ get rid of the Cylons. And I'm going to be with him when he does. Me and Lee both. We're going to be on the _Galactica_ along with Commander Adama. And Leoben is going to help somehow. I know it. And I don't have _too much_ faith. Your problem is that you don't have _enough faith_."

"I want my son to grow up," Laura said passionately. "I don't want the bombs to fall on Caprica again. I don't want a botched attempt to get rid of the Cylons to cost my son his life."

"Who says it's going to be botched? _You_. You're the only one who doesn't have any faith in the commander. _You of all people_! You should have more faith than any of us. He would never do anything that would hurt _you_."

Her father said, "That's enough, Kara. I won't have you talking to Laura like that."

"Somebody needs to talk to her. And to you, too."

"Lords of Kobol, Kara, shut up. Do you want to spend the rest of the day in your room?"

"What?" Kara almost yelled. "Now _I_ get to go to _time out _because I told the truth?"

"John, let it go," Laura said. "She's been through a lot lately. And after what happened last night…"

"It's not the _telling the truth _part I'm upset about. It's her tone of voice. She's being disrespectful. She should know better by now."

Kara dropped her eyes, her defiance gone. Maybe Laura was right. Maybe she had been through too much lately. She shouldn't have gone off on Laura the way she had. She thought of the blue dress. Laura had always been kind to her. Kara took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry, Laura. I didn't mean to be disrespectful. Or to you, either, Dad. And now I'm going to my room."

Kara turned and left the kitchen. She wasn't going to cry. She was _not_ going to cry. At least not in front of them.

Laura looked at her husband. "You handled that well."

"I'm going for a walk," John said.

"Oh, that's good. Your daughter drops the bombshell that there's not only another Cylon model and you both know who he is. You've both talked to him and now you're going for a walk."

"What else do you want me to say? I'm sorry you had to find out like this."

Laura felt a wave of anger sweep over her. "That's all you've got to say?"

"That's it."

"You don't think you owe me an explanation?"

"I don't have an explanation. He is what he is…another skinjob. I promised Kara I'd keep her secret. Kara thinks her destiny is tied to this Cylon in some way. The Oracle told her."

"The Oracle? What Oracle?"

"Kara and I went to see an Oracle down near the Fifty-Third Street Pier the same day she took me to meet the Cylon."

"You forgot to mention that as well. Or did you promise Kara you'd keep quiet about that, too?"

"No I didn't make any promises about the Oracle. It was just something Kara wanted to do. She'd been to see her before. Kara believes in her prophecies."

And you? Do you believe what some fortune teller told her?"

"I didn't believe, but now I don't know. I just went with Kara because she asked me to go. The Oracle knew I was her father. She knew the name I went by in the resistance. She called Kara _Posiden's green-eyed daughter. _How could she have known that? And then the Oracle told me we were going to have a son. How could she have even known you were pregnant? She told me… How could she have known any of that?"

"All she had to do was look at your eyes and then look at Kara's to know you were her father."

"The Oracle can't look at anything. She's blind."

"And her blindness validates her prophecy that Kara and some Cylon have linked destinies?"

"I had him watched, Laura. I had him watched for weeks. He runs his business. That's all."

Laura felt hurt begin to replace the anger. "And you didn't trust me enough to mention any of this to me, either?"

"Trust has nothing to do with it. I made a promise. I gave my word to my daughter and I kept it."

"I'm your wife. You don't think I have a right to know something like this?"

"Your _right to know_ wasn't the issue. My word to my daughter was the issue. Besides, it would have just upset you. You're upset now."

"Of course I am. Not because of what you told me but because you _didn't_ tell me. Did you not think I could handle it? I've handled worse. I've dealt with Cavil."

"You were pregnant with our son. You've got a hard enough job as it is. You don't need anything adding to it."

The hurt gave way to anger again. "I can't begin to tell you how much…how much this…disappoints me in you. You lied to me."

"I did not lie to you. Not telling you something is not the same as lying to you."

"It was a lie of omission. My ex-husband omitted telling me that he'd had a vasectomy and look what happened. Given the circumstances not telling me something was just as bad as lying about it. Well, finish it. Tell me the rest of it."

"There is no _rest of it._"

"Yes, there is. What else did the Oracle tell you? You started to say something else and then you stopped."

"She said our son would map the stars on the way to Earth."

"What? What did she mean by that?"

"I don't know," John said in an exasperated tone of voice. "She says she only speaks what she sees. She doesn't interpret."

"Oh dear gods. You and Kara are listening to a…a madwoman? You are basing decisions about our lives on the word of a crazy woman?"

"Laura, please…" John took a step toward her, his hand reaching for her, but Laura backed up.

"No. Do not touch me."

She turned and ran from the kitchen, down the hall into the nursery and quietly shut the door. She walked to the crib and looked at her sleeping son, at his beautiful cherub's face and silky brown hair. He was nearly two months old and she never tired of looking at him. She had never felt anything in her life like the love she felt for her child. And now some woman who claimed to be a prophet had pointed his future toward the dark of space, away from Caprica, away from her. She could not bear the thought of letting him go, this child that John's love had given her, a child that she believed had been conceived on a distant beach one night under the stars. Dear gods, was her fate to give him back to those same stars? How could she do that when she loved him so much?

Tears formed in her eyes as she suddenly realized what John felt for Kara, for his daughter, the depth of his love for her. Kara had come into his life first, years before she had. But John loved her, too. How could she doubt that? He had stepped in front of a bullet for her.

Her anger evaporated as she watched her sleeping son. Whatever his fate she wanted him to grow up free from Cylon rule. She wanted him to be free to make choices with his life, even if one of those choices was the stars. She wanted Bill Adama's plan to succeed. If Kara and some skinjob were part of it, then she couldn't interfere. She would have to find the strength to trust them. She would have to find a way to make herself believe.

She left the nursery and went back to the kitchen. John was no longer there. She went to their bedroom and heard the water running. Quietly she closed the door and walked into the bathroom. He was shaving, standing at the sink with a towel wrapped around his hips.

She walked up behind him and put her arms around him as she rested her cheek against the back of his shoulder over the scar where one of the bullets had exited.

He didn't say anything until he finished shaving.

"I was afraid you'd forgotten about us."

"No," was all she said.

He turned and put his arms around her. "I'm sorry things came down the way they did in the kitchen."

"You don't need to apologize. We've all been through a lot lately, especially Kara. No one her age should have to deal with the things she's dealing with."

"She's tough. She's got us. And she's got Lee. She's not in this alone. She knows that."

"We'll get through this together. I'm going to trust you on the Cylon. I'm going to trust you to let me know if we have cause to worry."

"You know I would never do anything that might put you or Kara or our son in harm's way."

Laura looked up and smiled. "Do you think you could postpone your walk for a little while?"

He didn't need to answer her. His body's response had done that already. Still, he managed to ask, "What did you have in mind?"

She glanced toward the shower and smiled.

…

Kara lay on her bed and stared at the ceiling. She had already tried Karl's mobile phone several times with no success. He must be in a ship now on his way to Myonia. She looked at the clock. Nearly 10:00. No word from Lee either.

He kept his mobile phone turned off at work. Major Parker frowned on personal calls. She debated. Call the switchboard at the base and ask to be put through to his desk or not?

She picked up her phone. When Lee answered, she said, "Hi."

"How are you?"

"Serving detention in my room."

"What happened?"

"Me and my mouth. I got into it with my dad and Laura."

"Damn, Kara. Does that mean you're grounded?"

"I don't know."

"How's Karl?"

"Gone when I got up. Sharon's already back. He must have gotten word about her this morning. He's on his way to Myonia."

"Myonia? That must be a couple of hundred miles from where she disappeared."

"My dad says it's four hundred miles northeast of Delphi. It's a port city."

"How do you think she'll explain that?"

"I don't know. I'll find out when Karl calls me."

"Are we going to be able to see each other tonight?"

"Let me ask my dad." Kara opened her door and walked down the hall. John and Laura's bedroom door was closed. "I don't believe this. I think he and Laura are frakking in the middle of the morning."

Lee laughed softly. "What's wrong with that?"

"He's my father."

"So?"

"How would you feel if it was _your_ father?"

"Okay, enough said. I'll call you this afternoon."

Kara walked into the kitchen and found a box of oatmeal cookies. She was munching on one when she heard Braedon begin to cry. She looked down the hall. The bedroom door was still closed. Okay, she would give Laura and her dad a break. She put the box of cookies on the table and walked down the hall.

Kara found Braedon's pacifier and changed his diaper. It wasn't as good a job as Laura or her father could do, but at least he was dry now. She fastened the snaps on his sleeper, picked him up and carried him into the den. If he was hungry she couldn't do anything about that despite the fact that one of his little hands had latched onto her t-shirt over her breast. She made silly cooing sounds and danced around with her brother in her arms. On one of her turns she saw her father in the doorway watching her. She stopped, embarrassed.

"He was wet," she said. She couldn't look her father in the eyes knowing what he and Laura had just done. "He's probably hungry."

He couldn't seem to look at her either. "Laura will be out in a minute. She's drying her hair."

"Do you want to hold Braedon?"

"You're doing fine."

"I'll go back to my room."

"No, baby. It's okay. I lost my cool. We've all been stressed out lately."

"Am I grounded?"

"No, you're not grounded, but I don't want you going to see Leoben, either."

"What about the Oracle?"

"I don't want you going down there by yourself."

"What if Lee goes with me?"

"If you can get Lee to go with you, then I don't mind. Or I'll go with you."

"No, Dad, that would just make Laura angry."

"I just don't want you getting so wrapped up in what Yolanda Brenn tells you that you make unwise choices. Nobody can really predict the future."

"So you don't believe I'm holding a future star-mapper?"

Kara glanced down at Braedon. He was watching her with his serious dark blue eyes. "Star-mapper," she said to him and smiled. The corners of his mouth turned up around the pacifier. Something melted inside her at his beautiful little smile. He was part of her dad just like she was. She walked over to the terrace door where the light was better. Could she see the slightest hint of green in those blue eyes? Not yet.

Laura walked into the den. "I wondered why he was so quiet. I'm sure he's hungry."

"Kara was dancing with him," John said.

Kara placed her brother in Laura's arms. "I'm going to take a shower."

The reason Laura and her father smiled at each other didn't dawn on Kara until she was standing in her own shower thinking about what she and Lee had once done in there.

…

Karl finally called her at 3:00 that afternoon.

"Sharon's okay," he said. "She's in the hospital. She was dehydrated and suffering from hypothermia, but she's okay. She's going to be kept overnight for observation."

"Where are you now?"

"Sitting in the hospital cafeteria eating a late lunch."

"How did she get all the way to Myonia? Surely you don't believe she swam four hundred miles."

"No. She got caught in an undertow and pulled out to sea. She said she kept swimming up the coast trying to get back in, and then a stronger current caught her and pulled her miles out. She finally got picked up by a fishing trawler. They just put into port early this morning."

"When did they pick her up?"

"Three days ago, I think. She's really hazy on everything. She can't even remember the name of the boat. She spent at least a night and a day in the water."

"Is she sunburned?"

"No."

"Think about it, Karl. She spent a whole day paddling around in the ocean and didn't get the least little bit sunburned. Doesn't that tell you something?"

Karl lowered his voice. "You're wrong about her. She recognized me. As soon as I walked into the room she said my name and started crying."

"Frak, Karl. She's playing you. Of course she recognized you. That's how downloading works. She's got all of Sharon's memories."

"There's no way she's a Cylon, Kara. She knew about us being at North Beach. She even asked me if I'd gotten all her stuff from her beach towel. She knew the name of the paperback book in her beach bag, for frak's sake. It's her. It's Sharon."

Kara sighed. "Of course she knew the name of the book. All that downloaded into her memory. What would it take to convince you? Seeing the other Sharon's body washed up on a beach somewhere?"

"Yeah, that's about what it would take."

"Okay. Well you just hang onto your delusions because that's what they are."

"I think you're the one who's having delusions. I'm going to find out who brought her in and what boat she was on."

"All that will prove is that she got picked up at sea. It doesn't prove she's the same person."

"You've got your opinion. I've got mine."

"Please be careful, Karl."

Kara ended the call and walked from her bedroom into the den. "I just heard from Karl."

Her father put down his book. "And?"

"He doesn't believe it's a copy. He thinks it's _his_ Sharon because she knew the name of the stupid book she was reading at the beach."

"How did she get to Myonia?"

Kara related what Karl had told her. "She didn't remember the name of the boat that picked her up, though."

"It should still be easy enough to check out. Somebody brought her to the hospital. I doubt they just dumped her off on the dock when they made port."

"If she was ever in a boat at all. Where's Laura?"

"She's meeting Fiona downtown for shopping and tea. She took Braedon."

"Anything good on television?" Kara asked.

"No. I already checked."

"You want to play the game?"

"Sure. Raider or Viper?"

"Viper, of course." Kara got the controls out of the cabinet and hooked everything up.

Her father laughed. "I always have to be the bad guy, don't I?"

"Hey," Kara laughed. "Isn't that what dads do best?"

…

Laura unfastened Braedon's carrier from the back seat of the transport and walked up the steps to the little temple near the Capitol Building. She had not been there since the birth of her son.

Elosha was at the altar. She turned as Laura took a seat in one of the pews and unfastened the straps that held her son in his carrier. She had wrapped him carefully against the cold and now unfolded the blanket from him. When she looked up, Elosha was beside her.

"My son," Laura said, the pride clear in her voice.

"A beautiful child. You have come about his dedication ceremony?"

"Yes, and to talk to you."

"You did not bring your husband?"

"He doesn't know I'm here."

Elosha smiled. "Secrets already in your marriage?"

"Not secrets. Yes, secrets. He held something from me. He had his reasons, but still…"

"You are hurt. I hear it in your voice."

"Yes."

"You are searching for a way to forgive him?"

"I've done that already. He thought he was protecting me by keeping a rather alarming piece of news from me, but the main reason I'm here is to ask your opinion of Oracles."

"In the past or the present?"

"The present."

"Anyone in particular?"

"I believe she lives or…works near the Fifty-Third Street Pier."

"Ah, Yolanda Brenn."

"You know her?" Laura asked in surprise.

"By reputation. I've never met her."

"Do you believe in her prophesies?"

"She's never made one to me. I can't say. I have no first-hand knowledge."

"But others have talked to you about her. You have some sort of opinion."

Elosha seemed to be weighing her words carefully. "Pythia was a prophet, an Oracle at the temple in Delphi thousands of years ago. Her prophecies have endured the test of time. The tradition of prophets is as old as our religion."

Laura smiled. "You've very skillfully evaded my question. I'm asking you about a particular prophet in the current time."

"There are many who believe that Yolanda Brenn has a gift. Her ability to prophesy came when she lost her sight. The gods took one sense and gave her another."

"When?"

"When the Cylons bombed her temple at Delphi. She was once a priest just like me."

"So the Cylons are responsible for her loss."

"And her gain."

Laura thought of Elosha's words for a moment. "She made a prophecy about my son. I need to understand."

"Perhaps you should go to see her."

"Perhaps I will. Now, about my son's dedication ceremony, would next Sunday afternoon work for you? He will be two months old on Sunday."

"I think two o'clock would be good."

"I would like for John's daughter to be part of the ceremony. Is that possible?"

"Of course. And invite your friends as well. They will fill our little temple with their prayers and their love. All the better for your son."

"I know you have others to attend to. I won't keep you."

"Is there anything else you would like to ask?"

"Can you tell me exactly how to find Yolanda Brenn?"

…

"This is the address I gave you?" Laura asked the transport driver.

"This is it, lady."

"Wait for me. Leave the meter running. I won't be long…ten or fifteen minutes."

Cautiously Laura got out of the transport with her son and entered the door with the sign in the shape of a boot above it. The shoe repair shop was to the left. Steep stairs went up in front of her. She gripped the handrail and carefully began to climb, all the while asking herself what she was doing there.

On the landing at the top she got her breath. Braedon had gone to sleep in the transport. Softly she knocked at the door. It was opened by a colorfully-dressed, bronze-skinned woman who beckoned her inside without a word.

"Are you Yolanda Brenn?" Laura asked.

"No. Come and sit. She will be out shortly." The woman had an accent that Laura couldn't identify. She looked into the carrier. "A beautiful boy, fine and healthy."

"Thank you," Laura said. She placed the carrier on the floor and sat on one of the large cushions. In front of her was a low table with a bowl of water and some small statues and stone carvings. The room smelled of jasmine and a stronger scent, a spicy scent. The bronze-skinned woman lit several more candles on the table and in holders nearby.

A curtain moved and a small, fine-boned woman with curly brown hair entered the room. She moved with a great deal of certainty for a blind woman, but as she sat at the table, Laura could see the ruined eyes and the scars on her face, the marring of a once-beautiful woman.

Without a word Yolanda Brenn sat down and held out both of her hands. Laura finally understood that she was to take them. The Oracle's hands were warm.

"You are a woman of great importance," Brenn said. "A leader."

"No. I…I don't think of myself like that."

"You will be called upon to serve. You must heed that call. The future of two peoples rests on your shoulders. But you are not here for yourself. You come about your child."

"Yes."

For the first time a faint smile came to Brenn's lips. "Posiden has a green-eyed son as well as a green-eyed daughter."

"Posiden?"

"The child's father."

"My son's eyes are blue."

"At the moment."

"You told my husband that our son would map the stars on the way to Earth. I need to know what you meant by that."

"Your husband spoke the truth. You don't believe him?"

"It's not that I don't believe him. I want to understand the meaning of your words."

"I told your husband I speak what I see. I cannot interpret. May I touch your son?"

Laura dropped Brenn's hands and moved the carrier beside the table. Brenn reached out and carefully touched the sleeping baby.

"His fate is linked to his sister. A dark force will try to claim him but will not succeed. That is all I see." She got to her feet.

"Wait, wait. What do you mean…_a dark force_? What dark force?"

"Your son will survive. He _will_ map the stars on the way to Earth." Brenn left the room.

"No, wait."

"She has told you all that she has seen," the bronze-skinned woman said. "She can tell you no more."

"But I don't know any more now than I did when I came here."

"You should think about her words. She has told you much."

Laura was so distracted she could hardly think. "I...What do I owe? What is her fee?"

"Whatever her words are worth to you."

Laura dug in the diaper bag and found her wallet. She took out a twenty-cubit note and handed it to the woman.

"The transport is waiting downstairs for me."

"Come back anytime you wish and bring your son."

Carefully Laura descended the steep stairs, got into the transport and gave the driver the address of a downtown tea room. She took out her mobile phone and called Fiona.

"I'm running a few minutes late."

"Is something wrong? You sound upset."

"I've had a busy afternoon. I'll see you in ten minutes."

Laura looked at her sleeping son. Why had she come here today? What had the Oracle meant? A dark force? The Cylons? Why hadn't Yolanda Brenn just said _the Cylons_? But they wouldn't succeed. Laura clung to those words. Her son would live. Her son would live to map the stars on the way to Earth.

…

The mood was subdued as Lee and Kara rode the elevator down to the underground parking garage.

"Where do you want to go to eat?" Kara finally asked.

"I don't care. You pick."

"Are you mad about something?"

"No."

"Is it Karl? Are you still upset because I asked Karl back here last night?"

"I said _no_."

"Then what's the matter?"

"Nothing's the matter."

"Liar."

"What's the matter with _you_? You got in your dad's face this morning and now you're going to get in mine?"

Kara had been standing beside him and now got in front of him, her face inches from his. "If that's what it takes to get you to tell me what's wrong."

"Back off, Kara. We do not need to do this."

Her eyes searched his. "It is Karl. I knew it, godsdamnit. You're mad at me about Karl."

The elevator door opened. A man with a briefcase stood waiting to get on.

"This is where we got off," Lee said.

They exited the elevator.

"This is stupid," she said.

"You're telling me."

"You're not going to do like Maggie did, are you, and accuse me and Karl of having something going on?"

"No."

"Cause you should know better."

"I don't think you and Karl have something going on. There. I said it. Happy?"

They got to Lee's car and Kara suddenly pushed him against the passenger door. She pulled his face to hers and kissed him. He didn't give in right away, but it didn't take long. A spark to tylium. That's what it was always like for them.

He finally pulled back. "Don't. Not here."

"Why? Because it makes you want to frak me in the car?"

"Get in."

He opened the door for her and then walked around to the driver's side. He got in and sat for a minute before he started the car.

"Is that what I am to you, Kara? Is that _all _I am to you?"

"How can you ask me that?"

Lee put his head back against the seat's headrest and closed his eyes. "I love you. I love you so much it hurts sometimes."

"I love you, too. You know I do." Kara slid her hand across the seat and took Lee's hand. "Do not be that way about Karl, okay. I don't know how many times I have to say it. He's like a brother to me."

Lee could have denied his jealousy, he could have started the argument over with her, but he didn't. He didn't say anything and confirmed it with his silence. He would accept it. He would learn to live with it.

"When I was eight years old," Kara said quietly, "my father left. Not my real father, Dreilide Thrace, the musician, the man I thought was my father. He just left. One day I came home from school and he was gone. My mother never told me why. We moved onto the base. I changed schools. I didn't have any friends. I got into trouble for talking back to my teacher. The alpha girl in my class was a colonel's daughter. She was pretty and had two parents. I didn't like her and she didn't like me. I got into fights. I could hold my own against one or two of them, and they learned that they had to come after me with three or more. Every time I came home with a note from the teacher, my mom would punish me by sending me to my room and not letting me go outside. It was worse than being in prison. It was worse than a spanking."

"Kara, you don't have to…"

"No, let me finish. One day on the playground, one of the alpha girl's entourage shoved me because she knew it would start a fight and they would get to gang up on me and beat me up…again, and all of a sudden Karl was there and he told her to back off. Nobody had ever taken up for me before. He walked with me to my house after school that day. I started pretending he was my big brother."

"You didn't tell your mom what was going on?"

"Why? She was a Marine. She taught me to be tough and handle my own problems. I guess what I'm trying to tell you is that Karl and me, we go way back. His mom and dad welcomed me into their house like I was one of their own. I used to go camping with them. I used to hang out at their house a lot. My mom was fine with it. She never wanted a kid anyway." Kara laughed softly. "Karl's mom took me to buy my first bra after Karl told me the boys were starting to look at my boobs. My mom never even noticed."

Lee took a deep breath. "My mom mostly ignored me while I was growing up, too. She was too busy drinking and feeling sorry for herself."

"That's what Zak said."

"My dad was gone most of the time."

"So we both had frakked-up childhoods. Mine would have been a lot worse without Karl…a lot worse."

Lee let go then of whatever hurt or jealousy that was still bottled up in him over Karl. Twisting around in the seat he pulled Kara to him and kissed her gently, letting the kiss deepen slowly until he felt her tongue, the way it melded with his, the heat of it, the way it sent the nerve impulses racing though him, hardening him with desire. He finally made himself end the kiss and lean back in his seat once more. They were both breathing hard.

"If we don't stop we're going to do something stupid right here."

She slid her hand across him and found his zipper. "I could…"

"No." He grasped her wrist and stopped her. "This is about us, not just me."

"Let's go back to your place and order a pizza."

They made it through the door of Lee's apartment. He resisted the urge to start tearing off their clothes and instead took Kara's hand and led her to the bedroom. They didn't need to turn on the lights. Thyone, the largest of Caprica's moons was full and risen well above the trees in the park across from his bedroom window. It cast a silver rectangle on the bed.

The moonlight became the canvas for Kara's body. She shimmered pale and silver on it. He wouldn't let her touch him yet. These moments, these next moments were all about her, her body, her passion. She let him do what he wanted with his mouth, his own body begging for release while he slowly took her nearer and nearer the edge.

"Oh, gods, Lee, please," she finally moaned. "Please."

He watched her face in the moonlight when he entered her, heard her soft, choked cry as she came. It was too much for him. He gave in.

When he could get his breath again he looked at her until she opened her eyes. She reached up and touched his face before she pulled him to her and kissed him, the last of their passion ebbing into the wonderful feeling he always had after making love to her, complete satisfaction coupled with complete bliss.

He started to tell her that he loved her, but realized that she knew it. The feeling was so strong that the words didn't have to be spoken between them. He rolled down beside her and pulled her against him. She settled her head on his shoulder. There were some moments that were like the moonlight, perfect in of themselves, like the painting of Posiden's beautiful daughter, perfection captured forever on canvas or the notes of a love song that haunted him, the perfect melody echoing like the beating of a bird's wings as it took flight into the night sky.

Her kiss had given him the gift of love, a siren's kiss, the call that he would always answer. He wanted to tell her about perfect moments, but he didn't know how to put it into words.

She finally did it for him.

"Do you ever wish," Kara said softly, "that just for a minute you could make time stand still?"

TBC…


	50. Acropolis Street

Chapter 50

Acropolis Street

_Early in the last year of President Adar's term in office, Laura Roslin, the Secretary of Education, surprised even her closest friends by quietly announcing her intention to put her name into the running for President. Very few were surprised when Adar immediately endorsed her as his choice for a successor. In an interview given to D'Anna Biers shortly afterward, Roslin said that her concern for the fate of all of Caprica's children, including that of her newborn son, had played a large part in helping her make her decision._

_-Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War _

"Are you sure you know where you're going, Kara?" Lee asked after they had walked four blocks from the subway station.

"Two more blocks and we turn left on Fifty-Third Street. Then it's a block and a half. You'll see the sign over the sidewalk. It's a boot."

"This Oracle has a boot for a sign?"

"No, the boot is for the shoe repair shop. The Oracle lives above it."

"You don't really believe in this stuff, do you?"

"Yeah, I do. She's never been wrong yet. Even about what she told my dad. And what she said about my brother. I mean she knew Laura and my dad were going to have a son."

"And he's going to map the stars on the way to Earth? That is beyond ridiculous considering that Earth is a myth."

"I'm not going to argue with you, Lee. Nobody is saying you have to believe her."

"I just hate to see you being so gullible. There is no way that anyone can predict the future."

"Why not?"

"There's just not."

"Look, the only reason you're with me is because I promised my father I wouldn't come down here by myself. I probably wouldn't after dark, but he doesn't want me alone near this part of the waterfront even during the day."

"So now I'm your guard dog?"

Kara snorted. "You're funny, Lee. You don't believe in the gods. You don't believe in prophecy, but you _do_ want to keep me safe, don't you?"

"You can ask me that after last night?"

Kara didn't answer him. She didn't have to. Last night had been unbelievable, the way he had made her feel, not just physically, but emotionally as well. She had never told anyone, not even her father, about what had happened after her mother had moved them into base housing. She had bared part of her soul to him last night and he knew it.

Silently she reached out and slipped her gloved hand into his. They had one day and night left of winter break. She had to go back to the Academy the next afternoon. She didn't want to spend the time arguing with him. They turned the corner and started down Fifty-Third Street. The wind coming off the bay was frigid and biting.

"Holy Hera," Lee said and pulled the collar of his jacket up. "I wish we'd driven down here instead of taking the subway."

"I told you there's no good place to park. You've got a nice car. I was afraid something would happen to it."

Lee was glad when they had walked the block and a half. It felt better than good to get inside the door and out of the wind.

"Upstairs," Kara said.

She knocked. The door was finally opened by Yolanda Brenn herself. She was wearing a heavy wool shawl.

"Come in," Brenn said.

The little apartment was much colder than it had been the last time Kara was there. Both she and Lee left their coats on.

"Where is your friend?" Kara asked.

The Oracle smiled. "Grocery shopping. You have brought someone with you. Not your father this time. The one who bears the name of a god."

Kara grinned at Lee.

"Come and sit," Brenn said.

Lee continued to stand by the door. Kara went over to the little table and sat on the cushion. She pulled off her gloves and took Brenn's hands.

"You study now in order to wear the wings."

Kara glanced at Lee. She could tell he wasn't too impressed.

"There is a troubling situation in your life. Two friends…a young woman and a young man. Both have seen death, one very closely. You know secrets. Guard them. There is another in your destiny now. The circle expands to include your brother."

"Okay," Kara said. She thought she knew what Yolanda Brenn meant, part of it anyway.

Brenn dropped her hands and beckoned to Lee who still stood leaning against the door jamb with his arms crossed.

"I'm not into this," he said. "I'm not a believer."

"Then what can it hurt?" Brenn asked.

Kara smiled at him and pointed to the cushion beside her as she scooted over.

Reluctantly Lee sat and took Brenn's hands as she held them out.

"Apollo, son of Zeus. There is conflict within your father. Help him as he struggles."

"Struggles with what?" Lee asked.

"I speak the words that come into my thoughts. I can't interpret them."

"Struggles how? Physically, emotionally, situationally? How can I help him if I don't know what he's struggling with?"

Kara nudged him and shook her head.

Brenn dropped one of Lee's hands and reached out to Kara again. The Oracle now held both of their hands. Kara was surprised to see her smile. "I don't need to tell you what you already know."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lee asked.

"It was her question." Brenn stood.

Kara pulled several ten-cubit notes from her pocket. "What should I do with my…donation since your friend isn't here?"

"Leave it on the table," Brenn said. She went through the gauzy curtain.

Lee stood. He also took some cubits from his billfold and left them on the table.

They met the bronze-skinned woman at the bottom of the stairs. She was carrying two small canvas bags filled with groceries. "Ah, you have returned and brought a friend."

"Yeah. We left a donation on the table."

"I thank you. We both thank you. This has been a cold winter. The heat…is very expensive now…more than last year."

"With her disability you could get free government housing," Lee said.

The woman laughed, a melodic sound, and passed them. "What disability?" She asked as she began to climb the stairs.

Outside Kara gave Lee a look.

"What's that for?"

"I think you insulted her."

"Because I told her they could get free government housing? The Brenn woman is blind. She qualifies."

"You don't get it, Lee. You just don't get it. Can you see people coming to visit her in a cheap cinder-block apartment with fluorescent lights and _Frak the Cylons_ and _Adar is the Cylon's bitch_ and a lot worse spray painted in graffiti all over the walls outside? Can you see them living with morpha addicts and two-cubit hookers? This little place is cool. It fits her, the way they've got it decorated with the cushions and candles. It's perfect for them. It's a bit out of the way, but not too much out of the way."

"The other woman…is she just Brenn's caretaker or are they…you know?"

"Lovers? What does it matter?"

Lee turned the collar of his jacket up again. "Damn, I wish I'd worn a toboggan. That wind feels like it's coming off an iceberg."

The warmer air coming up from the subway entrance felt good as they descended the steps. Waiting on the platform for the next train Lee put his arm around Kara.

"What did the Oracle mean?"

"About?"

"Everything she said."

"What difference does it make? You don't believe her anyway."

"When she was holding both of our hands…what did she mean that she didn't need to tell you what you already knew?"

"You're my true love." Kara grinned.

"Oh," Lee smiled. "I'm not going to argue with you about that. So she got _one thing_ right."

"Karl called me this morning before I left to come over to your place. Sharon was discharged from the hospital. They were at the airport in Myonia. They'll be home late this afternoon. He wanted me…us to come over to her apartment tonight. I told him we had already made plans with Laura and my dad."

"Have we?"

"Yeah, we have. Your dad is coming over for one of their Saturday night meetings. They're going to talk about the plan and other secret stuff."

"And we're invited for that?"

"I told Laura we would go by Channing's and pick up five specials. If they don't want us there while they're talking, we'll leave…or we can go to my room."

"What time?"

"She told me about seven. She should be through feeding Braedon by then."

"Is she still breast-feeding?"

"Yeah. She's going to do it for at least six months. She's gotten into the _motherhood _thing big-time. She's going back to work in a couple of weeks. I think she's going to take him with her. Of course she's been working a lot at home already. Tory comes over a couple of times a week. So does Billy."

"Is Tory still dating Sam?"

"I don't know. She and I say hello, but that's about it. Laura might know."

"I was just curious. The week before the dance he and my brother were both in Zeno's with Buccaneer cheerleaders."

"I wonder if Sam's still dating Lissa. My dad might know. I think he still talks to her every couple of weeks about what's going on with the hybrid babies. They're making more of them, but I don't guess that's a big surprise." Kara snickered. "Just think. Braedon might end up going to kindergarten with some half-breeds and not even know it."

The train slid into the station and they boarded. Because it was a Saturday, the car was nearly empty and they got good seats.

"You know Sam and Zak are a lot alike. They're getting along great. Zak's doing good on the new job."

"Wonderful," Kara said sarcastically. "I'm thrilled for him. PR jobs are good jobs for liars to have"

"I wish you'd ease up on Zak," Lee said when the train began to move. "I know he's got a line of bull and he tends to…slant his remarks to the audience…"

"He lies," Kara said. "End of story."

"Okay, he lies, but it's not done in a malicious kind of way. Zak's childhood was as miserable as mine was. He's got some major issues with girls because of it."

"Is that right, Dr. Lee? Then why don't you treat girls like he does? Why don't you make scoring with girls the number one thing on your social agenda? If you and Zak both had such miserable childhoods, why is he so much more frakked up?"

"I think part of it is because he never did as well in school as I did. Zak's not dumb. He…studying was just never a priority with him and I think he…he came along behind me. All his teachers compared him to me and when he didn't do as well, I think he felt…I don't know…I think he felt inadequate. He found something he could do well and he's been doing it ever since."

"Okay, I'll buy that. It still doesn't excuse the lying. He doesn't have to lie. Zak…can be fun to be around."

"Yeah, I know. Look, I get mad at Zak sometimes for being the way he is. I wish he were different, but he's my brother, Kara. You really ought to understand that considering how close you are to Karl. You think Karl's making a mistake with Sharon, but you're not going to turn your back on him. Zak has frakked up some things in his life, but I'm not going to turn my back on him because of it. You don't do that to family."

"No, you're right. I'm not going to turn my back on Karl. But I don't want to see him tonight, either. I'll see Sharon at the Academy tomorrow. I want to see her for the first time without Karl around. I think it will be easier to tell if it's the same one or not."

"How?"

"I think I'll just know. I can't explain how."

"You've got to promie me you'll be careful with what you say to her."

"I will. The Oracle told me to keep my secrets."

Lee smiled. "Kara Thrace has secrets?"

"Everybody has secrets. The trouble is you know most of mine."

o

Bill Adama took the drink that John had poured for him and nodded his thanks before he sat on the couch.

"Dr. Baltar won't be joining us tonight," he said. "He's attracted some media attention. I didn't want to take the chance that he would be followed here."

"I saw the tabloid," Laura said. "Tory brought me a copy when she brought some papers from the office for me. Dear gods, poor Gaius. The expression on his face in that picture. He looked like he had been caught with his trousers down."

John sounded amused. "I can hardly believe he broke up with the Cylon in front of a restaurant. Either he grew a set or she was seriously hampering his play time with other women."

"I guess we'll see what happens next," Bill said. "According to the tabloid, the woman he was having dinner with was one of his research assistants. I hope giving him his own facility and letting him hire his own staff wasn't a mistake. I hope he hasn't used his position to set himself up with a little harem."

"He does seem rather taken with his own celebrity lately, doesn't he?" Laura asked. "I heard the interview he gave D'Anna Biers on why he had left the _Artificial Intelligence_ research project out at the North Caprica Research Park. That was the biggest fabrication I've ever heard…all that scientific jargon to make the interview sound believable when he was coolly lying through his teeth from the beginning."

John said, "He could hardly say that he was fired by the Cylons for failing to produce a hybrid child in the timeline that had been set for him."

"Yes, of course that's true, but…what a slap in the face to the rest of his staff out there. He made them sound like idiots and slackers."

"You know Gaius would never admit that he had any responsibility in being forced off the project," Bill said. "And don't forget that timeline was his doing. He made promises right after the negotiations that he couldn't keep. I'm going to visit his lab on Monday, early in the morning. I'll see if our faith in him is justified. If he's not there, I'm going to his apartment and haul his ass out of bed."

"You're assuming he'll be at his own apartment in his own bed," John mused and then added, "and that he'll be alone."

"Good point," Bill said. "One way or another I'm going to get some answers from him on how the research is going. He made some promises to us, too."

"If he can't get the Cylon to help him, then why are we even messing with him?" John asked. "Surely there are other scientists who have more experience working with viruses."

"I agree," Bill said. "Maybe that's the angle I need to approach it from. He might be motivated to work more and play less if he thought he was going to get booted from this project, too."

"Give him two more weeks," Laura said. "The incident with Natasi happened two weeks ago. Give it a month. If she really wants him back, she'll make a move within two weeks. Any longer and I think we can safely assume she's not going to. I just hope he has the…good sense not to take her back empty-handed."

"Yeah, let's hope she brings him a nice peace offering," John said, "something along the lines of an anti-viral drug or a formula or something."

Laura said, "You know when I saw that picture, when I saw the look on her face as she confronted him, I actually felt sorry for her…until I reminded myself that she's a machine. She has no feelings, only programming. It's ingenious of the Cylons, really. Such a tragic expression. She was shedding real tears. Gaius Baltar doesn't have a clue about love or how it feels to love anyone except himself. I pity any _woman_ who falls for him. I almost pity the robot."

"If you don't believe the Cylon feels something for him, then why are you willing to give her two more weeks to attempt a reconciliation?" Bill asked.

Laura laughed softly. "Now that's a very good question. Perhaps Cavil will order her to make up with Dr. Baltar in order to keep an eye on him. They're bound to wonder what he's doing in his shiny new lab."

John said. "If Cavil wants to know what Baltar is doing, then I'm sure he will find a way. It probably wouldn't take too many cubits to bribe one of those lovely young research assistants to turn on Baltar, especially if he's done one of them like he did Lissa."

Laura heard voices in the foyer. "Lee and Kara are here with dinner. Excuse me. Enjoy your drinks. I'll call you when we've got it on the table."

Laura walked into the foyer as Lee and Kara, both carrying boxes of takeout from Channing's, stopped to lean in and kiss each other.

They moved apart.

"Uh, dinner," Lee said.

Laura smiled. "Follow me."

They took the food into the kitchen.

"I'll be back in a minute," Kara said. "I'm going to put up my coat. Give me your coat, Lee."

Carrying both coats, Kara made her way down the hall and into her bedroom.

On her dresser lay the end-of-term mailer with her grades. It must have come in the mail today. She knew her father had gotten one just like it. She had a fairly good idea of how she had done in everything except her Colonial Literature course. Carefully she peeled the perforated edges off the mailer and opened it. She'd made a C, a frakking 2.0 in Colonial Lit. Everything else was good…a 3.9 in Basic Flight, a 3.85 in the simulator, a 3.9 in math, a 3.5 in PE and a 3.25 in Colonial History.

She put the mailer on her dresser and walked back to the kitchen.

Laura said. "Lee went into the den to get a drink. Do you want to help me by putting some plates on the table?"

Methodically Kara retrieved the plates and set them around the kitchen table. "Has my dad seen my grades?"

"Yes. He's _very_ pleased."

"Pleased?" Kara's voice rose slightly. "I made a C in Colonial Lit. In your friend's class. But you probably knew that already."

"I've never discussed your grades with Fiona."

"You mean she's never had anything to say about me?"

"Not about your grades, no. And I haven't asked. All she told me was that many of you who had been in the refugee camps were struggling. She said she was going to make allowances for it."

"Oh, great. That probably means she would have flunked me otherwise."

John walked into the kitchen. "What can I do to help?"

"You can open that bottle of wine."

"I saw my grades," Kara said.

Her father was hunting through a drawer for the corkscrew. He beckoned her over and put his arm around her. "You don't know how proud of you I am, baby. You did great."

"I made a frakking _C_ in Colonial Lit," Kara said in anguish.

"You still ended the semester with a 3.4 overall average. Considering how much school you missed in the last couple of years, you did great."

"I worked hard in Mrs. Nagala's class. I did really good on the midterm. I can't believe I frakked up that bad on the final. Unless she counted that paper most of my grade. I made a C- on my big term paper this semester because she thinks the author walks on water and I think his novel sucks."

"And naturally you had to express your opinion in your paper," her father said.

"That's what we were supposed to do."

Lee and Bill walked into the kitchen.

"We're almost ready to eat," Laura said to them.

Lee looked at Kara, at her frown as she stood with her back against the counter.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

When Kara didn't answer, her father said, "Kara's unhappy about her end of terms. I told her a 3.4 overall average is very acceptable."

"That's great, Kara," Lee said.

"It would have been higher if I hadn't made a frakking C in Colonial Lit. Mrs. Nagala didn't like my term paper, the one I spent most of the semester working on."

Kara saw Laura glance at the commander.

"What was the name of the book?" Lee asked. "The one you wrote your paper on? You didn't pick _The Trial of Darius Leander_ like Sharon, did you?"

"No, but now I think I should have. I picked _Allegra After the Fall_."

"I never read that," Lee said.

"Don't bother. It's about this advanced society that has degenerated into something called a dystopia because of different factions in the government that are fighting and some religious groups that are at war. The two main characters in the story are in the peacekeeping force, a man and a woman. They're partners on a team that investigates hate-related killings. It's pretty dark. Mrs. Nagala likes dark stories."

"Why did you pick something like that?" Her father asked.

To Kara's surprise, Bill Adama was the one who answered. "Because it's also a love story. Or it should have been."

"My point exactly," Kara said. "The author spends three fourths of the book building up their friendship that grows into love between the two main characters, how hard it is for them to accept their feelings for each other, their fears based on past failures and the jobs they do and right after they finally get up the nerve to…to…"

"Consumate their feelings," Bill said.

"Thank you. To consumate their feelings, the woman walks into a situation where she knows she's going to be killed. She just throws it all away. It sucks because her death isn't even heroic. It doesn't serve any purpose except to make the reader go _what the frak?_"

"It got a lot of acclaim when it was published ten or twelve years ago," Laura said. "I remember it being nominated for the Matrix Literary Award."

"I guess because it ended on a note of hope with the main guy character helping bring the warring government factions to a peace table, then everybody thought it was a great novel. I thought the whole ending sucked. That's how I wrote my paper. Mrs. Nagala didn't agree. I found out too late that she's a huge fan of the novel _and_ the author."

"Everyone has a right to his or her own literary taste," Laura said in her most diplomatic tone of voice. "Perhaps Fiona's taste in literature has been shaped by the experiences in her own life."

"The first two thirds of the book _is_ a hell of a read," Bill said.

"Things don't always end happily in real life," Lee said.

"We're not talking about real life," Kara said. "We're talking about a frakking story, for the gods' sakes. The author has the ultimate power to do whatever with the characters. I just think as far as the love story, he frakked the reader over big time. He spent twenty-some chapters letting this man and woman struggle with their feelings and the minute they admit them…boom, she's gone. Why bother with their love story at all if you're going to do something like that? Why not just let them go around solving crimes and shooting bad guys? Frak it. I don't want to talk about it anymore. It's depressing."

"You thought the woman's death was more for shock value than served any purpose in the story," her father said.

"Exactly. Thank you. The minute the writer killed her off, he kind of wrote himself into a corner. So what happens to the love story then? She comes back as a ghost to haunt her lover? I guess even the author couldn't bring himself to do anything that lame. So that's what I said in my term paper and that's why I got a C-. So now let's change the subject and eat. I can promise all of you that I will never, ever read another one of that guy's novels again."

"Okay, Kara," Lee said. "I think you've made your point. It's over. It's done. Move on. There are lots of other novels out there that have happier endings."

They all sat down at the table. "Sorry," Kara said shame-faced. "I apologize. I was ranting. There's lots more stuff in life more important than how a book ends."

"Like news about the Cylon Raider," John said.

Lee looked at his father. "You've made a breakthrough?"

"The neuroscientist did this week. He finally rigged something that could read the brain waves coming out of the Raider. Interpreting those brain waves is another matter, but he's isolated the ones that he thinks control the basal functions like breathing and what passes for a heartbeat. He told me they look surprisingly human."

"Gross," Kara said.

"I wonder if one of the skinjobs could communicate with it." Lee said.

"You have someone in mind?" His father asked.

"It was just an observation," Lee answered.

Kara looked up. Her eyes met her father's. She waited for him to speak. When he didn't, she kept quiet. If he had plans to bring Leoben into the equation, he was holding back at this point. She had to trust him. Apparently Lee did also.

"If you get something worked out, how do you plan to use this Raider?" Laura asked.

"We need a way to get explosives on that basestar. My idea is to pack the Raider full of C4 and send it home."

"And the other basestars?" Kara asked.

"Right now I plan to jump four battlestars on top of each of them and hope the element of surprise is like having a fifth battlestar. Without nukes we'll have to depend on conventional weapons. We've already started shipping ammo to the battlestars disguised in food containers."

"I thought we had one nuke," Lee said.

"We do. I just haven't decided where to use it yet. I'd like to send it to the big basestar over Caprica, but they're in too low an orbit. I'm still thinking about how to use the nuke."

"What are your plans for Cavil and the other skinjobs on Caprica?" Laura asked.

"There will be someone waiting to take each of them out within a few seconds of the attack beginning. We can't chance one of them killing himself in order to resurrect and warn the others."

"What about the ones we don't know about?" Laura asked. "We…feel sure there are others."

"Once we destroy the resurrection hub out near the ice planet it won't matter."

Kara glanced at her father again. "We've found two more," John said. "But we can't do anything to them…yet."

"Two more?" Bill said. "Two more Cylons?"

"Yeah, two more Cylons."

"Why doesn't anyone else seem surprised by this?" When no one spoke, Bill said, "Because everyone else knew it. Right?"

"To be fair to Laura, she just found out yesterday," John said.

"About one of them," Laura said. "We've known…rather we've suspected…about the other one for quite some time now."

"I see."

"Dad," Lee said. "None of this affects the plan. In fact, it might help."

"Can you explain to me how two additional Cylons will _help_ the plan?"

"We think we might be able to turn these two," John said.

Kara could sense that the commander was struggling to maintain his cool.

"Don't get mad at my father," Kara said. "I made him promise to keep quiet. My destiny is linked to both of them."

Without a word Bill got up from the table and left the kitchen. The rest of them looked at each other. The Oracle's words came into Lee's mind. His father…conflict and struggle. Lee put his napkin on the table and stood up.

"Let me give this a shot," he said to them. He looked at Kara and knew she had also made the connection to the Oracle's words.

Lee walked into the den. His father stood at the terrace door, his back to the room. In the reflection in the glass Lee could see a drink in his hand.

"When were you planning on telling me…or were you?"

"When we had a better idea of their purpose."

"Their purpose?" Bill Adama swung around in fury. "Their _purpose_ is to kill us!"

"These two are different. A…rapport has been established with both of them. We think it would be a mistake to kill them. We think they can help us."

"Who's established the rapport? Who knows them?"

"Kara."

"Kara," Bill said the anger barely controlled in his voice. "Do you have any idea how hard I've worked on this plan, and now you and the other three are making military decisions without including me? You're making decisions based on the…the _feelings_ of a seventeen-year-old girl. I might have expected you to get taken in that way, but not John. He's been in a Viper cockpit facing down the gun barrels of Raiders. He should know better. He lost that teenage innocence about those Cylon motherfrakkers a long time ago."

Lee tried to keep his cool. "Kara is not some starry-eyed innocent who doesn't know what the Cylons are. She spent time in a refugee camp. She was in the resistance. She's the one who shot the two out at the lab. And yeah, they were both Cylons just like you and Parker and Darren guessed."

That got his father's attention. He paused, the drink glass part-way to his mouth, and grunted. "She stopped too soon. She should have kept on shooting Cylons."

"So the only good Cylon is a dead Cylon?"

"You're damned right."

"Even if they can help us?"

"They don't _want_ to help us! They want to destroy us! All of them want to destroy us!"

"What are you going to do now, Dad?"

"One of you is going to tell me who they are. I'm going to make sure that at the moment we start the countdown on my plan, somebody is standing by to take them out, just like somebody will be standing by to take out Cavil and Simon and Natasi."

"Every single copy of them?"

"There's only one Cavil, at least down here on Caprica. I guess the Chief Cylon doesn't like to share his power." Lee clearly heard the cynicism in his father's voice.

"But the rest of them, like Simon. We know there are at least two of him because one was secretly running CapGen Labs and another one was at the research facility working on the hybrid babies. How can you possibly get them all?"

"We'll get the important ones. Once that hub is destroyed, it won't matter."

"You won't get their names from me. And I doubt you'll get them from Kara or John, either."

Bill took a deep breath. "All right, then, Lee, they're your responsibility."

"What do you mean?"

"Just what I said. You're responsible for what they do in the next weeks and months. The clock is running on putting my plan into place. The main thing I'm waiting on now is this year's cadets to finish at the Academy, go through Flight School and get a couple of months training on a battlestar. We need those pilots. Before this time next year, we'll either be free of the Cylons or I'll be dead and my battlestars will be destroyed."

Kara walked to the door of the den and hesitated.

"Come in," Bill said to her. "Since you're involved in this you might as well know what I've told Lee. The Cylons you're protecting are his responsibility. If they do anything, and I mean _anything_, to harm so much as a flea here on Caprica, then I'll hold him personally responsible. He'll face a court-martial and probably imprisonment."

"That's not fair," Kara said.

"Then convince him to give up the Cylons' names so we can put them on the list. Or you give them up."

"The _list_?" Kara said. "Your kill list?"

"You don't think I'm on _their_ kill list? Laura and your father, too. Especially Laura. Cavil's already tried to kill her twice."

"How would telling you who these other Cylons are change that?" Kara asked.

Bill sighed deeply. "It probably wouldn't."

"If there were a way for them to help us, what would it be?" Lee asked.

Bill snorted. "Isn't that obvious?"

"Besides getting the Cylons to hop in their basestars and leave us in peace?" Lee asked sarcastically.

"Anything they can tell us about the basestars or about Cavil's ultimate plans. The formula for the anti-viral drug would be nice. Things like that."

"I'll see what I can do," Kara said.

"My dad is not serious."

"Yes, I am."

"You can't ask Kara to risk her life by quizzing a couple of Cylons."

"No, Lee, it's okay," Kara said. "I can do it. It might take some time, but I can do it."

"There's out-of-the-box and then there's completely crazy. Questioning either one of those Cylons is crazy."

Kara grinned. "Why don't you let me be the judge of what's crazy for me?"

Lee thought of the recorded interview he'd watched with Sergeant Ackerman and Kara. "Because I'm not sure crazy has any limits for you."

Kara heard her father's voice from the doorway. "It's too dangerous, Bill. I won't have my daughter put her life on the line like that. I'll talk to one of them."

Kara said, "That will not work, Dad. He won't talk to you like he'll talk to me."

John walked over to the bar. "I'll go with you."

"No. This one I've got to do on my own. He's not going to hurt me. You don't seem to believe that, but he won't."

Laura walked into the room. "Could I interest anyone in coffee?"

Bill looked at his watch. "I've got to be going. I'm expecting company in thirty minutes." He turned to Lee. "The two Cylons are your responsibility. Remember that."

"I'm not likely to forget, Dad."

Laura walked with him to the door. "Tell Fiona I said _hello_."

He smiled warmly for the first time that evening. "What makes you so sure Fiona is my company?"

"I talked to her this morning."

"I'm sorry I didn't get to see Braedon."

"Perhaps next time."

"Goodnight, Laura."

"Button your jacket. It's very cold out tonight and I'm sure you walked the six blocks."

He squeezed her hand. "You always know exactly what to say."

"It's part of being a politician."

"It's part of being you."

The blue eyes met hers. For the first time in many, many months she felt the tug and saw it answered. "Goodnight, Bill."

She walked back into the den. John was standing in front of the fireplace. She walked over and put her arms around him. He looked at her with a question in his eyes. And then he suddenly seemed to know what was wrong.

He pulled her to him and kissed her forehead.

"If you two are going to make out, Lee and I are going to my room and talk," Kara said.

Her father nodded.

He waited until they left the room. "You're never going to get over him, are you?"

"I love you. You're my life, now. You and our son and Kara. I wouldn't change that for anything."

For a long time neither of them spoke. Finally he nodded.

"I went to see the Oracle. I went to see Yolanda Brenn."

"When?" John asked in surprise.

"Yesterday afternoon before I met Fiona."

"Damn, Laura. You went into that part of town by yourself and took our son?"

"I took a transport and had the driver wait for me."

"And?"

"She told me the same thing she had told you about Braedon mapping the stars on the way to Earth."

"But that's not all she told you, right?"

"She said his fate was tied to Kara's. She said a dark force would try to claim him but wouldn't succeed. It frightened me."

John held her tightly. "Nothing is going to harm Braedon. Nothing."

"She told me I would be called upon to serve and that I should heed that call."

"Meaning?"

"I think she means I should accept Adar's offer to run for President next year. He told Bill if I ran, then he would back me. I don't know how I feel about it. I need to know how you feel."

"It's your career, Laura."

"That's not what I asked you. I asked you how you feel about it. It's not just my life anymore."

"My gut reaction is that I don't want you to run because I think you'll be elected. I know what that will mean, and I'm selfish enough that I want to keep you to myself. But you would make a fine President. In the end it's your decision."

"You and our son will always come first for me."

"Even if everyone is addressing you as Madame President?"

"Oh, gods, John, I can't think about that right now. It seems unreal."

"Do you think we could take this discussion to our bedroom? Braedon should sleep another hour at least."

"Lee's still here."

"So? This is their last night together for a couple of weeks. You don't seriously think they're in her room just talking, do you?"

Laura smiled. "No, I suppose not. And you're all right with that?"

"I'm not exactly all right with it, but I've accepted it. He loves her. I know what he's made of. Lee Adama is a good man. I couldn't ask for anybody better for her."

o

"Are you crazy, Kara?" Lee whispered. "Your dad and Laura are in the den."

"My bedroom door is locked."

"Still…if he knew…"

"He knows. You don't think he believes we've been looking at television all those nights over at your place, do you? It's our last night together for two weeks." She pulled him down to her on the bed and kissed him. It didn't take long before his hand was under her shirt. Last night had been moonlight and slow perfection. Tonight was hungrier and faster and more physical.

The hardest part was not making any noise.

As she lay in his arms afterward, she thought of the commander's words.

"Do you think your father really meant what he said about holding you responsible for Sharon and Leoben?"

"He meant it."

"That's not fair to you."

"Fair or not, you'd better hope neither one of them does anything stupid for the next year."

"You trust my gut feeling about them that much?"

"That…and it's the principle of the thing. The others we know about, Cavil and Simon and even Natasi, they've all done things they should pay for. Leoben hasn't done anything yet."

"Sharon has."

"We _think_ Sharon has. We don't know for sure."

"Innocent until proven guilty, right?"

"It's the law, Kara."

"The law doesn't apply to Cylons."

"There's right and there's wrong. And on a fundamental level it applies to all of us…including the Cylons. Don't misunderstand. I'm not suddenly pro-Cylon. I don't have a frakking clue how Karl can stay with Sharon with even the hint she might be one."

"What would you do if you found out that I was one?"

"Don't even joke about that, Kara."

"I'm not joking. What would you do? Break up with me? Kill me? Or both?"

He rolled over on her. "I wouldn't kill you until I'd made love to you…at least once, maybe twice."

She leaned up and gently bit his earlobe, something that always got to him. She heard the sharp intake of his breath. She moved her mouth to the side of his neck. "I'm not a Cylon," she whispered before she kissed him. "But you can make love to me again anyway. You won't get another chance for a couple of weeks."

He buried his mouth on her shoulder and groaned, his knee nudging her legs apart.

"Don't remind me. Gods, don't remind me. You don't know how much I think about…"

He didn't finish his sentence because she wrapped her legs over his and arched her body upward, but she understood exactly what he had been going to say. She thought about making love to him a lot, too. About the hot, sweet feeling she got just being close to him. It felt so good right now she could hardly breathe.

She whispered. "Yes, oh gods yes, just…like…that…"

o

At midnight Kara pulled on sweatpants and a long-sleeved t-shirt and walked with him to the door.

"Zak wants us to meet him for lunch tomorrow," Lee said.

"Why didn't you tell me that earlier?"

"Because I didn't want to get in a fight about Zak. So, yes or no?"

"Why do I feel like you've already said _yes_?"

"He's my brother, Kara. If you and I have a future together, he comes with the territory. I'm not asking you to be his best friend, just be cordial. He's trying to apologize to you."

Kara shrugged. "Okay."

Lee leaned in and kissed her gently. "I love you," he whispered.

She laughed softly. "You owe me. I wouldn't go with you tomorrow if I didn't love you."

She walked into the den. The lights were off but the fire was still lit in the fireplace. She walked over to the bar and poured a small glass of ambrosia. She didn't see her father until she turned. He was sitting on one end of the couch, a drink also in his hand.

"Frak, you scared me," Kara said.

"Sorry, I thought you saw me."

She walked over, sat down beside him and noticed that he was dressed now in sweatpants and a t-shirt like she was.

"Aren't we all matching outfits and everything?"

He moved his arm from the back of the couch to her shoulder and pulled her to him. "Matching outfits, matching drinks."

He stopped short of saying, _and we both just got laid_, but somehow she knew it. She was glad it was dark and they weren't looking at each other.

"Lee just left."

"Yeah, I heard."

"What's wrong, Dad?"

"Nothing, baby. Life in general."

"Don't worry about me and Leoben and Sharon. It's going to work out."

"You know I don't like it."

"I know."

Laura walked in with Braedon and sat down in her chair. Kara saw his little hand on the top of her breast the same way he had clutched her t-shirt the day before.

"I assume Lee is gone," she said.

"Ten minutes ago," Kara answered her. "It hardly seems like it's been a week. I'm not ready to go back yet."

"I am," her father said.

"What's coming up next in the simulator?"

"It's going to get harder."

"Why is that not a surprise?"

"Don't let that grade in Colonial Lit get you down. By the time you get to Flight School, it won't matter."

"I hope so."

"I know so."

"Lee's taking me back to the Academy tomorrow. We're going to have lunch with Zak before we go. Then I guess I'll get to see the new copy of Sharon."

"You're not going to say anything to her, are you?"

"No, Dad. The Oracle told me to guard my secrets. That means the one I know about Sharon, too. Now I'm going to go pack a few things and go to bed."

John leaned over and kissed the top of her head. "Goodnight, baby. I love you."

"I love you, too." She got up. Laura had Braedon at her shoulder. "Goodnight, Laura." She touched her brother's soft brown hair. "Goodnight, little star-mapper."

o

"L'Escargot?" Kara said to Lee. "Zak wants to meet at L'Escargot? You're kidding, right?"

"Nope. His treat."

"Wow. His new job must pay a lot better than I thought."

"There's a lot of cubits to be had in the world of sports."

"I believe it."

Zak was waiting for them in the reception area of the restaurant.

"He's early," Lee said under his breath. "Zak's never early. And he doesn't look hung over either."

"Hey," Zak said.

"Hi, Zak," Kara said.

"Hungry, bro?" Zak asked.

"He's starving," Kara answered smugly.

The maître d seated them and told them to help themselves to the buffet. Again Kara was amazed at the amount of food on the long tables.

When they got back with their plates, she noticed that she had been right. Lee was hungry. He had helped himself to a lot of food.

"Okay," Zak said, "you know why we're here."

"To eat lunch?" She asked innocently.

"Apparently I lied to you about Maggie. I apologize. I'd had too much to drink at your birthday party and I lied. I do have a relationship with Maggie. I like her a lot. She's a nice girl."

Kara smiled. "Is that the truth?"

For a minute Zak didn't know what to say and then he laughed. "That's the truth. We're not exclusive, but she knows that. We've talked about it. She's free to date other guys if she wants to. Sometimes I date other women. I don't remember exactly what I said to you, but I'm sorry that it wasn't the whole truth and nothing but the truth."

"Apology accepted," Kara said. "So tell me about your new job."

"It's in PR and I get to bullshit all I want. I get paid to do it now."

"He's good at it," Lee said.

"What a surprise," Kara snickered. "So Lee tells me you're pals now with Sam Anders."

Zak grinned. "I help him get girls."

That caused both Kara and Lee to laugh. "Yeah, right, lucky him," Lee said.

"Is he still dating Tory?" Kara asked.

"I wouldn't exactly call it dating."

"Is he still hooking up with Tory?"

"Yeah."

"Lissa?"

"Her, too."

How many more?"

Zak shrugged. "He's never shown me his mobile phone contact list. Should I tell him you asked?"

"Just curious," Kara said. "Nothing more. Believe me."

"Oh, hey, that reminds me." Zak took out his mobile phone and proudly held it up. "New…all the bells and whistles. The company pays for it."

"Lucky you."

He scrolled through some pictures and handed the phone to Kara. "I met somebody the other night by the last name of _Thrace_. Does this guy look familiar to you? The one playing the piano?"

Kara looked at the picture and felt like she had just been punched in the gut.

"Where…where did you take this?"

"A little nightclub over on Acropolis Street. A real dive. Sam and I were out pub crawling and…"

"Kara, what's wrong?" Lee asked.

Kara was struggling to get her breath. The phone clattered to the table.

"Holy Hera," Zak said. "You're white as a ghost. What's wrong?"

"I thought he died on Picon," was all she managed to get out.

Lee grabbed her hand and squeezed it hard. "Who?"

"Dreilide Thrace. The musician I thought was my father for thirteen years."

"Oh, man, I had no idea," Zak said. "He said his name was Thrace. That's all. I never thought…man, I'm sorry."

Kara shook her head and put her hand to her forehead. "What's the name of the place?"

"I don't remember. Honest to the gods, I don't remember. I just remember it was on Acropolis Street. It's a couple of doors down from a…a strip joint…_Lady Blue_, I think_._"

"_Lavender Blue,_" Lee said.

"You've been there?" Kara asked him.

"I've heard other pilots talk about it. They…never mind."

Kara looked at the food on her plate and felt sick. "I'm not hungry anymore."

"Kara, I am so sorry," Zak said. "I really had no idea."

"He probably thinks I'm dead. Not that he would care. He left when I was eight. I never heard from him again. I'll be back in a minute. I'm going to the bathroom."

"Do you want me to go with you?" Lee asked.

"No, I don't want you to go to the bathroom with me."

"I didn't mean…" Lee stammered. "I just meant walk with you to the door, that's all."

"I'm all right." She got up and walked away from the table, her eyes finally spotting the sign to the restrooms. Inside she leaned against the wall. Why after all this time was she having such a strong reaction to finding out he was alive? It wasn't like the man cared about her. It wasn't like he was her _real_ father. _Frak, Kara, get a grip._

A woman came out of one of the stalls and glanced at her. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah. Headache."

She turned on the cold water and splashed her face. She put a cold, wet hand against the back of her neck. The nausea began to recede.

Lee was standing outside the door when she came out. "I was worried about you."

"I'm fine. No problem."

"What are you going to do?"

"Nothing."

"Look, I want you to promise me something. If you decide to go see him, I want to go with…"

"Lee, I'm not going to go see him. Why would I want to go see somebody who walked out on me when I was eight years old and never tried to see me again?"

"I'm just saying…"

"It's not going to happen. Forget it."

They walked back to the table. Zak was ending a call on his mobile phone. "Maggie," he said sheepishly. "I…we went out last night. I'm going to take her back to the Academy this afternoon."

"You really do like her, don't you?"

"Yeah, I really like her."

Kara managed a smile. "There's hope for you yet."

Outside the restaurant, he hugged her, quickly, almost shyly. "I hope I'm forgiven."

She managed another smile. "I hope you are, too."

o

Lee pulled into a visitor parking spot at the Academy. "You've been really quiet since lunch today."

"I've got a lot on my mind."

"Your…the musician?"

"Sharon, mostly. But yeah, the musician. Just finding out he's alive."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"What's there to say, Lee? He walked out on me when I was eight years old. I never heard from him again. End of story."

"Are you going to talk to your dad about it?"

"Why would I?"

"Because you're upset. Because he's your father. Because he loves you. "

"I don't know. Maybe. I've got to deal with the Sharon thing first. One thing at a time."

"Just pretend you believe her. Listen to her story and tell her you're sorry she almost drowned and let it go at that."

"I'm not as good a liar as Zak. She didn't almost drown. She did drown."

"You don't know that for sure."

"So now you're agreeing with Karl?"

"I'm just saying we don't have any proof. Just like we think she killed Reider and destroyed the mining colony, but we don't have any proof."

Kara sighed. "I'd better go. I've got to be checked back in by sixteen hundred."

Lee got out, opened the trunk and got her duffel bag. He slung the strap over his shoulder and carried it to the lobby of the dorm for her. He waited while she checked in at the desk.

Thank the gods Shelley Sydell wasn't on desk duty. Kara didn't think she could have taken having to face her. She walked back over to Lee. "Sharon's here. I saw where she signed in."

"Just do what we said. You'll be fine."

Kara glanced around. They weren't the only couple in the lobby. "Oh, frak it," she said and put her arms around Lee. "Hold me tight. You don't have to kiss me in front of everybody if you don't want to, but hold me really tight."

No one could ever hold her like Lee could hold her. She slipped her arms inside his coat and pulled him to her.

"I love you."

"Just be careful with Sharon. The last thing you want her to know is that you know."

Kara nodded, her arms still around him. "I'm going to miss you so much."

"You'll see me this coming weekend. It's second semester. We can leave campus for a few hours Saturday night. We'll go to McGee's."

They were just about at the extent of time allowed for embracing in the lobby. She saw the lieutenant at the desk look at her. Quickly she kissed Lee hard and passionately.

"I love you. Call me if you need me," he said.

"You know I will."

She watched him until he was out of the door before she picked up her duffel bag and trudged upstairs.

Sharon was lying on the bed in a sweatshirt and sweatpants. When Kara came through the door, she sat up.

"Hi," she said.

"Hi to you. How are you feeling?"

"Good. I feel good."

Kara put the duffel bag on her bed and began to unpack, glad for a moment to gather her thoughts while she mindlessly put everything away. At the bottom wrapped in a t-shirt was a new picture of Braedon that Laura had given her. She took it over to Sharon.

"My brother."

Sharon took the picture and carried it to the window where the light was better. "What a cute baby. Someday I'd like to have a baby."

Kara snickered. "Don't let Karl hear you say that."

Sharon laughed, too. "I didn't mean anytime soon. Just someday."

"Karl was really freaked out when he thought you'd drowned."

"He's all I thought about while I was…drifting…waiting…hoping a ship would come along."

"You're lucky. The ocean is a big place. You're lucky someone found you."

"Yeah, lucky." She handed Braedon's picture back to Kara.

Kara put it on her desk with the picture of her and Lee and her dad and Laura taken at the wedding reception.

"How did you do on your mid-terms?"

"Okay. Good."

"I did good except I got a C in Colonial Lit."

"Me, too," Sharon said. "So did Karl."

"Well, frak me. I wonder if that's all Mrs. Nagala gave."

"I'll bet Cadet Pike got an A. He's been sucking up to her since day one."

"He's in my history class. He sucks up to Connelly, too. And Colonel Burgher."

"Have you ever heard of somebody changing their call sign?" Sharon suddenly asked.

"No, you don't like _Boomer_ anymore?"

"I never really liked _Boomer_. She's not who _I_ am."

Kara looked at Sharon. Their eyes met, and suddenly she knew that Sharon knew. The knowledge was just there, almost like a third person in the room. Boomer's ghost. Sharon was right. She wasn't Boomer. She wasn't the person who had left the Academy a week ago.

"Does Karl know?" Sharon finally asked.

"I told him but he doesn't believe me."

Sharon sat down on the bed. "How did you know?"

"It doesn't matter."

"What are you going to do?"

"Nothing."

"Why?"

Kara shrugged. "Why should I? Are you going to hurt me…or Karl…or one of your instructors?"

"No. I'm not her."

"You look like her."

"We're alike…but different."

"I don't understand," Kara said. "The other Sharon drowned and downloaded into you. How can you be different?"

"I'm not her. The one who drowned is still on the resurrection hub. I'm the same model but a different copy."

Kara shook her head. "Un-uh. That's too weird. I'm not buying it. You have her memories. You're her."

"We put our hands in the stream and I was able to access her memories. I had to. She was losing it. We couldn't let her come back."

"We?"

"Cavil and a Six made the decision."

"Six?"

"The one you call Natasi. Only it's a different copy of her, too."

"You have numbers?"

"I'm number Eight."

"There are eight Cylon models?"

"I've only seen seven, but I think originally there were eight. I think something happened to one model. Either that or our creators didn't know how to count."

Kara looked at her puzzled. Was that an attempt at Cylon humor? "Why are you here?" she asked Sharon.

"To learn."

"To learn what?"

"Everything I can."

"Why don't you and the…others just read our books, study our history, plug into our computers."

"We've already done that. We can't learn about emotions through books or accessing computers."

"Emotions. Like feelings? That's what you're trying to learn?"

Sharon nodded.

"How can a machine learn feelings?"

"We can lean anything."

"If you say so," Kara said.

"I've just learned something about trust...and friendship."

"Are you going to go crazy and start acting jealous of Karl like the other one did?"

"No. I trust Karl. And I trust you."

"Are you going to tell him what you are?"

"When the time is right."

"Karl's going to have a problem with it."

Sharon sighed. "If he loves me enough it won't matter."

"You don't understand. He lost his whole family because of…of what the Cylons did."

"We're not all like that. We're not all like Cavil."

Kara thought of Leoben. He'd said the same thing. Maybe some of them were different. Maybe some of them were more like humans than she thought.

"So what do you want to change your call sign to?"

Sharon smiled. "I've always liked the names of your goddesses. I like _Athena_. She's the goddess of wisdom…right?"

"Yeah," Kara said. "That's right. Plus courage and inspiration. She's also a virgin goddess."

Sharon began to laugh. "I guess three out of four isn't too bad for a namesake."

TBC…


	51. We Take Care of Our Own

Chapter 51

We Take Care of Our Own

_During the coldest winter on record for nearly a hundred years, Caprica's street people struggled to survive. Shelters were overrun and deaths due to hypothermia and pneumonia increased dramatically. So many homeless Capricans sought shelter in the subway tunnels that trains were delayed. President Adar was finally forced to call in the Marines to evict them. The ensuing skirmishes that left over a hundred homeless and four Marines dead were dubbed _The Subway Wars_ by the press. Cavil's effigy was burned on the steps of the Capitol Building after a speech in which he expressed his belief that the bitterly cold winter was __'nature's way of culling the weak from the human herd'__. _

_-Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War _

"I didn't think you were going to make it to class," Karl said to Kara on the first Tuesday morning after winter break in their Colonial History class.

"I forgot my book," Kara said. "I had to go back for it."

_Forgot it on purpose because I didn't want you asking me any questions._

"How's Sharon?"

"Shhhhh, class is starting."

"Is she all right this morning?"

"She's fine," Kara whispered as she fixed her eyes on Hugh Connelly.

"How was winter break?" Connelly asked the entire class.

There was murmurs of, "Good. Great. Cool. Okay."

"So is everyone ready for round two otherwise known as Colonial History, the last hundred years?"

He was answered by several groans.

"Come on, everyone, why is a knowledge of history important?"

"Because without knowing history, we're doomed to repeat it." Cadet Pike, as usual, was the one who answered him.

"Can anyone give me a good example of how our leaders have repeatedly ignored history?" When no one said anything, Connelly asked, "What about Canceron? Eighty-three years ago the government redrew some boundary lines that were protected by a hundred-plus-year-old treaty. They literally carved out large sections of territory and put them in the hands of a non-resident administrator in order to ensure that mineral rights went to the adminstrator's friends. The ensuing war cost the lives of tens of thousands. Did our government learn a lesson? Who can tell me what the government did on Tauron twenty-two years ago?"

"The same thing?" Karl asked.

Connelly smiled. "Good guess, Cadet Agathon."

"The Marines had to go to Tauron," Kara said. "My mother was wounded there."

"Again thousands of lives were lost as the indigenous people fought to reclaim their lands from the miners. A precedent was set in that the President used a military force to intervene in a non-military matter. There is no better teacher than history and no teacher more often ignored. During the last hundred years, the drawing of Colonial borders without regard to tribal and other territorial markers has resulted in no less than sixteen wars in the Colonies, all of them taking from a few thousands to hundreds of thousands of lives."

After class Kara stayed in her seat. "I need to talk to Connelly about something," she told Karl. "I'll catch you later."

"Is anything wrong?"

"No, Karl, I'm fine." She waited until he walked out of the room before she got out of her seat and walked to the front.

Connelly looked up. "Hello, Kara."

"I need somebody to talk to."

"About history?"

"Sort of. Personal history."

"Boyfriend troubles?"

"No. Something else. I've got to go to my lit class now. Will you be in your office this afternoon around 16:00?"

"I will be if you need to talk."

"Thanks." At the door she turned. "Did I really make a good grade in your class or did you give it to me because of…the camp?"

"You did well, Kara. You studied hard. You earned your grade."

"Okay, thanks."

When Kara got to Mrs. Nagala's class, she sat down in a desk near the door and on the opposite side of the room from Karl. She didn't feel quite as bad knowing that Karl and Sharon had both made Cs in the class. Maybe Laura was right. Maybe Mrs. Nagala's taste in literature was influenced by what had happened in her life. Maybe life was dark for her now and she liked dark stories because of it. Kara just knew that she would ask around before she picked another book from Mrs. Nagala's list to do a paper on. She settled back in her desk as Mrs. Nagala began her lecture on the author Bathsheba Everdene, the first woman writer they had studied.

Mrs. Nagala looked directly at Kara when she said, "Some of you may have more of an appreciation for Everdene's work than others. Several critics have written that she has a far greater understanding of the human heart than some other writers whose works have garnered more commercial rewards and literary acclaim."

As soon as the class ended, Kara tucked the new list of reading assignments into her notebook and left the room.

Karl caught up with her outside the building. "You're avoiding me."

She shrugged.

"It's about Sharon, isn't it?"

"I can't handle being caught in the middle."

"Caught in the middle of what?"

Kara stopped and looked at her best friend. "What would you do if I were right about her? How would you handle it?"

"You're still hung up on that thing about her being a Cylon, aren't you?"

"I just want you to remember that I'll always be your friend. I'll never turn my back on you…no matter what."

"Frak, Kara. What is it about being _wrong_ that you can't take?"

"Karl, I'm going to walk away before we get into an argument over it. Just remember what I said. No matter what, I'm your friend."

She turned and walked away in the bright, cold sunshine. As much as she wanted it to happen, she was already dreading the day Sharon told him. She didn't want to have that I-told-you-so feeling. And she knew Karl was going to be crushed. At least her conscience was clear, though. She'd told Karl, she'd tried to warn him again, and she'd told him she would always be his friend. She would stand by him. She didn't know what else she could do.

That afternoon she walked back over to the Language Arts and History Building and to Connelly's office. His door was standing open, and he was talking to Fiona Nagala. Kara started to turn away, but they saw her.

Mrs. Nagala said, "Come in, Kara. I was just leaving."

"I can come back later."

"No. We were just chatting about the lack of progress in solving Jeff Reider's murder. The trail gets colder by the day."

Kara nodded.

"He may have been a weak and despicable man, but he didn't deserve to have his neck snapped for it."

"We'll talk later, Fiona," Hugh said. "Kara has an appointment."

Fiona stood. "I understand you weren't too happy about the grade you earned in my class. A _C_ is very good considering how far behind you and most of the others are."

"I'm okay with it now," Kara said. "It's done. Hopefully I won't have to read another one of Roland Daley's books this semester."

Hugh Connelly said. "I doubt you will. He hasn't written anything worth reading for the last ten or so years. I think we can safely say that _Allegra After the Fall_ was his most notable achievement. He's all but fallen into obscurity."

"I'll see you tomorrow, Hugh," Fiona called back to him.

"Goodnight, Fiona." He gestured for Kara to take a seat and then he shut the door.

"Is it okay for us to be in here with the door shut?" She asked him. "I don't want to get you in trouble…the red line thing."

"Why do you think these doors are glass on the top half? Admin recognizes that an instructor's communication with a student often needs to be confidential, but they make us do it behind glass. Only a fool would try something in a fishbowl."

"Reider crossed the red line in the worst kind of way," Kara said. "I heard a rumor that he raped a student."

"And he paid the ultimate price. We know that now. So tell me what's on your mind."

"You know in the camp I told you about my mom and my real dad and how she stayed behind and he flew me and Karl here."

"I remember everything you told me, Kara."

"Then you remember about my other father, too. The one who was married to my mother."

He nodded. "The one who left when you were young and you never saw again. You said he died on Picon along with your mother."

"Well, he didn't die on Picon. He's here in Caprica City. He's a musician. He's playing piano at a little dive down on Acropolis Street."

"How did you find that out?"

"Zak, Lee's brother was out drinking with a friend. He took a picture with his mobile phone because the guy had the same last name as mine. It was totally a chance thing. That's all. I mean I guess it was a chance thing."

"Have you seen him and talked to him?"

"No. I just saw the picture of him, but I recognized him right away. I have a picture that I kept of him and me. It's in the box where I keep my mother's pistol. I see it every time I take the gun out and clean it. I was six. He hasn't changed all that much."

"And you want to know whether you should go see him or not."

"I don't know what to do. I told Lee I wasn't going to do anything, but now I don't know. I haven't slept much for the last couple of nights thinking about it."

"Then you should probably do something. You've obviously got some unresolved feelings you need to deal with."

"What do you think about Oracles?" Kara suddenly asked.

"Does this have something to do with finding out this man is still alive?"

"I keep coming back to something an Oracle told me last spring."

"I'm not a scholar of religious history by any means, but all of our religions have had their prophets and mystics. Some people believe in them. Some don't. I personally don't."

Kara looked at her hands. "There's an Oracle who lives down near the waterfront. I've been to see her a couple of times. The first time I went, she told me there were six important men in my life. She said that one of them was in my past and in my future. Karl thought it might be you. I thought it might be Tom Zarek. Now I'm wondering if it might be him…the musician. The more I think about it, the more I think I should go see him. I mean what if it's him the Oracle was talking about and I don't do anything?"

"I can understand why you would want to see him, but you need to be prepared for any type of reception. He may be happy to see you. He may not be. He may think you want something from him that he's not prepared or able to give you."

"I don't want anything from him. Besides, he might not even remember me."

"He'll remember you," Hugh said gently. "I don't care what his motivation was for walking out on you and your mother, he'll remember you. What does John say about it?"

"I haven't told him."

"You need to, Kara. He's your father. You need to tell him. If this place is a dive like you say, and you decide to visit, then you need somebody to go with you."

"I don't think he's the right person to go with me. I think he's one of the reasons my parents split, probably the main reason."

"And your boyfriend?"

"I don't know if Lee is the right person, either. He's my dad's best friend. He's not going to be too objective about it."

A questioning look spread across Connelly's face. "Do I understand, then, that you're asking _me_ to go with you?"

"I guess…if I decide to go. I don't even know the name of the place. Zak said it's on Acropolis Street a couple of doors down from a strip joint called _Lavender Blue_. His name is Dreilide Thrace. My mom always called him Del. They got married right after high school."

"What do you remember about him?" Connelly asked.

"We lived in a big, older house on Picon until I was eight years old. He had a room where he kept all his music stuff. That's where the piano was. I wasn't supposed to go in there without him. The day he moved out he took everything but the piano. I came home from school and it was all gone."

"What else?"

"He played in a jazz band and sometimes did solo concerts. He slept late most mornings and I had to be quiet when I was in the house or he would come out of the bedroom and yell at me."

"Is that why you liked to play outside more than you liked being inside?"

She shrugged.

"Dig deeper, Kara. There's more. You need to be honest with yourself before you confront him. You need to understand your own feelings first."

Kara could feel tears somewhere in the back of her eyes. She looked at her hands again.

"He tried to teach me to play. I wasn't any good. I tried but…I don't have any talent. He could tell." After a long pause she said. "He smoked. There was usually a lit cigarette in an ashtray on top of the piano. He kept a box of kitchen matches that he lit his cigarettes with and when I was there he would hold up the match and I would blow it out. It was like a…like a…"

"Ritual. Just the two of you."

She nodded, struggled against the tears and lost. "I loved him."

Hugh Connelly got up from behind his desk. In the back of her mind Kara knew they were crossing the red line, but her need for the comfort of his arms was so great at the moment that it didn't matter. It wasn't about sex. It wasn't about romantic love. It was about a hole in her heart that she had covered over and never been able to heal.

Only later, as she walked back to her dorm, did she realize the terrible risk Connelly had taken just to hold her while she cried, to put her head on his shoulder and gently and wordlessly smooth back her hair until she was empty of tears. If anyone had walked by and seen them, he could have lost his job for that kind of physical contact with her, especially since Captain Reider's misconduct had come to light. But she was also certain now that the bond between them, born in the camp when they had both lost so much, would be there forever.

She had stopped him from killing himself, and he had saved her from rape and possibly death. He owned a piece of her soul just like she owned a piece of his. He understood. She would keep him always in a special place in her heart.

…

"Look at your instruments again," her father said to Kara at the start of her Thursday afternoon sim session. "You missed something on your preflight."

Quickly she went down her checklist again. "The altimeter didn't check."

"You don't leave the ground until every instrument checks out in preflight. So let's take it again from the top. Learning to trust your instruments is important. When Lee flew his big mission a couple of months ago, he was in dense fog for part of it, fog so thick he could have reached out and stirred it with a spoon. He flew by his instruments. Your life depends on trusting your instruments."

"Okay, Major Gallagher, okay. I don't need a lecture. I missed a frakking instrument problem during preflight. Quit acting like it's the end of the frakking world."

"Whoa. That's enough of that language. What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing. I'm having a bad day."

"A _bad day_ is no excuse for talking to me like that…either as your father or your sim instructor. If you talked to another one of your instructors like that you'd get demerits."

"Give me the damned demerits, then. I don't care."

"All right, out of the cockpit. We're going to have a talk."

With tears that she wouldn't let fall stinging her eyes, Kara climbed out of the cockpit and followed her father down the steps beside the simulator. She would have been able to keep up the tough act if he hadn't turned at the bottom and put his arms around her. It was too much, this reminder of how much he loved her.

"What's wrong, baby? This is not like you."

She choked back a sob. "I want to go home with you tonight. I don't want to go back to the dorm. I don't want to go to class tomorrow. I want to see Lee. I don't want to do this anymore."

"What happened?"

"Nothing happened."

"Kara, something happened. Is it Sharon?"

"She knows that I know, but that's not…."

"Frak. Why didn't you call me? We'll take care of it. We can get her out of here tonight and someplace…"

"No, she and I are okay. She's not even the one who drowned. It's a different copy or something. She's not the same one. She's not going crazy like the other one."

"Then what…"

"Part of it is Karl. I told him but he doesn't believe me. Sharon isn't ready to tell him yet. I'm caught in the middle. I've started avoiding Karl because I can't lie to him. I can't look at him and see him so much in love with her like that when I know what she is."

"Do you want me to talk to him?"

"It's Sharon's place to tell him. Besides, the Oracle told me to guard my secrets."

"I think it's time you and I talked about the Oracle, too. I don't want you going to see her again. I don't want to see you getting so caught up in this idea of fate or destiny that you stop believing in yourself and your ability to make your own choices."

"But she's been right so far," Kara said passionately. "She's been right about everything. She even told me about him…about…about…"

"About who? Lee?"

"Yeah, she did tell me about Lee, but…"

"But what, Kara?"

"The musician. He's alive," she blurted.

"The musician? What are you talking about?"

"The man the Oracle said was in my past and in my future. My other father. My mom's husband. Dreilide Thrace."

Her father took a deep breath. With his arm around her shoulders, he guided her to the amphitheater and up into the seats.

When they were settled, he said, "Tell me the whole thing."

She told him about her and Lee meeting Zak for lunch at L'Escargot and seeing Dreilide Thrace's picture on Zak's mobile phone.

For a long time her father didn't speak. Finally he said, "You're sure it's him?"

"I'm sure. I kept a picture of him…me and him…the day he took me to first grade. That was while mom was on Tauron. He…took care of me for a couple of months before she got wounded and came back. Besides how many Dreilide Thraces who are musicians can there be?"

"What do you want to do? Do you want to see him?"

She heard something in his voice and tried to identify it. Was it hurt? Fear? Concern? Love? All of the above?

"I don't know. I don't know if I want to see him or not. But I think I need to. I want him to tell me why he left. And why he never tried to see me again."

There was another long silence

"Do you blame me for him leaving?" John finally asked.

There it was. Her father had zeroed in on something she had been struggling with and not even known it. Did she blame him?

"They fought a lot. Mom wanted him to get a _real job_."

"That's not what I asked you, Kara."

"I don't know. I don't know how I feel right now."

"I loved your mother. It wasn't just a casual affair. I don't know if that makes any difference to you or not, but I loved her a lot more than she ever loved me. I would have married her if she would have had me. I would have been a father to you if she would have let me. I still think about her."

"What about Laura?"

"I love Laura, but that doesn't mean your mother isn't still here for me." He touched his uniform over his heart. "That's the only reason I can accept the fact that Laura still has feelings for Bill Adama. I know how hard it is to completely let go of the past."

They sat in silence again for a long time.

"I'm ready to get back in the simulator now."

"You're still a sim ahead of the others, Kara. Let's call it a day. I can get you a pass if you want to go home with me tonight. I'll bring you back in the morning in time for your first class."

"No, I'm okay now. Mom would have told me to suck it up and get over it. That was one of her favorite things to say to me. _Suck it up, Kara._ I can still hear her say it."

"I just want you to know how much I love you."

Kara put her head on her father's shoulder. "I know that, Dad. And I don't blame you for him leaving. I blame her and him. They both made choices. Some of them were bad."

"Kara, sometimes things just don't work out between two people, especially when they're both young like they were when they got married. They started dating in the tenth grade and married right after high school. Sometimes you grow apart instead of together. At first it's all hot and physical and you think it will always be that way and you can't see all those differences that get to be more and more important as time goes by."

"Is this going to turn into a lecture about me and Lee?"

"No, baby. You don't need that from me right now. I'm just saying that _all_ relationships are hard sometimes. You have to compromise and you have to forgive and you have to work at it. It doesn't just _happen_ all the time. But if you both love each other, you'll find a way to make it work."

"I'm glad you're my father. I'm glad I'm going to be a pilot like you."

"Come on. Let me shut down the computer and I'll walk with you over to your dorm. If we sit here any longer, you'll make me cry."

"Suck it up, Dad. Be tough," Kara said lightly.

"There are times you remind me so much of her."

"I remind you of a Marine instead of the kick-ass pilot I've got for an old man?"

He smiled. "Let's hope Braedon takes after Laura. I don't think I can handle another one like you."

…

Lee was unlocking the door of his apartment when his phone buzzed.

He saw John's mobile number on his caller ID. "Hey, what's up?"

"You got plans tonight?"

"No. Why?"

"I need to talk to you."

"Oh, frak, is it Kara? Has something happened to Kara?"

"No. It's about what happened at lunch last Sunday."

Lee knew exactly what was wrong. "Dreilide Thrace. She told you."

"You act like that surprises you."

"She said she wasn't going to do anything. I told her to talk to you, but you know Kara. She said there was nothing to talk about."

"That place near your apartment, Zeno's. Meet me there at seven tonight."

"I'll be there, John."

Lee walked into the bedroom and took off his uniform. He had just enough time to change clothes, go for a run, shower and get to Zeno's by seven. John was already there sitting at the bar. Lee slid onto the barstool beside him.

"You started without me," he gestured to the bartender to bring him a beer like John's.

"This is my first one. I haven't been here long."

"Does Laura know where you are?"

"I told her I was meeting you for a drink. She was fine with it. Billy was still there when I left. She's going to run for President. They're drafting her press announcement."

"That surprises me."

"I didn't even know she was thinking about it. She dropped that one on me last Saturday night."

"You don't want her to?"

"From a selfish point of view, no. I'd like for her to slow down and enjoy being a mother to our son. I don't see how she thinks she can be the President and still give our child the kind of attention he deserves. But it's not my career, not my decision."

"You sound like you're sure she'll be elected."

"I'm basing that on the ones who have declared their intentions so far. Nobody's anywhere near as popular with the people or the press as she is. I think she'll be elected."

"So where does that leave you?"

"I don't know. Where does it leave me?"

"Teaching? Raising Braedon?"

John shrugged. "On the back burner in Laura's life, that's for sure. I knew a pilot once who said marriage is why the gods gave us bars."

"You're in a lousy mood tonight. You've been married all of ten months. Surely the honeymoon isn't over already."

"I really want a cigarette. For the first time in months I really want a cigarette. It's probably being in a bar like this. I can't tell you how many times I sat in a bar like this near some airfield and had a post-flight beer and a couple of cigarettes."

"No cigarettes. You've done too good to backslide now."

"You want to hear something funny? I just finished telling Kara how love is all about compromise and working at it and not giving up. I guess I'd better try to practice what I preach. You're right. I'm in a lousy mood tonight."

"Tell me about Kara. That's what started all this, isn't it?"

"You probably know more about it than I do. You were there when she found out Dreilide Thrace is still alive…or Del as her mother used to call him."

"Does she want to see him? Because she told me she didn't. She said that chapter of her life was over."

"She doesn't know what she wants to do. I should have brought her home with me tonight. She's been through so much in the last four and half years. Sometimes I can hardly believe that she's done as well as she has."

"Kara is tough and she's smart."

"She's like her mother or maybe her mother made her that way. Who knows?"

"Are you're worried that she'll want to spend some time with her…other father?"

"He's the only father she knew until he abandoned her. He wasn't much of one, but he's all she had. I should have been there for her when he walked out on her and her mom. I should have been there, but her mother…hell, she didn't even tell me about it for months and when she did, the first frakking thing she does is tell me that doesn't mean we'll get married. She'd already moved into base housing. She said she and Kara were settled and that's how it would stay and that if I wanted to keep seeing her, I'd accept it. And what did I do? I said _okay_. When Kara was three I saw a lawyer and found out I had no legal right to her…none at all. Zero. Zip. Nada. So I kept seeing her mother because I loved Socrata and because I hoped that one day…" He stopped talking and took another swallow of the beer.

"What are you doing, John? Taking a nice guilt trip down memory lane? Kara loves you. You and her…you are so much alike."

"That's what worries me."

"It shouldn't worry you. You should be proud of her."

"I am. I didn't mean it that way. On top of this other thing, Kara told me that Sharon knows."

"That Kara knows she's a Cylon?"

"Yeah. I walked with Kara back over to her dorm tonight and we talked about it the whole way. She's convinced me that this is a different Sharon, a different copy. She has all of the other Sharon's memories, but she's different. She told Kara that her _mission_ was to learn about human emotions. Kara wants to let things play out for a while. She still thinks between Sharon's feelings for Karl and her friendship with Kara, that she will turn and help us."

"I don't like it."

"Neither do I, but Kara's learning from Sharon, too. I made the decision to let Kara go with her gut instinct."

Lee turned up his beer and finished it. He signaled the bartender for another one. "Gods, I hope you're right."

"Something else. I don't want Kara going back to that Oracle. I'm afraid she's getting too wrapped up in this fate and destiny thing. I don't want her to think that every time she has a tough decision to make in her life or she's confused about something that all she has to do is run to some blind former priest and hold her hands and get some sort of divine guidance."

"You won't get any arguments from me on that, although…." Lee didn't finish the sentence.

"Yeah, I know. Yolanda Brenn does have an uncanny knack for knowing things she logically shouldn't."

Lee picked up his second beer. "Are you familiar with the ancient philosopher Lycabas?"

John smiled. "You know my formal education isn't that extensive, especially on that subject."

Lee was beginning to feel the effects of the beer on his empty stomach. "Well, Lycabas…it's way more complicated that even I understand…but Lycabus believed that all knowledge is sort of out there…and that certain individuals who have acutely-tuned senses can plug into this knowledge base at will which is where your prophecies and other predictions come from."

"Sounds Cylon-like to me," John said. "Kara told me that this new Sharon was somehow able to access the memories of the one who drowned and then downloaded."

"_New_ Sharon? I don't get it."

"Neither do I exactly, but apparently Kara does. The new one went to Colonel Burgher this past Monday and asked to change her call sign from _Boomer_ to _Athena_. He let her do it since she hasn't gotten to Flight School yet."

"What happened to _Boomer_?"

"She's still on the resurrection hub. A copy of Cavil and another Natasi that's called Six wouldn't let her come back. They sent Athena instead. I guess they've got to work on Boomer's programming some more. Oh, there's seven models even though Sharon is number eight. Their creators made a mistake numbering them or lost a model or something."

"Lost a model? How did that happen?"

"Beats me. We don't even know who created the skinjobs or exactly how they did it."

"Seven," Lee said. "Then maybe we know who they are…Cavil, Simon, Natasi, Doral, Leoben and Sharon. That's six. And if D'Anna Biers is one like Laura suspects…that's our seven. I hope Kara doesn't get so tied up in trying to turn Sharon that she gets taken in herself. She's always defended Leoben. I just hope she keeps her priorities straight."

"Lee, I can promise you one thing. My daughter would never pick a Cylon over a human. If it comes down to a choice, Kara will make the right one."

"I agree," Lee said.

"I called your dad to see if he could meet us tonight. He already had something planned. He's coming over tomorrow night. I think he has some news about Baltar and maybe the Raider, too, but he wouldn't say anything over the phone."

"I'm going to see Kara tomorrow night. Friday nights are date nights now, but she can only leave campus on Saturday night. I'm going out there to see her tomorrow night."

"Good. She needs you right now more than ever. If she wants to…I know she wouldn't ask me, but if she wants to see Thrace…"

"I'll go with her. Did he know…about you and Kara's mom?"

"If he didn't, he was blind. In the beginning Socrata tried to keep our relationship a secret, but before he left, I don't think she cared if he knew or not."

"Does he know Kara isn't his daughter?"

"Probably. But I don't know for sure. Except for the eyes, she looks like her mother."

Lee realized later that if he hadn't been feeling the effect of two beers, he probably wouldn't have said what he did next. But it was on his mind and it came out of his mouth.

"Kara had a tough time after Thrace guy and she and her mom moved into base housing. She told me something a couple of weeks ago. Mostly how she met Karl. She was getting beat up on the playground a lot and one day he stepped in and stopped it."

"Oh, frak, Lee, don't tell me any more bad things about Kara's childhood right now. I don't think I can handle it."

"John, that's the past. Kara's with you now. She loves you. Let it go. Now I think you should call it a night and go home. I'm going to do the same thing. We've both got to work in the morning."

Lee walked outside with John and watched as his friend got into a transport. Then he walked the two blocks back to his apartment. He made a sandwich, watched an hour of mindless television and went to bed.

The dream came sometime later, the dream he'd had once before while he was in Sovana, the night he had broken Neil Speigel. He squared off in his Viper against a Cylon Raider. He saw the tracers arc across the space between them as he fired, saw the rounds strike the Raider, but this time the Raider didn't explode. The red eye swung side to side, cold and precise, taking his measure, and then it fired. The missile was streaking toward him when he woke up.

His heart was pounding, his breath coming in quick gasps just as it had the day he had flown the mission, the moment his dradis had shown the second Cylon Raider closing fast on him. He sat up and put his feet on the floor but couldn't banish the after effects of the dream. Only when he turned on the bedside lamp did the image fade from his mind.

…

Kara got out of bed and pulled on a sweatshirt. In an effort to conserve energy, the thermostats were now being lowered in all the dorms by several more degrees during the night. Laura had told her how the two power plants that supplied Caprica's energy were running at full capacity in a winter that had been colder than any on record for nearly a hundred years. If anything happened that took even one of them off-line for several days, the toll in human suffering and lives would be immense. President Adar had appealed to everyone to lower their thermostats and conserve.

Kara went to the window and slowly and quietly raised the blinds. The frigid night was crystal clear, the vault of the heavens dotted with stars. They looked close enough to touch. She put a finger against the cold pane of glass and shivered. Somewhere out there Bill Adama's battlestars floated in the weightlessness of deep space, waiting, preparing. Somewhere out there, too, were three more Cylon base stars.

Less than a year the commander had said. Less than a year until he would put his plan into motion. The clock was already ticking. She was part of it. She knew she was, but her part still wasn't clear to her. She knew that she would be in a Viper, but there was more, something else she was supposed to do, something that linked her to Leoben and her brother, too, but she didn't know what it was yet.

If there were no ceiling above her and she could look straight up at the sky, she would be able to see something that looked like a small, spiky piece of the moon, the huge Cylon basestar that maintained a low orbit always over Caprica City. She thought about the other Sharon…Boomer…who was now on that ship. What was she doing? How was she being _re-educated_? How were the memories of Troy and Captain Reider being erased from her programming?

"Is something wrong?"

Even though Sharon's voice was soft, Kara still jumped. She took a deep breath.

"No, I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep. I was just looking at the stars."

"Cavil doesn't sleep. He deleted all the sleep routines from his programming."

"Why? So he can watch everybody all the time?"

"He says sleep isn't necessary. Personally, I like to sleep."

"Do you dream?" Kara asked her.

"Yes. Our creators made us as much like themselves as they could."

"Your creators were human?"

"Yes."

"Are they on one of the basestars?"

"No."

"Where are they?"

"They're on our homeworld, but don't ask me where it is. I don't know."

"What do you dream about?"

"Different things. Sometimes I dream about Karl, about him and me."

"You mean…hot dreams?"

"I guess that's what you call them. I'm going to tell him about me."

"When?" Kara asked in surprise.

"This weekend. We're going to take the subway into Caprica City on Saturday afternoon and go ice skating. I'm going to tell him while we're there."

"What made you decide to do it now?"

"Because I know it's causing problems with you and him. He told me you've been avoiding him."

"I have. Karl's the best friend I've ever had. He's as close to me as a brother. It's either avoid him or get into it with him. He thinks I'm wrong and just won't admit it."

"I think…maybe…in some way he already knows, and that's what he's having a problem with."

Kara got back into her bed and pulled up the covers. "He's probably not going to take it too good."

"I know. He's probably going to break up with me."

"You're probably right."

"I'm learning. It hurts just to think about it."

…

Friday night Lieutenant Sydell was on the front desk. Since the incident at the winter dance, she had left Kara alone. Kara didn't try to figure out why. She was just grateful. So she waited patiently while Lee chatted with Shelley for a minute before they left to walk to the student union.

At the bottom of the steps, he stopped her and pulled her to him. Their kiss naturally followed and deepened fast.

"Hey, Thrace, it's too cold to frak on the sidewalk," a male voice said.

Kara and Lee moved apart. Cadet Pike walked by with a girl. Both of them were laughing.

"Frak you, Pike," Kara called after them. "Damn suck-up," she muttered after he was out of earshot. "I found out _he_ made an A in Mrs. Nagala's class. He probably frakked her for it."

"Come on, Kara," Lee said. "I doubt Mrs. Nagala is frakking Cadet Pike."

"Oops, sorry. I forgot. She's frakking your dad."

"I wouldn't go there with Zak. I'm not going to go there with you."

They didn't speak again until they got inside the building that housed the cafeteria and student union. They found a small table near the back wall.

"I met your dad for a drink last night," Lee said after they piled their coats on an empty chair.

"And you had a nice little heart-to-heart about how I'm losing it."

"No. I think this thing with Dreilide Thrace being alive has gotten to him."

"He doesn't have anything to worry about."

"If you decide to go see him, I'll go…"

"It's already taken care of. If I decide to go, someone will go with me. I wouldn't go somewhere like that alone."

"Karl. You asked Karl to go with you?"

"Not Karl. But it's somebody I trust. Somebody who's not close to it like you or my dad."

"Who?"

"Lee, if I go…and that's still a big _if_…I'll talk to you afterward. I don't have anything to say right now. I don't know what to say. Maybe I need some kind of closure. Maybe then I'll have something to say."

"You haven't asked Laura to go to some bar, have you?"

"No. I wouldn't dare ask the Secretary of Education to go to some dive on Acropolis Street. Frak, can you see what kind of field day the press would have if they got wind of that. _Presidental candidate caught slumming on Acropolis Street._" Kara snickered.

"You asked Hugh Connelly."

When Kara didn't deny it, Lee knew he was right. He took a deep breath and looked away as he blew it out.

"Okay. Go ahead and get mad at me about it," Kara said. "Tell me I'm being stupid. Tell me Connelly's only doing me a favor so he can get into my pants. Tell me his only motive is to finish what he started in the camp."

"I wasn't going to say any of those things to you. You're the one who mentioned Connelly and sex in the same sentence. I just hope you know what you're doing because he's an instructor here and you're a student. Visiting a seedy bar on Acropolis Street with him would definitely be looked at as crossing the red line…for both of you."

"What do you think we're going to do, run into Colonel Winters in a place like that?" Kara snickered. "In _Lavender Blue _maybe but not some low-end bar."

"I doubt Colonel Winters visits _Lavender Blue._"

"So that's where the fearless Viper jocks hang out. A strip club on Acropolis Street."

"I've only been there once. Some stupid bachelor party last year before I met you."

"Did you get off looking at the strippers? Did you get a lap dance?"

"_No_ to both questions."

They looked at each other. "Liar," Kara grinned. "Looking at the strippers made you hot."

Lee rolled his eyes. "Okay, so looking at the strippers did get me a little hot. But there was definitely no lap dance. The groom-to-be got the lap dance."

"So what did _you_ do? Go home afterwards and…take care of your problem yourself?"

"Frak, Kara, let's quit talking about this, okay?"

She leaned in close to his face and they stared at each other until Kara slid the tip of her tongue over her lips.

The hot, sexual current arced between them. "Damn, Kara. If what you set out to do was to get me so turned on I could frak you right here on this table, then let me congratulate you. You succeeded."

"Would you like to frak me on the table, Lee? Would you like for me to hop right up on it and..."

"Kara, stop."

"You can come get me tomorrow afternoon. We can go back to your apartment."

"What time can you leave?"

"16:00. I've got to make up a class tomorrow after lunch. We've all got to qualify on the rifle range. It seems Captain Reider was going to do that this semester. Now they've had to hire someone to come in from the outside. He can only do it on Saturdays."

"I don't think you have anything to worry about. You'll qualify in the first round."

"I don't know. I haven't shot at anything since…in a long time."

"It's like riding a bicycle," Lee said lightly. "You don't forget how."

"No, it's not," Kara said, her voice sad and serious.

He reached under the table, found her hand and squeezed it. "They're just paper targets, Kara. Don't let it get to you. Pretend you're shooting at a…" Lee stopped, aware of what he had been about to say.

"A Cylon?" Kara finished for him. "No, I don't think I can do that."

"Pretend you're shooting at a centurion."

"A centurion like the one that probably killed my mother. Yeah, that will work."

…

Laura was sitting in her chair reading President Adar's warm response to her letter announcing her intention to run when the doorbell rang.

John was lying on the couch with Braedon, fed and dry, on his chest. Their son was able to push up now and turn his head. At the moment, though, she could tell he was staring at his father with those serious eyes of his as John talked to him about flying a Viper.

"I'll get it. Stay where you are. You know Braedon doesn't understand a word you're saying to him."

John smiled. "Yes, he does. He's got that _oh, no, not-another-bullshit-pilot-story-from-dad _look in his eyes."

Laura turned at the door. "Don't say _bullshit_ in front of our child."

John laughed. "I thought you said he didn't understand a word I was saying."

Shaking her head she walked into the foyer and opened the door to Bill Adama.

"Hello, Laura."

"Come in, Bill."

She glanced at him but avoided a lingering look.

John was sitting up, Braedon on his lap when they got to the den.

Bill walked over to John. "May I?" He held out his hands.

John lifted Braedon who went to Bill willingly. Laura had noticed that so far her son had shown no reticence about strangers.

John stood. "Drink?"

"My usual. Thanks. Well, Laura, your son is prettier than John, but not a pretty as you."

She smiled. "John is already trying to convince him he should be a pilot."

"The gods forbid," Bill said. "He should be a scholar and a humanitarian like his mother."

John said, "I wasn't trying to convince him to be a pilot. I think he should be a scholar, too. We've already got two pilots in the family. As long as Braedon is free to choose what he wants to be, that's all I care about."

Laura took Brae so Bill could take his drink. They all sat.

"News about Dr. Baltar first," John said. "Did you have to haul his ass out of bed on Monday morning?"

"I did, and you're right, he wasn't alone."

"Natasi?" Laura asked.

"No, a very attractive blond, but not Natasi."

"And?"

Bill snorted. "He told me his alarm clock hadn't gone off. I told him I wasn't interested in the kind of excuses a slacker would use. I gave him an ultimatum. I told him I was going to drop by unannounced at least one morning a week from now on. I told him that the first time I found him MIA from the lab and he wasn't in the morgue, then his ass was off our project and I was replacing him with a well-known virologist. I asked him for a progress report. He stammered around and tried spouting some of that scientific bullshit. I told him I didn't care to hear more excuses. Has he made any progress on decoding the virus? A dozen excuses later his answer was _no_. Personally I don't think he's been trying very hard."

Laura looked at her son. He smiled at her, a big toothless grin. "Braedon finds your story very amusing."

"I'm glad somebody does. I have better news about the Raider. The neuroscientist had a breakthrough yesterday morning. Working with a computer engineer, they've managed to find an interesting pattern in the Raider's brain waves. No matter what the other waves show, this particular one stays steady. We think it's the signal the Raider uses to let the basestar know what it is."

"You think? Does that translate to a guess?"

"The computer engineer said the signal is being transmitted via the Raider's neural net into the communications software and then out again at a frequency above the normal range for ship-to-ship broadcasts. He said the nearest thing he could use to describe it was a homing beacon."

Laura said. "That sounds quite complicated."

Bill laughed softly. "You should have heard their explanation before I got them to translate it into layman's terms for me."

"What's the bottom line?" John asked. "How is this going to help us? Or is it going to help us?"

"They say they can duplicate it. We may be able to get another ship into that basestar by duplicating the signal. It's a backup plan if the Cylons detect that something is wrong with the Raider and destroy it before it makes it inside."

"Another ship?" Laura asked, concern in her voice. "A ship with a pilot?"

"To drop off a timed explosive device," Bill said quickly. "It will be a volunteer mission. As I said, it's a backup plan. That ship _must_ be destroyed. If they were to get away, then destroying the other basestars and killing the Cylons here on Caprica is all for nothing. They'll regroup, they'll make more Cylons, more basestars, and they'll be back, maybe not in my lifetime, but certainly in your son's."

His words were greeted by silence. Laura thought of her child, of what the Oracle had said. Was his fate to leave Caprica? Was his ultimate fate to search the stars for a new home for humanity? She looked at her husband and knew he shared her thoughts.

John said quietly, "We'll make sure that ship is destroyed. We'll make sure we're rid of them now and forever no matter what it takes."

…

Kara stood at the Academy's outdoor gun range. The man who was going to judge their marksmanship with the rubber-bullet guns was none other than the instructor at Taggert's Gun Range outside of Caprica City. He was the man who had given her the permit to carry a weapon for Jack Fisk.

She knew he recognized her, but so far he had given no indication of it. She wondered if he remembered her name because she saw him look several times at the roster of the dozen cadets in this last group of the day.

He ran through an abbreviated version of the rubber bullet explanation that he had given on that day over a year earlier when she had qualified as Carrie Warner.

"These bullets are tipped with yellow dye. They will mark the target where they hit. The rifles are loaded with six bullets each. You will fire three rounds from a standing position and three from a prone position. Aim for the target's chest. Everyone put on your ear protection and safety glasses."

Kara took her time. There was no need to rush. She raised the rifle to her shoulder, sited carefully and put three rubber bullets into the target in a tight triangle on the chest. She didn't look at anyone else's target and let the barrel of her rifle drop until it was pointed at the ground.

When everyone was through, the automatic mechanism pulled the first paper target down and brought up another one. All the cadets lay prone. The ground was hard and cold and smelled of dry leaves. As she sighted down the barrel at the target, she was aware that she was having a hard time getting her breath. Her heart began beating wildly like it had done that night at the lab. She heard the pounding of the blood in her ears under the protective cups. She saw Simon's face. Blindly she fired three shots, pulling the trigger in quick succession.

She swallowed hard several times and prayed she wouldn't throw up.

"Cadet…Thrace. You can get up now."

Kara looked around. She was the only one still on the ground. She rose on shaky legs and pulled the ear protectors off her head.

"Eject the clips and stow your rifles," the instructor barked. "Then retrieve your targets."

Numbly she walked across the frozen ground, got her targets from the holders and returned. The second target had three yellow-ringed holes in the center of the forehead so close together that they looked like one.

He made her wait until last. Until he had talked to all the other cadets and they had left one by one. By then, at least, she was breathing normally.

"Is this a cover for an ops?" He asked. "Are you an infiltrator?"

She shook her head. "I left that behind."

"So this is your real name?"

"I'm going to be a Viper pilot."

"What happened on the second target? You were to aim for the chest."

She shook her head again. "I'm not sure."

He studied her for a moment. Then he took one of the rifles, pushed in a new clip, walked up to the line and calmly fired three shots into one a new target. He ejected the clip, and put the rifle back in the holder.

"Go get it."

Kara again walked across the frozen ground and brought back the paper target. In the chest was a neat triangle, the inverse of her first one.

He wrote her name with a heavy felt marker across the bottom of both targets just like he had done for the other cadets. "These are the two I'm turning in. I'll take the other one with me. I'm also passing you on the rifle part of your firearms qualification. You won't need to do this again."

"Thank you."

"We protect our own. I know what you did that night. I know the guts and skill it took. What's your call sign?"

"Starbuck."

He smiled. "Good hunting up there, Starbuck. Shoot some more of them for us."

"I plan to."

As she walked from the rifle range back to her dorm, she knew she would see the instructor from Taggert's at least once more. In a month she had to qualify on the indoor pistol range with a sidearm.

Kara wasn't aware of the time until she got back to the dorm. Lee was sitting in the lobby.

"How late am I?" She asked as he stood up.

"Twenty minutes. Are you okay?"

"I was on the rifle range. The instructor who is qualifying us is an _old friend_," she snickered. "Come on, let's go. I have to be back before midnight."

"Don't you want to change? Those fatigues are dirty."

"Don't worry about the fatigues. I don't plan on having them on that long."

She was right. Five minutes after they got to his apartment, the fatigues were on the bathroom floor and they were in the shower. Instead of rushing, though, he took his time with her. He made her stand with her hands against the shower wall while the warm water ran down her body and he massaged her neck and shoulders.

He felt her body relax under his hands. He tried to ignore his own desire as he put his mouth against the back of her neck and then the side of her neck. His hands cupped her breasts. She pushed back against him.

He finally reached the limit of his self-control. His hands slid down on her. She arched her back. It didn't take but a little shift of position and he was inside of her.

He managed to last until he saw her hands clench into fists against the fiberglass wall.

He said her name in a moan…_Kara_…just before the pleasure overtook him. Gods, what he wouldn't give to have her with him every night.

After they were dry, they crawled into bed and he settled her against him. He wanted to talk, but in just a few minutes Kara's breathing evened out into sleep. There were so many things he wanted to talk to her about, but he let her sleep until nearly seven when hunger forced him to get out of bed, pull on jeans and a sweatshirt and call in a pizza order. After it was delivered, he woke her up.

"Hey, sleepyhead, dinner is served."

He found a pair of sweatpants and another sweatshirt for her. Kara went into the bathroom and brushed her hair back into a ponytail. She trudged into the kitchen. Lee had already eaten two slices of pizza.

"Sorry to start without you, but I was starving."

"I think I could have slept straight through until morning."

"I think that would have gotten you into trouble with the Academy."

"Big trouble. Sharon probably told Karl by now. They were going ice skating this afternoon. She said she was going to tell him."

"What do you think he'll do?"

"Break up with her. I expect I'll hear from him tomorrow. Or maybe not. It depends on what wins out…needing to talk or not wanting to admit he was wrong and I was right about her."

"I still worry about you and her."

"No reason to. Sharon and I are okay."

"Aren't you going to eat anything?"

"I guess." Kara picked up a slice of pizza and took a bite. "I frakked up on the rifle range this afternoon."

"You missed?"

"No. The second set of shots I put into the target's head instead of the chest. The instructor covered for me."

"Why?"

She shrugged. "I…lost it for a minute when I had to lay down on the ground. I was…it was weird. I was back at the lab. I smelled those dead leaves and I freaked. I shot Simon again. Three times. In the head."

"It got to you that bad?"

Kara put the slice of pizza down on the plate. She got up and opened the cabinet over the refrigerator and got down a bottle of ambrosia.

"No, Kara. No! The lieutenant on the front desk will smell it on you when you check back in tonight. You'll be grounded for six weeks. You'll walk off demerits. Don't do it."

"I'm afraid. I'm afraid I'm losing it."

Lee got up and put his arms around her. "You're not losing it, Kara."

"Do you love me enough to stick with me through this?"

"I love you enough to stick with you through _anything_."

Lee felt her relax in his arms. He breathed in the clean scent of her hair.

"I've got to go see Dreilide Thrace. I have to."

"I know."

"It doesn't mean I don't love my dad. Maybe he did have something to do with Dreilide leaving my mother and me, but I don't blame him…or if I do blame him, I forgive him. He loved my mother. He loves me. He said he wanted to be a father to me and she wouldn't let him. The night he brought me off Picon he told me that legally he had no right to me at all. I believe him. Maybe that's why he and Laura had Braedon…so he could be a real dad this time. Maybe it's all part of that karmic justice thing he talks about. There's good karmic justice. It's not all bad."

"I don't know if the universe operates on that kind of reward and punishment system, Kara. We make decisions in our lives. There are consequences. John and Laura had unprotected sex. That's where Braedon came from. I think it's a cop-out to blame it on fate or destiny or even karmic justice."

"I'm going to have some part in getting rid of the Cylons. It's my destiny. I've known it for a long time...even before I went to see the Oracle."

"Then you don't need the Oracle to tell you that."

"No, I don't need the Oracle to tell me that."

On their way back to the Academy, Kara suddenly wondered what would happen to Sharon and Leoben when the rest of the Cylons were destroyed. Would Bill Adama let them live? She pushed the thought from her mind. She would think about it later. She couldn't handle any more right now.

Lee walked with her to her dorm. They kissed before she went in.

"I'm here for you," he said. "I love you."

"I know. I love you, too."

…

Sharon was in her bunk with the lights out when Kara went into the room. Quietly she opened her closet and got her flannel sleep pants and t-shirt from the shelf.

Sharon turned over. "Karl didn't take it too well."

"I didn't think he would."

"He left me there at the ice rink. I don't know where he went. I rode the subway back by myself."

"Did he make it back to the Academy?"

"I went to his dorm. He was there, but he wouldn't come downstairs."

"I'll go talk to him tomorrow."

"What are you going to say to him?"

"I don't know, Sharon. It depends on what he's got to say to me."

Kara shivered and got into her bunk and pulled the blankets up to her chin.

"Is he going to do anything?" She finally asked Sharon.

"Nobody's come for me yet."

"Karl cares about you. He may be freaked out right now, but he does have feelings for you."

"I love him."

Kara tried to imagine how a machine felt love. Maybe the Cylon's artificial intelligence was so good that Sharon had evolved or maybe it was just programming. She was too tired to think about it now. She would think about it later.

She closed her eyes.

"Get some sleep, Sharon. Things always look better in the morning. I'll talk to Karl tomorrow."

Sharon didn't say anything and Kara realized that she was crying. As Kara drifted into sleep, she was thinking about Cylon tears.

Did they taste like her own tears, salt like the ocean, like the beginning of life?

TBC…


	52. Diaspora

Chapter 52

Diaspora

_During the spring of President Adar's last year in office, the Caprica Museum opened an exhibit that contained valuable artifacts that had been looted from the museum in Delphi following the bombing of that city. A cache of the stolen artifacts was recovered by a team of investigators when the thieves attempted to sell them on the black market. Seen for the first time in over four years were the cornerstones of the exhibit, the Shield of Athena and the Arrow of Apollo._

_-Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War _

"Saunders, hey, Saunders," Kara called to Cadet Dwight Saunders. He turned and she ran the rest of the way to the front of Karl's dorm.

"What's up, Kara?"

"I need you to do me a favor."

"For you, beautiful, anything."

"Go up and tell Karl I need to talk to him. I'll wait in the lobby."

"Agathon? Won't I do?"

Kara grinned. "Some other time, Saunders."

Together they walked up the steps to the dorm. "Are you still dating Commander Adama's son?"

"Yep."

"Then what's this with you and Karl? I thought he was dating Cadet Valerii."

"Are you going to help me or not?"

"If you'll put in a good word with Maggie for me."

"Sure. You go get Karl for me. I'll put in a good word with Maggs for you."

Kara waited in the lobby for ten minutes before Karl came out of the doorway leading to the stairs. He was wearing his heavy fatigue jacket. His eyes were bloodshot and he didn't look like he'd had much sleep. He put on a pair of sunglasses.

He started walking toward the gym. "Aren't you going to tell me _I told you so_?"

She caught up with him. "What good would that do?"

"Are you here because Sharon asked you to talk to me?"

"I'm here because I'm your friend. Because I meant it when I told you I'd never turn my back on you."

Karl jammed his hands into his pockets. "I walked off and left her yesterday afternoon because if I hadn't, I would have thrown her down and smashed her head into the ice. All this time…all this time we've been…me and her…and she's one of _them_. Frak, Kara, I had sex with her. I told her that I loved her."

"Blame me for it."

"How can I blame you? You didn't make her what she is."

"I should have told you sooner."

"You tried."

"Sooner than that."

"Don't, Kara, just don't. This isn't your fault."

"It isn't her fault either. She can't help what she is."

They walked around the gym and headed for the jogging trail. Neither spoke until they came to the spot where Captain Reider's body had been found. Some cadets had put a few keepsakes at the spot. There was a plastic-wrapped yearbook photo of Reider fastened to a stick that was pushed into the ground. There were a dozen bunches of flowers that had faded and died. There were also several small statues of the gods.

"Would you look at that?" Kara said. "I didn't know he was so popular."

"I haven't been down here since it happened," Karl said. "It's been too cold to jog."

"Sharon's kept at it. She still jogs every afternoon."

"Why would she even have to? She's a machine. She doesn't need to keep in shape."

They continued walking on the trail. "What are you going to do?" Kara finally asked.

"Do? I thought I'd already done it. I broke up with her. She's out of my life."

"I mean are you going to tell anyone?"

"Who would I tell and what would I say? It's not like I've got any proof."

"No. We don't have any proof."

Karl's voice changed. Kara finally heard a shift in his emotion, from anger to something softer. "I heard that the only way to tell if she's a Cylon would be to kill her and dissect her. I mean…no way I'd want…_that_ to happen to her."

Kara almost laughed. "Karl, the government doesn't go around killing people and dissecting them to see if they're Cylons. That's an urban legend."

"I don't know. There's a web site that has the names of people who have disappeared. Some of them were accused of being Cylons."

"Karl, the government does not…never mind. You're going to believe what you want to believe."

"Who else knows about her?"

"Me and Lee and my dad and Laura."

"That's it?"

"I'm glad you're not going to try to do something about her, because I think we can turn her."

"Turn her?" Karl's voice showed his incredulity. "You've got to be kidding."

"She loves you."

"Right. Oh, yeah, right. A machine loves me."

"Sharon says she's here to learn about human emotions. I think she's doing it."

"Great. I'm happy for her. Too bad she had to do it at _my_ expense. Too bad she couldn't have picked some other poor sucker to cut her teeth on."

"It would have been Zak, but you jumped in there and asked her out. That night we met her, I could tell how hot you were for her."

"So now this is _my_ fault?"

"You love her, don't you?"

"I'll get over it. I thought I loved Maggie, too. Some things aren't meant to be. I mean don't get me wrong. I still care about Maggie. She was the first girl I ever…well, you know all that. But we weren't meant to be a couple forever. With Sharon I thought…I thought it was different."

"Last Thursday afternoon my dad and I had a long talk. He told me that love isn't always perfect all the time. He said you have to work at it sometimes. You have to compromise and forgive."

"Forgive? She's a gods damned Cylon. Her kind killed my whole family."

"But not her. Cavil is the one behind all the killing. And Simon and Doral. They're the bad ones."

"Sharon is still a Cylon. She's one of _them_. End of story."

Kara stopped and looked up at her friend. "I know what she is, but getting her help is more important right now. I'm going to trust you with something big. I'm going to trust you with something that could cost a lot of lives if you say anything. Commander Adama has a plan to get rid of the Cylons. The clock is already ticking. We've got less than a year."

Karl didn't say anything for a long time. Finally he said, "What's he going to do?"

"I don't know exactly. But we're part of it, and it would help to have Sharon on our side. It would probably save her life is she was on our side."

"What are you saying, Kara?"

"I was counting on her relationship with you to help with that. Now I guess I'll have to do what I can on my own."

"Are you asking me to keep seeing her? Pretend I've got no problem with what she is?"

"No, Karl. I would never ask you to do that."

Karl took a deep breath and blew it out as he shook his head. "I don't think I can do it, Kara. I've got feelings for her. If I keep seeing her…I'll…I'm in it too deep as it is."

"I said I wouldn't ask you to do that. I'll do what I can to turn her to our cause. I'll handle it."

Karl put a hand on her arm and squeezed. He didn't have to say anything to her. They had been friends so long that she knew his thoughts. She felt his gratitude, but she also felt his conflict. Part of him wanted to see Sharon again and Kara knew it. Part of him understood that she couldn't help what she was. Part of him wanted to continue seeing her. He loved her.

They turned and started back up the jogging trail.

"She seems so…human," Karl finally said.

...

"Cadet Thrace, I need to see you," Hugh Connelly said to her at the end of their history class on Tuesday.

"What have you done now?" Karl asked as he gathered his book and notebook and stuffed them into his book bag.

Kara rolled her eyes. "Who knows?" She picked up her own book bag and walked up to Connelly's desk.

"The bar on Acropolis Street is called The Forum and Dreilide Thrace plays there on Tuesday and Thursday nights. He lives in an apartment on Fifty-First Street near the waterfront."

"How did you find that out?" Kara asked in surprise.

"I asked in a couple of bars on Acropolis Street near that strip club until I found the right one. I looked up his address in the Caprica City directory."

"When did you do that?"

"Last Friday night. It took less than an hour."

"I can't get out of here on Tuesday or Thursday nights."

"Do you want to go see him at his apartment on Saturday morning? I could meet you somewhere in the city and we could take a transport."

"I'm getting a weekend pass. I'm going home Friday afternoon. This Sunday is Braedon's dedication ceremony at the temple where Laura and my dad got married."

"Stacey and I have been invited. Next weekend, then."

"No. Let me think about it. This Saturday might work. Where do you live?"

"Ten blocks from Laura and your dad. Laura helped me find the place. It's not as upscale as their place, but it's a nice older neighborhood, and I can afford it."

"I'll let you know Thursday after class. Is that okay?"

"That's fine, Kara. Think about it. You don't have to do this right now. You can wait a while."

"No, if I'm going to do it, I need to do it now."

Upstairs in her lit class as they waited for Mrs. Nagala to arrive, Karl asked her. "How is Sharon?"

Kara shrugged.

"Has she said anything more about me?"

"She asked me last Sunday if I thought you would ever want to see her again and I told her I didn't think so. But I told her you weren't going to do anything, either…like turn her in."

"Tell her…tell her I said _hello_."

"I'll do it this once, but I'm not going to start being your go-between or your messenger girl. If you have something to say to her, say it yourself even if it's just _hello_."

Karl leaned back in his desk and stretched his long legs out to the side. "You're right. I should have the guts to do it myself."

Mrs. Nagala walked into the room and greeted the students. Kara opened her notebook and looked at the front of the class. She was really enjoying the book they were now studying. She still had something to say to Karl, though, so she penned it into the margin of a page and turned the notebook slightly so Karl could read it.

_Cadet Pike asked her for a date._

She chanced a sideways glace and saw Karl's jaw harden.

As soon as class was over Karl said, "What did she say? Is she going to date him?"

"She's thinking about it."

"Son of a bitch. All he wants to do is get in her pants. You need to tell her."

"Karl, she knows how he is. She's heard the other cadets talk about him. I don't need to tell her anything."

"Damn."

"She cries, Karl. After lights out. I hear her. She lies in her bunk and cries."

She looked up at him and saw the pain in his eyes. She halfway expected him to say something else, but he didn't. They parted when they got to the gym, Kara heading into the women's locker room and Karl into the men's. She'd done all she could. If knowing that Cadet Pike was after Sharon didn't stir Karl to do something, then nothing would.

Late that afternoon when Sharon returned from her run, she was smiling.

"Karl was waiting for me when I got out of chem lab this afternoon."

"And?"

"He apologized for leaving me at the ice rink last Saturday."

"That's all?"

Sharon was still smiling as she went out the door to take her shower. "That's all. But he's speaking to me again. It's a start."

...

Kara sat at the kitchen table with her father on Saturday morning. She had just finished telling him about Sharon and Karl.

"So what do you think? Are they getting back together?"

"Sharon's happy that he's speaking to her again. I told her not to push him, to let him make all the moves. I guess we'll see."

"What are your plans for today?"

Kara looked at her cup of coffee. "I've got something to do this morning."

"Something to do," her father repeated. "Can you be a little more specific?"

"I'm going shopping for Lee's birthday present for one thing, and I've got to get something to wear tomorrow to Braedon's ceremony. It's either something new or my uniform."

"Lee's birthday isn't for another month."

"I don't know when I'll get another chance."

"What are you going to get him?"

"I don't know, yet. That's the whole point of going shopping."

Kara couldn't look at her father. She knew he would see right through her.

"What else are you going to do?"

She kept her eyes on her coffee. "I'm meeting Connelly. We're going to see Dreilide Thrace."

"I didn't know the bars on Acropolis Street were open this early in the morning."

"He lives on Fifty-First Street. Down near the waterfront. We're going to his apartment."

She heard the hurt in her father's voice. "Why Connelly? Why not me…or Lee?"

"You're too close to it. So is Lee because he's your best friend. Connelly's not involved. He's just doing this as a favor to me because I asked him."

Laura walked into the kitchen with Braedon. Kara held out her hands, glad for the diversion. Laura handed the baby to her.

"Hey, little star-mapper." She smiled at him. "You look awfully happy this morning." Her brother gave her one of his toothless grins. "Is he always this good?"

"When he's fed and dry," John said. "He doesn't mind letting us know when either condition is not satisfied."

Laura said, "Billy and Tory are both coming over this morning. I'm going to need some help with Braedon."

"That would be me," John said. "Kara has an errand to run and some shopping to do."

"I'll be back by lunch. I'll take the afternoon shift." Kara kissed her brother on the cheek and handed him to her father. "I'd better get going."

Her father's green eyes met her own. She leaned down and kissed him on the cheek, too. "I love you, Dad."

He nodded. "Be careful, baby."

She smiled and winked. "I'm always careful, except when I'm not."

"Not funny," her father said, but he smiled, too.

...

Hugh Connelly was waiting for her in the subway station ten blocks from Laura and John's apartment. He was wearing jeans and a sweater and a ski jacket. He looked younger than he did in the shirt and tie he always wore in class. He looked more like he had on the day she had first seen him.

He smiled. "I haven't seen you in jeans since the camp."

Kara laughed. "I was just thinking the same thing."

"Are you ready for this?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

"Does John know where you're going?"

"I told him at breakfast this morning. I don't think he was thrilled, but he didn't try to stop me."

They boarded the train and rode to the central station where they changed trains and boarded one for the east waterfront station.

"I can tell you've done this a lot," Connelly said as the train began to move.

"I used to ride the subway everywhere when I wasn't on the motorcycle. Then Lee got his mom's car and I don't ride underground as much anymore. Does Stacey know where you are this morning?

"Not exactly. Does Lee?"

"I told him last night that I was going to do this today."

"And he's okay with it?"

"He thinks it should be him going with me. If I come back maybe I'll bring him."

"You're dad's okay with me going with you?"

"It's not so much you going with me as it is him _not_ going with me. The thing is that he…and Lee, too…always think they know what's best for me. They both seem to forget that for three years I didn't have anybody telling me what to do or what to think. I did okay." Kara smiled. "Sometimes I have to ignore both of them or they would really make me crazy."

Kara found, though, that as she and Connelly got off the train at the east waterfront station, she had a moment of doubt. She stopped at the bottom of the stairs leading up to the street and moved to the side. She took a couple of deep breaths.

"You don't have to do this, Kara," Connelly said.

"Yes, I do."

They walked four blocks to Fifty-First Street. Connelly looked at the numbers. "This way."

They turned right and walked three more blocks to a non-descript building sandwiched in a row of other non-descript buildings.

"This doesn't look all that bad," Kara said.

Dreilide Thrace lived on the third floor. As she and Connelly walked down the hall from the stairwell, Kara was aware that she suddenly felt like she had the night she had met Tom Zarek for the second time. Her heart was beating fast and not just from climbing the stairs. Her hands felt sweaty inside her gloves. She pulled them off and stuffed them into her pocket. She wiped her palms on the legs of her jeans.

Connelly stopped outside the door and put both hands on the top of her arms. "We can still walk away."

She shook her head. "You knock. You tell him why we're here." She took a deep breath and leaned against the wall beside the door.

"You're sure?"

She nodded.

Connelly knocked on the apartment door. Kara heard the door open, saw sunlight from the interior flood the hallway. She heard his voice, at once so familiar after nearly ten years.

"Yeah."

"Mr. Thrace?" Connelly asked.

"That's right."

"There's someone who wants to talk to you."

Kara pushed away from the wall and stepped in front of the doorway. He looked almost exactly the same as she remembered him. The sandy hair, with some silver in it now, still flipped up on one side in the front. He was wearing a dark plaid shirt and jeans and he was barefoot. He looked like he hadn't shaved in several days and he was thinner than she remembered, his face grayer. The smell of cigarette smoke drifted from the interior of the apartment. There was a lit cigarette in his hand.

"Lords of Kobol," he said and shook his head like he was trying to clear it. He backed away from the door and motioned for them to come inside.

Kara took a deep breath and followed him in. Connelly stepped inside the door and closed it.

The small apartment was crammed with his music things. An old upright piano stood against the wall. There was an electric keyboard in a corner and a bookcase piled with sheet music and recording disks. There was a small television and stereo, a two-cushion sofa, and a table where some blank pages of sheet music were spread out.

Dreilide walked to the piano and poured a drink from a bottle of whiskey that sat on top. He held up the bottle. "Anyone?"

Kara shook her head. Connelly said, "No thanks."

He gestured to the couch. Connelly remained standing by the door. Kara sat on the end of the couch and Dreilide sat across from her on the piano stool. For a long time they stared at one another. She had never realized before how blue his eyes were. Even though they were bloodshot, they were still blue like the sky at twilight, like Connelly's, like Lee's. She struggled and got herself under control.

He finally said, "If I were smoking something other than this cigarette, I'd think I was hallucinating." Then without a word he turned and began to play a melody one-handed on the piano.

It was sad, like leaves in the autumn raked into a pile in the back yard and burned, the acrid, pungent smell of her childhood, one of her memories of him. He always let her jump into the pile. The smell of dead leaves was all around her. She remembered the way they would laugh.

"Stop," Kara said.

"I still think about you," he said, his back turned to her. "Every time I play that song I think about you." He reached for the glass of whiskey on top of the piano and Kara realized that his hand was shaking.

She stood. "I'll come back. Another Saturday I'll come back and we'll talk."

"You don't have to wait until Saturday. I'm here every day."

"I'm at the Academy. I can't get off during the week."

"You're going to be a soldier like your mother?"

"A Viper pilot."

He made a small sound, almost a laugh. "Like _him_."

She walked over to Connelly. "Let's go."

"Who's your friend?"

"I'm Hugh Connelly. Kara and I were in a refugee camp together."

Dreilide Thrace wiped his palm on the front of his shirt and shook Connelly's hand. "Boyfriend?"

"Good friend," Kara answered.

"Your mother?"

Kara shook her head. "I'll come back next Saturday." She felt like she was going to suffocate if she didn't get out of the apartment.

"I'll be waiting."

In the stairwell Connelly stopped her. "Are you all right?"

She took a deep breath. "Fine. The worst part is over. This is not such a terrible neighborhood. Next week I'll get a transport and come back. I'll be okay. I'm going to have to do this a little at a time."

"I think he is, too."

She left Connelly at the central subway station. He was going back to his and Stacey's apartment. She was going up into the heart of the city to shop for an outfit for tomorrow and for Lee's birthday gift. What do you buy for the guy who has everything? An expensive bottle of wine? The latest mystery book? A new watch? Kara went into the biggest shopping mall in Caprica City. It covered a square block and was a multi-story panoply of stores and boutiques and restaurants with a translucent dome-covered atrium in the center.

It took her exactly twenty minutes in Maximillian's to find an outfit for the next day's ceremony. She got a pair of slacks and a short jacket that looked good on the mannequin.

Finding something for Lee was harder. She walked for nearly two hours, going into first one store and then another, and realized that she still had no idea of what to get him. She would have to come back. Maybe next Saturday after she saw Dreilide Thrace, she would come back and try again.

...

Back at Laura's and her dad's apartment Kara stopped in the lobby and picked up the mail before she rode the elevator upstairs. Laura was in the dining room with Tory and Billy. They had files and papers spread out everywhere. Billy had a laptop open. Kara saw both Laura and Tory eye her shopping bag. She waved to everyone and continued down the hall.

She took the bag to her bedroom and put it on the dresser before she went to the nursery. Her father was sitting in the rocking chair with Braedon at his shoulder. Kara could tell Braedon was almost asleep.

Quietly she made her way back down the hall and into the kitchen. She found some wrapped sandwiches in the refrigerator. She sat at the table and began eating realizing only after the second sandwich how hungry she had been.

Her father walked in ten minutes later and sat down at the table with her.

"I left you some sandwiches."

"I found them. Thanks."

"How did it go?"

Kara shrugged. "I didn't stay long."

"You've been gone four hours."

"I was at the Central Caprica Mall most of that time. Lee's really hard to buy for. I still haven't gotten anything for him."

"Was Thrace surprised to see you?"

"You might say that. I'm going back. We didn't really talk. I think he was in shock. Did you ever meet him?"

Her father shook his head. "I saw him play once, though. You would have been maybe four or five at the time. Your mother and I had a fight, an argument about her not letting me spend time with you. She told me it was over. It didn't last. Being apart never lasted with us, but for a few months I dated another woman. She got tickets to one of your father's concerts. It was very upscale, at the Opera House, no less. I was surprised by how talented he is."

"Why?"

"Your mother never talked about him. I got the impression he was just a two-bit jazz musician who eked out a living playing the clubs."

"Mom never told me why he left. One day I came home from school and he was gone. His stuff was gone. Everything except the piano. I guess that was too big for him to take with him. A couple of days later we moved into a little house on the base."

"It was tough for you after you moved, wasn't it?"

Kara shrugged. "I did okay."

"You don't have to lie to me to make me feel better."

"Dad, I don't want to talk about it, okay? A couple of months after that I met Karl. His mom and dad took me in and started treating me like I was Karl's sister. Things were fine after that."

They sat in silence while Kara toyed with some bread crumbs on her plate.

Finally her father said, "What are you and Lee doing tonight?"

"We're meeting Zak and Maggie at Zeno's for dinner. Then I guess we'll go back to Lee's place. What are you and Laura doing?"

"What we're always doing now…staying at home."

"You don't sound too happy about that."

"I'd like to take her to dinner, just the two of us, for a couple of hours. Her former secretary Adele has volunteered to stay with Braedon anytime Laura wants. She just doesn't seem that interested anymore."

"You'll get to have plenty of dinners when she gets elected President."

"Dinners with a hundred people or five hundred. That's not my idea of something romantic."

"Are you sorry you married her?"

"No, hell no. I didn't mean for it to come out sounding like that. I've just got to get used to the idea of her running for President and what that means for me. That's all."

"So," Kara said lightly, "I guess I should think long and hard before I marry somebody who might run for President?"

"The word _marriage_ should not be in your vocabulary at the moment. You're way too young."

"Don't worry, Dad. We totally agree on that."

"Even though you're already with your true love," he teased her.

"That's why I don't have to think about marrying him. Some day the time will be right. Just not anytime soon."

"Don't go and get him pregnant, then. You'll have to marry him. I'll insist."

They were both laughing so hard that Kara could barely get out her next sentence.

"You really think you're funny, don't you, Dad?"

...

Lee and Kara arrived at Zeno's only minutes ahead of Zak and Maggie. One thing Lee could say for Zak was that when he dated Maggie, he was on time.

Kara had just told him that she and Maggie had not had an opportunity to talk since the night of the winter dance nearly a month earlier. He knew that meant neither one of them had made the opportunity to talk.

After they found a booth near the back, Maggie said, "I heard about Karl and Sharon. What happened?"

"They broke up," Kara said.

"What happened?"

Kara shrugged.

Maggie was quick to voice her opinion. "She was too jealous. I knew that night at the dance they were headed for trouble."

"Dwight Saunders told me to put in a good word for him with you. I think he's got a thing for you."

"Who's Dwight Saunders?" Zak asked.

"Just a cadet," Kara said. "Tall, handsome and hot. Good in the simulator, I hear, Raptor simulator."

She glanced at Lee and saw his look. She had no doubt he was remembering what they had done in the Viper simulator while he was training for his mission. She rolled her eyes.

Zak asked. "Come on, guys, what am I missing?"

"You'll be missing Maggie if you don't treat her right," Kara said, still grinning. "Right, Maggs?"

"Right," Maggie echoed.

"Help me out, here, Lee. I'm getting ganged up on."

Lee smiled. "You heard the ladies. Treat Maggie right."

...

Zak and Maggie didn't seem to want to hang around long after they had eaten. They left to go to Zak's apartment. Kara and Lee walked back to Lee's apartment. Kara took a CD out of the bag she had brought with her and put it in the small player on top of Lee's bookcase. She skipped through five songs and stopped on the sixth track, letting it play.

Lee could feel her distance when she sat down on the couch.

"How did it go this morning?"

Kara shrugged. "I met him."

"And?"

"And I left. I'm going back…maybe next Saturday…maybe in two weeks."

"What did he say?"

"Nothing, really. He played a few notes of that song for me, the one we're listening to right now. I made him stop. It was too sad. It made me want to cry."

Lee felt exasperated. "Then why are you listening to it now? It is sad. Even I can hear that and I'm not all that musical."

"You wouldn't understand?"

"Try me."

How did she explain years of wanting to be loved by someone who held her at arms' length? Who had never remembered her birthdays or Solstice celebrations. Why couldn't she talk about this to Lee? Was it her pride?

"The song is about failure and loss," she finally said. "His. My mother's. Mine."

"I don't understand."

"I told you that you wouldn't. It's not easy to put in words. It's something you have to feel."

Lee's edginess increased. Sarcasm clearly showed in his voice. "I'm obviously screwed then because I'm not capable of being able to _feel_."

"I read the inside cover of the CD. He wrote that song the same year he left my mother and me. I remember him playing it that autumn when the leaves were falling. I think it's about how he failed to be a husband…and a father…and how my mother failed him…and me."

"How did you arrive at that conclusion?"

"Well, duh, Lee, the name of the song is _Diaspora._"

"Quit acting like a smart-ass. I don't know the titles of your…stepfather's songs. And _diaspora_ does not mean _failure._ It means _scattering_. It commonly refers to people who have to leave their homeland and go to live elsewhere. As in exiles. As in refugees. As in what the Twelve Tribes did when they left Kobol if you believe that myth. As in what the other colonists did when they escaped the holocaust and came here to live."

"Thank you Mr. Dictionary."

"Kara, what is the matter with you?"

"Why does something always have to be the matter with _me_? You and my dad both think that when I'm having a bad day, then something has to be the matter with _me_."

"You weren't having a _bad day_ at Zeno's. You were fine at Zeno's when you were cutting up and kidding around with Maggie and Zak and commenting about Dwight Saunders being hot and handsome."

"When did this get to be about _Zak_? This is not about _Zak_ or Dwight. You're the one who was so damned hot for me to make up with Zak, and the minute I do, you're all over my case again. I can't win with you about Zak, can I?"

Lee got up and walked into the kitchen. In only a couple of minutes their conversation had spiraled completely out of control.

Kara followed him. "Why don't we talk about what this is really about?"

He turned around. "Okay, what is it really about, Kara, other than you going off the deep end?"

"It's about me asking Connelly to go with me today. That's what you can't handle. That's what you and my dad neither one can handle. Only he turns it into a joke. The fact is that neither one of you can admit that Connelly was the right choice to go with me to see Dreilide Thrace the first time. I made a big decision without asking you or my dad and it was the right one for me."

The minute Lee opened the cabinet over the refrigerator and got the bottle of ambrosia, Kara knew that he wouldn't be driving her back to the apartment that night. She knew he would be calling a transport for her.

"So what do we do now?" Lee asked after he had poured a glass of ambrosia. "Put on boxing gloves and duke it out? All of a sudden it seems like you want to fight. What are you so angry about, Kara?"

"I'm not _angry_ about anything."

"Yes, you are. If you can't hear it in your voice, you're not listening. Is this about Dreilide Thrace leaving you? Or is it about John letting your mother keep him out of your life? I think you're angry at all three of them. I think you're trying to pretend it doesn't matter when it's really tearing you up inside. I think you feel like all of them abandoned you. I think you're denying it instead of dealing with it. And you're taking it out on me."

"Oh, here we go with Dr. Lee again. Is this therapy session going to be free or do I have to frak you for it?"

If she had hit him, it couldn't have hurt any worse. It wouldn't have hurt as much.

For a moment he couldn't seem to get a breath and when he did, he turned around and put both hands on the counter for support.

"Get out of here, Kara. Just go."

"Lee…"

"Go."

Numbly Kara got her coat and left the apartment. She walked the two blocks back to Zeno's, went in and sat at the bar. She was lucky because the bartender was the one who had served her a number of times as Carrie Warner. He got her a beer without asking for her ID.

What had she done? What the frak had she just done? She took out her phone and called Lee's mobile. He didn't pick up.

"You drinking alone, tonight?" A familiar voice said.

She looked at the man who had just slid onto the barstool beside her. Frogman.

"Yep."

"So am I. How's life at the Academy?"

"Good. I saw a friend of yours last Saturday. The instructor at Taggert's."

Frogman gave her a sideways look. "Now what makes you think he's a friend of mine?"

Kara smiled. "He's nice. Next time you see him, tell him a certain cadet said _thanks_. He'll understand. What are you doing here by yourself?"

"Probably the same thing you are."

"Which is?"

"Nothing better to do on a Saturday night."

"Where's your wife?"

For a moment he studied the ice cubes in the bottom of his glass. Finally he said, "That's a good question."

"I'm sorry," Kara said.

"The organization is hard on marital relationships. What's your excuse?"

Kara shrugged. "I don't know when to shut up."

"You want to talk about it?"

"Not really. You?"

Frogman signaled the bartender for another drink. "I had an affair with someone in the organization. I thought it was over, but we've started seeing each other again. My wife found out."

Kara turned up her beer. "Mrs. Peele?" she said without looking at him.

He didn't answer her.

"I have two dads. One of them left when I was eight. The other one let my mom keep him away from me." She snickered briefly. "You might say I grew up without a strong male role model."

"Which one did I meet?"

"The second one. I thought the first one died on Picon but he's alive and well here in Caprica City. There was a girl in the refugee camp. She didn't like the term _real _dad. She said it sounded like I had a _fake_ dad, too. She said the correct term was _biological_ dad. You met my biological father. He and my mother had an affair. Guess what happened?"

"Jared told me a little bit about the camp. I know it was rough."

"It could have been worse. How is Jared?"

"He's fine."

"Is he still dating a girl from work?"

"No."

"Who is he dating now?"

"I don't know. I don't talk to him as much as I used to. Things have slowed down a lot in the organization. Your…biological dad is responsible in a large part for that."

"That's a good thing. Take my word for it."

"No doubt. So who couldn't you shut up around?"

"My boyfriend."

"Still with Lee Adama?"

"I was. Why do you think I'm here alone?"

"Two little words should fix that. _I'm sorry._"

"I tried to call him. He won't pick up. I'm not sure that's going to be enough this time."

"You'll never know unless you try. That is assuming you want to try."

"I want to try."

"Where does Lee Adama live?"

"Two blocks from here."

Frogman finished his drink. "Come on. I'll walk with you."

"Why are you doing this?" Kara asked him when they were outside.

"I have a daughter about your age."

They walked in silence until they got to the outside door of Lee's apartment building.

"Can you get in?"

"Only if he'll let me in."

Frogman gestured toward the row of buzzers. Kara pressed the one for Lee's apartment. She pressed it a dozen times over the next five minutes. Lee never answered.

"He must have gone out," Kara finally said. "I'll call a transport."

"I'll wait with you."

As the transport pulled up, she looked at him and held out her hand. "Thanks. I'm Kara."

He shook her hand. "Paul."

"Not Tom Jones?"

He smiled for the first time that evening. "Not Tom Jones."

Before Kara closed the door, she said, "Have you tried telling your wife that you're sorry."

"It's not always that simple."

She turned around and looked as the transport pulled away. Paul was walking slowly back down the street toward Zeno's.

...

Lee sat in his apartment with the lights out listening to the music of Dreilide Thrace. He didn't know what had happened, what was happening to him and Kara. His phone buzzed once. He recognized her number and ignored it. He had gotten through half the bottle of ambrosia when the buzzer sounded for the first time. He wasn't sure how he knew it was her or why he didn't answer it. He didn't know if she'd gone back to John and Laura's and then come back or if she'd been somewhere else. He wasn't even sure how much time had passed since she had walked out the door.

He wanted to understand. He had tried to understand what she had been through in her life. They had both had rough childhoods with mostly absent fathers and uninvolved mothers, but she had been through so much more since then. He thought about the way she had come through it, but that was it, that was the whole thing that was now on his mind. How well _had_ she come through it? Why had she turned on him when all he was trying to do was help? Was she just taking her anger out on him or did it go deeper than that?

He picked up his phone and put it down. The hurt was still too raw. He'd never thought of what they did as _frakking_. From the very first time it had been _making love _for him. And tonight, to hear her throw that word out even in the heat of anger had been a blow to his heart. Not just the word, but the way she had said it. _Is this therapy session free or do I have to _frak_ you for it?_

He turned up the bottle again and was aware that the music had stopped. He got up, went to the stereo and started the CD again. He skipped to the sixth track. _Diaspora. _Scattered…like leaves on the autumn wind. Like humans from Kobol. Like the surviving Colonists of the Second Cylon War who had made it to Caprica from the other eleven Colonies.

He took another swallow from the bottle. Even John had said it. Love isn't always easy. Love isn't always perfect. Love sometimes meant compromise and forgiveness.

Lee leaned his head back against the couch and closed his eyes. He knew Kara needed to work through her issues. He knew she probably thought that he and John had both been crowding her, trying to tell her what to do, trying to make decisions for her that only she could make for herself.

He took a deep breath, let the pain all the way in, wrapped his love for her around it and picked up his phone.

...

Kara let herself into the apartment and walked into the den. Her father was lying on the couch with his eyes closed, an empty glass on the floor beside him. At first she thought he was asleep, but as she quietly opened the doors to the cabinet where the liquor was kept, he said, "Hey, baby. You're home early."

"Really? What time is it?"

"A little after eleven."

She poured a glass of ambrosia. When she turned around he was sitting up and patted the cushion beside him. She sat.

"Where's Laura?"

"Putting Braedon to bed."

"Lee and I had a fight tonight. It was my fault. I think he broke up with me. He told me to get out."

"I'm sorry, baby."

"I don't want to talk about it."

"I didn't ask you to. I know what it was about."

"Oh, you do, Mr. Smarty. What?"

"Either Sharon or Dreilide Thrace."

She put her head on his shoulder. "Can we just sit here for while without talking?"

"Sure, baby."

She was almost asleep when her phone buzzed. She jumped, sloshing the remainder of her drink on her jeans.

"Oh, frak."

"It's all right," her father said. "Give me the glass."

She handed it to him and opened her phone. "I'm sorry," she said before Lee could say anything. "I'm so sorry."

"I just want you to know that I love you." The call ended and she was left staring at the phone.

The dam finally broke. For the second time in a week tears overwhelmed her. "I don't deserve him. I don't deserve to be loved that much, not by him or by you, either."

Her father put her glass on the floor and then put his arms around her. "Yes, you do. Don't ever think that you don't deserve to be loved. You and Lee will work it out."

He didn't have to say anything else. She let herself believe him.

...

Elosha lit the candles at the main altar in the temple. Kara sat on the front pew with Laura and John, who was holding a sleeping Braedon. Her brother was dressed in a traditional gown made of the softest white cotton, the hem covered in delicate white embroidery. Laura had worn the gown at her own dedication ceremony as had her mother before her. Despite the fact that Laura was a very modern woman, she was also a traditionalist. Today, as Kara had watched Laura dress her son in the gown, fastening the tiny white buttons in the back, Kara had felt a sense of family again, a connection with the past.

Laura had smiled at her. "The gods willing, your child will wear this gown at his…or her dedication ceremony."

Kara had given a self-conscious little laugh. "That's assuming I ever have a kid."

Kara glanced around several times until she saw Lee come in and sit with his father and Fiona Nagala. Lee looked great in a dark blue suit and lighter blue shirt and burgundy tie.

They had exchanged a brief look. His eyes had given away nothing.

Laura and John had chosen a traditional dedication ceremony for their son, a ceremony as old as the scrolls of Pythia. Elosha instructed everyone to open the text that had been placed on the pews with them so they could all participate in the ceremony.

She invoked the blessing of the gods on Braedon. She told the assembled group to follow their texts. Then she began a responsive reading in which the group agreed to bind Braedon in faith as a child of Kobol and help to guide him as he grew. At the end of each passage, they all said, _So Say We All._

Elosha reached for Braedon and John handed him to her. Under Elosha's guidance, Laura and John each dipped a finger in a bowl of water and touched Braedon's head while Elosha spoke of the origin of the water from the sacred spring at Delphi. Then Kara also dipped her finger in the water and touched her brother's head while Elosha talked about the special responsibility of a sister.

When the ceremony ended, Elosha handed her brother to her and Kara felt the bond tighten between her and the little boy who now seemed a part of her heart, the child whose destiny was linked to hers.

Then Elosha raised her hands and gave the benediction and the ceremony was over.

All those who had attended were invited to a private room that had been reserved across the street in one of the capital's nicest restaurants. Coffee and tea and snacks were being served.

Lee was waiting for her outside.

"That was a nice ceremony."

"I thought so. You look really good. That suit…your eyes."

He smiled, a half smile and shrugged.

"Lee, I'm sorry. There's no excuse for what I said to you."

Her father and Laura came down the steps of the temple and prepared to cross the street. Braedon was bundled against the cold in his carrier. "Come on, you two," her father called.

"In a minute," Kara called back to him. "You go ahead. Lee and I need to talk."

Lee said, "I've done a lot of thinking since last night, and I think we need to step back and…get some perspective on our relationship."

Kara made a small, choked sound. "You're breaking up with me."

"No. I just think we need to start over and take it slower this time."

"What do you mean?"

"We'll go out on dates. We'll go places, but we won't go back to my apartment for a while."

"I don't understand."

"I think our physical relationship has gotten in the way of…I don't really know how to say it. It's gotten in the way of our friendship. Our trust."

"Your trust of me, you mean."

"You've got a huge amount going on in your life now. I want to be part of that. I want you to know you can turn to me for help and support. Not just for sex."

"Oh, gods. You think all you've been about for me is sex?"

Lee struggled with his feelings. At this very minute he wanted to take her in his arms and feel her mouth against his. Right here. On a public street. He pushed his hands in his pockets.

"We got involved so fast. We…not that I'm complaining…but, I think we need to step back and…take a break from the physical thing…and…I can't believe I'm saying this."

"You don't love me anymore?"

"No, that's the problem. I love you too much. I start twelve weeks of War College tomorrow. Half days of work or flying and afternoons in the classroom. I'll have a lot of studying to do."

"Lee, I never meant to say what I did."

"But you did. You said it and I heard it. I just wanted you to open up to me, Kara, open up and talk to me about what's going on with you and Dreilide Thrace. You keep so much inside. I feel like you've shut me out."

"I'm not the only one who keeps things inside."

"I'm here for you, Kara. I want you to know that. If you want to talk…if you want to share your thoughts and feelings, I'm here for you if you need me."

He took her hand and they walked across the street.

Kara felt numb. He hadn't broken up with her, but it still felt that way.

Laura was outside the private dining room talking to D'Anna Biers. Her cameraman was there. It looked like Laura was giving an interview. Kara and Lee slipped past them into the room.

Her father had Braedon and was talking to Bill and Fiona. She and Lee walked over to them.

Kara looked at her father. "What's Laura doing out there?"

"I believe you call it giving an impromptu interview."

Bill said, "It's going to hit the news tomorrow that she's announced her candidacy for the Presidency. D'Anna Biers has an uncanny knack for turning up when there's a story to be had. She showed up at the airfield that day four years ago. She showed up at Caprica University the day Laura confronted Cavil. She's _shown up_ several other places."

"Speaking of the University and that situation," Fiona said, "I was talking to a former colleague of mine out there. He said the Cylon woman isn't teaching her class on monotheism this semester. It seems she was a bit…overwhelmed by the male adulation in her class the first semester. She complained to Chancellor Enwright that no one took her seriously."

Kara snickered. "Why doesn't that surprise me?"

Her father said. "How are you doing, Lee?"

"Fine. I'm starting War College tomorrow at the Academy. I'll try to get out there in time to eat lunch with you."

Laura walked up. "I'm glad that's over. D'Anna Biers can be very persistent."

"Why didn't you just tell her you were busy?" John asked. "Or did you invite her?"

"No, I didn't invite her. But I can't start a Presidential campaign by being uncooperative with the press. D'Anna does have a particular talent about knowing when to show up. I don't have a clue how she does it."

Bill said, "We were just talking about that particular talent of hers. Of course there's also a possibility that you have a leak in your office."

"Oh, no. Billy has been with me for over five years now…and Tory, I can't imagine she would…It could have been anyone who was invited today."

"But who knew you were getting ready to announce your candidacy?" Bill asked.

"Well, that does narrow the field. Still, I can't believe Tory or Billy would have called her, certainly not Billy."

Kara looked at her watch. "I need to get back to the Academy. I have to be there by 16:00."

"I'll take you," Lee said.

Outside he took her hand again. They walked down the street to where John had parked the car. Kara used her key and got her duffel bag from the trunk. They walked to Lee's car. She couldn't get over the feeling that everything was different now.

They rode most of the way to the Academy in silence. Finally she said, "Someday I want you to met my...Dreilide."

"Okay."

"He's not like my dad at all."

Lee parked in a visitor spot. She remembered the last time he had brought her back to the Academy, how he had held her in the lobby.

Lee got the duffel bag from the trunk. He took her hand again, and they walked to her dorm, but this time he stopped outside instead of going in with her.

"I'll try to see you tomorrow when I'm through. I've got to register and go through orientation. I don't know if class will last the rest of the afternoon or not."

Kara took her duffel bag from him and put it on the sidewalk. She put her arms around his neck.

Lee put his cheek against hers, his mouth near her ear. "I love you, Kara."

She loved him so much and yet she had hurt him so carelessly.

Kara knew if she stood there very long, she would go into the dorm in tears. She didn't want to have to explain that to whoever was at the front desk.

"You're everything to me," she managed to say before she picked up her bag and went up the steps.

Lee walked slowly back to his car. He sat for a long time in the parking lot wondering if he had made the right decision, if pulling back from the physical part of their love was the right decision, if he could stick to it.

He wasn't trying to punish Kara. He knew he would be punishing himself more, but if their love was real, if it were more than sex to her, it would survive and grow stronger.

He finally started the car and wondered what John would think of his decision. He wondered if Kara would tell him. He wished the scene at his apartment had never happened, but it had and they had to move forward.

He turned on the CD player in his car and skipped to the sixth track. _Diaspora_. The melody was haunting and sad like wind-scattered leaves in the autumn, like loss, like leaving home forever. Kara was right. The song wasn't something you could explain in words. You had to feel it. By the time he got back to his apartment, he was finally beginning to understand something about the man who had written that song the same year he had left his daughter behind.

TBC…


	53. Angel, Wings of Fire

Chapter 53

Angel, Wings of Fire

_In the weeks following the announcement of her intention to run for President, Laura Roslin granted a series of exclusive interviews to D'Anna Biers in which she talked about the many problems facing the citizens of Caprica and her plans to resolve them. The pictures, however, taken by Biers' cameraman of Roslin's family were what captured the attention of most of the people. The issue of _The Caprican View_ with its cover photograph of Roslin, her husband, stepdaughter and smiling infant son sold out and went into a second printing. The accompanying article entitled _Defying Convention_ was considered one of Biers' best journalistic efforts to date._

_-Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War _

Sharon was studying when Kara entered their room late Sunday afternoon and dropped her duffel bag on the bed.

They exchanged '_Heys_' and Kara went about unpacking as she had two weeks earlier.

"How was your brother's ceremony?" Sharon asked.

"Nice. You should have come."

"I…I thought it was only for your family."

"No. _Friends_ and family."

"I should have come, then."

"You should have. So should Karl."

"Karl didn't show up?"

"Nope." Kara tried not to let her hurt feelings show. "I'm sure he had something better to do than come to a baby's dedication ceremony."

"I turned Cadet Pike down for a date."

"I'm glad. Not that I mean you shouldn't…go out with somebody. Just not him."

"I don't want to go out with anybody but Karl."

"I know the feeling. Not that _I_ want to go out with Karl. You know what I mean."

"You only want to go out with Lee."

"I only want to go out with Lee."

"Karl was jogging yesterday afternoon. We ran together for about ten minutes. We didn't say much, but he…seemed like…he was okay with being around me."

"I'm glad. You're doing the right thing letting him take his time." Kara started to tell Sharon about what had happened over the weekend and then changed her mind. "Lee starts War College out here tomorrow."

"What's War College?"

"He'll study…actually I'm not sure exactly what he'll study. I think they'll be given certain…scenarios and they'll have to come up with solutions. My dad told me part of it is learning to work together as a team and to build good plans."

"Who goes to War College?"

"I'm not sure how they decide who gets accepted. You have to apply."

"Lee's smart, isn't he?" Sharon asked.

"Yeah, he's smart. It makes me wonder what he's doing with me."

"Why? You're smart, too."

"I'd never make it through War College, though. I don't think conventionally enough. My dad calls it outside-of-the-box."

Sharon looked puzzled. "I don't understand what that means."

Kara laughed. "Don't worry about it. Neither do I."

As Sharon went back to her homework, Kara wondered how to explain outside-of-the-box to a Cylon. It wasn't something you could explain. It was something you had to understand. It was probably not something a Cylon would be ever be able to do. Kara had no idea how you would program _outside-of-the-box_.

...

Laura put her sleeping son in his crib and pulled the blanket up to his chin. She was tired. Today had been a long day and Braedon's schedule was off because of the ceremony and the get-together afterward. He had been hungry and cranky when they finally got away and had cried all the way home in the car. One thing she could say about her son, he had a very well-developed set of lungs. His bath, usually such an enjoyable time, had been another ordeal, even with John helping her. How was she going to do this and run for President?

Tomorrow was the big day that she would make her announcement to the press. After that there was no turning back. Was she making a mistake?

Wearily she walked into the den. John was sitting on the couch staring at the fire. He had a drink in his hand. She had no idea if it was his first or second or even third.

He patted the cushion on the couch beside him and she took a seat. Without a thought she reached for the glass and downed the rest of his drink before she handed it back to him.

"Long day," John finally said.

"Long day," she agreed.

"They're going to get longer…and rougher. Are you sure you want to make that announcement tomorrow?"

"I've gone too far to back out now."

"You're going to have to hire a nanny. You realize that, don't you? You can't keep doing all you do for Braedon and run for President, too. I'll do everything I can to help, but unless I quit my job…" he didn't finish the sentence.

"No. I would never ask you to do that. You have an obligation to your students. You have an obligation to Kara. I'll ask around. There are a number of women in the government who are raising young children. The Secretary of Health and Human Services has several children. I know she's had help and I know her well enough that I can ask her for a recommendation."

"Once you make that announcement, your life…our lives are going to become a media circus."

"I'll do my best to shield you from that."

"Laura, it's not me I'm worried about. I can handle it. I don't want Kara to suddenly become fair game for the paparazzi. She's got enough on her as it is."

"I know. I realize what my running is going to do to all of us. I'll call Colonel Winters tomorrow and talk to him about making sure Kara's protected from the press."

"She's safe at the Academy. Access is controlled at the gate, but when she's away from there, I don't want her followed and hounded by photographers shouting questions at her because they think they can get to you through her."

"I'll talk to D'Anna Biers. Most of the other journalists respect her. If she puts out the word to leave Kara alone, it will probably happen. Of course I'm sure I'll have to grant her some exclusivity…maybe an interview or two with the whole family."

"You get Biers to keep the others off Kara and let her finish her year at the Academy and Flight School in peace, and I'll do whatever she wants in the way of interviews. I'll even smile and act like I'm enjoying it."

"I'll do my best."

John got up and went to the liquor cabinet.

"How many is that?" She asked.

"This will be my second. Is that a problem?"

"No problem. Pour me a small one, will you, please?"

"You're sure?"

"It should be out of my system before I feed Braedon again. I'm going to have to start supplementing with a bottle anyway."

John handed her the drink and sat down. They sipped in silence for a while.

Finally Laura said, "Let's talk about what else is bothering you."

"Where do you want me to start?"

"With whatever is bothering you the most."

He shrugged. "I guess I want the impossible. For things to go back to the way they were."

"Were…when?"

"When I felt like I meant more to you than I do now."

His words hit her hard and they hurt because they were true. Since Braedon's birth she had let John take a back seat in her life. Braedon and her job had crowded out much of the time they would have spent together.

"John, we…yes, I have been ignoring you lately not because you don't mean as much but because even I can do only so much." She reached out and squeezed his hand. "And you've always helped with Braedon and been here for me. I'm sorry."

He gave a soft laugh. "That makes it sound like I'm jealous of our son. He comes first in your life. I know that. I'm expecting too much. I'm not being fair to you."

She slid closer to him and put her head on his shoulder. "I've not done a very good job with us though, have I? My job…Baltar and his virus…Bill's plan…the Presidential decision. I've let other things get in the way."

"The story of my life," he said lightly. "Even Kara wants to get reacquainted with her other dad."

"Her…other dad?" Laura asked in confusion. "I thought he died on Picon."

"I did too until he turned up alive in Caprica City. She saw him yesterday for the first time in nearly ten years."

"Oh, John. I'm so sorry."

"No, don't be. It's something Kara has got to do. She needs to come to terms with how she feels about him. The only way she's going to do that is to see him and talk to him. I'm dealing with it okay. Poor kid. I just don't want to see her get her heart broken if he doesn't turn out to be what she expects. He walked out on her once before and never looked back. Of course that might have been mostly my fault. If I could have stayed away from his wife…"

"You think Kara blames you for him leaving?"

"On some level, yeah."

"She loves you very much, John."

"You know in some ways, that just makes it harder. I love her so much and I want to help her. I'm having such a tough time letting her find her own way. I wasn't a part of her life for so many years, and now I think I'm trying too hard to make up for it."

"And I'm making your life harder."

"All I'm asking Laura is that you not shut me out. I don't want to be relegated to nothing but _the President's husband_."

She smiled. "You've elected me already."

"Me and the rest of the people of Caprica. It's going to happen, Laura."

"If it does happen, you'll be by my side. You'll be the best-looking First Spouse in history," she said lightly.

He laughed. "First Spouse. That's a good one. Just please, gods, don't tell me I'm going to have to host teas and that kind of stuff. That's not me and you know it."

"John, you're going to keep teaching at the Academy. There may be some…security considerations…but I don't want you to have to change your life to accommodate me. I'm the politician in the family. You married into the lifestyle. It doesn't mean you have to embrace it a hundred percent." She took a deep breath. "More of the responsibility for raising our son may fall to you for several years."

"I've already accepted that. I don't mind. It'll never make up for the years I missed with Kara, but I'm looking forward to being a father to Braedon."

She took the drink from his hand and then put it, along with hers, on the coffee table. She turned her face to his. "I don't tell you nearly enough how lucky I am to have you in my life. I don't thank you often enough for everything you do for our son or for the way you're just quietly _here_ for me."

"There are times I wake up and I still want to pinch myself because I think I should be back on a cot in a hangar in Delphi. I found something with you that I didn't think I'd ever have again. I'll deal with you being President, Laura. I'll do whatever it takes."

Their kiss was as inevitable as what followed, the desire quicker and hotter than she would have believed possible given how tired she had felt half an hour earlier, but as she welcomed his touch and his kisses, everything washed from her mind except the flickering of the firelight on their bodies and the spiraling crescendo of feeling that finally left her spent in his arms.

She knew how much emptier her life would be without him. She tried to imagine not having her beautiful son or a daughter she was still getting to know. She didn't even want to think about the loneliness of her life before she had met him.

"Let's go to bed," she finally whispered, "or we'll fall asleep right here. Tomorrow is going to be another very long day."

He kissed her gently. "As long as they end like this occasionally, you'll never hear me complain."

...

Tuesday morning in history class, Kara sat down beside Karl, "Thanks for coming to my brother's dedication ceremony Sunday afternoon. The support of my friends was totally underwhelming."

Karl looked abashed. "Sunday? I thought it was next week."

"Wrong."

"Did I miss it? You're not kidding me. I really missed it?"

"You missed it."

"I'm sorry Kara. I'm really sorry. I guess I've had…other things on my mind."

"I guess you have. I didn't have the best weekend either."

"What happened?"

"I'll tell you about it later."

"Meet me this afternoon in the student union at 16:00. We'll talk. Man, Kara, I'm sorry. I feel like I've let you down."

"Join the crowd," she said.

...

Karl was waiting when she got there. She got a drink from the machine and joined him.

"So tell me what happened," he said.

Kara spent the next twenty minutes telling him about everything she had done, about seeing Dreilide Thrace again and her fight with Lee. When she finished, he asked her, "Does that mean you're not seeing Lee anymore?"

"He says we're still going to see each other. We just won't be…going back to his apartment."

"Ouch."

"That sucks, doesn't it?"

"Hey, don't think he's not going to suffer, too. It's probably going to be a lot harder on him, no pun intended."

"I should have kept my mouth shut."

Karl sat for a minute. "If I tell you something will you promise not to tell Sharon?"

"You know you can tell me anything and I won't tell anybody if you say not to."

"Maggie came to see me Sunday afternoon. I was in my room studying when the lieutenant at the desk sent somebody up to get me."

"So that's why you forgot about Braedon's dedication ceremony?"

"No, Kara, I swear. I really thought it was next Sunday."

"So what did Maggs want? As if I don't already know. Some sack time again with Karl."

"No, you're wrong. She did not want _that_. She wanted to tell me she was sorry Sharon and I had broken up. She told me that if I needed somebody to talk to, I could call her."

"Believe me. She wants more than that from you."

Karl shrugged. "I think you're wrong. So are you going back to see Thrace anytime soon?"

"Probably Saturday morning."

"By yourself?"

"It's not that bad a neighborhood. I can take a transport."

"I'll go with you, Kara."

"Thanks, Karl, but I'll be okay. I'd like for you to meet him someday. But I've got to…it's going to take a while. He and I have got some catching up to do first."

"Yeah, like ten years worth. Don't forget that he's the one who left you and your mom, Kara. Don't jump into this thing too quick. I wouldn't want to see you get hurt again."

"Don't worry. I'm immune. I got over what he did a long time ago."

But had she? Kara thought of the song her father had played a few bars of, _Diaspora_, the song that had started the fight with Lee. Dreilide Thrace said he thought about her every time he played it. She wondered now how often that was.

...

Lee was sitting in the lobby of her dorm when she got back from the student union that afternoon. There was a book open on his lap and he had a yellow highlighter in his hand. He glanced up as she came through the front door. He closed the book, capped the highlighter, stuck it in his pocket and stood. She walked over to him.

"Hi," she said.

"I missed you yesterday. By the time we got out of orientation, you were at dinner."

"That's okay. How did it go?"

"Orientation was long and boring. We met with Colonel Winters, toured the campus, and went over the course outline and expectations. Then they split us into teams and we did some team bonding exercises."

"How many are in your class?"

"In the whole class there are sixty of us. Each team is five people. There are lieutenants, captains and a couple of majors. One thing they told us, though, is that everyone on the team is equal when it comes to the assignments. Look, I want you to hear this from me instead of someone else. Shelley is in the class. In fact we're on the same team."

Kara took a quick breath. "How did that happen?"

"Chance. We drew numbers out of a box. Everybody who drew number one is on a team, number two is another team. There's a dozen teams."

"Great. I'm happy for you."

"Kara," Lee said. "Look at me." She raised her eyes to his. "I told you this so you wouldn't find out about it some other way and think I'd tried to keep something from you. This was a coincidence, nothing more. She's part of the past, but that doesn't mean I'm going to be rude to her."

"You're still going to be with her every day. You used to have a thing with her."

"Kara, stop," he said softly and glanced at the lieutenant at the desk. "Let's go outside a minute. I don't feel like we can really talk in here, and I have something I want to say to you."

He put on his coat, picked up his book, and they walked down the steps of the dorm. At the bottom he took her hand.

"I've thought about this a lot. About what I said to you Sunday. I wasn't fair to you. I was hurt. You're right. I keep things in too much. Over the last two nights I played that song, _Diaspora_ probably thirty times. I'm going to tell you something about myself and you'll probably think less of me after I tell you, but I'm going to tell you anyway."

She looked into his eyes and knew the fear showed in hers. "What?"

"After Blaire broke up with me while I was on the _Triton_, I couldn't let go of it. I…blamed myself…I started questioning myself, my decision to become a pilot. I was a mess. About a week later we were practicing combat landings and I missed one. I'd never missed a landing before like that. The LSO waved me off the first time and the second time I came around, I missed the trap and long story short, I damaged a Viper, not bad, but the crew had to work on it."

Lee took a deep breath. This was rougher than he had thought it would be, admitting how he'd frakked up to Kara. He could tell by her expression that she was waiting for him to go on.

"My CAG called me in and asked me what the hell was going on. I told him _nothing_ and he told me that he was pulling me from flight-ready status unless I came up with a better answer than _nothing_ since I'd never had problems landing before, so I told him about the _Dear Lee _letter I'd gotten from Blaire. He gave me a book…self-help stuff. He's a good guy. He left me on flight-ready status and worked out my schedule so that I didn't have to fly for a week. None of it went in my record. It gave me time to read the book and…put some things in perspective. I didn't miss any landings after that."

"Why didn't you want to tell me that? I don't think less of you for it. I've screwed up in the simulator plenty of times. Things happen when you're upset."

"This wasn't the simulator. This was on a battlestar in front of the crew. I've never told anybody what I did before, not even your dad. I graduated at the top of my class from Flight School. The mistakes I made weren't even worthy of the greenest nugget. And you're so tough, I thought you'd think I was…weak, but I knew that if I could admit this to you, I could tell you anything."

"Tough? You really think I'm tough? Especially lately. I'm not that tough."

"Kara, a lot of people who have been through even a fraction of what you've been through would be a frakked-up mess, so I think you're really tough and I admire you for it and I realize I've got to handle things better. You said something that hurt me Saturday night and I over-reacted and I'm sorry."

Kara realized from how tightly he was holding her hand how hard it had been for him to admit what he just did to her.

"So what does this mean?" She asked him.

"That I've got to try harder with you. Are you willing to let me try?"

"Are we still not going to your apartment?"

He took another deep breath. "Not for a while. I've thought about this a long time. Kara, I don't want us to…just fall back into the same…routine. So…gods…I can't believe I'm saying this, but my idea is let's try to go a few places on Saturdays and have some fun and talk…and not go back to the apartment for a while and see how things go."

"Okay. I'm willing to try. I don't guess I have much choice."

"Yes, you do. You have a couple of choices. You can say _okay_ or you can tell me you don't care about my idea and you want to go to my apartment and keep things they way they are."

"You'd do that if I asked you to?"

"If that's the only way you'll have me, I'll take it. I love you, Kara. I've told you what I want to try. Now you tell me what you want to do. You make the call."

The pain began to lift from Kara's heart.

"Okay. So since we're going to try things _your_ way for a while, what do you want to do Saturday?"

"Are you going to see Thrace?"

"I think so…in the morning."

"Then call me when you leave there. We'll meet downtown. I want to take you to the Caprica Museum of Fine Art."

"Lee Adama wants us to spend time looking at paintings?"

"You have something else you want us to do?"

"No, looking at paintings is fine. I might find I like it."

"You've never been to an art museum before?"

Kara snorted. "Do I look like I'm into fine art? Is this some dress-up place or can I wear my jeans?"

Lee smiled. "You can wear your jeans. Now, I'd better let you go in. You'll have to line up for dinner soon." He leaned over and kissed her gently.

As much as Kara wanted to pull him to her and really get into the kiss, she knew that wouldn't be the best thing right now for either of them. He had made a real effort with her tonight and she respected that. As difficult as it was, she kept her response just as gentle.

Lee drew back. "Remember when you first started at the Academy, Kara? We went for a month without going to my apartment and we survived."

"Just barely."

"Let's take it one weekend at a time. I'll come see you tomorrow afternoon when I get out of class."

Things felt right between them again. The terrible feeling that had overwhelmed her since Sunday was gone completely. In fact things felt better than right.

She smiled. "I love you."

He smiled, too. "Keep that in mind when I tell you _no_ this weekend."

"What makes you think I'm going to ask?"

"Because I know you."

"Oh, yeah. You'll break first. You'll ask first."

"How much do you want to bet on it?"

She smiled again. "How much do you?"

...

Kara went through the instrument check in the simulator in record time and without any mistakes.

"Very good, Cadet Thrace," her father said. "Today is instrument flying only. You're in fog and rain with zero visibility. Do not try to gain any perspective from looking out of your canopy. It's really easy to become spatially disoriented because once you close the canopy you won't be able to see any landmarks. Are you ready?"

"Yes, sir."

She was more than ready to do it. She was more than ready to make up for the way she had messed up the previous week. She'd lost her enviable position of being a sim ahead of her class. She doubted she'd ever get it back, but if she finished the assignments quickly enough, she hoped her dad would let her start practicing on the really hard stuff. Before she left the Academy, she wanted a shot at the sim that no cadet had ever successfully flown before.

She closed the canopy. Instead of a helmet she wore a headset in the simulator. Instructions for what she was to do came through it. Sometimes the voice was Colonel Burgher's, sometimes it was her father's.

The computerized canopy flickered and came on. Her father was right. It gave the impression of flying through dense fog. The appearance of moisture beading on the outside and sliding along the Plexiglas was so real it amazed her. Her father was right about what she could see, too, or rather not see. There were no landmarks. There was no horizon. There was no up or down.

She looked at her instruments and followed the instructions. Before the sim was over, she did a full instrument landing during which she could not see the runway until she was a few feet above it. The canopy slid back.

She pulled the headset off. "Better than last week, huh?"

Her father was standing at the computer. "You didn't lose a single point. You did great."

"Can I shoot some Cylon Raiders now?"

"I don't have time to get that sim loaded and run it before your time is up. That one is coming. I promise."

She climbed out of the cockpit. "Did anyone else get a perfect score?"

"One other cadet."

"Who?" Kara asked in surprise.

"You know I can't tell you that. We've got time to talk if you want to. Let's go sit down." He started the shut-down procedure on the computer and they walked up into the amphitheater.

"Everybody's talking about Laura running for President," Kara said after they were seated.

"She met with Adar yesterday. They talked about her campaign which she assures me is going to be really scaled down from past years since there's only one Colony left. The campaign budget is miniscule compared to other years. Scott Michelson withdrew from the race as soon as Laura announced. She's going to ask him to be her Vice-Presidential candidate. Adar doesn't think anybody else stands a snowball's chance in Hades."

"Wow. So my stepmom's going to be the President next year and my dad is going to be…what?"

John laughed. "First Spouse. First Escort. First Husband. Take your pick."

"You're joking."

"I'm wish I were. Even though there are plenty of women in politics. The Colonies have never had a woman President before. There's no precedent for a guy _First Lady_. Nobody has come up yet with what I'll be called…officially that is."

"I guess that means Braedon's going to be First Baby?"

"First Son, probably and you'll be First Daughter. You'll get your own room in Marble House, the Presidential residence."

"No kidding?" Kara grinned. "Of course by next January when she takes office, I'll be on a battlestar."

"You'll have to come back for the inauguration."

Kara was suddenly serious. "Commander Adama will have put his plan into action before then. I guess…I guess we're assuming a lot. We might…none of us might be here in January."

"We've got to stay optimistic, baby. I don't think Bill will do anything unless he thinks there's almost no chance he'll fail. Look, I know with Laura's announcement, our lives are going to be lived in a fishbowl. I talked to Colonel Winters this week. He assures me you'll be protected from the press here, but outside the Academy, you'll have to be careful."

"Why would they care what I do?"

"Because you're Laura Roslin's stepdaughter."

"Don't worry, Dad. I'm not going to embarrass you or Laura."

"That's not my concern. I don't want you to be hounded. Laura is going to try to work out a deal with D'Anna Biers for them to leave you alone in return for some exclusive interviews, but that doesn't mean everybody will do as she asks. They may try to get to you through Lee, too."

"Have you seen Lee this week?"

"I had lunch with him yesterday. He made it to the cafeteria while I was still there."

Kara looked sideways at her father. "Did he say anything about…us?"

"No. Should he have?"

"We're not going to go back to his apartment for a while. I'm surprised he didn't tell you. I know it would have made your day."

"Kara, that's not exactly the kind of thing he would say in front of a half dozen faculty members."

"Oh, yeah, you're right."

"You can tell me, though. How did all this come about?"

Kara told him Lee's decision and how they were both going to try harder to be open with each other.

"Lee's showing a real level of maturity."

"What about me?" Kara asked. "I said I'd go along with it."

"You, too, baby. I'm proud of both of you."

"I'm going back to see Dreilide on Saturday."

"I figured you would. You know I'm here for you if you need me."

"You're okay with it?"

"I know this is something you need to do. If you want to talk, I'm here. Otherwise I'm not going to pry. You know I love you no matter what."

Kara felt emotion well in her. "You're the best dad in the whole world."

"Just call me First Dad," her father said lightly.

...

Saturday morning Kara got out of a transport in front of Dreilide Thrace's apartment building. She wasn't as nervous as she had been the week before, but she wasn't completely calm either.

She climbed the stairs, took a couple of deep breaths and knocked on the door.

When he opened it, he looked different. He was wearing a dark shirt and jeans and the ever-present cigarette was in his hand. She finally realized he had gotten a haircut. He'd shaved, too.

He stood back. "Come in." He made no move to hug her or touch her in any way. "I've got coffee. Do you drink coffee?"

Kara nodded. John could fix her coffee exactly the way she liked it, two spoonfuls of cream, no sugar.

She followed Thrace into a tiny kitchen. A two-burner hot plate sat on top of the stove. There was a small microwave on the counter beside it. A pot of water sat on one of the hot plate's burners.

"The stove's broken. I don't have a coffee maker."

A jar of instant coffee stood on the counter along with the powdered creamer, the sugar and a mug. "Don't you want some?" Kara asked.

"I've had four cups while I was waiting this morning. I'm hovering somewhere near the ceiling as it is."

Kara made a cup of coffee. They walked back into the main room. She sat on the couch and he again sat on the piano stool. She glanced around as she sipped her coffee. He had cleaned the place up or at least straightened it up. The sheet music was stacked on the bookcase. The table was clear.

"What happened to your mother?" He finally asked.

"She stayed behind with her Unit on Picon."

"Stayed behind?"

"The night after the basestar exploded, my…John…got a ship and came to take us off the planet. Mom wouldn't leave."

"So he brought you here."

"I didn't know until that night about…my mom and him."

"What do you mean you didn't know about them? After I left…you mean they didn't…her and him…they didn't get together?"

"No. Mom and I moved into a little house on the base. It was just me and her after that."

Dreilide Thrace lit another cigarette, got up and walked to the window. She heard him take a deep drag. He blew out the smoke. "Damn. I never would have thought that. Never."

"Is he the reason you left?" Kara asked, her voice so soft she was surprised he heard her.

"_She's_ the reason I finally left. _You're_ the reason I stayed for as long as I did."

"Liar," Kara said.

He ignored her. "The first time I saw your mother was in an art class in the tenth grade. I thought she was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. I went home that night and wrote a song for her. I called it _Angel, Wings of Fire_."

He went back to the piano, put the cigarette in an ash tray on top, and played several dozen bars of the song. It was instantly familiar to her. "You…you wrote that when you were in the _tenth grade_?"

"The core melody, yeah. I've reworked it a couple of times since then. It's the lead song on my biggest-selling CD. I think eight or nine hundred people bought it."

Kara couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or just sad. He got the cigarette from the ash tray and turned around on the piano bench to face her again.

"You live with him, I guess?"

"I live at the Academy mostly. He's married now. I have a brother, two months old."

"His wife…is she beautiful like your mother?"

"She's Laura Roslin, the Secretary of Education. I'm sure you've seen her on television. She's all over the news this week. She's going to run for President. Everybody thinks she'll be elected."

Dreilide Thrace didn't say anything for a moment and then he laughed. "That's just about perfect for him. It restores my faith in the rewards of sin."

Kara felt something break…or harden in her. She wasn't sure which. "Where did you go when you left?"

"Heliopolis, on the west coast of Picon. I did like thousands of fools have done before me. I followed the sun. I gave up playing the clubs for a while, got a job in a studio orchestra. We recorded sound tracks for films. It was a day job, mostly. I made contacts. I tried to get serious about composing again."

He took a drag on his cigarette and suffered a coughing spell.

"Are you okay?" Kara asked.

He poured a glass of whiskey from the bottle on top of the piano and took a swallow.

"The best cough medicine there is." After a moment and another sip he went on. "I left Heliopolis after a couple of years and moved here. I'd met some other musicians and we formed a jazz band. I went back to playing the clubs. The composing wasn't going as well as I'd thought it would. It seems I'd lost my Muse. She had deserted me," he said lightly, "about the time I deserted you and your mother."

This time Kara got up and walked to the window. She looked at the fire escape and the building across the alley. The coffee felt strong and bitter in her stomach, like it was going to gnaw its way into her heart. "Why was my mother in an art class?"

"Because when she was sixteen years old, she wanted to be an artist."

"What a crock," Kara said derisively. "What a total crock. She always wanted to be a Marine. She told me so."

"Her father was a Marine. The First Cylon War was still going on when we were in school. He was killed that year. She changed after that. But there was still a piece of her that didn't want to let go of her dream. We were going to live like starving artists…pure…not selling out…not going commercial…her painting and me composing. The idealism of youth. It didn't last long. I persuaded her to marry me anyway as soon as we graduated. We went to City Hall. It was the last time I ever saw her in a dress. She enlisted a month after our wedding."

"I have a boyfriend," Kara said and turned around to look at him. "He's a pilot, too."

"That doesn't surprise me." He sounded slightly amused.

"It just happened that way."

"Your mother would be very proud of you, joining the military." His tone was sarcastic again and a little sad.

"She died a hero," Kara said angrily. "Don't _you dare_ make fun of her!"

"I'm not making fun of her. And I'm sure she died a hero. She would have wanted something different for you. That's all."

"Then why did she always treat me like I was the recruit and she was the drill sergeant?"

"After a year together she treated me the same way. It was her shield. It kept her from getting too close to anyone."

"Do you regret…being married to her?"

"Not for a minute. The things I learned while I was with her…and you…I could never have learned any other way."

"So that's what we were to you…a learning experience?"

"No. I'm sorry if it came across that way. That's not how I meant it. Kara, she never loved me the way she loved him. She changed after she got shot that first time and had to spend a couple of months in a rehab hospital. I knew the minute I saw them together why she had changed. I went to see her one day and they were in the rec room and she was in his face. They were inches apart and she was giving him hell about something and him on crutches with part of his leg missing and her arm and shoulder in a contraption that probably weighed as much as she did. I could feel the electricity between them all the way across the room."

"She wouldn't let him get away with being a jerk to the help," Kara said quietly.

"It must have happened a lot because everybody else was going about their business like it was nothing unusual. I backed away and left. They never even saw me."

"He wanted to kill himself because he couldn't fly a Viper anymore."

Dreilide Thrace suffered another coughing spell and took another sip of whiskey. "Life is full of little tragedies. We see them every day. They're all around us."

"You hate him, don't you?"

"Hate is a strong negative emotion. I try to keep those out of my life. They crowd out the positive. I need all the _positive_ I can get right now."

Kara knew there were so many more things they needed to say to each other, but she had reached the limit of what she could take today.

"I'll come back," she said. "Maybe next Saturday."

"Don't wait too long." He walked with her to the door. "I'm glad you came back."

Kara wasn't sure why she felt the need to taunt him. "Maybe if I keep coming back, your Muse will follow me and find you again."

"It wasn't your fault," he said quietly as she pulled the door shut behind her. "I never blamed you."

...

She began walking toward the waterfront. She knew her father didn't want her going to see the Oracle again, but she turned toward Fifty-Third Street anyway. It took almost no time until she was at the top of the stairs.

The bronze-skinned woman opened the door but would not let her in.

"She is sick."

"Bad?" Kara asked, concerned.

"Her lungs have never been good since the bombing. I think she has pneumonia. There is no money for a doctor or medicine. I'm doing the best I can."

Kara reached into her pocket. She pulled out everything she had, a hundred cubits in twenty-cubit notes, the money she was going to use to buy Lee's birthday gift. She pushed it into the woman's hands.

"Take care of her. I'll bring some more next Saturday."

"Bless you," the woman said. "She told me help would come. The gods bless you."

Kara turned and went down the stairs. She felt better, the pain that she had felt on leaving Dreilide's apartment eased. She would find a Remote Banking Machine and get some more. She had saved enough during her last six months of working for Jack Fisk that she could easily help Yolanda Brenn again and still get Lee a nice birthday gift.

She walked to the east waterfront station and took the subway to the university station. Her next stop was another one her father had told her not to make. She walked to Leoben's bookstore and went in.

It was busier that morning than Kara had ever seen it. A dozen or more customers browsed throughout the shop. Leoben was helping a woman about Laura's age. Kara waited impatiently.

Her phone buzzed and she answered.

"I guess you've left Dreilide Thrace's apartment or you wouldn't have answered your phone," Lee said.

"Yeah, not long ago. Where do you want to meet?"

"In front of the Museum of Fine Art. On the corner of King's Bay and Fourth Streets."

"Thirty minutes. Okay?"

She turned. Leoben was beside her.

"Can I help you with something?"

"How are you?" Kara asked.

"Busy this morning. You should have come yesterday. We could have talked."

"I couldn't."

"Class?"

"I can't leave the Academy except on Saturday unless I have a special pass."

"A big change from last year, right?"

"Huge."

"Is the time right?"

"What?" Kara asked.

"The last time you were here you said you'd be back when you knew something and the time was right. Is the time right?"

Kara shook her head. "Not yet. I've got to go. I just wanted to stop by and say _hello_." She turned.

"Wait. You had another reason for coming here today."

"How many of you are there? How many models?"

"I don't know."

"Yes, you do. It's in there somewhere. I'll come back next week."

She left the bookstore and hurried to the subway. Lee was waiting for her when she got to the corner of King's Bay and Fourth.

"Let's go across the street and eat lunch first at that restaurant. There's nowhere to eat in the museum."

"I don't have any cubits," Kara said. "I need to find an RBM."

He smiled. "That's all right. I think I can manage to buy both of us lunch and get us in the museum. How did it go this morning?"

"If I say I don't know, I'm not trying to put you off. I still feel weird. I went to see the Oracle afterward."

"John's not going to like it."

"He's not going to find out. I didn't get to see her anyway. She's sick. That's why I don't have any money. I gave what I had to her friend for a doctor and medicine."

"Kara, there are government agencies that will help them. There are charities."

"I'd rather give the money to her than to a charity. At least I know what it's being used for."

Lee realized he couldn't argue with that.

After they ate, he took her hand. They walked across the street and up the wide marble steps of the museum. Lee paid for both of them before they went through the turnstile and into the first high-ceilinged room. It was lined with marble statues in varying sizes. Most of them were nude or semi-nude.

"Whoa," Kara said. "Anatomically correct. Let's find Apollo."

Lee rolled his eyes. "Kara, we didn't come here to…gawk at them."

"Why not?"

"This is an art museum…not a peep show."

"Then why did the sculptors carve them naked if they didn't want people to…gawk?"

"Why am I starting to feel like this was a mistake?"

Kara laughed. "I'm just screwing with you. Wow this one is old. It says she was carved a thousand years ago."

"That's Aphrodite, the goddess of Love. And it doesn't matter how old she is. Love is eternal."

"You sound like one of those diamond commercials."

Lee rolled his eyes. "You're full of yourself today."

"I thought you were going to say full of something else."

"That, too."

"Oh, look, Apollo." Kara stepped back and eyed the statue critically. "No one will ever accuse you of posing for that. He's a little on the…small side."

"What?"

She grinned and circled the statue. "Although the rear is just about perfect. Where's his Arrow?" She snickered.

"It's at the Caprica Museum. We'll go see that when the exhibit opens in a couple of weeks. The Shield of Athena, too. Now let's keep going before one of the guards asks us to leave."

They wandered into another large gallery filled with paintings.

Lee said, "There's one down at the end I want you to see. It's called _Posiden's Daughter_. It's a painting of a sea nymph. It's my favorite painting in the whole museum."

"I'll bet she's naked," Kara whispered.

"She is, but that's not the reason I like it so much."

He took her hand again. When they got to the end of the gallery he had her sit on a bench in front of the painting. She studied it. The sea nymph was blond and beautiful. The artist had done a wonderful job of depicting the waves and the water and especially the sea foam. It all looked incredibly real, like she could dip her hand in and it would be wet with seawater.

"I can see why you like it," Kara finally said.

"She's you."

"Some artist painted her from a model. I can assure you it wasn't me, although she does look a little bit like my mother."

"This painting was done almost two hundred years ago."

"It's not her either, then."

"When I was in the deep space simulator and the accident happened and I almost died, I saw her…I saw you. When John described you to me, this is how I imagined you."

"The first time I went to see the Oracle, she called me Posiden's green-eyed daughter."

"You're kidding?"

"Nope, but I'm nothing like this painting, Lee. She's perfect and beautiful. Real people don't look like that."

"Kara, that's not the point of art. It's here to inspire us. To make us appreciate the perfection and the beauty while at the same time knowing it's not real. You're real. And you are beautiful."

"The Cylons don't have any art."

"No, they don't."

"Or any other culture. It's what sets us apart from them. One of the things, anyway. My dad said so."

"He's right."

"Dreilide said my mother wanted to be an artist when she was sixteen years old. I'm having such a hard time with that thought. She was so tough and…and not the least bit artistic. We didn't have a single picture in the whole house except my school pictures. She was a warrior, not an artist. He's the artist."

"Life kills dreams sometimes, Kara."

"It didn't kill his dream. He's still trying to compose music, but he said his Muse left him after he left us. In a way I understand, but in a way, I don't. It looks like a painter could paint no matter what. A composer could compose no matter what."

"All artists need some sort of Muse, some sort of inspiration. The Caprican poet Kataris is said to have had as his Muse the wife of one of his closest friends. Kataris loved her purely and from afar. He never revealed that she had been the inspiration for his love poems until after her death. Much of his other great poetry was written afterward, but he never wrote love poems again."

"That's sad."

"I think most of his poetry is sad or dark."

"It figures. We're going to study Kataris this semester in my lit class. A couple of his poems are on our reading list."

"Is _Whisper the Rainbow_ on the list_?_

"I think so."

"It's considered his greatest love poem. It's long, though."

"And sad?"

"Yeah."

"No wonder Mrs. Nagala likes it. I'm picking something by a woman writer we're studying to do my term paper on, Bathsheba Everdene. I want a better ending this time."

"You should get it with her," Lee said. "Now, I've made you look at _Posiden's Daughter_ long enough. Let's go look at more paintings. You might like the modern stuff better."

As they walked into the next gallery, Kara suddenly knew what she was going to get Lee for his birthday. She might have to ask her father to help her, but she was going to get Lee a print of _Posiden's Daughter_ and have it framed. She was going to hang it over his dresser so he could look at it each night when he went to bed. She smiled. Lee liked the sea nymph. She was going to give him the sea nymph.

When they left the art museum late that afternoon, they drove to Laura and John's apartment. Laura had gone to her new campaign headquarters for a few hours. John was keeping Braedon. Kara was almost sure she heard Dreilide Thrace's music before John muted the stereo. Braedon was on his lap. Kara picked him up.

"Little star-mapper," she said and swung him around.

"Be careful," her father said. "I just gave him a bottle. If you keep swinging him around like that you might be wearing it."

"A bottle? What happened to Laura and breast-feeding?"

"We're supplementing. How are you, Lee?"

"Fine, John."

"How's War College going?"

"You should see the case book they've given us. A dozen scenarios. One a week. Each team will come up with a solution on Monday and we'll discuss the solutions on Tuesday and Wednesday. Then we'll do computer modeling of the two best solutions on Thursday and Friday to see which one is the best. Twelve cases, twelve weeks."

"Your dad will be looking at those case books. He's got the ones for the last four years. Have you seen him lately?"

"I've talked to him a couple of times this week. Kara and I are meeting him for dinner tonight at Channing's." Lee found he couldn't look at John. "Then I thought we might come back here for a while before I take Kara back to the Academy. My dad has a date tonight."

"Mrs. Nagala," Kara said.

"Who else?"

Kara thought about Frogman and about how Mrs. Nagala had probably dumped Frogman when she had started seeing Bill Adama but it sounded like they'd recently gotten back together. Could she be dating both men? Kara wanted to tell her father and Lee, but she wouldn't betray a man who had been kind and decent to her. She hoped he got his problems worked out with his wife. She kept her mouth shut and carried Braedon to the terrace door. His eyes were still dark blue, but she was more convinced than ever that she saw a hint of green like her own. Posiden had a green-eyed son as well as a daughter just like the Oracle had said.

She carried Braedon back to the couch and sat down with him.

"How did this morning go?" Her father asked.

Kara shrugged. "Did my mom ever mention anything about wanting to be an artist?"

"Not a word," John said.

"Well, that's what _he_ said. He met her in an art class when they were sixteen. He wrote a song for her that night. _Angel, Wings of Fire_."

"That's on the CD," Lee said.

"He wrote that when he was _sixteen years old_?" John asked.

"He said she was his Muse. Lee and I saw a painting today of the Muses, all nine of them."

"Zeus's daughters," Lee said.

"Yeah, well none of them looked like a Marine to me," Kara said.

...

Lee and Kara left the apartment about an hour later and walked to Channing's. Bill Adama was waiting for them. He was wearing a suit and tie.

"We're going to a cocktail party later tonight," was all he offered in way of explanation. "How are you, Kara?"

"I'm fine, sir."

"Keeping my son straight?"

She smiled. "That's more than even I can do."

"How are Laura and John and the baby?"

"All fine. My dad's got Braedon. Laura's at her new campaign headquarters."

"I don't think she's going to have to do much campaigning," Bill said. "Every single person I know is going to vote for her, especially now that Scott Michelson is on the ticket with her."

"Good," Kara said. "Then maybe she won't be gone so much. My dad said Laura had hired a nanny. She'll be there Monday. Her name is Maya."

"Maya what?" Lee asked.

"I don't know. Just Maya. She used to work for the Secretary of Health and Human Services."

"How go things with Dr. Baltar?" Lee asked his father.

"I went to his lab Wednesday morning. He appeared to be hard at work. Beyond that I can't say. He's supposed to be preparing something written for me. I'm going to have a well-known virologist look at it. Of course Baltar doesn't know that. If it turns out he's shining me on, I'm bringing this other guy in and putting him in charge."

"And the captured Raider?"

"Good news. My engineering team is working with the computer expert. They've built a box that can duplicate the Raider's homing beacon. They're testing it now and are fairly certain they can put it into a Raptor. Here's the catch, though. Do the Cylons only monitor those beacons on incoming ships or do they do some kind of visual reconnaissance. If it's visual, we're screwed. We'll never get a Raptor past them if that's the case."

"How would you find that out?" Kara asked.

Bill Adama smiled. "I was hoping you'd ask one of your Cylon friends."

"Okay," Kara said.

"Dad, she can't do that."

"Why not?" Kara asked.

Bill had been studying her. "My son is right. It's too risky right now. Hold off on asking that question for now. We have the shell of the other Raider, the first one Lee shot down over the Bay. The electronic part of its brain is dead, but I've got another team of engineers working on it to see if they can figure out a way to fly it by remote control. If they succeed, we may have our backup ship without risking a human life."

"That's a lot to do in a short time."

"I know it is, son."

"Can you control a ship remotely from the ground all the way to the basestar?" Kara asked.

"Probably not, but my engineers are working on it."

"Why not slave it to a Raptor?" Kara asked. "The Raptor pilot could control the Raider. Put Cylon homing beacons in both of them. Maybe you can get it close enough to the hub that the Cylons will welcome it home."

Bill smiled as he took a sip of his drink. "Another outside-of-the-box idea. I'm glad you're on our side. You might want to think about going to War College some day."

Kara grinned. "I think they would find out I'm too outside-of-the-box."

"Then you're the one I'll ask when that's what I want."

...

In the parking lot at the Academy that night, Lee turned off the ignition and started to get out of the car.

"Wait a minute," Kara said and put her hand on his arm.

"Kara, if we sit here we'll just…make things a lot harder for each other."

"I had a good time today."

"I did, too."

"I liked the art museum. We'll have to go back."

"Yes, we will."

"One kiss?"

"Hold out your hands."

She did and Lee laced his fingers through hers. He leaned forward. "Make me keep my hands right here."

She leaned forward, her mouth inches from his. "So you admit this is not going to be easy for you."

"It's killing me." His lips touched hers.

Their kiss was gentle and deep and made him ache with the love he felt for her. Neither one of them seemed to want to break the spell the kiss had created.

"That was like art," Kara finally said softly. "Perfect."

"I think it's called _inspired._"

"Does that mean I'm your Muse?"

"My Muse and my sea nymph rolled into one."

"One more perfect kiss?"

He leaned forward again. "The things we do for the sake of art."

TBC…


	54. Muse

Chapter 54

Muse

_In a quiet ceremony early in the spring of President Adar's last year in office, Commander William Adama, Adar's senior military advisor for the last four years, was promoted to Admiral. A small number of persons attended the ceremony including Admiral Adama's two sons and the Secretary of Education, Laura Roslin, who had earlier announced her intention to run for President as Adar's successor. _

_-Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War _

"Tell me again why we have to do this." Kara said to her father as they waited in the den for Laura to finish getting ready.

Kara had Braedon in her arms. He was dressed in a soft, blue one-piece outfit with three blocks of embroidered ABCs on the front of it.

"Laura promised D'Anna Biers that if we'd let her interview us and let her photographer get a couple of exclusive photos, then she would try to keep the others from getting too intrusive in our lives."

Kara looked at her father. So that's why he looked so good today, casual and yet cool in khaki slacks and a dark green sweater over a dark plaid button down shirt. She thought briefly of Dreilide. He was probably expecting her since it was Saturday, but she wasn't going to make it today, at least not this morning. She had never asked him for a phone number. She realized now that she probably should have, but he hadn't asked her for one either.

"Am I too casual?" Kara asked eying her black jeans and t-shirt, leftover from her days of working for Jack Fisk.

"No, baby. You look fine. You look like a teenager. That's how you should look."

"I don't have on any makeup."

"You don't need any makeup. You're beautiful without it. Now remember what we said. Even if Biers asks, don't answer any personal questions. It's okay to talk about the Academy and about training to be a pilot. But nothing about Lee or any other aspect of your personal life. Laura has made it clear to Biers that certain questions are off-limits."

"Why would D'Anna Biers even care who I'm dating?"

"She probably doesn't. A lot of her readers probably do."

"Why? I'm no different today than I was two weeks ago. Nobody cared then."

"Two weeks ago your stepmother wasn't running for President."

Laura walked into the den. She also looked good today in casual grey slacks and a dark blue top. She reached for Braedon. "Hello, my little man."

Braedon smiled at her and reached for her face. Kara looked at her father. She wondered if he was thinking the same thing that she was. There were going to be a lot fewer moments for Laura to be with Braedon in the future if she were elected.

The doorbell rang.

"I'll get it," Kara said and stood up.

Laura said, "If you're unsure about a question, Kara, just don't answer it. Let me handle it. I've been doing these interviews for a quite a while."

"She's the pro," her father emphasized what Laura had just said.

Kara walked to the door, angry that they both gave her so little credit for knowing when to keep her mouth shut.

She opened the door to D'Anna Biers and a dark-haired man with a video camera in hand and several other smaller digital cameras on straps around his neck. He was also carrying a bag over his shoulder that might have held more cameras or other equipment.

Kara stood back and let them enter.

"You must be Kara," Biers said.

"That's right. This way."

She led them into the den all the while wondering whether D'Anna Biers was another Cylon or not. John had told Kara that D'Anna had been spotted several times going into Leoben's bookstore, but that could be a coincidence. A lot of people went into Leoben's bookstore. She was sure Sharon would know. Sharon had been on the basestar. She had seen all of them. She might ask Sharon tomorrow night when she got back to the Academy.

Laura handed Braedon to John and stepped forward to greet Biers. She and D'Anna shook hands while the cameraman began to look around the room for how they were going to set up the camera shots.

"It's good to see you again, D'Anna," Laura said. "You've met my husband, John, and this is my stepdaughter, Kara, and my son, Braedon."

"What a cute baby," Biers said although Kara thought her voice lacked much in the way of emotional warmth. It almost sounded like she thought Laura expected her to say something like that. A programmed Cylon response?

For a moment Biers conferred with her cameraman and then said, "We'd like to get a couple of still photographs first. John, could you sit on the couch, please, at the end with Braedon on your lap. Laura, sit on the arm of the couch and Kara, pull that small footstool over by your father's leg."

With infinite patience the cameraman had them turn or move slightly until he was satisfied.

Laura thought of the dynamics of the photograph, the one that would be on the cover of _The Caprican View_ in several weeks. By sitting on the arm of the couch, her head was higher than everyone else's and yet her husband holding their child was clearly by her side. They had Kara sitting with her knees drawn up in typical teenager fashion beside her father's legs, almost in front of Laura. They formed a tight, family unit.

"Perfect," D'Anna said while the cameraman clicked away. The photograph finally chosen from the dozens of digital images Biers showed them had Laura leaning slightly in with her hand on the back of the couch behind John and Kara turned in profile, looking at her brother on John's lap. Braedon was looking at her with a perfect little smile on his face and his hands clasped together.

Kara was fine with the picture. Her fate and her brother's were linked anyway. The Oracle had said so and she believed the Oracle.

The Oracle. Another pang of concern swept Kara. She had told Yolanda Brenn's friend that she would return today with some more cubits. She wondered if Brenn was still sick and if her friend had been able to get her to a doctor.

"You can all sit on the couch," Biers said. "We'll get started with the interview."

"Can I answer my questions first?" Kara asked. "I have an errand to run this morning."

Her father nudged her. "Whatever you have to do can wait."

"It's important," Kara said.

"So is this."

"I don't mind starting with you, Kara," Biers said. "Tell me what you think about your stepmother running for President."

"I think she'll make a great President," Kara answered sincerely. "She cares about people more than most politicians."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because she's the only one who wasn't too good to go out and walk around in the camp. She cared enough to get us food and to try to see that the little kids got an education."

"The camp?"

Laura spoke up. "I met Kara several years ago during one of my trips to the main refugee camp near Antioch. She and her father were separated through no fault of theirs and Kara spent some time in one of the camps."

Kara felt like D'Anna Biers licked her lips. "I think there is a story here that all of our readers would love to hear."

"This interview is not about Kara," John said politely and with one of his most charming smiles. "It's about Laura running for President."

Biers turned her attention to him. "And how do you feel about that, Major Gallagher?"

John continued to smile. "I agree with my daughter. Laura will make a great President. Her main concern is the well-being of the people of Caprica."

"I know you asked me to hold the personal questions, but one thing all of our readers will want to hear is how the two of you met."

John deferred to Laura. "We have a mutual friend. He introduced us when I spoke at the Academy's graduation ceremony several years ago."

"Would that mutual friend be Commander William Adama?"

Laura smiled. "You're very well informed."

"And how long before you started dating?"

"Not soon enough to suit me," John said. Kara saw her father and Laura look at one another and smile. She was sure Biers wouldn't get any more from them on that subject.

She was wrong.

"Is it true that you were pregnant with your son when you got married?"

"Yes," Laura said still smiling. "I was. There are a few moments in my life when I've defied convention. I think all of us should be allowed one or two. I would certainly hate to see something like that become the focus of this interview instead of the many issues facing the government and citizens of Caprica."

"And you don't think that will have any bearing on your bid for the Presidency?"

"I don't see why it should. My personal life and my political life are as separate as I can make them. I think my qualifications for the office of President should be based on my record as Secretary of Education for the last four years and for the work I've done and continue to do for the former refugees."

John said. "I think you and your photographer were both there when she made one of her most courageous stands to get help to them. And again out there at the University when she kept hundreds of students from being slaughtered. That's what the people of Caprica should hear about. That's what they should care about."

"You have a true champion," D'Anna said to Laura. "Yes, I was there both of those times and I do plan to incorporate those incidents into this article."

The questions returned to politics and Kara zoned out. She was aware that Braedon was getting fidgety. He finally began to fret and not even his pacifier would soothe him. Grateful for something to do, Kara got up and took her brother. Now that they were supplementing with a bottle, she could feed him.

She took him to the nursery, changed his diaper and took him into the kitchen. She warmed a bottle of formula and carried him back into the den. She sat down in Laura's chair. Kara had only fed her brother once before, but Braedon knew exactly what to do. His little fingers closed over her hand at the same time his mouth closed over the nipple of the bottle. He studied her with his serious dark blue eyes. Again she felt emotion well in her as she looked at her brother.

"Do you help with the baby a lot?" Biers asked her.

"Not as much as I'd like. I'm a student at the Academy. I live on campus."

"Studying to be…?"

"A Viper pilot like my dad."

"Do you have a boyfriend?" Biers asked.

Laura spoke up quickly. "Now D'Anna, we agreed certain questions are off-limits for my family. I'll answer some questions about myself, but I think John and Kara deserve some privacy. Why don't we wrap things up for today?"

"I heard a rumor, Kara, that you're dating Commander Adama's oldest son. Is that true?"

Kara kept her eyes on Braedon. "No comment." That was what everybody on the news said when they didn't want to answer something.

"D'Anna," Laura's tone was still polite, but firmer. "No more questions about Kara's private life. She's not running for president."

"All right. I have enough for today. Laura, I'll come to your office later in the week to continue the interview."

The cameraman shut off the video and began packing his portable tripod and another camera.

"You're very young to be attending the Academy," D'Anna said to Kara. "Did someone pull some strings to get you in?"

"She passed the entrance exam like everybody else," John spoke up.

"And your teaching there had nothing to do with her being admitted?"

"I didn't make the final decision to accept the job until after Kara was admitted, so no, I didn't have anything to do with it."

"I had to beg him to sign the paper giving me permission to attend this year," Kara said in an attempt to validate her father's remark.

"Is this off the record?" Laura asked.

"Do you want it to be off the record?"

"I do," Laura said. "Kara earned her admission to the Academy. She's doing very well. The fact that her father teaches one of her classes could possibly be used to foster the idea that favoritism was or is somehow involved. I think you can understand why we don't want that. That certainly wasn't the case and I don't want any insinuation that it was."

D'Anna Biers smiled. "That would not be good for the campaign, would it?"

"No," Laura smiled in a good natured way. "It wouldn't be."

"Can I ask you something, Ms. Biers?" Kara suddenly said.

"Sure."

"Where are you from? I mean where were you born? Was it here on Caprica? Your accent is different."

"I'm from Amphipolis. Do you know where that is?"

"Afraid not. Geography is not my best subject." Kara's eyes met Biers'. She had the feeling that D'Anna was getting ready to make a joke.

"It's a tiny little village northwest of Delphi, near the province of Thrace."

"What a coincidence," Kara smiled. "I guess you could say you've come a long way to get here, then."

"Farther than you can imagine," D'Anna said.

_I don't doubt that at all_, Kara thought.

Laura walked with Biers and her cameraman to the door. "It was very good to see you again, D'Anna. I look forward to the next interview."

As soon as they heard the door shut, her father stood. "Thank the gods that's over."

"It's only the beginning," Laura said as she walked back into the den. "At the very least we're in for months of this. If I win the election in November, we're in for years of interviews."

"She had no business asking some of the questions she did." John's voice was tinged with enough anger that even Kara could hear it.

Laura said gently, "John, certainly you didn't expect her not to mention it, did you? She can count just like everybody else."

"How is that pertinent to your qualifications for the job of President?"

"You know there's a segment of the population who will use that fact to question my…morals."

"That's such a crock," Kara said. "I'd like to see each one of them stand up and swear before the gods they never had sex before they got married. Everybody has sex before…"

"That's enough, Kara," John said. "We get your point."

"The real point," Laura said, "is that there is nothing in the private life of a politician these days that is off limits. I'm just going to have to be prepared to answer that question again and again. If it costs me the election, then so be it. I can't change it. I wouldn't want to change it. It was my fault and I accept the responsibility."

"You didn't do it by yourself," John said.

"Can we quit talking about this?" Kara asked.

"President Adar is backing me with full knowledge of everything. He will come under fire from a certain segment, too. He's prepared. We've already talked about it."

"No wonder Adar's giving up the Presidency," John said. "He's got to be sick and tired of having to justify every aspect of his life to the press."

"It's not that," Laura said. "He's been a politician all his adult life. He's accustomed to the press and all the publicity. And don't forget how much we owe to the press and others like D'Anna. If it weren't for her, those ships carrying food and supplies for the refugees would never have left the ground four years ago."

John nodded. "You're right."

Laura went on. "I think Adar is just tired of the responsibilities now. I think the strain of dealing with the domestic problems and the Cylons has gotten to be too much for him."

"Then why do _you_ want to do it?" Kara asked Laura.

"Because I don't think anyone else will care enough. I feel like I'm better informed about what the Cylons have done and are doing to the people of Caprica, especially its children."

"It's too bad President Adar couldn't have hung in there a little longer," Kara said. "When Commander Adama's plan works, we won't have the Cylons to worry about any longer."

Kara glanced up in time to see her father and Laura look at each other.

"What?" She asked.

"Adar thinks Bill's plan is still several years away from being put into effect," Laura finally said.

"How is the commander getting all the money to work on the plan, then?"

Her father answered. "Adar has given him a blank check as far as that goes, and he knows Bill is working on it, but he doesn't know all the details. Bill is afraid if he tells Adar everything, he'll pull the plug. Adar is a cautious man, overly cautious in some ways."

"I know Commander Adama has said the clock is ticking. When is it going to happen?" Kara asked.

"He hasn't set an exact date," her father said evasively.

"Ballpark," Kara said.

Her father and Laura looked at each other again. "It will be next winter, probably around the time of the Solstice," her father finally said. "Bill wants to maximize the time the new pilots who are graduating from the Academy in the spring will have to train on battlestars, but he wants to do it before Adar leaves office. That way if something…goes wrong, Laura won't be blamed."

"So if that happens, Adar will be the one who goes before a Cylon firing squad," Kara said.

"By not telling Adar, Bill can take full responsibility," Laura said.

"Like they'll believe him. Nobody would be that stupid. Not even a Cylon. They'll know he couldn't have pulled it off without the cooperation of the government."

John looked like he was debating his next remark. He finally said, "If Bill's plan fails that catastrophically, he won't be around to tell Cavil anything. He's going to be running the show from the _Galactica_ when the attack starts. He said if he has to, he'll use the ship to take out the basestar. He'll go down fighting. It's what we'll all do."

"_We_," Laura said, her voice rising slightly. "What do you mean _we_?"

"Sorry. Figure of speech. I didn't mean it literally."

Kara looked into her father's green eyes, the mirror of her own. Father and daughter understood each other in a way that Laura never could.

"Commander Adama's plan is going to succeed," Kara said with determination in her voice. "Nobody's going to have to _go down fighting_."

"Then why did the Oracle say my son is going to map the stars on the way to Earth?" Kara could hear the anguish in Laura's question.

It was her father who had the right answer, an answer he had probably been thinking about for a long time.

"Laura, Yolanda Brenn's prophesy about our son doesn't necessarily mean he's going to do that because we have no other choice…because humanity is without a home. I think she means he's going to be an explorer. Maybe one day he'll find Kobol and prove the myth is true. There are millions of star systems out there just waiting to be explored. When the Cylons are gone, we'll be able to think about exploring the stars again."

Kara looked at her brother. He was full now, the serious dark eyes almost closed in sleep. Laura gently lifted him from Kara's arms and put him against her shoulder.

"Don't worry, Laura," Kara said softly. "I'll protect him with my life."

"We all will," John said. "The children are our future."

"Not unless we find a cure for that virus," Laura said as she left to put her son in his crib. "There will be no future generations for Caprica if today's children can't have their own children."

"So what are you not telling Laura?" Kara asked as soon as Laura was out of the room.

"Nothing."

"Not true. You've volunteered for something. You're going to be part of Commander Adama's plan."

"So are you. So is Lee."

"You're not going to tell me what you're going to do, are you?"

"When the time is right, baby."

"Which is when, Dad?"

"When the time is right. I don't know any other way to say it."

"Why are you studying the Prolmar Sector?"

"Who says I'm studying the Prolmar Sector?"

Kara gave him a superior smile. "I saw a folder on your desk in the simulator room."

"You're not supposed to be looking on my desk."

"Well, I did and I saw it."

"I'm helping Bill with a project. There's not much information on the Prolmar Sector. I've started compiling what little there is for him."

"Does it have something to do with the Cylons?"

"He thinks it does."

"And what do you think?"

"Bill may be on to something. Beyond that I can't say."

"You mean you won't say."

"Kara, I've just started working on this. Sixty plus years ago there were two expeditions from Libran to the Prolmar Sector. The first one came back. The second one didn't. Most of the information from the first mission was lost when the Cylons destroyed Libran. Everything we've currently got on the Prolmar Sector has been archived at the Academy's library. About all I can tell you right now is that it's in another solar system and the area of space between here and there is devoid of any kind of life."

"How many FTL jumps away?"

"With the older technology, more than a dozen. Our battlestars could make it today in one jump. It's thirty light years away. That's over a hundred eighty _trillion_ miles. Nobody has been there in nearly over sixty years. It's way outside the Red Line and I'm not talking about the Academy's red line, either."

"Does it have planets?"

"A few. At least one is habitable, and that's about all I know so far."

"So that's not where Earth is?"

"I don't think so."

"So Braedon is going to have to go beyond the Prolmar Sector to find Earth?"

"Let's not talk about that. It upsets Laura. Your friend Hugh Connelly is helping me."

"Connelly? How?"

"He and I were talking at lunch one day. He told me about an ancient stone altar in the woods near your refugee camp. The place where you met him. You remember that, don't you?"

Kara gave her father a look and said sarcastically. "No, I've forgotten all about that. What refugee camp? What stone altar?"

"He had visited there half a dozen times after the camp was shut down. He's an ancient history buff, but you know that. He took a lot of photographs of the altar. He's identified the symbols of the original Twelve Colonies. There's a lot of other stuff carved into that altar, too, things we can't identify, but there's a series of numbers and what looks like maybe a star chart. The numbers could be coordinates but in order for them to mean anything, we need a point of origin. I think that's where the star chart comes in. He gave me the digital card from his camera that contains all the photos. I've got them loaded into my computer at work. I've been studying them."

"Why?"

"Bill has a theory. He may be right. He may not be. I don't want to say anything else until I've had more time to work on this."

Kara grinned. "So maybe Braedon got his star-mapping gene from you."

Her father smiled. "What are you going to do this afternoon?"

Kara realized she had gotten all from him she was going to get on the subject of the Prolmar Sector. "I'm going to buy Lee's birthday gift but I don't know exactly where to go to get it."

"What are you getting him?"

"I want to get him a painting, not an original but a print. I want to have it framed."

"Ask Laura where you should go. She's bought artwork before."

Kara brightened. "Good idea. Would you go with me?"

John looked amused. "You don't want to ask Connelly? You actually want _me_ to go somewhere with you?"

"Not if you're going to act like _that_."

"I was kidding you, baby. Let's eat some lunch and then we'll go before you change your mind."

Laura gave them the name of her favorite art gallery, Picasso's, and the address, and after they ate, father and daughter set out. The minute they walked into Picasso's, though, Kara knew it wasn't the place she needed to be. The gallery was far too upscale to carry a print of _Posiden's Daughter_. They dealt in original artwork only. The owner sent them down the street to another gallery and Kara found what she was looking for in a large rack of prints. She showed it to her father.

"You're giving Lee a print of a naked sea nymph for his birthday?"

"It's his favorite painting," Kara said defensively.

"And the fact that she looks like you just happens to be a coincidence?"

"He liked this painting long before he met me. I think she looks like my mom."

"Yeah, she does a little bit."

"Dreilide asked me about her last week. He wanted to know what had happened to her."

John nodded.

"He knew about you and her."

"I figured he did."

The salesman in the gallery came over and asked if he could help them. Kara told him she wanted the print framed. He made a few suggestions and she picked a mat and frame that she thought went well with the print and would look good in Lee's bedroom. She paid for it, refusing to let her father help her, even though it was a lot more expensive than she had planned. The salesman told her it would be ready in five days. Kara asked her father if he would pick it up for her and he agreed.

"It will be wrapped very discretely," the salesman assured them.

"That's a relief," John said and winked at her.

Kara and her father walked out of the gallery and started down the street to where he had parked the car.

"I can't say I'm sorry about me and your mom," John said as they walked. "To say that would mean I regret what I had with her. It would mean I regret having you. I guess I should say I'm sorry he got hurt. I'm sorry you got hurt when he left. That's something I'll live with for the rest of my life, knowing the pain I caused you both because I couldn't stay away from her."

"You act like she didn't have anything to do with it. She made choices, too. She was the one who used to fight with him all the time. She started most of the fights. She wasn't happy with him."

"I should have been stronger, but I loved her so much. Part of me still loves her."

Kara bumped her shoulder against her father. He put his arm around her.

It was like that with them now, the love such an understood thing between them. She didn't have to tell him she forgave him and her mom both. She didn't have to tell him that she would go back to see Dreilide Thrace either.

"Did I ever tell you about karmic justice, baby?"

"A dozen times. Maybe karmic justice was at work when Zak took that picture."

"Maybe so. You want to go out to the airfield tomorrow morning with me and take the ship up for a couple of hours?"

"You know I do." They walked in silence for a minute before she said, "Will you drive me down to Fifty-Third Street before we go home today? I'm not going to stay. I just need to take Yolanda Brenn a few cubits. She's been sick."

"Sick? How do you know that?"

"Her friend said she probably has pneumonia. I went to see her, okay? Last Saturday when I left his place. I know you don't want me going back there, but I went anyway. I didn't see her, though. Her friend wouldn't even let me in. She was too sick."

"Kara, there's a free medical clinic a few blocks from the east waterfront subway station."

"I know that. I used to deliver medicine down there when I worked for Jack Fisk. She was probably too sick to get there."

They reached the car and got in. After a few minutes it was apparent that her father was driving toward the waterfront. At the next stoplight, he took out his billfold, got out a hundred-cubit note and handed it to her.

"I'm glad our neighborhood isn't full of stray dogs and cats," he said as the light turned green. "I'd go broke."

...

Lee had tickets for a rock concert on Saturday night, tickets that Zak had gotten for him. Zak was going, too, and Lee was fairly certain their tickets were together, but he wanted to see Kara alone for dinner. She had been tied up all day with a family interview and photo session in the morning and a mysterious errand that she had told him she had to run after lunch. He suspected it had something to do with his birthday coming up on the next Friday, but he knew better than to mention it. She was going to surprise him with something despite the fact that he had told her not to bother with a gift.

Lee still hadn't gotten used to the idea that with Laura running for President, his and Kara's lives were going to be a lot less private, so he wasn't surprised when his father brought it up when they met for Saturday lunch.

"You realize that everyone close to Laura is going to come under scrutiny," Bill said to him.

"Meaning?" Lee said, not entirely sure what his father was driving at.

"Your relationship with her stepdaughter."

Lee was afraid for a moment his expression had given his feelings away. "Her name is Kara. Is that why you asked me to lunch today, so you could warn me to behave myself with her?"

"I asked you to lunch today because I haven't seen you all week."

"Don't worry, Dad. I'm not going to do anything to embarrass you and Laura."

"I can do without the sarcasm, Lee."

"I can do without being treated like I don't have any sense."

His father sipped his coffee and looked out the window of the restaurant. "How's War College going?"

"Hard."

"It's meant to be. Five years ago it was rare for a lieutenant to be selected to attend War College. It was mostly majors and colonels. Now with so many killed and others leaving the service, lieutenants are the norm. Is there anyone in your class who has even seen combat experience?"

"Two majors. One was on board the _Triton_ during the fighting and the other one was here in fleet headquarters. Neither one is on my team."

"Just be prepared for the fact that a few of the scenarios you'll face don't have any good solution. A few of the scenarios are going to be no-win."

"What do you do in that case?"

"The best you can. One of the toughest is similar to what happened to the Colonies during the last war. There are many in the military who felt like Adar made the wrong decision in surrendering to the Cylons. There are some who thought we should have fought to the last man even if it meant our annihilation. I was one of them."

"Do you still feel that way?"

"No. I've changed my mind. Adar gave us a chance to regroup and even the odds. History won't judge him nearly as harshly as I did in the beginning. Laura knew from the start that he was right. She has a diplomat's instinct. She also doesn't have quite the cavalier attitude toward the destruction of humanity that I had at the time. At first I chalked it up to the difference between a politician and a warrior, maybe even a man and a woman. Now I'm not so sure of that, either. I think Laura has a gift for making the right choices."

Lee looked at his father, and Bill looked away again. Was his father thinking about John and the choice Laura had made there?

"The last four years have taken their toll on Adar," Lee finally said. "He looks like he's aged twenty years."

"I know. I want Laura to take office without having to deal every day with the Cylons. At first I was afraid Cavil would try to have her killed again, but I think he's actually looking forward to her being elected so he can make her life hell on a daily basis." Bill grunted softly. "Maybe he's been living around humans too long. He'd rather make her suffer than to kill her."

Lee debated with himself for a moment and then decided to tell his father something that Kara had told him. "One of the Cylons that Kara knows said Cavil had deleted the sleep routines from his programming. He has twice as much time to plan or scheme or whatever you call it that goes on inside his Cylon brain. The human brain and body repairs itself while we sleep. I can't help but wonder if not sleeping is taking a subtle toll on Cavil."

His father let that sink in for a moment. "The first ones were so simple…generations ago, the first centurion models. They were programmed to do menial tasks. They helped build our skyscrapers and our roads and our space stations. They went into our mines. They replaced humans at our most dangerous jobs. And then Daniel Graystone and Tomas Vergis decided that they would make the über soldier. Why fight each other when you can get a machine to do it for you? And those useful giants were redesigned and programmed to kill. They were used first on Scorpia during the civil war there. The models kept getting better and better at killing. Finally the artificial intelligence was so good they began evolving on their own."

"I know the history of the Cylons centurions, Dad. I studied it at the Academy."

"Then you know that what we're dealing with now is something we brought on ourselves. The children pay for the sins of their fathers or great-grandfathers in our case. The day came when we couldn't hide from our sins. We used technology in the worst way for the worst reasons and it caught up with us. Now we're paying."

"John calls it karmic justice. He believes there's personal karmic justice and cosmic karmic justice. We've talked about this before, too."

"The missing piece of the Cylon's history is where the centurions went twenty-four years ago to create the things we now call skinjobs. I found one of their facilities at the end of the last war. It was on an ice planet so far out in the solar system that we called it the ass end of nowhere. We went there because the rumor was the Cylons were manufacturing some sort of super weapon on the planet. That's not what it was at all, not in the sense we thought it was."

"You found where they made the skinjobs? Why doesn't anybody know this?"

His father appeared lost in thought before he went on. "It's still classified. We decided later that it couldn't have been their main facility. It contained only a few captive humans and parts of humans. There had originally been fifty of them from the ship the _Diana_. I felt like I had walked onto the set of a horror film. The human prisoners who were still alive couldn't tell us much. They talked about being taken from the holding cell one by one. They heard screams and cries for help, but they couldn't see anything. They were treated no better than lab rats."

"I believe the centurions had help, Dad. I don't believe the toasters had the intelligence to create a realistic human-looking Cylon. I think we agree that the centurions had evolved, but not enough to create humanoids. The bigger question to me is why they would even need to or want to. So for that reason if no other, I don't think they did it alone."

"Neither do I. I believe there's a group of humans, scientists probably, somewhere out there who should be in front of a firing squad for what they did. They may still be creating Cylons for all we know, more and better skinjobs, and basestars and Raiders…if the skinjobs let them live, that is, and didn't start experimenting on them."

"What about Vergis and Graystone?"

"Vergis was killed before the end of the First War. Graystone and his wife disappeared not long after. There were rumors that they had been kidnapped and killed in retaliation for what happened to Vergis."

"Is that what you believe?"

"They were developing some advanced technology. My father was working on some of the legal implications when they vanished."

"Do you think they might have gone to the ice planet?"

"My guess is that's closer to us than they wanted to be. I think they're somewhere in the Prolmar Sector."

"Prolmar? Why do you think they're there? We know almost nothing about the Prolmar Sector."

"My point exactly, Lee. John has been working on something for me, compiling what little data we have. Two expeditions went there sixty-odd years ago and found one habitable planet. The second expedition never came back. "

"Do you think that's where the Cylons…the skinjobs came from?"

"Almost certainly. I don't believe their research facility is in our solar system. I think it's in the Prolmar Sector."

"Do you think they still have human prisoners? Do you think they're still experimenting?"

"I try not to think about that. Hundreds of ships went missing four years ago. We have no way of knowing if they were destroyed...or captured."

"Do you really believe we stand a chance of getting rid of the Cylons?"

"We stand a chance. The odds are in our favor this time. The clock wouldn't be ticking on my plan otherwise. Just like they surprised us four years ago, we're going to turn the tables and surprise them this time."

"Sometimes I wish we could just go ahead and do it. I wish we didn't have to wait."

"Patience, Lee. The time will come." His father took the check that the waitress had just brought. "Tell your brother I said _hello_ when you see him tonight. Tell Kara I said the same thing. I understand from Colonel Burgher that she's shaping up to be a hell of a pilot, at least in the simulator."

"She really does have a great deal of respect for you, Dad, even if she won't tell you who the Cylons are."

"That tells me she's got the courage to stand by her beliefs even when an old man like me tries to bully her. I told Saul Tigh what she knows. That was probably a mistake. It infuriated him. He thought she should be cooling her heels in the brig until she decides to talk."

"Colonel Tigh is wrong."

"I know that, son, but Tigh hates the Cylons. I understand where he's coming from."

"As long as the clock is ticking, he should be able to live with it."

"Tigh just wants to retire so he can spend time with Ellen. He's living for the day we're free of the Cylons."

"He's not the only one."

"No, he's certainly not the only one."

...

Kara opened the door to Lee. After seeing him in his uniform so many afternoons lately, Lee's jeans and t-shirt under his ski jacket made him look younger and less serious and so much hotter. She tried not to dwell on that thought since his apartment was now off limits.

She had her coat in her hand. "You can't come in right now. Laura's feeding Braedon."

"That's okay. We'll walk to Channing's and eat dinner. Then I'll call a transport to take us to the concert. I don't want to take the car to the arena tonight. Parking will be a bear not to mention Zak told me they were charging fifty cubits per car just to park."

"Fifty cubits!" Kara said in disbelief. "How much did the tickets cost?"

"You don't want to know. We wouldn't have tickets at all if Zak hadn't known somebody who knew somebody who worked at the ticket office. He called in a favor."

"So that's how the world of PR works. Favors?"

"Part of it."

They rode the elevator down to the lobby and began walking toward Channing's.

Lee said, "Zak's not dating Maggie tonight. He's dating one of the Buccaneer cheerleaders. I think Sam Anders and his date might be with them, too."

"Don't worry. I won't tell Maggs."

"Maggie turned _him_ down. Zak said he asked her and she already had plans."

"What'd he do? Wait until this morning to call her?"

"Kara, I really don't know. He just said Maggie had turned him down so he had asked somebody else."

"So is Sam bringing Tory?"

"I don't know that, either."

Kara grinned. "You're just a fountain of information tonight, aren't you?"

"Does it matter to you who they're with?"

"Not really."

"How did the big interview go this morning?"

"I thought it was boring except when D'Anna Biers was asking questions that were none of her business. I'm surprised my dad didn't tell her to go frak herself."

"He's not about to do something like that to Laura."

"I was glad Braedon started crying so I could get up and give him his bottle."

"What did you think about D'Anna Biers?"

"She's nosy. Laura thinks she's a Cylon."

"She's a reporter. Being nosy is her job, and I know Laura thinks she's a Cylon."

"Sharon would probably tell me, but I'm not sure I'm going to ask her yet. I don't want to do anything to cause Laura a problem. I still don't know how this _accessing memories_ works with them. I wouldn't want D'Anna Biers tuning in to Sharon's thoughts and finding out I think she's a Cylon."

...

The arena where the concert was being held was next door to the arena where she had watched Sam Anders play in the championship pyramid game the previous spring. She thought about the way the limousine had picked her up outside of Tory's apartment and dropped her off in front of the arena. She thought about the ticket for the thousand-cubit seat.

She wouldn't trade what she had now for a lifetime of thousand-cubit seats and limousines. She wouldn't trade Lee Adama for a hundred pyramid stars like Sam Anders.

She took Lee's hand as they made their way to their seats. Zak, Sam and their dates were already there. Introductions were made.

"Long time no see," Sam said. "You're looking good."

"Thanks," Kara said. "How's the season going this year?"

"You must not have been watching the games or you'd know."

"No television."

"That sucks."

"I wouldn't have had the time anyway. I've been studying."

"Learning to fly a Viper," Sam said. "Going to be a pilot. Zak told me."

Kara grinned. "Aren't you jealous?"

"Hey, you won't catch me in one of those things. I like my feet on the ground."

The lead singer of _White Hot Knights_ bounded onto the stage. The crowd went wild. The drummer hit four beats and the band launched into one of their biggest hits. Kara wished she'd remembered her ear plugs, but by the end of the concert, she was on her feet clapping and singing and moving to the music with the rest of the crowd. The haze of a certain illegal substance was so thick and strong in the air that she was sure that was part of the reason she was feeling so high.

She and Lee left the concert with their arms around each other. She wondered if he felt as high as she did.

"That was great. It'll be days before my hearing recovers, but that was just frakking great," she said to him.

"I didn't think I would enjoy it as much as I did."

"You two want to go to Zeno's with us?" Zak asked.

"I need to get home. It's nearly midnight. I have a curfew."

They had to walk almost six blocks before they could get a transport. When they got back to the apartment, it was quiet. Laura and her father had already gone to bed. One of them had left a lamp on in the den.

"You want a drink?" Kara asked.

"I'm driving. I'd better not. I feel like I'm under the influence of something anyway. That weed smoke was thick."

"Wasn't it? I'm going to have to take a shower and wash my hair before I go to bed."

They sat on the couch. Kara couldn't help but think of what had happened there once before.

"The concert was good, though."

"Yeah."

She sighed. "I want to kiss you but I know what that will start."

"I'd better go. I'm thinking about it, too. What are you doing tomorrow?"

"Dad and I are going out to the airfield tomorrow morning and take the ship up. Do you want to go?"

"If he's teaching you to fly, I'd just be a distraction. Besides, you need your time with him."

"Why don't you come over for lunch then? We'll spend the afternoon together and you can take me back to the Academy."

"Okay. I'll do that."

She walked with him to the door. Lee put on his ski jacket. He held out his hands. She laced her fingers through his and they leaned in. Their kiss was gentle and hotter than she could have imagined. She felt it all the way to her toes. Was she still high from the smoky air at the arena or was it just the intense yearning of not being able to have him?

She made a tiny sound, almost a moan. Lee drew back a few inches.

"I may not survive this," he said lightly.

"It was your idea," she whispered.

"A moment of temporary insanity. It had to be."

"Does that mean I win the bet?"

"We're not in my apartment, are we?"

"You wish we were."

"Wishes don't count."

Kara leaned in. "I wish you'd kiss me again."

"I'm not sure I can take it."

"Yes, you can, tough guy. If I can take it, you can, too."

He kissed her again, the kiss more urgent and hotter than the first one. Their tongues came together. With his fingers still laced through hers, he turned and pushed her gently against the door, their hands out beside her shoulders. He pressed his body against hers. He knew she could feel how hard he was. The kiss deepened.

She was just about to break, just about to pull him down the hall toward her bedroom when he let go of her hands and stepped back. He turned around and rubbed his hand against the back of his own neck. He was breathing hard.

"Frak, that was a stupid thing for me to do."

She was breathing hard, too. "I shouldn't have asked you to kiss me again."

"I'd better go."

"If you don't, I'm going to do something even stupider."

"Next weekend…"

"No. You didn't make this decision lightly. You shouldn't…change your mind until you've thought about it. We can talk about it next weekend."

He finally turned around. "I love you, Kara."

"It's not that I don't want to. If you hadn't stopped kissing me, we'd be in my bedroom right now."

"I know. Don't remind me."

"As far as the bet goes, let's just call it even."

Kara moved away from the door. He touched the side of her face for just a moment.

"I'll see you tomorrow."

She nodded.

After he was gone she closed the door, leaned back against it for a moment and wondered if Posiden's daughter the sea nymph had ever loved a man as much as she loved Lee Adama.

...

"How was the concert?" Kara's father asked the next morning as they walked out of the small terminal building at the airport. He had called ahead and had the ship towed from the hangar. She felt a wave of excitement as she saw the sleek lines of the ship sitting on the tarmac. She always got that feeling when they were going to fly.

"My hearing's back to normal. So what can you tell me about Torino Island?"

"Weren't you paying attention when I filed the flight plan?"

"Yeah, but I don't know anything about the place."

"It's two hundred nautical miles off the coast of Caprica City. There's a nice little air strip there, not nearly as busy as this one. We'll land, refuel, get a cup of coffee and then we'll come home. I'm going to let you handle the take off from there."

"By myself?" Kara asked in surprise.

"All by yourself. We've done this half a dozen times now. You should be able to handle it. In fact as soon as we get in the air today, I'm turning the controls over to you. I'll give you the heading and the coordinates and you'll take us there."

"Cool," Kara said. "This is just so cool."

She entered the cockpit first and slid into the copilot's seat. They put on their headsets. They adjusted their sunglasses. In less than ten minutes they were next in line to take off. Again she watched everything her father did and listened to everything he said. When they reached their cruising altitude, he looked at her and smiled.

"It's all yours. Find the airport on Torino Island. And no keying it into the onboard computer and setting the ship on autopilot. Do it manually. We went over everything. We studied the aeronautical chart. You know our cruising altitude and the wind speed and direction. It shouldn't be that hard."

"Is that why we're over water today, so I won't have any visual references even though I'm under visual flight rules?"

He grinned. "There aren't any highways to follow in space, baby."

She marked their heading and made the adjustment banking slightly to the southeast and then leveling the ship with the horizon. She adjusted her airspeed.

She looked over at her father. "Right?"

He was still grinning. "We should know in two hundred nautical miles."

She was exactly right. Torino Island came into view on the horizon forty-five minutes later. She turned the ship back over to her father and he brought it in.

"One day I'm going to be able to do that."

"It'll be sooner than you think."

"Are you really going to let me take off?"

"Unless you think you can't handle it. Now let's go get some coffee."

Thirty minutes later, heart beating fast, she taxied the ship to the end of the runway and turned. A minute later she had clearance to take off. A minute after that they were in the air and climbing over the island.

"Good?" She asked when she could get her breath.

"Perfect, baby. I'm not going to worry so much about your first day in a real Viper now."

The bond between them tightened as Kara felt the ground and then the sea slip away beneath them. She loved flying more than she loved riding the motorcycle fast. It was in her blood. She glanced at her father and realized he was smiling. Her hand was still resting on the throttle. He reached out and covered it with his and squeezed. She knew that she would remember this perfect moment between them for the rest of her life.

...

At two o'clock that afternoon she and Lee told her father goodbye. Laura was at her campaign headquarters again for the afternoon. Lee picked up Kara's bag and slung it over his shoulder.

Kara kissed her brother's cheek. "I'll see you Friday afternoon, little star-mapper." She glanced at her father. His face gave away nothing.

In the car Lee said, "You must have a lot of studying to do if you're going back this early."

"I do, but we're going somewhere first."

"Where?"

"To see Dreilide. I didn't go yesterday."

"Is he expecting you?"

Kara shrugged. "It's not like he has a full social calendar or anything. If he's busy, he can tell me. I'll come back some other time."

Lee drove to Fifty-First Street. He found a parking spot half a block away from the building Kara indicated.

"I'll wait in the car for you."

"Don't you want to meet him? Are you afraid my dad will think you're being disloyal?"

"I thought you'd want some private time with Thrace."

"I want him to meet you. I want you to meet him."

"I'll meet him then," Lee said.

Together they walked up to the third floor. Kara knocked.

It was apparent when Dreilide Thrace opened the door that he hadn't been expecting anyone. He hadn't shaved. It didn't look like he'd even combed his hair that day.

"Hi," Kara said. "If this is a bad time I can come back."

"No. Come in."

Lee followed her. "Lee Adama. I'm a friend of Kara's." He held out his hand. Thrace shifted the cigarette to his left hand and shook Lee's hand.

"He's my boyfriend," Kara said.

"The other pilot. Well, any friend of Kara's is welcome here. Have a seat."

Kara saw sheet music spread out on the little table. A cup and saucer sat there as well.

"Are we bothering you? Are you busy?"

He followed her gaze and smiled. "I think my Muse must have followed you last week and snuck in when you left. I've been working on something new. Do you want a drink? I've got whiskey or coffee."

"No thanks," Kara said. Lee shook his head.

Thrace pointed toward the sofa with his cigarette. "Sit."

Kara and Lee went to the couch and sat.

"Adama?" Thrace said. "That name's familiar. Is your father in the government, too?"

"He's the senior military advisor to the President," Kara answered before Lee could say anything.

"You're moving in high circles, aren't you?" Thrace asked.

Kara shrugged. "I'm sorry I didn't make it yesterday. Laura had an interview. I had to be there. We're going to be on the cover of some weekly magazine."

"I'll make sure I buy a copy. What's the name of it so I can be watching?"

"_The Caprican View_," Lee said.

"Are you on it, too?"

"No. It's just Laura's family," Lee answered.

Thrace got another cigarette from the pack on the little table and lit it from the butt of the one he still had in his hand.

"Those things are bad for you," Kara said.

He stubbed the butt out in the ash tray. "Tell me about it."

"My…John used to smoke. He quit. After he got shot, the doctor told him it was a _damned wise decision_ since he'd seen the inside of one of his lungs."

Thrace laughed softly. "Maybe I'll make one of those _damned wise decisions_ one day soon."

"What are you working on?" Kara pointed to the table.

Thrace walked over to the piano and sat on the stool. "It's not ready, yet."

"I've listened to _Diaspora_ a lot lately," Lee said. "It's a remarkable song."

Thrace nodded and shrugged. "My music is my voice."

"I have a great deal of respect for anyone who has your kind of talent."

Again Thrace shrugged and gestured to the small apartment. "I have so much to show for it."

"That's not the point," Kara said. "Art is not about having something to _show_ for it. It's about the creation of something beautiful and timeless that inspires others."

Thrace smiled at her. "I didn't know they taught _Art Appreciation_ at the military Academy."

"They don't. Lee took me to the art museum last week. We looked at a lot of paintings…and some statues, too." She glanced sideways at Lee and tried not to smile.

"I wish I had a cubit for every time your mother and I went to the Colonial Gallery on Picon while we were in high school. We'd go sometimes and spend the day. After her father was killed, she never wanted to go again. Something died in her that day. It never came back."

"You told me."

"Does he know you've been coming here to see me?"

"Who?" Kara asked, although she was sure she knew who he meant.

"Your father."

"Yeah."

"And he's okay with it?"

"We've talked about it. He's sorry for…the grief he caused you."

Thrace shrugged. "If it hadn't been him, it would have been somebody else. She and I were…I guess a playwright would say we were star-crossed lovers."

"We read a play last term about a couple like that. I didn't like it."

"It sells, though. One of my most popular songs is based on the legend of Hero and Leander."

Once again Kara felt the need to get out of the small apartment. She stood. "I've got to get back to the Academy. I've got to study tonight."

Lee stood also. "I'm glad I got to meet you, Mr. Thrace. I admire your work and your talent."

Dreilide Thrace looked at Lee and then at Kara. He smiled. "Did you have to pay him to say that?"

"No, but I did have to promise him I'd go back to the art museum with him."

Thrace laughed and then began to cough. He reached for the glass of whiskey.

When he finally stopped coughing, he rasped, "Your mother didn't have much of a sense of humor. I'm glad to see you've got one."

"Do you have a phone?" Kara asked.

"Somewhere around here."

"Will you give me your number?"

He went to the table and tore the corner off a page of sheet music. He picked up his pencil and wrote the number. Kara took the pencil from his hand and wrote her number on top of the page.

"I can't have my phone at the Academy, but I'll answer it most weekends."

"I'm not here much at night. You'll have to call during the day."

Lee walked to the door. "I'll wait outside for you, Kara."

Kara looked down at the pages of sheet music, at the penciled lines of notes. "I'm glad your Muse came back."

He smiled again. "So am I.

"I'll try to come back next weekend, but I might not make it. It's Lee's birthday."

"What did you get him?"

"A print of _Posiden's Daughter_. It's his favorite painting."

"The sea nymph. A wise choice."

Kara took a deep breath. "When did you know that John was my father?"

Dreilide Thrace took a drag from his cigarette. He turned away from her and blew out the smoke. "When she told me she was pregnant."

Kara turned around until she could get herself under control.

She felt his hand lightly on her shoulder. "I loved you anyway. I still do."

She nodded and went to the door. "Take care of that cough."

Lee was standing in the hall. He took her hand. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm glad he's composing again. There were a lot of pages of music on the table/"

"You know why, don't you?" Lee said gently.

"He said his Muse is back. She found him again."

"Yeah, she did, didn't she?"

TBC…


	55. The Prolmar Sector

Chapter 55

The Prolmar Sector

_During the fifth year of Cylon occupation, information that shocked many Capricans was revealed by the government. Several settlements of humans in the cold northern region of Tauron had survived the Cylon attack. They were living as they had for centuries. This news sparked hope that there were survivors on the other planets, but numerous entreaties by citizens for the Cylons to allow expeditions to the other Colonies were routinely denied by Cavil. _

_-Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War _

Sharon was not in their room when Kara got back to the Academy on Sunday afternoon. She unpacked her duffel bag, but wasn't ready to start studying so she walked over to Karl's dorm and asked the next cadet who entered if he would ask Karl to come down to the lobby. Kara had a feeling about why Maggie had turned Zak down for a date to the concert the night before. She wanted to find out if she was right.

Karl came down with his coat. "Let's walk over to the student union and get something to drink."

They started across campus. "Were you studying?" Kara asked.

"Trying to."

"Is something wrong?"

"My ex-girlfriend is a Cylon. Why would you think something is wrong?"

"Frak, don't bite my head off. I was just asking."

"Sorry."

"Is that why you dated Maggie last night?"

"Damn. She didn't waste any time running her mouth, did she? And it wasn't a date. I just went back to the old apartment with her to visit Jared. I hadn't seen him in months. I never even touched Maggie."

"Don't blame Maggs. She didn't tell me. I couldn't think of but one reason she would turn Zak down for a date, especially a date to go hear _White Hot Knights_."

"Is that what you and Lee did last night? Damn, if I'd known that, I would have dated Zak. They're one of my favorite groups ever."

"You're not Zak's type. How is Jared?"

"He's let his hair grow and he's got a skuzzy-looking little beard and mustache. You should have heard Maggie giving him hell about it. She asked him if he was into street-person chic."

"I ran into a mutual friend a couple of weeks ago. He told me Jared wasn't dating the girl from work anymore."

"There was some skank at the apartment last night. Jared and I went into the kitchen to get a couple of beers and he told me he'd met her in a bar. He's just dating her because she's hot in bed."

Kara snorted. "Good. I'm glad he's getting what he wants."

"He asked about you. Jared still has it bad for you."

Kara shrugged. "He needs to find a nice girl and move on. So you mean Maggs didn't drag you into her old bedroom and take advantage of your…horniness?"

"Man, you have a way with words. No and no. She said we were just friends now."

"Karl, that's a crock. She's still got a thing for you."

"Well I've still got a thing for Sharon. Maggie knows it."

"Are you giving up on you and Sharon?"

"We're not dating, but…Friday night we walked down to McGee's and got something to eat. We sat and talked. I walked with her back to the dorm. I can handle that."

"You don't call that a date? I call that a date. "

"I didn't touch her."

"So a _date_ has to involve touching?"

"Damn, Kara, call it whatever you want. If calling it a _date_ makes you feel good, then Sharon and I went on a date."

"You are in some kind of bad mood today. I'm starting to wish Maggs had taken care of your problem. Then maybe you wouldn't be biting my head off."

"Oh, ha ha. Now who's trying to be funny?"

"What did you and Sharon talk about?"

"Nothing. Classes. Stuff."

"Nothing personal?"

"No. I'm not ready for that, yet."

They got to the student union and went inside. Karl threw his coat on a small table near the jukebox, went to the drink machine and fed it some cubits.

When he got back, he put one of the drinks in front of Kara and asked. "What else did you do this weekend besides go to the best concert in Caprica City this year?"

"My dad and I took the ship up this morning. I got to take off."

"No kidding? That hardly seems fair. You've already got a rep as the hottest Viper sim jock in our class, and now you're getting to really fly."

Kara grinned. "Yeah, well I hear that most of the others think my dad is just giving me grades."

"You'll show them when you get to Flight School. What else did you do?"

"Yesterday my dad went with me to buy Lee's birthday gift and then he took me to see the Oracle."

"I thought you said he didn't want you going back to see her."

"She's been sick. My dad gave me some cubits because I had spent all of mine on Lee's present. I gave them to her friend. I didn't go in. She's better, though. Her friend got a doctor to come see her and he got her some medicine. I'll probably go back to see her in a couple of weeks and take her some more cubits."

"Yeah, well, I guess helping her out when she's sick is one thing. Believing that crap she tells you is another."

"You're entitled to your opinion. I'm entitled to mine. And if you want my opinion, you're making a big mistake starting to hang out with Maggie again. She's not going to be satisfied with _being friends_. She's going to make a move on you so be ready for it."

Karl shook his head. "I think you're wrong. So are you and Lee still abstaining?"

"We almost didn't make it this weekend. I don't think it's going to work. We're going to talk about it again next weekend."

Karl looked at his drink can as he pushed it around on the table. "You tell me how that little _talk_ turns out. It's hard to go backward when you feel that way about somebody."

"Like you feel about Sharon?"

"My parents and my little sister are dead because of…her kind. What would they think about me…having feelings for a Cylon?"

"I don't think you should look at it that way. This is about _your life_."

"What happens when we destroy them like you say Commander Adama is planning? Don't you think Sharon will hate me then? If we kill her people or her race or whatever you want to call them, don't you think she'll hate me?"

Kara sat for a long time before she said, "I don't know how to answer that. Maybe she'll feel like we're even."

"You don't really believe that, do you?"

"I really don't know, Karl. I guess we won't know until it happens."

...

Lee stood in front of the mirror in his bathroom and finished fastening the sash of his dress gray uniform. He dampened his fingers and slicked down an unruly tuft of hair. The ceremony promoting his father to Admiral was being held at ten o'clock that morning at a room in the capitol building. He and Zak had been invited. So had Laura and John.

The President himself was going to do the honors. Lee had met Adar twice before, at Laura and John's wedding reception where Adar and his wife had put in a brief appearance and also at Carolanne Adama's funeral service where Adar had come alone, or as alone as the President could be with his ever-present bodyguards. On both occasions Lee had done no more than speak to the President and exchange a few words.

The idea of being in the same room with the President of the Colonies had seemed almost surreal to him. It was four years since the President had governed anything except one Colony, although there was talk now about humans surviving in a group of small settlements in Tauron's northern region that had escaped the rest of that colony's destruction. When Tom Zarek's men had arrived with the specially modified centurions to resume tylium mining, they had found a group of Tauron natives who had survived the attack and who were living as they had done for centuries on fish and game and the hardy vegetables and crops they could raise during Tauron's short northern summer.

When approached by Zarek, the natives had shown no interest in participating in the government of the Colonies. They wanted nothing from the Colonial government, or so said Zarek. But apparently he had seen an opportunity. The last time his father had mentioned Tom Zarek to Lee, it had been to say that Zarek had become the self-appointed spokesman of the Taurons and wanted a seat on the Quorum of Twelve as their representative. The last elected delegate had been in Tauron's capital city during the Cylon attack and had perished along with all the residents. Zarek had decided that the Taurons were being governed without representation. President Adar thought _governed_ was the wrong choice of a word since they had only recently become aware of the survivors. Nevertheless, Zarek was persisting.

Bill had told Lee that the Quorum, reduced to the seven delegates who had been on Caprica when their planets had been nuked, was a group in name only that had been allowed to remain intact as part of the treaty negotiation. It gave the citizens of Caprica the appearance of a still-functioning body, but in reality it had no power. They still met regularly and discussed issues, but Cavil always had the only vote that counted. Bill thought Zarek wanted to change that. Although Bill had never mentioned his plan to Zarek, Lee knew Zarek was smart enough to know something was going on. He was banking on the eventuality of Caprica being free and the Quorum having power once again. He wanted to be part of that power.

President Adar was still considering Zarek's request. Bill didn't think Adar would ever grant it, but he didn't want to lose Zarek's cooperation in mining the tylium, either. Adar was simply going to delay until the next President took office and right now it looked like that would be Laura Roslin.

The door buzzer sounded. Zak. They were riding together. Lee went into the living room and pressed the outer door release. In less than a minute Zak was at his apartment door.

"Ready big bro? I parked on the street."

"Let me get my duty blues. I don't want to sit through War College this afternoon in my dress uniform. I get enough grief as it is because of Dad and his position in the government."

"I'm sure Dad is disappointed that I'm not wearing one of those uniforms, too."

"I think he's realized that not everyone is cut out to be in the service." Lee eyed his brother's nice suit. "It seems like you've found your niche with the PR job."

Zak shrugged. "Come on. We don't want to be late. I don't even know where this place is."

"Don't worry. Dad gave me directions," Lee smiled. "If I can read them. I think Dad's been writing too many notes in his secret code or maybe that's just his handwriting. He should have drawn me a map."

...

The private line on Laura's office phone buzzed. She recognized the number and picked up immediately. "Where are you? It's after 9:30. We need to start walking over right now."

"I'm stuck in traffic," John said. There's a wreck on the I-6. Traffic's moving, but it's crawling. You go ahead. I'll come straight to the ceremony."

Laura left her office. "I'm on my way to Bill Adama's promotion ceremony," she told Tory and Billy as she left. "I won't be back until after lunch."

She hadn't seen Bill in several weeks. He had not been to the apartment since she had announced her bid for the Presidency and they had not met for tea, either. Bill was the one who said that he thought their meetings might be misinterpreted by the press. After D'Anna Biers' questions the previous Saturday, Laura had to agree that he was probably right. There was no aspect of her private life that would not come under scrutiny now, and the last thing she needed was a rumor getting started that she and Bill Adama were conducting an improper relationship. She had to do everything in her power to assure the press and the public that she was the model politician, wife and mother.

To her surprise, Bill had not put Fiona Nagala on the invitation list. Their relationship had cooled and Laura wasn't sure why. She had talked to Fiona several times in the last two weeks and Fiona hadn't mentioned Bill at all. They had talked about Braedon and about Laura's bid for the Presidency. Laura had expected Fiona to casually say that she and Bill had been to dinner or to a party or to mention upcoming plans as she had done in the past, but Fiona had been silent on the matter. Laura wondered if something had happened or if the relationship had simply run its course.

She arrived at the room where the ceremony would take place. Two of the President's guards were already stationed outside the door. She stopped and spoke politely to each of them. In less than a year they might be her guards. She knew their jobs were not to socialize, but a warm smile and a few words of greeting could never hurt.

She entered the room. Several dozen chairs had been set up in six rows with a podium at the front of the room. The Presidential seal was on the podium.

Bill stood at the front talking to Saul Tigh. She walked up to them.

"Hello, Bill. Hello, Colonel Tigh."

"Madame Secretary," Tigh said.

She caught the faint whiff of alcohol. The colonel had gotten an early start today. She turned to Bill.

"Congratulations. I can't think of anyone who deserves this promotion more than you do."

Bill nodded. "Thank you, Laura. Where's John?"

"Stuck in traffic. He'll be here as soon as he can."

She saw Bill's eyes shift to the door of the room and glanced around. Lee and Zak had come in. They walked over.

"I see you found the place," Bill said to them.

"It's a good thing Lee was navigating," Zak said. "I don't think I'd ever have found it."

"It's all the one-way streets around the White Zone," Tigh said. "I took a transport. Of course finding this room was about as hard."

_Especially when your judgment is slightly impaired_, Laura thought.

The President's press secretary walked in with several assistants and the camera crew. They began setting up to focus on the podium.

"He's on a tight schedule this morning so we want to start right on time. Commander, you'll sit here. The rest of you, please take seats."

Laura glanced at her watch. Five minutes until ten. Several other Admirals who were stationed at Fleet Headquarters walked in and sat down. She saw Agent Darren and Major Parker and a number of officers she didn't know. Cavil was conspicuously absent as was that little weasel Aaron Doral. She knew they had not been invited, but she wouldn't have put it past them to show up anyway.

The press secretary beckoned to Laura. She got up and walked over.

"Madame Secretary, Commander Adama has indicated that he would like for you to pin one of the new collar insignia pins onto his uniform while the President pins the other one."

Bill's eyes met hers briefly. "I consider this an honor," she said to him.

He smiled. "I can't think of anyone who's better suited for the job than the current President and the next President. I'd like for my sons to sit on the front row, too."

It took less than a minute for everyone to get moved and seated. The press secretary glanced at her watch just as the door opened and a bodyguard walked in. He looked around and then stepped back. President Adar entered and walked down the short aisle. He went straight to the podium. He was speaking without his teleprompter, but he did remove several note cards from his jacket pocket and place them on the podium.

"Good morning, everyone. This is one of the more pleasant tasks of being President," he said to the two dozen people in the room, "getting to preside at the promotion of a man I've come to regard with the utmost respect and in whose abilities I have the highest confidence and trust."

Laura smiled. Bill looked decidedly uncomfortable hearing himself praised in that kind of way. He deserved this promotion, though, and so much more. He had devoted most of himself including his personal life for the last four years to serving Adar and formulating the plan to rid them of the Cylons.

Adar continued. "Twenty-five years ago a young lieutenant graduated from the Academy and began training to be a Viper pilot. That young man was William Adama, call sign Husker, and that was the start of a distinguished military career that has brought him to the place he is today."

Adar shuffled his notes and then looked up at them. "You know, getting Bill Adama to tell me anything about himself is one of the hardest tasks I've faced as President."

There were some chuckles around the room as Laura thought of Bill's modesty. He didn't like talking about himself. He much preferred acting to talking.

"But fortunately there were others who weren't so reticent to talk about someone the crew of the _Galactica_ affectionately refers to as the Old Man."

Adar went on to list the highlights of Bill's career starting with his combat record during the First Cylon War. He spoke of Bill's rise through the ranks, his first command, and his love of being on a battlestar.

"I've kept him on Caprica for the last four years and I've come to lean on his expertise and good judgment in every military decision that I make. I also feel privileged to call him a friend. Ladies and gentlemen, it is my honor today, as Commander in Chief, to promote William Adama to the rank of Admiral in the Colonial Fleet."

As everyone applauded, Adar stepped away from the podium and one of his assistants handed him the pins. Laura and Bill both rose and walked forward. They turned to face the small gathering. Laura noticed that sometime during Adar's speech, John had come in and sat at the back of the room.

Bill kept his eyes straight ahead as Laura carefully put the pin on his left collar while Adar put the pin on his right. Several times her fingers brushed the skin of his neck. She saw him swallow.

"Congratulations, _Admiral_ Adama," President Adar shook his hand.

"Congratulations, Bill," Laura said. She took the hand that Adar had just released. Bill squeezed it tightly. She could tell that he was far more emotional than he wanted anyone to see.

Adar looked at the assembled group. "Thank you all for coming today. Please stay as long as you'd like and talk to Bill. I have some trade union delegates waiting to speak with me."

He left the room, his bodyguards following. The rest of those in the room stood. Lee walked over and shook his father's hand. Bill surprised everyone including his son by pulling Lee close in a brief hug. Then he did the same thing to Zak. Yes, Bill was definitely more emotional that his stoic exterior showed.

Laura stepped back so others could get to Bill and offer their congratulations. John walked up and put his arm around her, squeezing the top of her shoulder gently.

"I'm sorry I was late."

She smiled up at him. "You got here. That's what's important."

"Are we still set for lunch?"

"Yes, as soon as Bill thinks he can leave. I told the hostess at the Tea Room anytime between eleven and eleven thirty. I reserved a table for six...only I thought it would be Fiona instead of Colonel Tigh. Bill didn't invite her. I'm surprised."

John shrugged.

"Do you know what's going on?"

"Bill and I rarely discuss our personal lives. I think the last time he said anything personal to me was to congratulate me when Braedon was born. We talked about having sons. I told him I hoped Braedon grows up to be as good a man as Lee. All Bill said was that he couldn't claim much credit for Lee being the man he is today."

When everyone had left but Tigh and Zak and Lee, John and Laura walked over to Bill. John shook his hand. "You tell me when you want me to start callin you _admiral_ instead of Bill."

"I'll do that," Bill said. "How are things progressing at the Academy?"

"This class has some potentially very good pilots, at least in the simulator."

"Including Kara," Lee said.

"Especially Kara," John said and smiled.

They all walked to the Tea Room. Their table was ready. Bill sat on one end and Zak on the other. Laura and John were on one side and Lee and Colonel Tigh were on the other. They talked about a number of things as they ate. Bill and Tigh reminisced about being together during the First Cylon War. John and Bill talked about flying Vipers during the last years of that war. They talked about Laura's bid for the Presidency.

Everything went well until after the meal when Colonel Tigh returned from his second trip to the restroom. Laura wondered if he really had to go or if the trips were an excuse to use the flask he had with him. She had seen the outline of it under his uniform jacket.

Tigh looked at John and asked, "Is that daughter of yours ready to give up her enemy friends yet?"

Bill said, "Saul, this is not the time or the place."

John put his cup of coffee down. "I don't mind answering the colonel. The answer is _no_."

"Do _you_ know who they are?"

"I do."

Bill's tone was stronger. "Saul, that's enough."

Colonel Tigh ignored him. "And you, Laura? Are you involved in this conspiracy of silence, too?"

John said, "No, Laura is not involved. She doesn't know anything about it."

Bill said, "Colonel, am I going to have to make it an order?"

"They're withholding critical information, for the gods' sakes. How can you let them get away with that? Why aren't they both in the brig?"

"It was my decision. Let it go."

Tigh stood. "I need a drink."

"You mean _another_ one." John commented. "That flask must empty by now."

Two spots of color appeared in Tigh's cheeks. "Are you implying something?"

"I'm not _implying_ anything. I'm saying it."

"You want to step outside and say that to me, _Major_?"

Bill also stood. "Let's take a walk, Saul."

For a moment Laura didn't think the colonel was going to comply, but he apparently thought about it, turned and walked ahead of Bill out of the Tea Room.

"What the hell was that all about?" Zak asked.

Laura said, "John, you should not have taunted him about the flask or his drinking."

"I know he's Bill's best friend, but he's a drunk who doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut."

"All the more reason you should not have said anything to him. How long do you think it would have taken somebody to call the press if you had stepped outside with Colonel Tigh? How many mobile phone cameras do you think would have been at work?"

"You should listen to your wife, John," Lee said. "She's right. You might have made your debut on the web punching out a superior officer."

"Will somebody _please_ tell me what the hell is going on?" Zak asked again.

"Military stuff," Lee answered.

"I need to get back to the Academy," John said.

"Can I hitch a ride with you?" Lee asked.

"Sure," John said. "I'm sorry, Laura, but I won't have the colonel talking about Kara like that. I trust her gut feeling on this and so does Bill. It's none of Tigh's business."

Laura put her hand on his arm, leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "I'll see you at home tonight. We can talk about this later."

"Are you staying?" John asked her.

"I'm going to finish my cup of tea before I go back to the office."

"I'm heading out, too," Zak said.

A moment later Laura found herself alone at the table. Bill walked back in shortly after the others had left. He sat down and signaled the waitress for another cup of coffee.

"I apologize for Saul," he said. "I put him in a transport and sent him home."

"I apologize for John," Laura said. "He's very defensive of Kara."

"Ellen's been misbehaving again. Word got back to Tigh."

"When is Ellen not misbehaving? Who is it this time?"

"I don't know. Ellen's never been very discriminating in her choice of a bed partner…or very discreet, either."

"I hope our lunch didn't ruin your day…Admiral. You have every reason to be proud."

Bill reached out like he was going to squeeze her hand and then seemed to think better of it. "Lunch was a thoughtful and touching gesture on your part. Thank you for thinking of me."

Laura smiled. "I will exploit you shamelessly in my campaign. I will expect you to make at least a dozen speeches on my behalf to your colleagues."

Bill smiled, too. "You know I will."

"It was a joke, Bill. I know you're far too busy."

"Not quite as busy as I was."

"Meaning?"

He looked surprised. "You haven't talked to Fiona?"

"Not about you."

"We're _taking a break to sort things out_ to use her terminology."

"I'm sorry. What happened? Or is that none of my business?"

"I don't think anything _happened_. I enjoy her company, but she was pushing too hard. I'm not ready for the level of commitment she wanted."

"That level being?"

"I'm not sure. She wanted more of my time than I'm able to give her."

"That's…unfortunate," Laura said.

"It's probably for the best. In ten months I'll be back on the _Galactica_. The ticking clock will be at the zero hour. If something were to go wrong, I won't be leaving anyone behind."

"You've got to promise me that you won't do anything unless you're sure we will win."

"We're going to win. Why do you think I've waited so long to do this?"

"You could wait longer. We could train more pilots."

"It wouldn't matter. We don't have any more Vipers and Raptors. When this year's class finishes Flight School, we'll have a pilot for every available ship we've got and a few to spare."

"Won't they need more experience…more training?"

"Trust me, Laura. Flying around doing the little exercises that the Cylons allow our pilots to do is not the kind of experience they need. They're actually getting more combat training in the simulators than they'll ever get in the sky above Caprica."

"Is that what John is doing…teaching them combat maneuvers?"

"Among other things."

"What other things?"

"He hasn't talked to you about my latest hare-brained idea?"

"No. That's probably my fault. Nearly all of my time is devoted to my son and my campaign and my job." Laura felt her cheeks grow warm. "I've tried to do better lately, but I'm afraid John…doesn't get a lot of my attention…not nearly as much as he deserves for all the help he gives me."

"I've taken some of his time lately. He's doing some research for me."

"So that's why he's been on his laptop so many nights these last weeks. What's the nature of your project?"

"He's been doing some research. He'll be able to explain it better than I can." Bill finished his coffee. "I hate to leave, but I need to get back to the office. I'm expecting another communication from Tom Zarek."

"An issue with the tylium mining?"

"No. That's still going well. Zarek wants me to take his case to the President for allowing him to represent Tauron on the Quorum of Twelve. If Adar doesn't make a decision about it, you'll probably have to."

"Even if he weren't a convicted criminal, how can Tom Zarek expect to represent Tauron? He's a native of Sagittaron."

"Adar promised to wipe the slate clean of his criminal past if he would head the tylium mining mission. He'll get a full pardon."

Laura snapped her fingers. "And just like that a convicted terrorist who destroyed a government building on Sagittaron and took hundreds of lives becomes an upstanding citizen with no criminal record. I knew Adar had cut a deal with him. I thought it only involved a large number of cubits changing hands."

"Zarek spent twenty years in prison for his act of terrorism. That's almost half of his lifetime."

"Don't forget what he and his men did when the _Astral Queen_ crashed. One of them killed the pilot and of course there's the matter of hijacking John's ship."

Bill took a deep breath. "Adar knows all that. He made the call. He felt like the tylium for our battlestars was worth it. So do I. You know as well as I do that sometimes a leader has to make a decision that goes against the grain for the ultimate benefit of the many. Granting Zarek a complete pardon in return for his help in ridding Caprica of the Cylons was just such a decision. It was a tough call, but you would have done the same thing."

"Did it have to be Tom Zarek, though? Why couldn't someone else have headed that mission?"

"Because the prisoners who volunteered for it would listen to Zarek. It was the best option at the time. It's better than having him out of prison and leading a radical band of terrorists. You of all people should understand that."

Laura smiled slightly. "The devil you know…keep your friends close and your enemies closer. How many more clichés fit this situation?"

Bill smiled also. "Let's go. I'll walk you back to your office. Tom Zarek's call can wait. I wouldn't want him to get the idea I'm _anxious_ to help him."

"You are coming to Lee's birthday party at Channing's on Friday night, aren't you? John has reserved their back dining room. Kara is inviting several of their mutual friends. John called Zak and invited him."

"I'll be there. Is this a surprise?"

"Of course," Laura answered.

"Twenty-two years. Where did the time go?"

Laura thought of her own son. "It passes too quickly, doesn't it?"

...

Kara put her duffel bag in the trunk of her father's car on Friday after lunch.

"Are you sure everything is ready?" She asked as soon as she got into the car.

"I went by Channing's on the way home last night. The room will be ready. They're even going to put up the _Happy Birthday_ banner."

"You picked up Lee's birthday gift from the art gallery?"

"On my way home last night, too. That was my first stop."

"And the cake?"

"That was my next stop. Channing's was my third."

Kara grinned. "What would I do without you?"

"What are Dad's for but to make life easier for their daughters?"

"I'm going to wait to give Lee his present until we get back to the apartment tonight."

"Why?"

"Because he won't be expecting it. He'll think the surprise party is all I'm doing for him."

Her father smiled. "I'm sure the fact that your sea nymph is naked and looks like you wouldn't have anything to do with it."

Kara ignored him. "Is the commander…sorry, the admiral…going to be there?"

"That's what he told Laura on Tuesday. Zak?"

"Zak and whoever he brings. I told him he could bring a date. Karl's coming. I told him to bring a date, too, but I don't know if he will."

"He and Sharon are still broken up?"

"Sort of. They're going out on non-dates."

"What are non-dates?"

"Hanging out together but not touching."

"Kind of like you and Lee right now. Is tonight going to be another _non-date_for you two?"

"Oh, funny. I asked Sharon this week about how that _accessing memories_ thing works with the Cylons. She told me they can't tune into each others' thoughts unless they've got their hands in some kind of conductive goo on the base star. She called it _the datastream_. It sounds beyond weird to me and a little gross, but that's how she learned what the other Sharon knew and what she had done. I think the Cavil on the basestar made the downloaded Boomer stick her hand in the goo so this Sharon could read her thoughts."

"You're right, baby. That sounds really weird. Sharon doesn't mind you asking her questions?"

"This is the only one I've asked her so far. I'm working my way up to the tough ones."

"You need to be careful, Kara. You don't know where she'll draw the line at being your friend when it comes to betraying her…the other Cylons."

"I know. Hey, you missed our exit."

"We're going somewhere else first. I've spent hours every night this week looking at the crew lists of the only expedition that went to the Prolmar Sector and returned. A second expedition went five years later, but it was lost."

"What do you mean _lost_?"

"It's listed as lost because it never returned. Both expeditions were sent from Libran. When the second one didn't return after a year, no one, including the government, was willing to mount another expedition. They'd already spent half a billion cubits on the two expeditions and had almost nothing to show for it."

"So where are we going?"

"I didn't have any idea I would get lucky, but I did. There was a young ensign on the first expedition who is still alive and living here in the city with her daughter. We're going to see her. I'd like to talk to her."

"You're kidding. I thought you said nobody had been there in seventy-five years. What is she…like about a hundred years old?"

"The first and only expedition to return was sixty-two years ago. She was a nineteen-year-old ensign at the time. She's eighty-one years old now, but her daughter says her mind is still sharp. She told me I could drop by today and talk to her mother."

"This will be so cool. What's her name?"

"Irina Hoshi. Her grandson Louis is a junior officer on the _Pegasus_."

Twenty minutes later they pulled up in front of an apartment building in a nice but older section of town. Her father had to circle the block before he found a parking place. They walked to the building and were let in by a doorman after John identified himself and the doorman called upstairs.

Irina Hoshi's daughter answered the door. She looked to Kara like she was in her fifties. She introduced herself as Nadia Hilliard.

"My mother has been looking forward to your visit all morning, Major Gallagher. She has very few living friends. There's no one left from the exploration ship she was on."

"We really appreciate your mother agreeing to see us today."

Nadia led them into a nicely furnished living room filled with antiques. Irina Hoshi sat in a chair by the large window. She was a small woman dressed in dark slacks and a blue blouse. Her white hair was clipped up in the back.

"My mother loves to sit in the sun."

Irina Hoshi said, "My eyesight might not be that good now, but my hearing is fine. You don't need to talk about me like I'm not in the room."

Nadia gave Kara and her father a look that said _oops_.

"Mother, this is Major John Gallagher and his daughter Kara."

"Gallagher," Irina said. "You're married to Laura Roslin."

John smiled. "Guilty as charged."

"She's going to be elected. She's got my vote. High time we had a woman President. All men have ever done is make war and Cylons."

"Mother, Major Gallagher is here to ask you some questions about your trip to the Prolmar Sector."

"You've already told me why he's here," Irina said.

"Please, Major, have a seat. I'm going to make some tea. You both drink tea, don't you?"

John nodded. "We do." After they sat on the couch, John said to Irina, "Your ship was called the _Hyperion_, was it not?"

Irina Hoshi's voice softened. "She was a beautiful ship. Even today she would be called beautiful. And brimming with scientific instruments. We were scientists and explorers, you see."

"What happened to the ship?" Kara asked.

"Lost. Five years after our expedition another one went. It never returned. I was pregnant with our first child or Joshua and I would have been lost with her. We both wanted to go back."

"Where was it lost? How?" Kara asked again.

"Why in the Prolmar Sector, of course. Or somewhere between here and there. In those days our FTL drives were primitive compared to the ones you have today. And far less reliable...or I should say the computers that plotted the jumps. It took half a dozen jumps to get from Libran to there. That's why there were no more expeditions. All those scientists and millions of cubits vanished like smoke. It was too dangerous. The government called a halt to it. They would rather spend our taxes buying more of those metal war machines. Look what that got us."

"What can you tell me about the Prolmar Sector?" John asked.

"It had a yellow star like our sun, smaller and younger. We found the fourth planet early in the year we were there. It was the only one that was habitable for humans. It had abundant fresh water, one large continent and two smaller ones. There was a chain of active volcanoes in the ocean that had created a series of small islands. It was heavily forested. There were a variety of bacteria in the soil and in the water and abundant plant and animal life. The north and south polar regions were heavily glaciated. The climate of the planet was colder than Libran…much more like the climate of Caprica. It's all in the report. Surely you've read the report."

Nadia brought a tray with cups and a pot of tea. She poured tea for all of them before she took a cup over to the table beside her mother.

John said, "I've searched the Academy's archives. I couldn't find a report. All I found were crew manifests."

"That's odd," Irina said. "A very lengthy report was made. My husband Joshua contributed to it."

"I even got my wife's assistant to check all the government data bases. He couldn't find anything on the Prolmar Sector at all. If anything was there, it's been deleted, including the jump coordinates it took to get there."

"I don't understand. We spent nearly a year exploring the fourth planet in the Prolmar Sector."

"I don't doubt your word at all, Mrs. Hoshi. Unfortunately there's nothing in writing to verify that except a crew manifest in the Academy's library. It's not indexed under anything to do with the Prolmar Sector. I found it under the ship's name."

"The _Hyperion_ was too large to land on the planet. It remained in orbit and we used smaller transport crafts to go back and forth. We set up a large base camp near fresh water. The robots cleared a better landing area for us so the larger transports could bring more supplies per trip."

"Robots," Kara said. "You mean you had Cylons with you?"

"We didn't call them Cylons then. They were just old metal robots, older than those being used elsewhere at the time. They had been scheduled for…recycling when they were given a last job on our scientific expedition."

"What do you mean by _recycling_?"

Irina's pale blue eyes took on a faraway look for a moment. "I think they were going to be…broken down for parts…or melted for scrap if they were too worn out. They were old, you see, obsolete. I'm afraid some of our mercenary guards treated them very badly. They didn't look like the metal monsters of today. They had heads shaped like ours and faces with eyes like a doll's. When I saw them around camp, their eyes always looked…sad."

"Mother," Nadia said, "machines can't be happy or sad. They're just machines."

Irina smiled slightly and Kara thought her smile was sad. "Not any more. They're like humans now, aren't they? Happy, sad…_vengeful_."

Kara and John glanced at each other. "What were your duties and responsibilities on the expedition?" John asked.

"I was a communications technician. For the first three months I stayed on the ship, but," Irina's voice softened again, "I was in love, you see, with one of the young scientists, Joshua Hoshi. He found a way to use my skills on the planet's surface. I became his scribe. I recorded everything. It was from his notes that Joshua made his final entries for the report. The original copy was stored on Libran in the government archives…but of course those archives are nothing by ashes now."

Kara noticed the slim gold band that Irina Hoshi still wore on her ring finger. "How long were you married?"

"Fifty-one years in this life. We'll be together soon."

"Now, Mother. No more talk like that."

"I've waited a long time for someone to ask me about our expedition into the Prolmar Sector. Nadia, go into my bedroom and look in the bottom right-hand drawer of my dresser. There are two journals there, bound in what looks like brown leather. It's not real leather. It's a much tougher synthetic. Give them to Major Gallagher."

"You're giving your journals to my dad?" Kara asked. "Why?"

Irina smiled. "It's not a diary, my dear, although your father may find a young woman's thoughts straying occasionally. So please, Major Gallagher, ignore the hearts with certain initials inside that you might find in the margins of several pages."

Nadia returned to the room with two books tied together by an aging and faded blue ribbon. "Both of them, Mother? You're sure?"

"Yes, both. You see, Major, some on the expedition thought that we had found the planet Kobol, some of the more religious ones, anyway. They pointed to ruins that were photographed on flyovers of the planet's main city. They argued quietly among themselves. I knew nothing of Kobol except what I was taught as a child…that Kobol was the home of the gods, a way of explaining how humans came to be in our solar system on twelve planets simultaneously with no evidence of an evolutionary past. Joshua said they were wrong but for scientific reasons. He said the distinguishing feature of Kobol's main city was a large temple complex as evidenced by drawings in the scrolls of Pythia. The ruins we found had no such temple complex, only one temple, therefore he said the planet could not be Kobol."

"But others disagreed," John said.

"Vehemently. They argued that Pythia could not be taken literally, that Pythia lived long after the exodus from Kobol and could not have known what the temple complex looked like. They pointed out that the drawing of the temple in Pythia strongly resembles an ancient structure outside of Delphi. These same scientists and archeologists were the ones who organized the next expedition… as it turns out, the last expedition. After they were lost, interest in exploring the Prolmar Sector ceased because the money was being spent elsewhere. I always wondered who was correct. Had we found Kobol or not?"

"Did you ever visit the ruined city?" Kara asked.

"No, but Joshua did. There are some sketches he made of carvings on the walls of a shrine they found outside the city…not quite large enough to be called a grand temple, but still a structure of importance, a ring of immense stone pillars, older than the city by hundreds of years, perhaps the first effort of the settlers on the planet, their homage to the gods who had brought them there."

Kara's curiosity was whetted. "Didn't he take any pictures, any photographs of the structure?"

"Of course. He wasn't allowed to keep them. They would have taken the sketches and my journals, too, if they had known about them."

"_They_?" John asked.

"The expedition's mercenaries. It was clear from the beginning that the government scientists were under their control. They worked for the consortium of investors. Most of them were ex-military, you know. They could be quite scary and intimidating. They supervised everything we did."

"You didn't find any humans still living on the planet, did you?"

"No. That would have settled the matter right away. We found gravesites marked by small carved stones, ancient ones, and the scientists who went to the ruins of the city found tombs. There are some sketches in the journals that Joshua made at the tombs as well. The ruined city was many thousands of years old based on carbon dating of the bones. It was hard to determine what happened to the people. One group thought they died out suddenly for some reason, perhaps a plague. Others thought they had simply left. There was no evidence of a natural disaster or a man-made one, either…no evidence of radiation or the kind of massive destruction that comes with a war. It was almost as if everyone turned out the lights one day and left the planet."

"What did your scientists estimate their level of technology was?" John asked.

"Quite high. Outside the ruins of the city was the ruin of what could only have been a spaceport. The inhabitants of the planet traveled among the stars. Just how far they traveled is still anybody's guess. There are many other solar systems beyond the Prolmar Sector. Our galaxy is a vast place, an immense place. But you both know that."

Kara and her father looked at each other again. "It's hard to believe that exploration of the planet was just dropped," John finally said. "Especially considering what you found."

"Someone decided that the planet's meager mineral riches were not sufficient to justify the cost of further expeditions. It was five years before the scientists and archeologists convinced the government to sponsor another exploration. I was married to Joshua by then and pregnant with our first son. Joshua wanted to go. I begged him not to leave me for the year that the mission would be gone. I used to thank the gods nightly that he listened to me. The others never returned. The government refused to fund any type of rescue mission. There were rumors that an inter-colonial war was brewing. Our government had more pressing needs. They were buying newer model Cylons, soldier models to add to Libran's defenses."

"But Kobol is a sacred place," Kara said. "Why wouldn't the government want to explore it?"

"It's a sacred, _mythological_ place," Irina said. "Perhaps the people who make those kinds of decisions thought it should remain a myth. All religions have their element of mythology, you know. They depend on it. We accept by faith, not by scientific proof."

"We've taken enough of your time this afternoon," John said. "You've been very kind to talk to us."

"I always wondered if someone would show any interest in our expedition one day. Might I ask why you're asking about it now?"

"There's some renewed interest in the Prolmar Sector," John said.

"Ah, you really can't say."

"I really can't say," John smiled.

"There's something near the beginning of the first journal that might be of interest to you. I was still on the bridge of the _Hyperion_ when I began writing in it. I wrote all the jump coordinates we used to reach the planet including the final one. Perhaps that will help."

"You've no idea how much that will help," John said.

Irina Hoshi turned her pale blue eyes on Kara. "You're very young. Are you not in school?"

"I'm at the Academy," Kara answered.

"Following in your father's footsteps?"

Kara grinned. "I hope."

John put his hand affectionately on the back of Kara's neck. "She's going to be a better Viper pilot than I was."

"There was a shuttle pilot on our trip, a young woman. I can't remember her name. She had a baby while we were there…a beautiful little dark-haired girl fathered by one of the mercenaries. I later heard he went back on the second expedition. That was all so long ago."

John stood and Kara followed. "Thank you again for your time, Mrs. Hoshi," he said.

A smile crinkled the corners of her eyes. "I plan to live long enough to vote for your wife. And please come back to see me. I can talk on and on about the mysterious fourth planet in the Prolmar Sector."

"You can count on that," John said. "I'm sure after I've read your journals I'll have a few questions. I'll make copies of them and return them to you."

Irina Hoshi waved her hand in a dismissive gesture. "Keep them. I can't see well enough to read them anymore. The important parts are here." She touched the side of her head.

"With your permission, then, I'll add them to the archives at the Academy."

She nodded. "I hope you get to explore it someday."

"Maybe I'll be that lucky."

Down on the street as they walked to the car, Kara said, "Do you think one of those old robots told the other ones about that planet and that's where they went at the end of the first war?"

"Bill thinks they took a group of humans with them, scientists and possibly doctors, certainly AI experts…or maybe the humans took them. They would have to have gone to a place where humans could live. The fourth planet in the Prolmar Sector certainly fits the bill."

Her father didn't say anything else until they were in the car. He handed the journals to her to hold. "I think Bill is right. I think we've found where the Cylons went at the end of the First War to complete their work on the skinjobs. They went to the Prolmar Sector to a planet that may…or may not…be Kobol."

"Do you think they're still there?"

"I don't know, baby."

"Kobol," Kara said softly, "the home of the gods. Braedon will go there one day. I'm sure he will…on his way to Earth. Maybe we'll all go."

...

Lee rang the doorbell of Laura and John's apartment. When Kara answered the door, she was already wearing her coat. Lee noticed right away that she didn't have a gift in her hands. He breathed a sigh of relief. She had taken him at his word and not spent her money on a birthday gift for him.

"I thought I'd go in and speak to Laura and John…or is Laura feeding Braedon again?"

"No, Maya is giving Braedon his bottle. Laura and John went to a party or something. We'll see them later. Happy birthday, by the way. I guess you've noticed I don't have a gift."

"Thanks. I noticed and I'm glad. I told you not to. For once you listened. So where do you want to go tonight?"

"Channing's…but first…happy birthday." Kara kissed him. She knew just when to stop, though, before they had a repeat of the last time they stood at the door.

"That's the best gift I could get from you."

"I can do better."

"I know you can. That's why we'd better go."

In the elevator Kara took his hand. She was smiling. "I aced another sim yesterday. First try, too."

Lee grinned. "Teacher's little pet."

"My dad and I talked to an old woman today who has maybe been to Kobol."

Lee looked at Kara. He couldn't tell if she were serious or not. "That's interesting. Was she abducted by aliens in a white light and taken there in their ship? Did they experiment on her, too? Something to do with probes?"

Kara rolled her eyes. "Never mind."

"You're serious? Kobol?"

"I said _maybe_ Kobol. It's a planet in the Prolmar Sector."

"This thing my dad has John working on?"

"Yep."

"So spill."

As they walked to Channing's, Kara told Lee about her and John's trip to talk to Irina Hoshi and about her revelations.

"This is going to make my dad happy," Lee finally said. "It sounds like he was right about something else."

"Everybody knows the Cylons came from somewhere but so far none of them will reveal where their homeworld is. Maybe we've found it."

They arrived at Channing's. Kara still had his hand and started toward the back. "Where are we going?" Lee asked. "There's a good booth right here."

"You'll see."

Lee had his first inkling that something was going on. Kara pulled him through a door into the private dining room. There were half a dozen people in the small room. He saw Karl, Zak and Maggie, Laura and John and his father. There was an explosion of noisemakers and the flash of a camera. Zak threw a handful of confetti.

Kara put her arms around him in a tight hug. "Happy birthday."

Emotion swept him. "You…promised," he managed to get out.

"No, I never promised. You told me not to do anything but I never promised."

Zak took another picture with his mobile phone camera. "The expression on your face will be good for lots of blackmail in the future."

His father squeezed his shoulder. "Happy twenty-second, son."

Laura turned around. She and John moved aside. There was a table against one wall with a cake and what had to be twenty-two lit candles. There were several gifts on the table, too.

"How many trick candles?" Lee asked Zak.

"Would I do that?" Zak answered innocently.

All of the candles were trick candles. By the third try of blowing them out, Lee was laughing so hard he couldn't try again. Laura took pity on him and began picking the candles off the cake and dropping them into a bowl of water.

"You'll still get your wish, Lee," Laura said to him.

Lee realized he hadn't even made a wish. He looked at Kara and their eyes locked. He wished for nothing more than to have her look at him like she was doing right now for the rest of their lives.

He felt John's hand on his shoulder. "Many more happy ones, Lee."

Lee looked at his friend. "How much did you have to do with this?"

John smiled. "I was just following orders. You know that men are no good at planning these things." He handed Lee a cold beer. "Chin up. You'll survive it."

Lee gratefully took the beer. "You might have to call a transport for me tonight."

Kara grinned. "What are birthdays for if you can't get a little bit intoxicated?"

Zak put his arm around Lee. "Time to party, bro. The beer is free."

Lee noticed Maggie and Karl standing near the end of the table talking quietly. He looked at Kara. She had noticed as well. She walked over to them. Lee and Zak followed.

"What's up?" Kara said to Karl.

"Nothing. Happy birthday, Lee."

"Yeah," Maggie echoed. "Happy birthday."

"Thanks," Lee said.

Zak walked over and put his arm around Maggie. "Let's get some cake."

Kara looked at Karl after they walked off. "So which one of you is she with tonight?"

"Zak."

"Where's Sharon?"

Lee saw Karl glance toward his father. "I didn't think it would be a good idea to invite her."

Kara lowered her voice. "You could have. Admiral Adama doesn't know who she is."

"Still," Karl shrugged. "So, Lee, what did you think of Kara's present?"

"It was a real surprise. I thought we were just coming here to have dinner."

"No, I mean…"

"Shut up, Karl," Kara said through clenched teeth.

"What's he talking about?" Lee asked.

"Nothing," Kara said.

"Don't give me that."

"Okay, I bought you something. I left it back at the apartment because I didn't want to give anything away. You can open it when we get back tonight."

"Kara, I told you not to."

"Well, I did anyway."

Lee felt emotion well in him again.

"Hey, bro," Zak called. "Open your gifts. Kara, the cake is good. Did you bake it yourself?"

Kara snorted. "Are you kidding?"

"Be careful opening my gift, son," his father said. "Keep it right side up."

Carefully Lee peeled back the wrapping paper. It was a sailing ship about a foot long in an acrylic case. The name_ Aurora_ was painted in small letters on the stern. He looked at his father. "You put this together?"

Bill smiled. "I don't spend every single minute working. I thought you needed something to balance that collection of space ships."

"Thanks, Dad. This is…I don't know what to say. It's beautiful."

John walked over and gingerly lifted the ship. "I know what you can do if you ever decide to quit your day job, Bill."

Bill grunted. "The profit margin is too low."

Zak handed Lee an envelope. "It's not much."

Lee looked inside. There were two third-row seats to the pyramid semi-final game coming up the next weekend. He looked at Zak.

"Don't worry. I didn't pay for them. Somebody comped them for me."

_Your buddy, Sam Anders_, Lee thought. It didn't matter, though. Last year he hadn't even gotten a call from Zak on his birthday, much less a gift.

Laura handed him a nicely wrapped package. "From John and me."

Lee carefully removed the paper. It was a first edition of his grandfather's book _Trial Tactics and Strategies_. He opened the cover. Many years ago his grandfather had signed it.

Lee looked up at Laura. "Where did you find this?"

She smiled. "I know someone who owns collects rare books. He found it for me."

Lee was still shaking his head in disbelief as he looked at the book. "Thank you."

"You're very welcome."

"Braedon sent a little present for you," John said. He picked up a small package from the table and handed it to Lee. "The book is from me and Laura. This is from Brae."

Lee tore the paper and opened the box. Inside were six tiny Vipers, the same kind of plastic Vipers that had long ago been lost from his model of the _Galactica_ only these looked pristine and new.

John smiled. "Kara told me how Zak had launched your Vipers into the fireplace."

"Hey," Zak said. "That was only two of them. Lee lost the rest."

"Where did you find these?"

"While Laura was at her campaign headquarters last Sunday afternoon, Braedon took me to a used toy store. He spotted those little Vipers right away."

Lee felt the emotion well again. "Someday I'll show him how to launch them from my model of the _Galactica_."

Zak laughed. "Better not do it around a fireplace."

...

At Laura and John's apartment that night, John poured three small glasses of ambrosia. Laura had gone to the nursery to feed Braedon and put him to bed. John had called a transport for Maya.

"This is the best birthday I've ever had," Lee said.

John finished his glass of ambrosia. "I'm going to bed, kids. Call a transport tonight, Lee. Don't try to drive. The cops won't care if it's your birthday. They'll arrest you anyway."

"Right, John. And thank you again."

"You deserve it." John patted Lee's shoulder as he walked behind the sofa. He leaned over and kissed the top of Kara's head. "Goodnight, baby. Don't stay up too late."

"I'll be back in a minute," Kara said after John was gone. She disappeared down the hall and returned carrying a large, thin, rectangular package that was wrapped in heavy brown paper.

For a moment he couldn't imagine what it could be, and then somehow he knew.

"Open it," Kara said. "I hope you like it."

Carefully he peeled back the tape and took the paper off the gift. He liked the frame even before he saw the picture. The print of _Posiden's Daughter_ took his breath.

"It's beautiful," was all he was able to say. "This is the best birthday I ever had. You and your dad and Laura…" He took a deep breath. He was about to get choked up.

"My dad said it best. You deserve it."

Lee shook his head. Memories were flooding him, other birthdays, times that were far from the happy, wonderful experience tonight had been for him.

"What's wrong?" Kara asked.

"Nothing."

"Lee, what did we say about sharing things with each other?"

"Okay. I was thinking about the difference between tonight and another birthday I had. When I was ten years old, Mom planned a party for me, the only other birthday party I ever had. She'd bought balloons and a cake. I invited my friends from school. The night before the party Dad called and said he wasn't going to make it home. She went into her room and…the next morning she still hadn't come out. She was passed out drunk. I didn't know what to do. I called my grandmother Evelyn. We still had the party, but it was…bad. Mom got up halfway through it and came in with her hair a mess and her clothes wrinkled. She started crying and telling me how sorry she was. The other kids didn't know what to do. I wanted the floor to open up and swallow me. My grandmother finally got her to go back to her room."

"Gods, Lee, I'm so sorry."

"My grandmother must have gotten in touch with Dad because a week later he came home. The minute he walked through the door, he and Mom started having it out right there in the kitchen. He yelled at me and Zak to go outside. I remember that better than I do the party. Zak was eight years old. He crouched down beside the fishpond and started crying. I couldn't get him to stop. He thought Dad was going to kill Mom. After a little while I didn't hear them yelling anymore so I went inside. I was afraid I would find her on the kitchen floor with a butcher knife through her heart. They'd taken their argument to the bedroom and shut the door. I was too young to understand why."

Kara took a deep breath. "My mom and Dreilide used to fight all the time. Sometimes she would go in their bedroom and slam the door. He'd go after her. Even when I was a little girl I knew they were doing…something in there that I didn't understand…something secret that only grownups could do."

"I don't ever want to be like him," Lee said harshly. "Dad came to my party tonight and he brought me this beautiful ship he'd made, and all I can think about is all those years he never made it home for my birthday and never apologized."

Kara turned Lee's face to her. "Maybe you need to talk to him."

Lee snorted softly. "What good would that do _now_?"

"If you've still got problems with him…"

"It's too late. It's better to just put it in the past."

"It doesn't sound like you've done that. Why do you think I'm going to see Dreilide again?"

Lee felt an unreasonable moment of anger at himself when he realized that Kara was right. He hadn't put it in the past. He didn't know if he ever could.

"You know sometimes I think my dad is just completely frakking clueless about his family. All he understands is his career and commanding a battlestar."

Kara stood up and then settled herself on his lap facing him. Even before she kissed him, Lee felt the rush of desire. He slid his hands under her sweater.

She put her mouth beside his ear. "You're not going to make me stop, are you?" She gently bit his earlobe as she pressed her hand against his zipper.

He moaned softly. "No, gods no."

"Come on, birthday boy, I think we'd better go to my room. I've still got another present to give you."

Quietly they walked down the hall. The door to Laura and John's bedroom was closed. Kara didn't turn on any lights. Carefully she shut her door and locked it. Lee was already unbuttoning his shirt. Kara put her arms around him from behind and found the button of his jeans. She tugged the zipper down before she turned and pushed him backward onto the bed. He kicked off his shoes as she was wriggling out of her jeans. She dragged her sweater over her head before she settled herself beside him.

"I haven't talked you into something you're going to regret tomorrow, have I?" She softly asked him.

"No. I was crazy to think we could be together and not…make love like this." He kissed her. "Maybe I'm just crazy. Period."

"You're not crazy, Lee."

As she settled herself over him, he reached up and pulled the elastic from her ponytail. Her hair fell down around her shoulders.

He moaned softly. "You're more beautiful than _Posiden's Daughter_."

Kara's whisper was full of laughter, "Lee, I am Posiden's daughter."

TBC…


	56. Nereid

Chapter 56

Nereid

_During President Adar's last year in office, the Caprican Historical Society petitioned to declare the site of an ancient stone altar outside of the city of Antioch as an historical site. They wished to begin efforts to preserve the altar from any further deterioration by the elements. The non-profit Historical Society came into conflict over rights to the site with both the government of the province of Antioch and with a priest who claimed that the altar was the possession of the Temple of Pythia in Antioch. As the case made its way through the Caprican court system, treasure hunters and looters removed most of the smaller stones around the altar, and destroyed forever the integrity of a site that had been untouched for several thousand years. _

_-Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War _

"I see Lee left his birthday gift here," her father said to Kara on Saturday morning at breakfast.

"He got a transport last night like you said. He was still feeling the beer and the ambrosia so he didn't want to take a chance and try to carry it. He's coming over after lunch today. He's going to bring something he's studying for War College. I've got to finish reading a book."

"Was he surprised by the print?"

"He almost cried. You know, when I think of how smart he is and how nice he is, it's easy to think he had a…normal childhood and then he tells me something like he did last night and I realize how frakked up his home life was. Admiral Adama might be a great military leader, but he sucked as a father."

John didn't say anything.

"Does that mean you agree with me or not?"

"Kara, I hardly think I'm in a position to criticize Bill's parenting skills."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I shouldn't have to spell it out for you."

"So maybe you weren't there for me when I was a kid. You're here now, and you're going to be here for Braedon. Did Lee never talk to you about his dad?"

"Rarely."

"Then what did you talk about all those times you got together at McGee's?"

John shrugged. "Sports, flying, what Lee was doing at the Academy."

Kara snorted. "I think you're forgetting about the number one topic…women. Did he talk to you about Blaire and Shelley? Did you compare notes on your women?"

"Are you _trying_ to pick a fight with me this morning, Kara?"

"No," she said in a sulky tone and then added sheepishly. "I'm sorry. You do all these nice things to help me and I'm acting like a jerk. I'm still mad about the way Admiral Adama treated Lee as a kid."

"Bill Adama may have taken top honors as _Caprica's Worst Dad_. I don't know. Lee rarely talked about his home life. I know his dad was gone during most of his childhood. I know Carolanne had a drinking problem. He never talked about specific incidents to me. Lee is a good man. There was a time when I worried about him, but he seems like he's put the past behind him now."

Laura walked into the kitchen with Braedon. Kara held out her hands and Laura put him into her arms. As she walked behind John's chair, Laura put her hands on his shoulders and leaned down and kissed him on the cheek before she went to the stove to start the water for her tea. Her father looked at Laura with one of those looks that made Kara want to roll her eyes and then she realized that she'd seen Lee look at her the same way.

She leaned over and whispered very softly to Braedon, "Your daddy got some last night." Braedon rewarded her with one of his big grins. She whispered in his other ear, "So did your big sister."

He made a sound like a bubbly laugh.

"What did you say to him to get him to smile and laugh like that?" John asked.

"I told him he was going to grow up to be just like his daddy."

John chuckled softly. "The gods forbid. He needs to grow up to be like his mother."

"What do you have planned for today, Kara?" Laura asked her.

"I thought I'd take the bike out for a ride."

"It's too cold," her father said.

"No, it's not. When I was riding for Jack, I rode in a lot colder weather than this. I can put on the boots and my leathers. I'll be fine. I'll be back by lunch. I've got to finish reading the book I'm doing my term paper on."

"Be careful if you go down to Fifty-First Street."

Kara nodded. "What are you going to do?"

"Laura's going to her campaign headquarters this morning. Braedon and I will play, and then when he goes to sleep, I'm going to start reading Irina Hoshi's first journal and making some notes on it."

"You'll let me know if you find anything interesting besides some coordinates, won't you?"

"You know I will."

When she was dressed and ready to leave, her father pressed another hundred-cubit note into her hand. "I know one of the places you're going this morning. Take this to her. Tell her I hope she's feeling better."

Kara looked into his green eyes. "Thanks."

She didn't have to say anything else. Her own eyes told him that she loved him.

...

Kara got a parking place on the street almost in front of the door of Leoben's bookstore. She took off her helmet and redid her messy ponytail before she went inside. The familiar little bell over the door tinkled. Leoben was seated behind the tall counter looking at his computer screen. He glanced up as Kara walked in. She smelled the pleasant aroma of freshly brewed coffee. There was no one else in the shop.

"I've been expecting you," he said as she walked up to the counter.

She set her helmet on a stack of books, unzipped her leather jacket and took it off. It was tight over the heavy sweater she had on underneath. It was also too hot to keep it on in the store.

"I've been busy. So how have you been?"

"Business has been good. I can't complain. I was just about to get a cup of coffee. Would you like one?"

"Why not? I like cream in it."

"Sorry, I don't have any. I drink it black."

"Then I'll pass."

Leoben walked through the curtained doorway that she assumed led to the storeroom or a backroom. Kara stepped behind the counter and looked at the computer screen. Leoben was reading the online news. She saw a picture of Admiral Adama shaking the President's hand. Laura was on the other side of him. She glanced at the top of the screen. The article was dated Wednesday.

She scanned down the page. It was a standard press release from the President's office. Laura's name was mentioned twice. Both times it referred to her as _Presidential candidate Laura Roslin_ instead of Secretary of Education.

Leoben walked out of the storeroom with a mug in his hand.

"I was looking at my stepmother's picture," Kara said.

"She came out ahead in a poll last week. Not a huge margin, but enough to cause the other candidates to pause and take notice."

"I don't follow politics."

"How does your father feel about her running?"

Kara shrugged. "He knew what she did when he married her."

"There's a certain right-wing element that is going to make something of the fact that she was…with child when the wedding took place. They're going to use it to question her moral character."

Kara thought of D'Anna Biers' questions. Why was it such a big deal that a single adult woman was having a love affair with a single adult man? Kara didn't understand it. She didn't remember anything in the scrolls of Pythia about that being a sin.

"Oh, yeah? How do you know what some people are going to do?"

"I listen to a lot of Talk Wireless at night. There's one show where the commentator is…well, let's say I listen to him when I want a laugh. It takes all kinds. He's got his own twist on the scrolls of Pythia, that's for sure. He's got a following, though."

"Yeah, well I'll bet he's an old guy who looks at his secretary and…never mind. What do _you_ think about Laura?"

"I think she should be judged by what she has done in her public career."

"Do the other Cylons feel that way?"

"I don't have any contact with them."

She smiled. "Yes, you do."

Leoben sat down on the high stool behind the counter and took a sip of coffee, all the while looking at her. "Some things are blocked in my memory."

"Not from all of you."

He smiled. "You're an expert on _us_ now?"

"I know another one of you. That one says she knows how many of you there are."

"You've talked to Natasi?"

"No. Another one. She says there are eight models."

"Seven."

Kara smiled. "See? That wasn't so hard. You do know something about the others."

Leoben looked over her shoulder for a moment before he said, "I had a dream…or a vision…I'm not sure which…one night months ago, not long after you and your father were here. I saw six others."

Kara could tell by his expression that he was troubled. "What?"

"Cavil called me a traitor. He gave an order to a centurion. The last thing I remember was his weapon locking into place. I must have died."

"Those are your memories that are coming back," Kara said. "It happened to the other one I know. When you download, they can reprogram you and make you forget, but the memories won't stay buried forever. Things…trigger them, like me and my dad coming in here and talking to you. You're starting to remember."

"The only other thing I dreamed…or saw in the vision…was the bathtub of goo, the slimy feel of it and the sensation at first that I was drowning, and then some red lights. One of the others was there with me, a female, not Natasi."

"Blond or brunette?" Kara asked.

"Blond. The headache was so bad that I don't remember anything after that."

D'Anna Biers? "And you've never seen her here in Caprica City?"

For just a moment, the corner of Leoben's eye twitched. He looked down at his coffee. "No."

He was lying. Kara was sure of it. Some built-in program to protect the identity of the others?

"Why do you think Cavil would have killed you for voicing your opinion?"

"He was probably afraid I would start turning one or more of the others to my side."

"On the resurrection hub Natasi is called number Six. Cavil is number One. What number are you?"

Leoben grimaced. "I don't know. I try to remember and the pain comes. But our destinies are linked, mine and yours. It has something to do with Cavil. I'm sure of it now."

"Don't you remember anything else?"

"It hurts for one thing. I'm not sure I want to know."

"Why?"

"It's hard enough knowing I was part of so much destruction. We did everything wrong. We became worse than our human creators. We should have found our own world. We should never have come back to destroy the Colonies. Our spiritual destiny pointed us in another direction. We made a terrible mistake."

"Why did you do it, then?"

"There must have been a consensus among us. That's the way we govern ourselves. We thought that we were destined to replace our human creators in the universe. We thought it was the will of the one true God. In order to do that, the humans had to die. We were wrong. It wasn't God's will. It was Cavil's will. I must have come to that realization. I must have confronted him."

"You stopped before you destroyed Caprica because Simon and some of the others wanted to see if you could make babies with the humans. You must not have been able to make babies with each other."

"And now you say they've made some human-Cylon hybrids."

"That's what we heard from somebody who should know. Do you think it's possible that twenty-five years ago the centurions went to Kobol with some humans and created the skin…the humanoid Cylons, you and the other six models?"

"I don't know. The only memories I have are from the basestar."

"Try to remember. It's important."

"It doesn't work that way, Kara. We can't decide to remember something and then remember it if it's been blocked."

Kara thought of Sharon. Her memories of Troy had started coming back as dreams. Maybe Leoben was right. They couldn't control how they remembered something that Cavil or Simon had blocked.

"But you must have been created somewhere else...to have been on that basestar. Where did you come from?"

"I don't remember. Maybe I should try chamalla," he said.

"What's that?"

"Ask your Oracle. She's probably used it."

"Is it a drug? Are you saying Yolanda Brenn does drugs in order to make her prophesies?"

"Not necessarily. It's used as an alternative medicine for some diseases, but it does have certain unique qualities. It can cause hallucinations. Some believe that it…only frees the mind to access what is already buried there. Others believe it frees the conscious mind to tune into a…cosmic awareness of sorts."

"Where do you get it?"

"From a holistic practitioner…or a street dealer. Like many drugs it has the potential to be abused."

"Would it work on a Cylon?"

"That's a good question. Maybe I'll find out."

She heard the bell over the door tinkle. Several students had just walked in.

"I'll come back," Kara said. "Maybe in a couple of weeks."

"I know you will," Leoben said and smiled. "You'll want to know if I've remembered anything else."

...

Twenty minutes later Kara stood outside Dreilide Thrace's door. She knocked and waited. When he opened the door, he was wearing jeans and a wrinkled t-shirt and looked like he had just gotten out of bed. His color was not good, either. His skin was almost chalky.

"I should have called first," she said.

"No, come in. What's with the helmet?"

"I rode my motorcycle today."

"Why doesn't that surprise me…you on a motorcycle? Another way you're like _him_. I hope you're more careful than he was." He smiled before he started coughing.

Kara was suddenly aware that a woman stood in the doorway of the small kitchen.

"I didn't know you had company," Kara said. "I can go."

He shook his head because he was still coughing and went over to the piano where a glass of whiskey stood already poured. He took a cloth out of his jeans pocket and coughed into it, a deep, chest-rattling sound. It was half a minute before he could stop. He finally wiped his mouth on the cloth and took a drink.

"Paulla lives one floor down. She brought me some soup. I've been under the weather." He turned to the woman. "Paulla, this is my…daughter, Kara. Kara, Paulla Schaffer."

"Hi," Kara said.

"Are you a believer?" Paulla asked.

"Soup and sermons," Dreilide said lightly. "I can always count on Paulla for both."

"I'll check on you later today," Paulla said as she went to the door. "I'll pray for you, but you should still go to the doctor."

Dreilide smiled. "I don't need to pay someone to tell me what I already know."

After Paulla was gone, Kara threw her jacket on the couch and walked to the window. She couldn't look at him. "What is it that you already know?"

"I'm dying."

"Lung cancer?"

"Emphysema. It won't get me quite as quick, but it'll do the job. I've had some bronchitis this winter that I can't seem to shake. That's where the cough is coming from. This past week was bad."

Kara turned around. "You need medicine…antibiotics. In the camp…people with bronchitis always got antibiotics...if the doctor had any."

"I took antibiotics for nearly a month last fall. Maybe it helped, maybe it didn't. As soon as I stopped, the cough was back worse than ever."

He walked to the piano and took a cigarette from the pack on top.

"Hey, lay off the cigarettes while I'm here, will you?" Kara said irritably. "I can't afford to have these leathers dry-cleaned to get rid of the smell."

He put the cigarette down and picked up the glass of whiskey and raised it in a toast. "With your permission, of course."

She shrugged. "Don't you need to eat your soup?"

"I did. Paulla and I were sitting in the kitchen talking. Or rather she was talking and I was listening. She's been trying to convert me. She's a monotheist. The Cylon woman has been leading worship at an old warehouse. Apparently she's gotten some followers. Paulla wants me to go with her one night. I couldn't even if I wanted to. I work nights."

"Is Paulla your girlfriend."

Dreilide Thrace mouthed the word _no_.

"After you left, did you…you know…have any girlfriends?"

He smiled and sat down on the piano stool. "Nothing serious. Your mother never divorced me."

"What?"

"I kept in touch with her occasionally…until…four years ago. I kept waiting for her to send me the divorce papers like she said she was going to do. She never did. That's how I knew she hadn't married your father. I figured you were all living together...one small happy family."

"You could have divorced her."

"I still love her. She was my first…my only real love."

"If she loved my dad so much like you say she did, why didn't she divorce you?"

"I don't know, Kara. I quit trying to figure her out a _long_ time ago."

"John and I went to see an old woman yesterday to talk about a project he's working on and…she was married for fifty-one years to the same man. He died and she's still wearing her wedding ring. She still loves him."

"It happens…when it's right for both of you."

Kara thought of Lee. Would they be together as long as Joshua and Irina Hoshi had been? Would their love survive the years? She thought about what her father had told her…that sometimes love took work and compromise…that it wasn't always easy. She had already found out how much she and Lee could hurt each other without even trying. But she also knew how he could melt her with just a look or a touch. He was worth whatever it took. They could make it.

"How's the new song coming?" She asked.

"I'm pleased."

"Will you play it for me?"

He turned on the piano stool, sat the glass on top of the piano and began to play without any sheet music. She was stunned at the simplicity and the beauty of the melody. Dreilide played for nearly a minute before he stopped.

"That's as far as I've gotten. You get the general idea."

"That's…I don't know what to say. It's beautiful. What are you going to call it?"

"I haven't decided yet." He turned back around on the stool. "I saw on the news where your boyfriend's father got promoted to Admiral."

"He still came to Lee's birthday party last night."

"How did Lee like his gift?"

Kara thought of _Posiden's Daughter_ and also what they had done in her bedroom. She nodded and tried not to look too smug.

"He liked it. He was surprised." She stood. "I'd better go. Laura is going to her campaign headquarters and I want to help take care of my brother. I don't get to see him enough. And you need to rest."

She picked up her jacket, put it on and then got her helmet off the couch.

Dreilide stood. "You'll come back?"

"Sure. I may have to stay at the Academy next weekend and study. Midterms are coming up soon." She opened the door. "Try to cut back on the cigarettes."

He smiled. "I can't promise."

"Don't promise. Just do it. You have a real gift. It would be a shame for…us to lose it."

...

Kara had one more stop to make before she went back to the apartment. She rode the short distance to Fifty-Third Street, made a U-turn and parked on the opposite side from the shoe repair shop.

At the top of the steep stairs she knocked. This time the bronze-skinned woman let her come inside.

"She's better?" Kara said hopefully.

"Much. We owe you and your father more than we can repay."

"You don't owe us anything," Kara said.

"My name is Keshia. Come and have tea with us."

She pulled back the gauzy curtain and Kara walked past her into a small kitchen. Yolanda Brenn sat at the table. She was wrapped in a heavy wool shawl despite the warmth of the room. She was thinner, her face gaunt, and nearly as white as her scars. She had obviously been very sick.

Kara unzipped her jacket, took it off and hung it on the back of a chair.

"Sit, please," Brenn said, her voice soft and hoarse. "The tea is nearly ready. Your father is well?"

Kara nodded. "One of them is. I have two fathers. The first time I came here, you told me there was someone in my past that would also be in my future. It was the other one. I thought he was dead back on Picon, but he was here all along."

"Ah, _two_ fathers," Keshia said with a lilt in her voice, "a woman should be so lucky."

"He's an artist, a composer. He's sick. I'm afraid he's going to die."

"We are all going to die," Brenn said. "Many of us have already. It is the will of the gods. It is written in Pythia that a great flood will destroy the wicked. The righteous will survive to begin life anew and the cycle repeats."

"So is that us?" Kara asked. "Are we the righteous because we survived the Cylon attack?"

"Some believe we are. I do not. There is more death yet to come. Pythia also writes of a scourge on the land before the wicked are consigned to a great blaze."

Keshia put a large mug of tea in front of Brenn who cupped her hands around it. She then placed a cup in front of Kara.

"What does Pythia say about Kobol?" Kara asked.

"Kobol was the home of the gods. Life on the Twelve Colonies came from there in a great caravan through the heavens."

"Why didn't they stay on Kobol?"

"There was division among the people. Each tribe wished to found its own world and make its own laws."

"What about Earth?"

Brenn sipped her tea. "Earth as a real place is never mentioned in Pythia or any of the sacred scrolls. The planet Earth is nothing but a myth."

"There is an ancient Gemenese story," Keshia said, "told to me by my mother of a place where all life began, even the lives of the gods. It is said that place was called Earth…but it doesn't say it was a planet."

Brenn said. "The creation story is different depending on which scripture you read. Pythia clearly tells us that in the beginning was eternal night and that a divine spark lit the stars in the heavens. When the darkness met the light, four powerful gods were born. They were Earth, Air, Fire and Water. The four gods joined hands and the planets were formed. The fairest of these was a planet called Kobol. But the great forces of creation saw that the universe was still incomplete and created our gods from their own essence and placed them on Kobol. There was peace and harmony for many eons, but eventually our gods become arrogant and bored and did the one thing which they had been forbidden to do by the four. They created humans in their own image from the earth and the air and the water and gave to them the gifts of fire and love and immortal souls."

Brenn's voice had become very hoarse as she spoke. She sipped her tea. Keshia continued the story. "For this forbidden act our gods were punished by the creators. They sowed discord among the humans. They spread the seeds of jealousy and hate and greed. Humans learned blasphemy and became disrespectful of their gods. They learned to covet and to steal. They learned to kill."

Brenn said, "All of this happened in the blink of an eye to the creators, but it took many millennia as we measure time. The humans eventually split into thirteen tribes and desired their own worlds. They left Kobol in _great galleons_, according to Pythia, to find homes among the stars. They eventually founded the Twelve Colonies of Kobol."

Keshia picked up the story again. "And the gods who had once walked on Kobol with their human creations were left behind. The first to die was Athena who threw herself from a mountain in despair that her children were gone. She was placed in a tomb with the bodies of the greatest leaders of twelve of the thirteen tribes. The Thirteenth Tribe had ceased to worship our gods and had begun to worship one God. They disappeared from our history."

Brenn smiled. "Except as a cautionary tale least we forget our gods."

"What about the monotheists today?" Kara asked. "They worship one God."

Keshia answered her. "After the Twelve Tribes settled on the planets we called home, some broke away from the old ways. They turned to another God. There has always been a myth that a remnant of the Thirteenth Tribe settled on Gemenon two thousand years ago, but no one could ever offer proof."

Kara said, "When I was in the refugee camp outside of Antioch, I found a stone altar in the woods. It was really ancient and weathered. My history teacher said Antioch is the oldest city on Caprica."

"The altar of Zeus," Brenn said. "There was one on each of the Colonies. Pythia writes of it." She gestured to Keshia who left the kitchen and returned with a book. Brenn told her which passage to read.

_And Zeus bade his children that when they should reach their new homes, they should build for him an altar in stone and carve upon it the story of their journey so that their children would remember the gods who had made them and their home of Kobol. They would remember the sin of the gods and their punishment and never again try to create life._

Kara noted the chapter and verse so she could show the passage to her father when she got back to the apartment. Of course she was sure Hugh Connelly had already mentioned it to him.

"We forgot that, didn't we?" Kara asked. "The commandment that we shouldn't try to create life. We went against the will of the gods in making the Cylons. This is our punishment."

"Many believe that what you have just said is true."

"Thank you for the tea. I need to get back to the apartment and you need to rest."

Brenn reached out and took her hand. "Your kindness will be returned to you and to your father."

Kara smiled. "Get better. That's what's important."

Brenn said, "There will come a time when you will despair. Do not lose hope. Do not give up. Your darkest fear has no substance."

Kara smiled. "Does this have anything to do with exams?"

"I only speak the words that come into my mind."

"I know. You don't interpret." At the door Kara pressed the cubits her father had given her into Keshia's hand. "My dad sent this. We want her to get well. She's suffered so much."

"We thank you. She has taken you and your father into her heart. Your act of kindness has shown her that her faith in mankind's goodness is not misplaced."

...

When Kara got back to the apartment, Laura was gone and Lee was there.

"Hi," she said as she unzipped her jacket. She saw Lee's eyes take in the black leather. She saw the appreciative look. "I know you like this outfit. Where's my dad?"

He grinned. "In the kitchen, I think. He just put your brother to bed. And you and your leather outfit have wrecked my concentration for a while. The first time I ever saw you, you were wearing the black jeans and black turtleneck…and the next time you were in the black leather. We know what happened after that."

She smiled.

"It'll be a year this Wednesday. A year since you rode the bike out to the base and had your little…chat with Sergeant Ackerman."

"A year," Kara said in surprise. "Has it really been a year?"

"A whole year. And then next Saturday will have been a year since…"

"Since I let a sweet-talking lieutenant seduce me."

"I seem to remember it being more of a mutual thing."

Kara smiled again. She was touched that he had remembered the exact date and a little disturbed that she hadn't.

"Posiden's daughter and a prince. We've come full circle. I'm going to get some lunch. Do you want some?"

"No, thanks. You go ahead. I ate before I came over. I'm going to keep reading…as soon as I can get my mind back on battle strategy."

Kara went to her room, unzipped the leather pants and pulled them over her jeans. She hung them in the closet with her jacket. She peeled off the heavy sweater and dropped it on the bed before she walked into the kitchen clad in the black turtleneck and jeans.

"Hi, Dad. What's for lunch?"

"Hey, baby. Jennet made spaghetti yesterday. I'm warming it.

"Yum." Kara got two plates out of the cabinet. "Did Hugh Connelly refer to the stone altar as the altar of Zeus?"

"He did. It's in Pythia. He gave me the chapter and verse."

"Do you believe any of it?"

"There's no way to prove it or disprove it."

"That's not what I asked. Do you believe it? I know you believe we make our own destiny, but do you believe in the gods at all?"

"I believe there's a power higher than us, but I don't think something or someone is controlling us like a puppet master controls a bunch of puppets. If that were the case, what would be the point?"

"Yolanda Brenn is better."

"Good."

"I went to see Dreilide. He has emphysema. He said he's dying." Kara was surprised at how her voice caught.

John put his arm around her and pulled her close to him. "I'm sorry, baby."

She took a deep breath and struggled to get her emotions under control. "It's not like I'm…It's not like he's…"

"Kara, you don't have to explain anything to me. I understand. He's the only father you knew for eight years. Hell, he's the only father you knew until I dropped out of the sky when you were thirteen."

She put her arms around him and took deep breaths until she could get herself under control. "He said mom never divorced him."

John didn't speak for a long time. Finally he said, "That doesn't surprise me. She told me a couple of times that she was working on it. I finally quit asking her about it. It was clear by then that she liked our relationship just like it was. She didn't want to marry me."

"Come on. Let's eat. The spaghetti is going to get cold." When they sat down at the table, she said, "I went to see Leoben."

He didn't say anything, just picked up his fork.

"I have to do this."

"So you say. You know I don't like it."

"He confirmed what Sharon said. There are seven of them. Besides Natasi there's another blond. It could be D'Anna Biers. He lied to me when he said he had seen her on the basestar but not down here. You said your man had seen her going into Leoben's bookstore a couple of times."

"That's right."

"Cavil killed this copy of Leoben on the basestar. He only remembers bits and pieces, but he's going to try to remember more. I think he'll tell me more than Sharon will if he can remember. He thinks what the Cylons did is wrong."

Her father was twisting his fork in his spaghetti. "Kara, you've got to consider that Leoben might be playing you."

"Why would he do that? I've told him nothing. You know better than to think I'd tell him about Admiral Adama's plan."

"Maybe he just likes to see you. Maybe he knows everything about the Cylons and he's stringing you along, feeding you little bits of information to keep you coming back."

"Eww, Dad, gross. He's as old as you are, maybe older."

Her father smiled. "Thank you, daughter. A wise man once said we can count on our kids to remind us of our age."

"I didn't mean it like that, and you're wrong about Leoben. He's going to help us. You'll see."

Her father didn't say anything.

"Do you hate him just because he's a Cylon? Does that automatically mean he's bad?"

"Kara, I just want you to be careful. He's one of them. He's one of the enemy. You need to be careful how much you trust him."

"I didn't say that I trust him. I just don't think he's the enemy."

"Finish your spaghetti. Then come look at some pictures with me."

"Pictures of what?"

"I don't think the Hoshi's expedition found Kobol."

"Why?"

"The star chart in Irina Hoshi's journal doesn't match the one carved into the altar."

"You're sure?"

"Come look when you finish eating."

After she had cleaned her plate and put it in the dishwasher, Kara walked into the den. Her father was seated on the couch with his laptop and the journal. She sat down beside him. He handed her the journal and turned the laptop toward her.

"This is one of Hugh Connelly's photographs from the altar's south-facing side." He mouse-clicked to the next picture. "This is an enlargement of the left quadrant of that side of the altar. Look at that section. I think it's a star chart." He pointed to what looked to her like a series of dots with a larger dot in the middle.

"And you think _this_ is a star chart?" Kara asked. "It looks like somebody knocked a couple of chips out of the altar."

"The indentations are too round and consistent for that. They were definitely carved. I think the larger one in the center is the system's sun. Now look at this page of the journal where Irina or Joshua Hoshi drew the sun and planets of the Prolmar Sector. I don't care which angle you view them from, they don't match the one on the altar."

"You're right. They don't match. They're not even close. It's not Kobol."

"I agree," Lee said. "I looked at the pictures, too. Of course we're assuming that's Kobol's planetary system carved on the altar."

"Connelly thinks it is," her father said. "The story starts here on the south-facing side of the altar with the beginning of their journey, the place they came from and progresses around the altar, ending on the west-facing side with the star chart of our system."

"Does he know about Irina's journals?" Kara asked.

"I called him this morning. He's going to drop by in a little while and look at it. He's understandably very excited about the journals. I'll be able to tell him that we're three for three on our opinions that it's not Kobol."

"If it's not Kobol, then what is it?"

"Connelly has a theory. He just might be correct. He thinks the fourth planet in the Prolmar Sector is where the Thirteenth Tribe went when they left Kobol."

"But they must have left there, too. Irina Hoshi said there weren't any humans on the planet. Where could they have gone?"

"Mrs. Hoshi said it best. Our galaxy is a vast place full of star systems. They could have gone anywhere or nowhere. They could have died on the planet or somewhere out in space. I doubt we'll ever know."

"Yolanda Brenn said the Thirteenth Tribe no longer worshiped our gods. It sounds like they were outcasts."

"Mrs. Hoshi admitted that they never got to do an in-depth study of the temple. It could have been one of ours or it could have been one of theirs."

"Whoever settled that planet would have worshipped something," Lee said. "All cultures have some sort of religious beliefs, even advanced ones."

"Maybe they worshipped one God like the Cylons," Kara said.

She heard her brother begin fretting on the baby monitor that was beside her father on the table. "No, you keep reading. I'll take care of Braedon."

Kara had gotten very efficient at the diaper changing. She carried Braedon into the kitchen and warmed a bottle for him. When she got back to the den with him, she asked Lee to move to the couch so she could sit in Laura's favorite chair.

She glanced up in a minute and saw him watching her. "What?"

"You're…good at that."

"There's nothing to it. You want to feed him?"

"I'll pass."

Kara grinned. "Have you ever held a baby?"

"No."

"You're going to get to." Kara looked down at Braedon. "Don't worry, little star-mapper. I won't let him drop you." Braedon studied her with eyes that looked greener than they had the week before. Then he smiled at her before he continued sucking on the bottle.

"Did he just smile at you?" Lee asked.

Her father glanced up from the journal. "Kara has a way with him. She can always get him to smile."

Lee looked at Kara holding her little brother and felt something melt or shift within him…the hard, cold decision he had made as a teenager never to bring a child into the world and risk being the terrible father his own had been. He realized that someday, years from now, he wanted to see Kara with their child in her arms. He wanted to see their baby smile at her the way her brother had just done.

He understood suddenly why John had given up flying, the job he loved, in order to teach cadets in the simulator. He even understood why his own father had sacrificed his personal life and his marriage to create a plan to rid them of the Cylons. Both men had done it so their children…and someday their grandchildren…could grow up free.

He watched Kara as she looked down at Braedon. He had always seen her beauty and her courage, her toughness and her sensuality, but he had never seen the softness that was in her face now, a softness that gave her an almost ethereal loveliness.

Lee wasn't aware that John was watching them until John said, "Beautiful, isn't it?"

"It makes you understand why artists paint that subject over and over."

"And still never quite capture it perfectly."

The doorbell rang. Lee stood up. "I'll get it."

He walked back in with Hugh Connelly.

"Hugh, have a seat," John said.

Kara looked up from her brother. "Hey, Connelly, or I guess I should say Mr. Connelly."

He smiled at her as he walked over to an overstuffed armchair. "Connelly is fine, and I want to hold your brother before I leave."

"Could I get you something to drink?" John asked. "I think there's coffee in the kitchen, or I can make some tea."

"I'm fine. I'm anxious to see what you've found."

John carried the laptop and journal over to Connelly, pointed out what they had looked at earlier and then returned to the couch.

"Take a look."

Kara watched as Connelly carefully studied the photographs and the journal drawings. He finally looked up. "I don't know anything about star charts, but based on what I see here, I don't think the fourth planet is Kobol. For one thing I don't think Kobol is that close to us. How long did it take the expedition to get to the Prolmar Sector?"

"Sixty-two years ago FTL technology wasn't as good as it is today. The drives had to be shut down and recalibrated after each jump. It was a twelve to sixteen hour process. The computers were much more primitive, too. So you're looking at nearly a day between jumps. In those days the Prolmar Sector was half a dozen jumps so we're talking about a week just to get there and that's assuming nothing goes wrong. The best ships always have redundant drives, but that's costly."

"And the FTL technology we had during the exodus from Kobol would have been approximately what was on the _Hyperion_?" Connelly asked.

Lee answered him. "Yes. The Prolmar Sector is over thirty light years away. The drives are improved now but the computers that do the calculations are what have really made the difference. Today our battlestars could make it in one jump but none of our smaller ships."

Connelly said, "Do you have a copy of Pythia handy?"

John took a book from the table beside the couch and handed it to him.

Connelly spent several minutes searching. Finally he read.

_And the prophet of Zeus stood upon the mountain and said to the leaders of the Twelve Tribes, "The babe in his mother's arms will wear a man's beard before you reach your new home among the stars."_

"He's talking about a journey of thirteen to fifteen years, not a couple of weeks."

Lee said, "That's assuming you can take Pythia literally. No one could have survived thirteen years traveling through the galaxy without adequate fuel and supplies. No way could they have carried that much with them."

"I've seen the number thirteen several places on the altar. I thought it was referring to the Thirteenth Tribe," John said.

Connelly began to click through the pictures on the laptop until he found the one he was looking for. "Here it is on the east-facing side of the altar. This makes more sense now. I think it reads thirteen months instead of thirteen years. Would it be possible to travel for thirteen months?"

"With enough supply ships," John said. "They could probably have made it thirteen months. Now tell us why you think this planet may have been the home of the Thirteenth Tribe of humans that left Kobol."

"Based on what the Hoshi's expedition found, the inhabitants of the planet were human. We know they weren't one of the Twelve Tribes. Based on both Pythia and the scriptures of the monotheists all thirteen tribes left Kobol. We know only twelve arrived in our solar system. What if the Thirteenth Tribe stopped on the fourth planet in the Prolmar Sector? They stopped on the first habitable planet they came to. The rest kept going to look for homeworlds of their own."

Kara had put the bottle on the table and had Braedon at her shoulder. "Stopped there and then did what? Left again? Mrs. Hoshi said there wasn't anybody on the planet."

"That's the mystery of it, isn't it?" Connelly asked. "Without a lot more study of the planet, there would be no way to tell. Even that may not be enough. It might always be a mystery."

After she got a burp from Braedon, Kara took him over to Connelly. Their eyes met and she smiled. "It's about time to give Elaina a brother or sister, isn't it?"

"I'm ready…if I can just convince Stacey. She doesn't want to bring another child into a world ruled by Cylons."

As she picked up the empty bottle from the table to carry it to the kitchen, Kara glanced at Lee. The gods willing, that would be sooner than Hugh Connelly probably thought.

When she came back, Connelly was preparing to leave. He had given Braedon to John.

Kara walked with him to the door.

"Have you seen Mr. Thrace again?" Connelly asked her.

"A couple of times."

"How are things going?"

She shrugged. "Maybe I'll come by one afternoon and we'll talk."

"My door is always open to you, Kara."

"Thanks."

She walked back into the den. John was sitting beside Lee on the couch and Lee was very awkwardly holding Braedon. Kara had to stop herself from laughing. She looked at her father and thought he was having the same problem.

"Lee, he's not going to break," Kara said.

"Okay, I know I don't know how to do this."

"You're doing fine," John said.

Kara finally took pity on Lee and lifted Braedon from his lap. She put him on his tummy in his playpen which now occupied the area of the den in front of the couch that had once been occupied by the coffee table. Immediately her brother pushed up and turned his head in their direction.

"He's getting stronger," John said. "I think he'll roll over soon."

"How do you know that?" Kara asked.

"It's in one of the baby books Laura bought," John said. "He's almost three months old. It's time."

"A former Viper pilot is reading baby books?" Lee kidded.

John changed the subject. "You know that fourth planet is really bugging me. What if Bill is right and that's where the Cylons went twenty-five years ago to set up their skin-job factory? Even worse, what if they're still there? What if they're making more Cylons, manufacturing more basestars and resurrection hubs? The planet has all the natural resources they would need."

A chill feeling went over Kara. What if her father were right?

Lee asked, "Have you talked to my dad yet?"

"Not yet. Last night at your birthday party wasn't the time or the place."

Lee took out his mobile phone. His father answered on the second ring. When he finished talking, he closed the phone and said, "He's on his way home right now. He's going to stop by."

Thirty minutes later they heard the door open. Laura walked in with Bill.

She put her briefcase on the floor. "Look who I found hanging around the lobby."

Bill smiled. "I was having a pleasant conversation with your doorman. John, Lee, Kara. What's up?"

Laura went over to the playpen. "Hello, my little man. I've missed you."

At the sound of her voice, Braedon began to wiggle. She picked him up and kissed his cheeks and his neck.

Kara scrambled out of Laura's chair and sat beside Lee on the couch. Bill sat down in the other armchair.

"I'm going to make some tea," Laura said and walked out carrying Braedon.

John didn't waste any time. "I think you're right about the Prolmar Sector."

He went on to tell Bill everything they had discovered, including the conversation he and Kara had with Irina Hoshi the previous day. He concluded with, "What if they're still there? What if the Cylons left a force behind on this fourth planet to continue making more Cylons and basestars?"

For a long time Bill didn't say anything. Then he got up and went to the liquor cabinet and opened the door. "I hope you don't mind."

"Help yourself," John said.

"Could I pour you one?"

John glanced toward the kitchen. "I'll wait. Let me see if I can help Laura. You need a minute to think about all this."

Bill sat down in the chair and drank half the whiskey in a swallow.

"What does this do to the plan?" Lee asked.

"Nothing. We're going ahead with it."

"But sir," Kara said, "What if they're on that planet?"

"Then we destroy them here, we regroup, and we take the fight there."

"You'd take our battlestars and jump into a system we know virtually nothing about to take on forces we know absolutely nothing about as far as numbers or resources?" Lee asked incredulously.

"We jump a few battlestars nine-tenths of the way there and then jump a couple of Raptors into space above the planet. We get some quick recon photographs and then jump away. That will give us a better idea of what we're dealing with."

"What if the Cylons there are alerted by the Cylons here when we begin our attack?" Lee asked.

"I'm not aware they have the ability to communicate between solar systems." Bill said. "We're talking trillions of miles. They're very advanced, but I don't think they've figured out a way around the laws of physics yet."

Kara said, "Are you sure about that, sir?"

Bill paused, the glass half-way to his mouth. A hint of a smile curled his lips. "I thought you were the resident expert on the Cylons. What do you think?" The glass completed its journey.

Kara felt her cheeks grow warm at his comment. "There's seven models. There were eight, but something happened to one of them. They don't all agree with Cavil. He even killed one of them and tried to wipe his memory to keep him from stirring up the others. I think that one will help us. I think the other one will, too."

John and Laura walked back into the room. John was carrying Braedon. Laura had a cup of tea.

"_You think_?" Bill Adama said angrily. "You want me to bet lives on that? You want me to trust your gut enough to leave these two Cylons free once the attack begins?"

"Whoa," John said, "What's going on? How did we get from talking about the fourth planet in the Prolmar Sector to talking about these two Cylons?"

"I think the fact that Kara won't give up their names has really stuck in my dad's throat," Lee said. "What happened to _respecting her for not letting an old man bully her_? What happened to that, Dad?"

Bill got up and poured another drink. "You act like you don't realize how much is at stake, son."

Kara glanced at Laura and then at Braedon in her father's arms. "With respect to your position and your rank, sir, I know exactly how much is at stake," she said. "Neither one of the Cylons will know what is going to happen ahead of time, and after the attack begins, it won't matter. They'll all know."

"She's got a point, Bill," John said. "Once the attack begins, everybody on Caprica is going to know."

Bill sat down in the chair again. "I wish there were a way to find out if the Cylons are in the Prolmar Sector or not. This changes my whole post-battle strategy."

"There's no way we'll ever get a ship out of this solar system right now," Lee said. "We won't know until after we defeat them here."

Laura put her cup of tea down on the table beside her. "So what all of you are saying is that the battle for Caprica may not be the end of fighting the Cylons?"

"It depends on what we find in the Prolmar Sector," Bill said. "The battle for Caprica may be just the beginning. John, I'm going to need everything you can find on that planet, topography, resources, potential power sources, everything."

"I started reading Irina Hoshi's journals today. She told me to come back and see her. They were there for a year. She was down on the planet for nine months of that year. Her mind is still very sharp. I'm sure there's still a lot she can tell me, things that may not be in the journals."

Bill stood. "I'll be in touch. I've got to go now. I'm going out tonight with Saul and Ellen. I can see myself out."

After he was gone, Kara saw Laura glance at her father. "Oh, dear gods. We may have to fight the Cylons in another solar system. Suddenly Saul and Ellen Tigh's…problems seem so…insignificant."

"What are you talking about?" Kara asked.

"Ellen sleeps around," Lee answered her. "Colonel Tigh knows about it."

"That doesn't say much for him, does it?" Kara said.

"He loves her," Laura said. "He would have to."

Braedon began to fret. "Where's his pacifier?" John asked.

"In his room," Kara answered.

Laura stood up and took her son. Without a word she disappeared down the hall toward the nursery.

"She's upset," Kara said.

"Do you blame her?" John asked. "She thought this was going to be over once we defeated them here."

"It still might be," Lee said. "We've got no proof the Cylons are on that planet in the Prolmar Sector."

"You're in War College," John said. "Try to think like a Cylon. Would you put all your forces in one place? Would you give up making ships and weapons just because it looked like you'd won the war? Have the Colonies ever done that?"

"No," Lee answered.

"Does that captured Cylon Raider have an FTL drive?" Kara asked.

"I don't know," Lee answered. "Why?"

"Just another one of my crazy, outside-of-the-box ideas," she answered.

"Don't even think about that," her father said. "No way Bill Adama is going to let somebody try to jump that Raider into the Prolmar Sector."

"It was just a thought."

"Well, forget it," John said. "Bill won't risk losing either a pilot or the Raider. That Raider is too important to his plan."

"He's got two Raiders," Kara said.

"One of which won't fly. I asked him about it last week. His engineers are still working on it without any success. Besides, they don't even understand Cylon FTL technology. That Raider's FTL drive is about a third the size of our smallest FTL drive. It's smaller than a Raptor's drive and a Raptor can only jump one light year at a time."

"Why do you need to understand it?" Kara asked. "All you would need to do is put the right coordinates in the Raider and jump."

"Forget it, Kara. It's not going to happen.

Kara looked at her watch and said to Lee. "Let's take your print over to the apartment and hang it in your...wherever you've decided to hang it. Then we can walk to Zeno's and get something to eat."

Lee stood and stretched. "I'm game. John, what are you and Laura doing tonight?"

"I'm reading these journals. I'm going to try to get Laura to go to bed early and get some rest."

Kara grinned as she got up and put her book in her book bag. "Maybe you need to put her to bed like she does Braedon. Give her a nice warm bath and something to drink…"

She got a look from her father. "The curfew's still midnight. Don't fall asleep and miss it."

Kara snickered. "Are you going to be waiting up for me?"

He grinned and winked at her. "I doubt it. I need my rest, too."

...

"Give me the pencil," Kara said. "I'll put a little mark on the wall where you should put the picture hanger."

"We need to measure it."

"No, we don't. Here's the middle of your dresser." She moved her finger up the wall. "Put the nail right here and the picture will be centered."

"How can you be so sure?" He handed the pencil to her.

She made a tiny _x_ on the wall. "Okay, measure it."

He opened his tool box and got out a retractable measuring tape.

Kara watched smugly as he measured. "What was I off….an eighth of an inch?"

"Maybe a sixteenth. How do you do that?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. That's why I'm such a good shot."

Lee hammered the picture hanger into the spot Kara had marked. Carefully they hung the print of _Posiden's Daughter_ on it. Kara sat on the foot of the bed.

"Perfect."

Lee walked over to her and looked at the print. He pulled her to her feet and looked into her eyes. "Perfect like you." He wanted to kiss her. Gods, he wanted to kiss her, but he knew if he did, they'd never make it to Zeno's. She was watching him, waiting for him to make the move.

"Come on," he said. "We'll have plenty of time when we get back."

When they were seated in a booth and had given their order, Kara said, "I thought by this time next year it would all be over. I thought we'd be free of the Cylons and Laura would be President and I'd be serving my year on a battlestar. I never thought we might be leaving our solar system to fight them somewhere else."

"Neither did I," Lee finally said. "I hope my dad is wrong. I hope we find out the fourth planet is just as deserted as when the Hoshis were there."

"We need to give it a name," Kara said. "We need to call it something besides _the fourth planet_."

"Let's call it Nereid," Lee said. "It's another word for sea nymph."

"Nereid," Kara said. "Okay. It's not every day we get to name a planet."

Lee smiled. "Posiden's daughter just got a planet named after her."

"Somebody on the Hoshi expedition probably already named it officially."

"We'll still call it Nereid."

"Your dad is angry at me because I won't give up Sharon and Leoben, isn't he?"

"My dad's only concern it making sure his plan works. He doesn't want anything interfering with that."

"After I get my wings, I want to do my battlestar year on the _Galactica_. Is there any way to make sure Karl and Sharon get stationed on there, too? That way I can keep an eye on her."

"I'm sure my dad can arrange it. How are you going to explain wanting them on the _Galactica _with you?"

"They're my friends."

"How are you going to keep an eye on Leoben?"

"I'll see him when I'm home. Maybe my dad can do the honors and watch him while I'm away."

"You still believe in the destiny thing, don't you?"

"That's one of the reasons we can't give Leoben up. He's going to help us. "

"Kara, how is he going to help you? Next winter when my father…puts his plan into effect…you'll be on a battlestar. Leoben will be down here on Caprica."

"I don't know how. I just know it."

"You'll graduate Flight School in mid-August. You'll be at or near the top of your class. That means you'll get your choice of battlestars. By the first of September you'll be on the _Galactica_. You won't get to come home for three months."

"_Three months_!" Kara said. "We won't see each other for _three months_?"

"I'm afraid not."

Kara was trying to digest what Lee had just told her. "Three months," she said again. "I thought a month, maybe."

"Three months," Lee said. "At the end of the first three months you get a four-day weekend. That's all. Before the end of the next three months, we'll have…gone into battle."

"Do you ever think about dying?"

"Right before and after my mission to shoot down those Raiders I thought about it a lot. Not so much anymore."

Kara looked at the remains of her meal. She had lost her appetite. "Let's go back to your place."

Hand in hand they walked back to his apartment building and rode the elevator up in silence.

As soon as they were inside the door, she wrapped her arms around him.

"Nothing is going to happen to us. We're going to make it okay. The Oracle said so."

Lee turned her face to his. "Oh, she did? I'm glad to know that. I won't worry at all now," he said lightly.

"One day we're going to explore, just like Irina and Joshua Hoshi. I just happen to be related to a little star-mapper, and we're going to find Kobol, and then we're going to find Earth."

"We're going to find a myth? You're really sure of yourself, aren't you?"

Kara finally smiled. "I was right about where to hang the picture, wasn't I?"

Lee took her hand and led her to the bedroom. "Yeah, you were right. It changes the whole look of this room. There's only one gift you gave me that means more to me."

He turned to face her and laced his fingers through the fingers of her other hand. He leaned in and kissed her, felt the desire sweep him as the kiss deepened. _Three months_. He couldn't imagine how long that was going to seem. He would have to find a reason to visit the _Galactica_ while she was stationed there.

She pulled back. "Are we going to stop? Is that why you've got my hands?"

He let go and put his hands on the sides of her face. "Years from now I want you to remind me occasionally what an idiot I was."

He kissed her again and felt her hands unfastening his jeans, reaching for him, finding him.

Kara heard the sharp intake of his breath.

"No, you did the right thing. You made me realize…you made me see how much you mean to me."

They were both scrambling with clothes now. She knew his eagerness to feel nothing between them was a great as hers, to be as naked as the sea nymph.

"It won't be like this on a battlestar," Lee said almost breathlessly as he gently pushed her onto the bed.

"How will it be?" Kara asked as her mouth found his ear lobe.

"In the bunk…you have to be…you can't make a lot of noise."

"Do I make a lot of noise?"

"Not usually."

He slid his tongue against her neck, his fingers gently caressing her nipple. She made a soft, whimpering sound. He slid his hand down. The whimper became a moan. After a minute, she said his name, the invitation in her voice. He rolled on top of her and laced his fingers through hers again, bringing her hands up beside her head and against the pillow. He held himself still inside her, fighting the wave of desire until he had it under control.

"Please," she whispered.

"My sea nymph," he said before his mouth found hers again, "my very own sea nymph."

Her fingers finally tightened around his, her soft cry of passion sending him over the edge with her.

As their breathing returned to normal, he rolled down beside her and pulled her against him.

She pushed a strand of hair out of her face. "How did we do?"

He smiled. "Probably only about half of the pilots in the bunkroom realized what we were doing."

"Is that good or bad?"

"It depends on how much grief you can stand taking from those who weren't as lucky."

"I'll bet you took a lot of grief when you were on the _Triton_."

"Not for that."

"What did you take grief about?"

"Being such a stickler for doing everything right. Mr. Rules and Regs. That's me."

Kara kissed his shoulder. "I don't mind when you do everything right. I don't mind at all."

"I'll find a way to get to the _Galactica_ those first three months even if I have to go to the Old Man and ask him for a favor."

Kara smiled. "Just tell him that he shouldn't keep a prince and his sea nymph apart."

TBC…


	57. Appointment with the Admiral

Chapter 57

Appointment with the Admiral

_One of the most closely guarded secrets to come from the study of two captured Cylon Raiders was the discovery by scientists and engineers that the Raiders were part inorganic and part organic. These same scientists were still working to discover exactly how the Cylons had achieved the successful integration of the biological with the mechanical when the Colonies went to war with the Cylons once again. _

_-Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War _

Kara finished the last chapter of her book Sunday evening just past eight o'clock. Sharon was not in the room when Lee had brought Kara back to the Academy late that afternoon, and she still had not returned. Kara needed a break before she read her history assignment and decided to go take her shower. Sharon was sitting at her desk when Kara got back to the room.

"I was starting to wonder about you," Kara said.

"I was at the library with Karl. He held my hand on the way back here to the dorm. We had on our gloves, but still…" Sharon smiled.

"So you hadn't done that before?" Kara asked, remembering what Karl had told her about no touching.

Sharon shook her head. "Not since I told him."

"You're doing the right thing letting him make all the moves. He's working through it. Maybe everything will still work out for you and him."

"I hope so," Sharon said.

"What did you do this weekend?"

"I studied."

Kara asked. "Do you ever remember being anywhere but on the basestar?"

Sharon shook her head again and then said. "After Boomer downloaded, she was brought to the basestar from the resurrection ship. Cavil made her share her memories with me. Then I was brought here on a Heavy Raider… not here, but to Myonia."

"Why do you have a separate place where you download? Why not do it on the basestar?"

"Some do have download facilities on board. The one over Caprica doesn't. We use the one out near the ice planet."

Kara walked to her closet, hung up her short robe and pulled on a pair of sweats. She didn't say anything.

When she turned around, Sharon was looking at her with pleading eyes. "You've got to believe me. Boomer downloaded on the hub past your ice planet and was brought to the baseship...or basestar as you call it."

"Are the rest of your basestars in this solar system?"

Sharon looked surprised. "Where else would they be? They watch your battlestars. Why are you asking me all these questions? Did Karl put you up to it?"

"No. I'm curious. What are you going to do when you finish the Academy and Flight School?"

"Get posted to a battlestar with Karl and you. Is that a trick question?"

"You don't see a…conflict of interest with that?"

"No."

"Either I'm missing something or you are. Are you telling me that if…something were ever to happen and you had to make a choice…it would be _us_? You'd choose _us_ instead of the Cylons?"

"Why do you think I would make another choice?"

"You can't blame me if the thought has crossed my mind. You're one of _them_. You say you love Karl, but in the end would that be enough?"

"When I was on the baseship, when Cavil made Boomer put her hand in the liquid interface so I could access her memories, I saw something…something she had seen that she wasn't supposed to see. It didn't bother her, but it bothers me a lot."

"What did she see?"

"I don't know if I should…"

"Come on, Sharon. Tell me."

"Cavil killed one of us. He had a centurion to do it because he disagreed with Cavil on what we were doing. I can't go back. If Cavil ever makes me put my hand in there and accesses my memories, he'll know that I know. He'll know how I feel about it. He'll kill me and erase my memories, too. I don't want to forget about Karl...or being friends with you."

"You'd just download."

"Don't you understand? Cavil would never let me come back here. Even if he didn't erase my memories, he'd keep me on the resurrection ship or a baseship. I'd never see Karl again. I'd never get to feel like anybody loved me or cared about me again. He might even box me."

"Box you? What does that mean?"

"Basically it means deactivate me…my copy."

"What about Boomer? Wouldn't he kill her…or box her, too, if he knew?"

"Boomer is different. She was okay with what he did. She thinks Cavil is always right. We're the same model, but we're different copies."

"I don't understand."

"We're more like…sisters instead of identical twins. We're different. I don't know any other way to say it."

"Didn't you come from the same original model?"

"Yes, but that was years ago. Lots of copies were made. Each copy had different tasks to do and had different experiences. When we download we always get the basics of our model and then the experiences of our copy. I wouldn't have known about Boomer unless Cavil had made her share her experiences with me so I could come down here and take her place."

"You're here for a reason, then, just like I thought, otherwise Cadet Sharon Valerii would have drowned and that would have been it. Cavil sent you back for a reason."

Sharon said. "I'm not going to do what he wants me to do."

"It has something to do with a battlestar, doesn't it, getting you on a battlestar?"

"I told you I'm not going to do it."

"Do what? Prove it to me, Sharon. Prove you want to stay with Karl and not go back to the others. What are you supposed to do?"

"Cavil doesn't trust anyone. Even though he has a Doral copy on every battlestar, he still wants someone on the inside. He thinks Doral only sees and hears what the commanders of the battlestars want him to see and hear. Cavil wants someone who went through the Academy and who the other pilots see as one of their own. He wants to know…the true mind of the fleet. That's how he put it to me. That's what I'm supposed to find out."

"A spy? Cavil wants you to be his spy?"

Sharon nodded. "I told you. He doesn't trust anyone."

"So what are you going to do? He'll be expecting some kind of reports from you."

"I'll lie to him."

"How are you supposed to communicate with him?"

"He hasn't told me that, yet. I'm sure before the time comes, he'll let me know. Are you going to tell Karl about this?"

"You've got to tell him," Kara said.

"I will. I just need some more time."

"Do I have your word on that?"

"You have my word, Kara."

An hour after lights out, Kara was still awake thinking about the things Sharon had told her. Sharon had confirmed Leoben's memory of being executed on Cavil's order. If Leoben was telling the truth about that, maybe he was telling the truth about believing what the Cylons did was wrong. At least his copy of the Leoben model thought it was wrong. Maybe he was destined to help them like she believed he was. Maybe her father was wrong about him.

Kara knew she was going to have to go see her father the next day and tell him everything Sharon had said. She was going to have to tell him about Cavil's plan for Sharon. She knew he would go to Admiral Adama with the news about the ships, but she was going to have to ask her father to trust her one more time about Sharon. As drowsiness began to finally claim her, she said a small prayer that he would listen.

...

She waited for her father outside the cafeteria after lunch the next day. They didn't have time to talk then, but he told her to come by his office that afternoon at 17:00. She was waiting, pacing the hall outside his door when he emerged from the stairwell at 17:05.

He unlocked his office. "What's up, baby?" He took a stack of folders from the spare chair. "Overlook the mess. Between Bill's project and keeping the sims up to date, my housekeeping has suffered."

John sat behind his desk. Kara shut the door before she sat down and quickly went through everything Sharon had told her.

"Damn," John said.

"Admiral Adama is going to love that, isn't he?"

"Okay, let's take it from the top one more time. I want to make sure I get everything right. I'll go by to see Bill tonight. Something like this doesn't get relayed over a phone."

After she had gone over everything once again, she said, "You can't tell him about Sharon. You can't."

"Kara, he's going to know you didn't just pull this from the air. Bill is a smart man. He's going to know this had to come from one of your Cylons and that Cylon has to be someone who is close to you."

"Please. Sharon confirmed what Leoben said about Cavil. She told me a lot more than she had to. She loves Karl. She wants to stay with him. I've thought about it. If Admiral Adama will make sure we're all on the _Galactica_, then he can use Sharon to feed false information to Cavil."

"So you're suggesting we make a double agent out of your roommate?"

"If you want to put it that way. She's willing. She's already said she would lie to Cavil."

"I won't tell Bill who she is…yet, but at some point I'll have to."

"I know."

"Come on, I'll walk with you back to the dorm." Kara waited while he put some of the folders in his briefcase and snapped it shut. He stood and put on his heavy coat.

As they neared the steps to her dorm Kara saw Lee waiting for them.

Lee smiled. "Hi, I was just on my way in to see you. Hey, John."

"I had to go see my dad about something," Kara said.

"I'm heading back into town," John said. "Can I give you a ride…assuming you're ready to go?"

"Go ahead," Kara said. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Lee took her hand and squeezed it.

John teased them. "Do you want me to turn my back while you kiss?"

Kara grinned. "No. You can watch." She leaned over and kissed Lee lightly on the lips before she turned and walked up the steps.

John and Lee started walking toward the faculty parking lot.

"Would you do me a favor and call your dad and see if I can go over to his place tonight? It's important. You're welcome to come, too."

Lee took out his mobile phone. When he finished talking to his father, he said to John, "He said he'll come by your place when he leaves work in about an hour and a half."

"Good. Come have dinner with us."

"You're sure it's all right."

"Lee, you know you're always welcome."

When they got to the apartment, John unlocked the door. "Take off your coat. Hang it in the closet. Have a drink if you'd like. I'll be right back. The first thing I always do when I get home is kiss my wife and see our son."

Lee opened the liquor cabinet. To have a drink or not? He poured a small glass of ambrosia. He'd be taking a transport home tonight anyway. He wondered what John could have to tell Bill that was so important it warranted a Monday night meeting.

John walked into the den with Braedon. "Come on in the kitchen. Jennet has left dinner for us. Laura's putting it on the table."

"Do you want a drink?" Lee asked.

"I'd like one, but I always wait until after Braedon is down for the night. I don't want him to grow up thinking his father smells like whiskey."

They walked into the kitchen. Lee glanced at Laura as she was putting their plates of food on the table. She looked tired. She also looked like she had lost weight. He was reminded of the way she had looked the first time he'd ever seen her during the time she was working so hard for the refugees, the night he'd realized his father was still in love with her.

"How is the campaign coming?" Lee asked her.

"Very well, so far. Billy has turned out to be quite a gifted speech writer."

"I saw that you're ahead in the polls," Lee said.

"By a slim margin. That could evaporate tomorrow."

"Bill's stopping by in an hour or so," John said. "Kara talked to Sharon last night. She got some disturbing information."

"More disturbing news?" Laura said. "Something more about the mysterious fourth planet in the Prolmar Sector?"

"No. Something a little closer to home."

"Are you going to make us wait until Bill gets here?" Laura asked.

"No."

Lee listened with a sinking feeling as John relayed Kara's news.

"Oh, dear gods," Laura said and sat down.

Lee began to eat, mindlessly, trying to imagine how John's news would change his father's plan.

"Seconds?" Laura asked. Lee noticed that she had barely touched her food.

"A little of everything," Lee said. "Your housekeeper is a good cook."

"Not that you'd know it to look at Laura," John said.

Laura put the plate with his second helpings on it in front of Lee and took Braedon from John. "I'm going to start getting his bath ready," she said before she walked out of the kitchen.

"She quits eating when she's under stress," John said. "I told her the other night I could see her ribs. I don't know what to do. Between her job and the campaign, she's working seven days a week. She won't listen to me about slowing down, much less eating right."

John got up and took their plates over to the sink where he rinsed them and put them in the dishwasher. He covered Laura's plate with plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator.

"I'm going to go help her with Braedon's bath. If your father gets here, let him in."

Lee returned to the den and sat down. Irina Hoshi's journals lay on the table. He picked one of them up and opened it. He realized from the way the first page started that it was the second journal.

_Today the carbon dating results came back on the bones found in the most ancient tombs. Between two and three thousand years old. The newest tombs contained bones five hundred to a thousand years old. Nothing has been found any newer so far, but Joshua said little has been searched outside the main city. Tonight I am sure we will all gather in Dr. Singh's tent for more discussion and theories. I'm sure we could spend years studying this planet and still not find all the answers. The biggest mystery remains. What happened to the humans who once lived here?_

So humans had lived on Nereid for at least two thousand years. They had built at least one large city with a spaceport and then between five hundred and a thousand years ago had vanished from the planet if the carbon dating of the bones was accurate. Of course Irina Hoshi was right. They had not searched the whole planet. Newer bones might be found somewhere else on its surface…or they might not be. He thought about the benefit of studying Nereid. Would they ever get the opportunity? What if Nereid had become the Cylon's homeworld, the world from which they had launched their attack on the Colonies?

The doorbell rang. Lee got up and let his father in. Bill looked surprised.

"John gave me a ride from the Academy. I've been taking the subway out there to avoid the traffic."

Bill followed him into the den and went straight to the liquor cabinet. "I'm sure John won't mind. What's so important that it couldn't wait?"

"I'd rather John told you," Lee said. "He's helping Laura give Braedon his bath."

Bill grunted.

"Did you ever do that, Dad, help Mom give me or Zak a bath?"

Bill walked over to the terrace door and looked out at the night. "Not when you were that young. When you were older, she would put you and Zak in the tub together. You loved the water. Zak, not so much."

"He didn't like getting his face wet. Sometimes when Mom was…busy, I'd make Zak get in the tub before he went to bed. He would wash everything but his face. If I tried to wash it, he would howl like I was killing him."

Bill didn't turn around. "How old were you then?"

"Seven or eight, I think Zak was five or six."

Bill shook his head and continued looking out the terrace door. "I didn't know, son. I didn't know how bad it was. I didn't know how much she was drinking."

Lee felt a wave of anger sweep him. "Yes, you did. Your own mother told you. I still remember that fight you had with Mom after my tenth birthday. Do you know how long Zak cried that night? Do you know how long he cried while you and her were…"

"That's enough, Lee," his father said. "You don't need to point out my failings as a father. I'm well aware of them."

Lee stood up and went to the liquor cabinet and started to pour a drink. Then he realized that he was acting just like his father. He put the bottle of ambrosia back on the shelf and stood with his back to the room. He clenched his fists and then relaxed them. What had he expected? An apology? It wasn't in Bill Adama's nature to apologize. Admitting that he had failings was more than Lee had ever expected to hear.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw John walk into the room. He had changed out of his duty blues and was wearing khakis and a long-sleeve white shirt. Lee had come to think of the khakis and white shirt as John's other uniform.

"Bill," John said.

Adama finally turned away from the terrace door.

"You don't have good news, do you?"

"I'm afraid not."

"Are you ready for that drink, John?" Lee asked.

"Make it a whiskey."

They all sat down.

"Kara talked to one of her Cylons," John said. "The basestar in orbit over Caprica City is not the resurrection hub. There's a separate resurrection ship outside of our long-range sensors…somewhere out beyond the ice planet."

Lee tried to gauge his father's reaction. Bill's face registered almost no emotion. He finally took a sip of his drink. "That's not good news."

"No," John said.

"We need to bring this Cylon in and wring everything we can from it."

"That won't work," Lee said quickly.

"I agree with Lee," John said. "Anything we would get from the Cylon under duress would be a lot less reliable than what Kara is getting."

"Am I to understand that this Cylon is _at the Academy_?" Bill asked incredulously.

Lee and John looked at each other. "Yeah," John finally said. "I promised Kara I would do everything I could to protect…their relationship for now. Kara said the Cylon has agreed to function as a double agent and feed Cavil whatever information we want him to know."

"Give me a name."

"When the time is right."

Bill took a deep breath. "I'm about ready to agree with Saul. You should all be in the damned brig. Withholding information on the identity of the enemy is treason."

"John didn't have to tell you where he got his information," Lee said angrily.

"Yes, I did," John said. "If Bill thinks I'm a traitor, then he'll have to do whatever he thinks is best."

Lee could tell that his father was struggling with his anger. They sat in silence until Laura walked in.

"Hello, Bill," she said. Lee heard the warmth in her voice.

"Laura," Bill said. His voice changed, too.

She walked over to the liquor cabinet and poured a small glass of ambrosia before she sat on the couch beside John.

"What a happy group. I gather you've heard the unwelcome news."

"I've heard it," Bill said. "Now I've got to take it into consideration and alter the plan again."

"I've been thinking about Kara's idea," John said.

"Which one?" Lee asked.

"The crazy, outside-of-the-box one about the Raider."

"The one you told her to forget," Lee said. "The one you told her my dad would say _absolutely no way_ to?"

"Yeah, that one. It's so crazy it just might work."

Lee could tell they had gotten his father's attention.

Finally Bill said, "I'm listening."

"The second Raider," John said, "actually the first one Lee shot down, the one that's…brain dead. Is there anything wrong with its mechanical parts, the parts that make it fly?"

Bill said, "I don't think so. There was some structural hull damage when it hit the water, but that appears to have…healed."

"Healed?" Lee said. "What do you mean _healed_?"

Bill said, "The Raider is _part organic_. That's how my chief engineer put it. He's also got a PhD in astrophysics. He said the small hull cracks appeared to have _healed_."

"Does the FTL drive still work?" John asked.

"As far as I know, but we don't know anything about their FTL technology. What's this all about?"

John said, "I was hung up on thinking that we had to understand how the FTL drive works, but Kara is right. We don't need to understand how it works to use it. All we need to know are the right coordinates to get to the fourth planet in the Prolmar Sector. I found those in Irina Hoshi's journal."

"We named the planet Nereid," Lee said. "Kara and I got tired of calling it _the fourth planet_."

"Nereid it is, then," John said.

"I'm still missing something," Bill said. "What good do the coordinates do us even if the FTL drive works? The Raider has no brain to control it."

"We put a human pilot in it," John said. "You said the mechanical parts still worked. Why couldn't a human pilot fly that ship?"

For the first time that evening Lee saw a spark in his father's eyes. "If that were possible, what do you have in mind?"

"We load the Raider with cameras and measuring devices, regular, infrared, terahertz, anything and everything we think might help us gather information about the fourth…about Nereid, and we jump the Raider to it. If there are Cylons there, the Raider should still have a couple of minutes, maybe longer, before it has to jump away again."

"That's taking a big chance," Bill said. "If they realize it came from outside their solar system and know it's not one of their own, we might be asking for trouble before we're ready to take them on."

John said, "We'd have to wait until it's nearly time to implement the plan. We'd have to wait until we could go ahead if we had to. In the meantime we keep preparing for battle and assume that Caprica won't be the end of it. I'm betting their base of operations is in the Prolmar Sector. If we could get some recon on Nereid, at least we'd know what we're facing and how fast we'd have to move after we defeat them here."

Laura finally spoke up. "John, you keep saying _we_. You've done that before. Am I missing something?"

Lee saw Bill look at Laura. "Don't worry. John's part in this plan does not involve him leaving Caprica. Your son will not grow up without a father." He glanced at Lee but couldn't hold his look.

"How do you propose jumping that Raider without the Cylons detecting it?" Lee asked. "An FTL jump has a distinctive signature on dradis. They'd pick it up the second it happened."

"I'm still working on that," John said. "Before I spend a lot more time on it, Bill will need to say he'll consider it."

"Oh, I'll consider it," Bill said. "I'll definitely consider it. We'd given up on being able to do anything with that Raider anyway. I'll go talk to Dr. Rafferty tomorrow. I'm overdue for a visit out there."

"One thing we'll need," John said, "is somebody really good to take a look at the coordinates from the Hoshi journal and determine if we should use them or if we should use slightly different ones. I think the coordinates in the journal are very close to the planet. We might want to jump into the Prolmar Sector farther out. The last thing we'd want to do is jump into the middle of a group of basestars. I don't care if it is a Raider. That might generate a little too much interest."

"There's a lieutenant on the _Galactica_, Felix Gaeta. He's the Tactical Officer. Saul has mentioned him several times. He's very good with computers and he understands jump technology. Dr. Rafferty has a young assistant who is equally as gifted when it comes to computers. I'll pose the problem to him, too."

"Felix graduated in my class from the Academy," Lee said. "I think he was in the top ten. He was always at the top of our math class."

Bill said, "I'll contact Saul and arrange for us to talk to Mr. Gaeta the next time he gets shore leave. In the meantime I'll talk to Dr. Rafferty about what would be involved in fixing up that Raider so a human could pilot it."

"I'd like to be considered for that mission, Dad," Lee said.

"I'll take that into consideration," Bill said.

"I'd like to take a look at the Raider," John said. "I'd like for all of us to look at it…including Kara. It was her idea."

"I'll think about it. In return I'd like to talk to your daughter."

"About?" John asked.

"Her Cylon friends."

"She's not going to tell you anything," Lee said.

His father gave him a look that said to stay out of it.

John appeared to be thinking. "Just the two of you?"

"Just the two of us."

Laura said, "Bill, she's not yet eighteen. Will you guarantee John and me that you won't pull rank on her, that you won't order her to tell you, or threaten her…or her father…if she doesn't tell you what you want to know? Will you promise not to bully her? Because if you won't, the answer is _no_, you don't have our permission to talk to her."

For just a moment the ghost of a smile played over Bill's face.

"She's a cadet at Caprica's Military Academy. I don't need your permission."

Laura smiled sweetly, but her voice took on the steel edge. "It would be in _everyone's_ best interest, not just Kara's, if we agreed on this."

Suddenly John laughed. "Bill, a wise man would not get on the bad side of the next President of the Colonies. After this little skirmish with the Cylons is over, you're going to want to start building new battlestars. Guess who you're going to have to go to for the funding?"

"Agreed," Bill finally smiled. "No orders, no threats. I just want to talk to Kara and see if I can reason with her. Now, it's been a long day. I've got a lot to think about. Thank you for the drink. I'll see myself out."

After he was gone, Lee said, "I don't like it."

John said, "As long as there are no orders or threats involved, Kara can hold her own against him. The gods know she's gotten enough practice with me."

Lee stood. "I'm heading home, too. Are you going to warn Kara or should I?"

"She's got Basic Flight with Colonel Burgher tomorrow after lunch. I'll see her before I go downstairs to the sim room. I'll let her know to expect a call."

After Lee was gone, Laura put her head on John's shoulder. "I should have known it wouldn't be as simple as we had thought. I should have known the Cylons would have something up their sleeves."

"Forget about the Cylons for a little while. Will you not eat some more of your dinner?"

"I'm not hungry."

"What if I make you a cup of chamomile tea and some toast? Will you at least eat some toast?"

"Yes, for you I'll eat some toast."

John got up, and she put her head back against the couch. She didn't think she could have dozed, but it seemed like only seconds had passed until he was back. He handed her a cup of tea and sat down beside her. He had a small plate with two pieces of toast and some slices of a pear.

She took a sip of the tea. "We're invited to a birthday party next weekend."

"Let me guess, the President's."

Laura forked a slice of pear. "It's been a year since our first real date."

"Do you ever wish you had asked Chuck Winters to that birthday party instead of me?" John asked teasingly.

"No. I wouldn't change anything…not one thing…not falling in love with you…not having Kara as part of my life…certainly not Braedon."

"I guess the party means I'd better take the tuxedo to the cleaners."

"Unless you want to wear your dress grays."

John smiled. "I like the idea of wearing my dress grays."

Laura finished her tea, a feeling of calm already stealing over her. "That's who you've always been anyway, isn't it? A Viper pilot."

"You know I can't fly a Viper anymore."

"But in your heart, that's who you are."

"That's who I am."

"Are you coming to bed?"

"You go ahead. I'm still not through reading the first journal. I'm going to read for an hour. A lot is riding on this, especially in light of what Kara just found out. Everything we can learn about Nereid will help us."

She reached across him and put the empty plate and her empty cup of tea on the table. She stretched out on the couch and put her head on the top of his leg.

"Wake me when you're through reading. We'll go to bed together."

He pulled the afghan off the back of the couch and covered her. After he took the journal off the table, she felt his hand gently stroking her hair.

No, she wouldn't change anything about her life right now. Not a thing.

...

"Hi, Karl," Kara said when she got to Colonial History on Tuesday morning.

"Kara," he said. She noticed that he barely glanced at her. "How was your weekend?"

"Great. How was yours?"

He shrugged.

"What did you do besides go with Sharon to the library Sunday?"

"You know what I did Friday night. I was at Lee's birthday party."

"And Saturday?"

Karl finally looked at her. "We need to talk."

"I knew it," Kara said. "_Somebody_ made a move on you, didn't she?"

"This afternoon. The student union. Okay?"

"Our usual time."

Kara got there first. She was already seated at a table when Karl came in. He got a drink from the machine before he came over and sat down.

Karl pulled the tab on the can without looking at her. "I've frakked up."

"Damn it, Karl. Please don't tell me you slept with Maggie this weekend."

"I went back to the apartment on Saturday, okay? I just needed to get away from here. I needed somewhere to go where I could think. Jared was spending the weekend with his girlfriend. Maggie wasn't supposed to be there, but she and Zak had a fight Saturday night…or that's what she said. It was too late for her to go back to the Academy. I was drinking a beer, minding my own business, watching an old movie when she came in."

"And one thing led to another," Kara said in disgust. "I knew that thing about you two just _being friends_ was a total crock."

"I got her a beer. We started talking and the next thing I know she's crying and telling me how Zak cheats on her all the time."

"And she's just now mentioning that it bothers her? At the winter dance she told me she knew Zak dated other girls and she didn't care. She said all she wanted was to be a Raptor pilot."

"She does want to be a Raptor pilot," Karl said defensively.

Kara almost sneered. "Apparently that's not _all_ she wants."

"Go ahead. Rub it in! I already said I frakked up."

"Okay, I'm sorry. I'm not helping. How did you leave things with Maggs?"

He couldn't meet her eyes. "After we…did it…I went back out to the living room and slept on the couch."

"Well I'm sure that sent her a clear message."

"Sharon and I aren't even…dating, and I feel like I've cheated on her."

"Maybe that's because you did."

"How can you cheat on somebody you're not even dating?"

"Because you love Sharon and she loves you. And you are dating. I don't care what you call it."

"Are you going to tell her?"

"No, of course not."

"I don't want to hurt Maggie. I don't love her any more, but I still care about her."

"Duh, Karl. I guess so. You frakked her."

"Look, you just don't understand what it's like for a guy. And Maggie is hot. You might not think so to look at her, but…"

"Spare me the details," Kara said and then added sarcastically, "And I don't have a clue what it's like for a guy. I've never been with one or anything like that." She thought of Lee and the restraint he had shown. "I've never seen one…deny himself an opportunity when he knows it's the best thing for both of you."

"Go ahead. I've got it coming. Make me feel worse than I already do."

"I hate to say it, but there's probably no way you can avoid hurting Maggie. You two need to have a serious talk. You need to be up front with her and tell her the truth. Don't string her along and let her keep her hopes up. She'll wind up hating you if you do that."

"She probably hates me anyway after Saturday night."

"Yeah, right. Sure she does. Is that why you held Sharon's hand on the way back from the library last night…because you felt guilty?"

"Damn, she tells you everything, doesn't she?"

Kara grinned. Karl had no idea of how much Sharon had told her. Kara thought of the note in her jacket pocket, the note that the lieutenant at the desk had handed to her on her way out of the dorm, the note that told her to report to Colonel Winters' office at 14:00 the next afternoon. The note didn't tell her the reason for being called to Winters' office, but her father had stopped her in the hall on the way to Basic Flight class and told her that Admiral Adama wanted to talk to her. He had told her to expect a summons in the next few days. He'd also told her that Laura had extracted a promise from Bill not to give Kara an order or to threaten her. She knew her father was trying to ease her apprehension about the meeting, but she was still worried. Meeting with the Admiral one on one to talk about the Cylons was not something she was looking forward to.

Now Kara almost told Karl what was going on and then decided to wait. She couldn't tell him without mentioning Sharon and she had told Sharon she would give her the chance to tell Karl first.

"What are you going to do about Sharon?" Kara finally asked.

"I want to start seeing her again, really dating her. When I'm with her now I can almost forget what she is."

"She's not the same as the other one."

"I know. She's more sure of herself. She's more laid back. I know what she is, and she looks at me and sometimes I swear to the gods I can see something in her eyes."

"Like love?"

Karl looked down. "Yeah, I'm imagining it…right?"

"She wants to stay with you. She's willing to do a lot to stay with you. Someday she'll tell you how much. Trust me. Would your best friend steer you wrong?"

Karl finally smiled at her. "No, my best friend wouldn't steer me wrong. She'll give me a boatload of grief when I frak up, but she won't steer me wrong."

...

At 13:55 on Wednesday afternoon Kara walked stiffly into Colonel Winters' outer office and up to his aide at the desk.

"Cadet Kara Thrace reporting as ordered." She stood at attention and kept her eyes straight ahead as he picked up the phone.

A few seconds later he said, "The Colonel will see you now."

Kara walked into the office. Colonel Winters was behind his desk. Bill Adama was seated in a nearby chair. She stood stiffly at attention. "Cadet Kara Thrace, sir."

"At ease, Cadet Thrace. I believe you know Admiral Adama."

"Yes, sir."

"The Admiral would like a word with you. There's a conference room off the outer office, Bill. You're welcome to use it."

"Thank you, Chuck. Please follow me, Cadet Thrace."

Kara knew they had to follow the rigid rules of protocol and rank, but it still felt weird being addressed by Lee's dad as _Cadet Thrace_.

After they were inside the small conference room, he closed the door.

"Please sit, Kara. Let's dispense with formalities."

"Thank you, sir."

Bill chose a seat across the table. He didn't look anything like Lee, and yet for what seemed like forever, he studied her with eyes as blue as Lee's.

"You're very young to be at the Academy," he finally said.

"I'm just a year younger that most of the others, sir. That's not so much."

"You can drop the _sir_ for now. Talk to me more like you talk to John."

Kara couldn't suppress a grin. "I'd probably be expelled if I did that."

Bill smiled. "Then talk to me like we were eating dinner at Channing's with Lee."

"I'll try."

As he continued, Kara had the feeling that he was choosing his words carefully.

"It's been my experience that youth is a time of…high idealism. We believe strongly that a path we have chosen is the correct one. We're willing to defend it…no matter the cost. I'd like for you to think about the path you've chosen with these two Cylons…to keep their identities a secret. I'd like for you to explain to me why you've chosen that path because it looks to me like you're willing to put your personal feelings above the best interest of the Colonies."

Kara returned his level gaze. "I believe keeping their identities secret right now _is_ in the best interest of the Colonies. I think they're both going to help us when the time comes. One of them is already helping us. The other one believes what the Cylons did when they attacked the Colonies was wrong. Cavil killed a copy of him on the basestar and wiped his memory before he sent him down to Caprica. Cavil was afraid he would start turning some of the others to his beliefs."

Bill absently tapped a finger on the table. "I wouldn't have thought a young woman who had lost her mother to them would feel the way you do."

Kara realized that he was trying to appeal to her to on an emotional level. She took a deep breath and swallowed the pain. In a way her conversation with Zak after Carolanne Adama's funeral had prepared her for Bill Adama's remark.

"My mother chose to stay behind. She could have come with us that night my dad took me and Karl off Picon. Instead she chose to stay and fight. She died at the hands of the Cylons, but that was her choice."

"You spent several years in a refugee camp because of the Cylons."

"No, sir. I spent those years in the refugee camp because of Tom Zarek."

A small smile curved the admiral's mouth. "You're well prepared. John obviously told you I was going to talk to you."

Kara looked straight ahead. "My answers would have been the same even if he hadn't."

"If it weren't for his love for you, John would have given me those names a long time ago."

"If it weren't for me, he wouldn't have known them, sir."

"He knows what they're capable of. He fought them before. Doesn't it bother you that he's committing an act that could be viewed as treason just to protect you?"

Kara finally felt her composure start to slip. She knew anger had crept into her voice. "I know what it feels like to fight them. My dad never told you I was in the resistance, did he?"

Bill Adama's expression didn't change, but his eyes revealed his surprise. "No, he didn't."

"My dad's not the only one who knows what it feels like to kill Cylons. I was the sniper on the hill that night above Dr. Baltar's lab. I killed two of them. I did it to save two lives…two human lives. And if I thought that giving up these two Cylons to you to torture and…and interrogate would save any more lives, I'd do it. But they're more valuable to us where they are. What I'm learning from them is the truth."

"Does my son know this?"

"Leave Lee out of it. And leave my dad out of it, too. If you've got to do something to somebody, do it to me. They're both protecting me."

"Kara," Bill said more gently than she'd heard him speak that day, "I'm not going to do anything to you or anybody else over this. I'm just trying to understand your loyalty to them."

"My destiny is tied to them and my destiny is to help rid Caprica of the Cylons."

"Not all of us believe in destiny," Bill said.

"What I'm doing is going to help us. _They're_ going to help us. I know it. But if the time ever came that I had to make a choice between a human life or one of them, you don't need to think for one minute that I'd make the wrong choice."

"Just keep in mind that they're the enemy. They're Cylons. They came within a hair's breadth of destroying humanity."

Kara took a deep breath. "When I was in the refugee camp, sometimes the food wasn't that good, and we went without a lot of what most people take for granted."

"We did the best we could," Bill said. "Laura risked her career, probably even her life to keep the camps supplied."

"I know that. The point I'm trying to make is that there were some men who could get you almost anything you wanted…for a price."

"A black market."

"That's right. They dealt guns and cigarettes and food…and drugs…both kinds…legal and illegal. And sex. You could give them cubits or you could…work out a trade."

The worst memories of the camp flooded her for a moment and she knew her eyes had hardened. For the first time since they had begun talking, she saw something compassion in the admiral's eyes.

"I never dealt with them. I went without rather than go near them. But others I knew did. I could tell you stories that would make you sick. Lee interrogated a kid in Sovana who had dealt with these same people in the camp he was in. Get him to tell you about what sick motherfrakkers they are. I look at these two Cylons and they seem like priests compared to some of the humans I've seen."

Her chin came up and she looked defiantly at Bill Adama.

Slowly he nodded his head. "There are too many who would exploit their fellow humans for the sake of cubits or power…for any number of wrong and vile reasons. I've asked myself many times if humanity is worth saving, if I've done the right thing, am doing the right thing with this plan of mine?"

"You've done the right thing. We're worth saving because of people like Laura and my dad and your son…and my little brother. He's going to help us find Earth one day."

Bill sat for a long time, his eyes remote, obviously deep in thought. Finally he smiled. "I like your idea about jumping the Raider to the…to Nereid."

"My dad told you about that? He said there was no way you'd allow it."

"There's a slim chance we can pull it off. I went by to talk to my chief engineer this morning. They're going to start working on a way for a human to fly that Raider. We'll have to wait until very close to the time for the attack, but I've given it a tentative approval."

"You mean next winter?"

Bill made a half nod.

"I'd like a shot at flying it. I'll have my wings by then."

"Lee's volunteered, too. We'll wait and see. Your dad has asked for the opportunity to go out and look at it. He wants you to come along."

Kara couldn't keep the excitement from her voice. "When?"

"I'll see if I can arrange it soon."

"Midterms are next week. I'll be off the whole week after that."

"I'll keep that in mind," Bill said as he stood. "I've taken enough of your time."

Kara also stood. "I hope…I really hope you can understand where I'm coming from, sir."

"I understand it better than I did this morning."

"If I had given you their names, what would you do to them?"

"We wouldn't kill them, Kara."

"There's worse things than killing."

"We don't do those things. The Cylons do, but we don't."

She searched his eyes, trying to determine if he were lying to her.

"My way is better," she finally said.

Bill grunted. "You're not even my daughter and you've convinced me…for now. Keep your father informed of everything you find out."

Kara finally smiled. "I always do. They're not all bad just because they're Cylons. And all humans aren't good just because they're humans."

Bill opened the door. "After you, Cadet Thrace."

"Thank you, sir. I look forward to seeing that Raider."

"I'll bet you do."

...

When she walked back into the lobby of her dorm that afternoon, the lieutenant called her over to the desk. She pointed to a vase with three red roses in it.

"For me?" Kara asked in surprise. She had never gotten flowers before in her entire life. She carried the roses up to her room and opened the card.

_To my sea nymph, the hot blond in black leather who rode into my heart one year ago today. I love you. Lee_

Maybe it was because she was still such a bundle of nerves from her talk with Bill Adama, but Kara felt tears sting her eyes. She sat down at her desk and touched one of the flowers. She smelled the soft rose scent. She looked at the card again and rubbed her finger across the words in his handwriting.

How had she ever gotten so lucky as to find her prince? Admiral Adama may not believe in destiny, but Kara knew that some things were simply meant to be.

She was in the lobby of the dorm when Lee walked through the door shortly after 17:00. Again she almost choked up.

"The roses are beautiful, but the card…you have such a way with words."

He smiled. "I was inspired."

"A year ago today about this time I was explaining to Jack Fisk what had happened to my eye, not that I told him everything, but I had to tell him something. He was upset to say the least."

"I had just finished explaining to my CO what had really happened with you and Ackerman. He wasn't too happy, either. He's the one who told me to talk to you again."

Kara smiled. "And if he hadn't told you to, were you just going to forget it?"

"Not a chance," Lee said. "I'd have figured out a way to see you."

"I guess you would have hung around outside MediFirst and stalked me?"

"Probably. John told me that my dad was going to talk to you today. How did it go?"

"I think we understand each other better now. Or maybe he understands me better. He agreed that we leave things the way they are for now. I'll keep trying to get information from Sharon and Leoben and passing whatever I learn to my dad."

"I'm surprised. Monday night my father sounded like he was hell-bent on getting those names from you."

"We had a talk. I convinced him otherwise."

"I'm glad."

"We talked about the Raider."

"And?"

"I told him I'd like to fly it."

"I've already volunteered."

"Hey," Kara said. "It was my idea."

"You haven't even gotten your wings yet."

"By the time the mission is ready to go, I'll have them."

"Who got that Raider in the first place? I've had a lot more time and experience in the air."

She grinned. "Yeah, but I'm a better pilot."

"Says you."

"I went through the first three sims without a mistake. I've done a couple more since then without making a single mistake."

"Sims aren't the real thing."

"True, but they're the closest thing to combat experience we're going to get. My dad says so. Do you do anything up there flying around on your training missions with your Raider escort that could be called combat training?"

"No," Lee finally admitted.

"Admiral Adama will make the final decision on who flies that Raider. He'll probably pick you."

"Don't count on it. My dad must have a real soft spot for you or he would have ordered you to give him the Cylons' names."

"Maybe he's just smart," Kara said smugly. "So, about this weekend. I can't leave until late Saturday afternoon. I have to qualify on the pistol range. I need to come back here Saturday night because I need to study all day Sunday. Midterms start Monday."

Lee smiled. "We might have to grab a bite at Zeno's and go back to my apartment."

"Like a year ago? It is an anniversary…of sorts."

"I can handle that." He looked at his watch. "I need to get over to the Math and Sciences Building. Your dad told me I could start riding back into the city with him. That's good. It gives us a chance to talk."

"Since you never get to go to McGee's anymore."

Lee grinned. "I can't imagine why he wants to spend his Friday nights with his wife and son instead of drinking beer with me."

"What did you two find to talk about all those Friday nights, anyway?"

Lee shrugged. "I don't know. Guy stuff I guess. No one particular subject jumps out at me."

Kara rolled her eyes. "You talked about women."

"Probably. I'm sure we did. I've got to go. I'll come by tomorrow afternoon if I can."

Kara put her arms around him and whispered. "Thank you for the roses. I love you, too."

With an eye on the lieutenant who was watching them, he kissed her quickly and gently. A year. They'd made it a year, a year that hadn't always been easy, a year when they'd both made mistakes, but they'd hung in there. It felt good.

Lee walked across campus. John was standing outside the building waiting for him. They began walking toward the parking lot.

"How's Kara?" John asked.

"She's fine."

"Your dad stopped by to see me when he finished talking to her. It was nice of him to walk all the way over to the basement to let me know how it went. We didn't have but a couple of minutes to talk. I was between students. He seems resigned to the fact that Kara isn't going to give him any names yet."

"Kara believes in what she's doing. She believes she's right. She must have convinced my dad."

"Your dad's going to arrange for us to see that Raider week after next while Kara is out for midterm break. I told him to make it early in the week. We're flying down to my place on the island on Wednesday. Laura needs a break. We all need some down time. I haven't mentioned it to Kara yet because I want her to keep her mind on her studies, but you're welcome to go with us. Of course she'll be in the copilot's seat. I'm going to let her do most of the flying."

"Thanks. We don't have War College that week. I'll put in for some vacation days."

"We're leaving early Wednesday morning and coming back on Sunday. It's a special anniversary for me and Laura. I'd explain it but you're good with math."

"You're sure you want company?"

"It's a two bedroom place with a nice big couch in the living room. We're going to keep Braedon in the room with us. But if Laura and I want to go walking on the beach at night, I'm sure you and Kara wouldn't mind watching him for an hour or two."

"I'm beginning to understand this arrangement a little better now."

John grinned. "I thought you might. A free trip in exchange for a little baby-sitting. Oh, and one other little favor I'd like to ask. Find a good place to hide Laura's mobile phone. She can live for five days without talking to Billy or Tory or Scott Michelson. They can live for five days without talking to her, too. They probably need a break as much as Laura does."

They reached John's car and got in.

"Today is kind of an anniversary for me and Kara," Lee said. "It's the day I met her, the day she came out to the base last year and had an interview with Sergeant Ackerman."

"The interview that ended with Ackerman slamming her head into the table?"

"Ackerman is still in Sovana…wearing a bullet-proof vest to work every day. I don't think Major Parker plans to bring him back to Caprica City anytime soon."

"If Ackerman is smart, he'll ask Parker to leave him there." John grinned. "It's safer for him."

...

On Saturday afternoon Kara stood at the indoor firing range while the instructor from Taggert's explained the various kinds of Colonial side arms used by the military. He explained caliber and muzzle velocity and number of shots per clip. He talked about kill power. He talked about all of the things Kara's mother had taught her when she was twelve years old. Then he told them that none of it mattered a lot since they would only be issued rubber bullets.

They still needed to qualify, though. He would come back on a Saturday after midterm break, and they would all learn how to break down and clean the side arm they would most likely be issued based on their career of choice.

He had them put on their ear and eye protection and fire three shots at their targets.

Kara's target was again the last one that he reviewed.

He looked at the neat triangle in the chest area as he wrote her name, signed and dated the bottom of the target.

"You're just as good with a pistol as you are with a rifle."

She grinned. "I get to stand closer to the target, too."

"A mutual friend of ours sends his regards. He said to tell you he hoped you had worked everything out."

Kara remembered the last time she had seen Frogman…Paul. He had walked with her to Lee's apartment that terrible night she thought Lee had broken up with her. She thought briefly of how Lee hadn't been willing to give up and they had grown closer because of it.

"Things are fine now. Tell our mutual friend…tell him I said so. And tell him I hope he's doing all right. He's a good guy."

"I'll do that. Some of the, uh, members of our club still talk about a certain sniper who saved two of our own last year. You're well on your way to becoming a legend."

"Right."

"With luck, you'll get to…use your skills again."

"I hope so…only I'll be in a Viper next time."

"If you don't mind my asking, where did you get your knowledge of firearms?"

"My mother was a Marine. She taught me."

"I was in the corps myself a few years back."

Kara nodded. "I guess I'll see you in a couple of weeks."

He smiled. "I guess you will."

She got back to the dorm fifteen minutes before Lee was supposed to pick her up. Sharon had on a short skirt and sweater and her hair was down around her shoulders instead of in the ponytail she usually wore.

"Wow, look at you," Kara said.

"Karl and I are going to McGee's tonight. I was tired of wearing jeans."

"Where did you get the skirt?"

"I borrowed it."

"From who?"

Sharon smiled. "From _whom._"

"Who, whom…the name," Kara laughed.

"Don't freak."

"Why would I freak?"

"I borrowed it from Lieutenant Sydell."

Kara was almost to the door with her shower kit when she stopped. "You borrowed a skirt from Shelley Sydell? She's about five inches shorter than you are."

"The skirt is longer on her, but we're the same size."

"How did you and Sydell get to be such buddies?"

"I wouldn't say we're buddies, but she talks to me a lot more now than she used to. She knows Karl and I broke up and are trying to work things out. She suggested the skirt."

"That ought to get Karl's attention," Kara said.

Sharon smiled. "You think?"

"Yeah, Sharon. I know. It'll probably get a lot of other guy's attention, too."

...

That night as she and Lee walked from the garage of his apartment building to Zeno's, Kara said, "Let's sit at the bar."

"Like we did a year ago. Okay." He took her hand. "A lot has happened since then."

"Did you have any idea last year that we would…go back to your place that night and…get to know each other better?"

Lee smiled at her. "I didn't even know if you would show up."

When they were seated at the bar, Kara said. "A sea nymph and a prince. I was really naïve. We've come a long way in a year."

Lee ordered beer. "We'll have to come back here next year to celebrate our second year together."

Kara smiled at him all the while wondering what the next year would bring. One of them would jump that Raider into the Prolmar Sector and help determine what lay ahead for them on Nereid. Both of them would fly Vipers against the Cylons. There were so many unknowns between now and then. He glanced at her. She knew he was thinking the same thing.

When the beer came, he touched his bottle to hers. "You're still my sea nymph."

She tried to put the future out of her mind. They had tonight. She thought of the roses.

"You'll always be my prince."

TBC…


	58. Sadie the Cylon

Chapter 58

Sadie the Cylon

_In a move that many considered long overdue, the owners of the Talk Wireless radio network fired controversial commentator Elliott True, real name Humphrey Browning, for his virulent attacks on Presidential candidate Laura Roslin. Browning continued his smear campaign on an internet blogging site until a report was published in a Caprican tabloid, replete with photographs, of the fifty-three-year old, married father of four's frequent visits to a Caprican massage parlor that was a known front for prostitution. _

_-Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War _

"I had lunch with my dad today," Lee said. "I think you made a real impression on him when you had your chat. I don't think he realized some of the things you'd been through until he talked to you. You impressed him with your_ maturity_ and your _courage_. I'm quoting him."

"You sound like that bothers you."

"Why would it?"

"I don't know. Something about the way you said it. I told your father how I feel. I was honest with him. If that made an impression on him, I'm glad. I know he wanted me to change my mind and tell him, but I'm not going to."

"But you understand why he wants to know, don't you? It's his job to know who the Cylons are."

"What I understand," Kara started a little hotly and then took a deep breath. Lee had made a valid point. She softened her tone. "What I understand it that he would have Sharon and Leoben taken to some secret place…and that they would be questioned, probably tortured. He'd be careful not to kill them, though, because they'd download and the other Cylons would know. What I couldn't tell him is Cavil will know if Sharon disappears anyway. He's expecting her to be his eyes and ears on whatever battlestar she gets assigned to."

Lee started to deny that his father would sanction the torturing of Sharon or Leoben even if they were Cylons, but he also realized that it might happen even if his father didn't sanction it. Instead he said to her. "Laura and John were afraid he was going to order you to give him the names."

"I wouldn't have."

"You would have gone to the brig…given up your chance for a career as a Viper pilot to protect two Cylons? That is just wrong, Kara, wrong on so many levels."

"Sometime you have to make a decision and stick to it. It's like my mother used to say. _Don't ever draw a line in the sand unless you're prepared not to cross it_. Sharon and Leoben are going to help us."

"I hope so…considering what their brothers and sisters did to us."

"Look, Lee. I know what the Cylons did was horrible. My dad and I have gotten into it over this a couple of times. I know they destroyed eleven of the twelve Colonies and killed billions of people. I know most of them are bad. I'm not even saying all the copies of Sharon and Leoben are good. Boomer isn't. She didn't mind killing humans. She killed Captain Reider and she killed all those people on Troy. There was a copy of Leoben in the camp. He creeped me out. It wasn't anything he did or even said. It was just him. There was something creepy about him. But the copy who runs the bookstore is different just like this copy of Sharon is different from Boomer. Sharon said they made a lot of copies of each original model and that each copy had its own experiences. Maybe that's what made them like they are. When something happens to one of them, it's that particular copy of the model that downloads. I don't really understand it, but it makes sense."

Lee thought about what she had just said. In a convoluted way it did make sense.

"Sharon and Karl are dating tonight. I think they're getting back together."

"I hope he knows what he's doing. I hope this Sharon doesn't start remembering stuff and kill somebody like the other one did."

"She won't. She's got everything under control. You don't trust any of them, do you?"

"I guess it's that little _tried to destroy humanity_ thing that makes me cautious. I guess it's what they've done with the virus and the human-Cylon hybrids. I think they're still trying to destroy humanity. They're just doing it slower, using us to make more of their hybrids."

"Then why didn't _you_ give Sharon and Leoben up? You could have told your father who they were."

"Because I knew that would have been the end of us. You trusted me with your secret and I knew if I betrayed you, it would be over with us."

Kara said, "I knew my dad wouldn't give them up. He promised me. But I'm surprised Laura didn't. I thought she would have told your dad whatever he wanted to know."

"You thought Laura would betray you?" Lee asked in surprise.

"I guess I was thinking about it more like…because it was _your father_ who wanted to know."

"She backed my dad down the other night about ordering you to give them up. Not many people can do that. Of course I think he let her because…" Lee stopped, aware that he probably shouldn't say anymore.

"Why? Because you think him and Laura still have feelings for each other? You think she only married my dad because she couldn't be the _pregnant and unwed_ Secretary of Education and your mother was still alive at the time?"

"No. I don't think that."

"It sounds like you and your dad need to get your own feelings out in the open and talk about them."

Lee started laughing. "You're funny sometimes. Every time I bring up the past he clams up. If I push it, he tells me, _That's enough, Lee._ My dad and I do not have the same kind of relationship that you have with John."

Kara shrugged. "I know. But it's still not easy all the time. We still get into it over things like me visiting Leoben and putting so much faith in what Yolanda Brenn tells me. I guess what I'm saying is that Dad and I_ keep trying_."

Lee sipped his beer again and glanced at his watch. How could he expect Kara to understand his relationship with Bill Adama? He was still trying to understand it. He'd spent years trying to understand it.

"Isn't it about time for you to tell me that someone just came into Zeno's and you don't want him to see you?"

Kara looked around for Frogman and then realized that Lee was talking about last year. "Yeah we should probably get out of here. I have to go back to the Academy tonight."

"But not yet."

Kara smiled. "No, not yet."

They left with his arm around her like they had done a year ago and started walking back to his apartment.

On the street Kara asked, "Have you talked to Zak this week?"

"No."

"I think he and Maggie broke up. She was crying to Karl because she said Zak cheated on her."

"Zak can't cheat on Maggie because they're not exclusive. Zak does not do commitment. I think he dates her a lot because he likes her, but he is not in any kind of steady relationship with her. And he wouldn't lie to her about it either."

"I knew the first time I met Zak that he was a player."

"That's just the way Zak is. The word _monogamy_ is not in his dictionary."

"I'm glad you're not like that."

"I never could handle but one relationship at a time."

"What about Shelley and Blaire?" Kara asked teasingly.

"Shelley dumped me when I started dating Blaire. She solved the problem for me."

They got back to his apartment and rode the elevator up to the eighth floor.

When they were inside, Lee threw his coat on a chair. "I think you asked for ambrosia last year."

Kara dropped her coat on top of his. "Probably. I thought it would make me seem more grownup."

They walked into the kitchen. Lee got the bottle from the cabinet over the refrigerator and poured two small glasses.

"Were you nervous last year?" Kara asked.

"Not until you told me that you had…_waited_ for me."

Kara laughed softly. "You kept trying to say the word _virgin_ and couldn't get it out. And then when the time came, you couldn't do it and I had to do it for you."

Lee looked down at his drink. "You know why, don't you? I was afraid I'd hurt you and that's what you would remember about me."

"I wasn't expecting the first time to be great. When I was in the camp, Carrie Warner…the real Carrie Warner, told me about doing it with her boyfriend the first time. She said it hurt which is why she was okay that it only lasted about three seconds."

"I'm sure it wasn't that great for you, either," Lee said, his eyes still down on his drink.

"It wasn't bad. And every time since then has been great. You always want to make it good for me and that makes me hot. _You_ make me hot."

Lee put his glass of ambrosia on the kitchen counter and then put hers beside it. He took her face in his hands and kissed her the way he always liked to start, gently, their lips barely parted, letting the hunger build as the kiss deepened.

Kara put her arms around his neck, and he found the button on her jeans. He eased the zipper down and slipped his hand beneath the waistband of her panties. She was already wet.

Kara moaned softly against his mouth. "See? See how hot you get me?"

He pulled her down the hall to his bedroom. She stopped just inside the door to finish taking off her jeans and panties. The sweater came over her head next and then the sports bra.

Kara helped him unbutton his shirt. She sat down on the side of the bed and scooted backward. He nearly tripped getting his left leg out of his jeans and they both laughed. He couldn't wait to feel her body against his, to get his hands on her, his mouth on hers again.

When the moment came, he rolled onto his back rather than wait for her to push him like she had done a year before. She put her hands on his chest and straddled him, grasping him for a few seconds before she took him inside of her.

When she came, her head tilted back slightly, she said his name, said it a second time. He held her hips tightly and let the sensations take him. _Great_ just didn't do it justice.

She rolled down to lie beside him, and when he could muster the energy, he pulled her close to him.

"Better than last year?" He asked, knowing what her answer had to be.

She kissed his shoulder. "Happy anniversary." They drifted wordlessly for a long time.

Kara finally said, "I've got to go back to the Academy tonight. I'm only signed out until midnight. I've got to spend all day tomorrow cramming. Exams start on Monday."

"You'll do fine."

"I haven't studied nearly as much this term as I did last term. I've been coming home almost every weekend. I'd have all the good intentions to study and then I'd never seem to get around to it."

"You'll still do fine. Don't worry."

"That's easy for you to say, Mr. Top-of-your-class. Everything is harder this term. Basic Flight is harder, the sims are harder. We've covered so much."

"Kara, listen to me. It's not going to matter when you get to Flight School if you didn't graduate at the top of your class. What matters is that you can fly a Viper. And you're going to be a great Viper pilot. I know it. John knows it. Your flight instructors are going to be looking at your Basic Flight grades and your sim scores. They're not going to care that you made a C in Colonial Lit."

"My dad told me the same thing. Some of the cadets think he's just giving me good scores."

"When I was at the Academy, I got some of that, too. There're still some cadets who graduated with me who think I was in the top spot because of my dad's position as the President's senior military advisor. You'll do fine on your exams, and if you don't have a 3.4 at the end of the term, you'll still be okay."

"I've got to get up and get dressed now or I'll be late getting back," Kara said as she began gathering her clothes. She had a brief memory of how she had done that the year before when she thought she would never see him again, and then that moment seemed far in the past.

This time Lee got up and began gathering his clothes, too.

...

On his way home from taking Kara back to the Academy that night, Lee tried to sort out the jumble of feelings their earlier conversation had unleashed in him. Why did something always happen when he thought he was finally making progress getting over the emotional train wreck of his childhood? He had tried to confront his father once before on the night of his mother's funeral. He remembered how that had turned out…the truths that Lee had flung at him and the way Bill had stonewalled him. Lee knew they had both had too much to drink, but if his father couldn't even face the truth when he was half-drunk, would he ever be able to face it sober?

As Lee slowed for his exit off the I-6, he glanced at a billboard advertising a new apartment complex. A smiling couple was holding a little boy. The woman reminded him of his mother, a smiling and much happier version of the mother than he had seen during most of his childhood. _Come live in this happy place where we live, _they seemed to be saying. Lee almost laughed aloud. It was just an advertisement, not an indictment of his miserable childhood.

He followed the exit ramp to the stoplight. As he waited for it to change, he realized that maybe his father hadn't known how serious his mother's drinking problem was. Maybe she had managed to hide the worst of it from him. Lee knew that despite what her doctor had said, Bill had convinced himself that the first drug overdose was an accident. He'd done the same thing about her death. The night of her funeral he was still calling it an accident. Maybe the fight after his tenth birthday party had been more about Carolanne's embarrassing behavior in front of his friends and some of their mothers than about her drinking in general.

But Bill knew the truth about Lee's and Zak's childhoods now. He knew because Lee had told him. Maybe that's what his father was having a problem with. Maybe Lee had shattered his father's long-held fantasy of the dutiful wife and good mother. Maybe Lee had been responsible for some of his father's guilt feelings over his long absences. Maybe he had made his father confront his deep love and longing for Laura Roslin. Lee remembered the day after his mother's death when his father had refused to make the funeral arrangements. Laura was the only one who had been able to get through to him. Bill still loved her. Maybe he'd made his father confront his own demons and Bill was not going to either thank him or forgive him for it.

He pulled into his parking garage and rode the elevator up to his apartment. Kara didn't have a clue, not a frakking clue what the admiral was really like. But if she was around his father long enough, she'd find out.

The untouched glasses of ambrosia still sat on the kitchen counter.

Lee finished both of them.

...

Laura had a headache, the worst one she'd had in a long time. She took off her reading glasses and pinched the bridge of her nose between her eyes as she tried to concentrate on what Billy was saying to her.

"…and you slipped half a point in yesterday's poll. Two people who were asked said that…uh…I'm quoting, _a woman who had a child out of wedlock should not be elected President_. When asked their source of the information, they both said a show on Talk Wireless. I think we know the one they're referring to."

"Oh, dear gods," Laura looked at Billy. "Do some people never _read_ anything? We were just on the cover of _The Caprican View._ The caption clearly identified John as my husband. The article inside mentioned him several times. There was even a photograph of our wedding reception and the date. Anyone who can do simple math will know that I was pregnant when I married John, but my son was _not _born out of wedlock. Tory, you worked for a law firm. We've got to do something about this."

"You could threaten to sue the station and the talk show commentator for libel since you _were_ married when Braedon was born. The commentator's remarks are clearly not true and are being used in a defamatory manner. A letter from a lawyer might do the trick. If it doesn't, you need to be prepared to follow through and sue them."

"You still have contacts in your former law firm, don't you?"

"Yes."

"Handle it. I don't want to get government attorneys involved because that will just give this…man the ammunition to say I'm using the resources at my disposal to harass him."

"How strongly do you want the letter worded?" Tory asked.

"As strong as we need to make it to get him to stop his lies."

"The attorney I'm thinking of contacting will probably ask me if you want this commentator investigated to see if he has any…skeletons in his closet. What should I tell him?"

"Yes, of course. Not that I'll necessarily use anything he might discover, but it would be helpful to have for future reference. Now do either of you have anything for a headache? I let my prescription medicine run out."

They were seated in the small conference room off her office and Tory got up to go to get something from her desk.

Billy said, "Maybe you should lie down for a while. Or go home. How long has it been since you've taken a single day off?"

Laura tried to smile but that made the pain worse. "I'll be away next week for a few days. We're going down to the island. I'm going to take the rough drafts of the speeches you've written and work on them."

"That doesn't sound like a vacation to me," Billy said.

"Maybe I'll leave early this afternoon. I can take a few of those education proposals with me."

Tory walked back into the room with a glass of water. She handed a bottle of over-the-counter pain killers to Laura who shook two out and then shook a third into her palm. She swallowed them and looked at her watch. She was meeting Bill in the Tea Room for lunch in an hour and a half. She was determined not to miss it.

"I'm going to my desk and put my head down," she said. "Hold all my calls unless it's an emergency."

She saw Tory glance at Billy.

"Call the law firm right now," Laura said. "Before I go home this afternoon I want to approve a copy of the letter they're going to send our…misinformed Talk Wireless commentator _and_ his employer. Have them fax or email a copy to me. I want it in the mail tomorrow morning."

"I'm not sure I can get anything done that fast," Tory said hesitantly.

Laura smiled tightly. Her head throbbed. "In light of your previous relationship with an attorney in that firm, I believe you can."

An hour later, her headache almost gone, she left for the Tea Room. Tory didn't glance up from her computer screen as Laura walked by. Laura looked at Billy and smiled. "I'll be back in about an hour…or so."

Bill was waiting for her.

He greeted her warmly, but they had become very conscious of touching because of the way something like that could be misinterpreted. She imagined what her Talk Wireless nemesis would do with the rumor of an affair with the President's senior military advisor.

"Hello, Bill. How are you?"

"I'm fine, Laura. And you?"

"Almost over a bad headache."

"It's stress. You're working too hard."

Laura smiled. "Look who's talking. You said you had some news."

"Several things. You can pass them on to John if you don't mind. Felix Gaeta will be back on Caprica next month. Saul is going to make sure Gaeta knows how to contact me. We would like to meet him one evening in your apartment. That makes it look social instead of business. I'll ask Lee since he wants to be part of the mission. I haven't decided who will fly the Raider yet, but I want him there."

The waiter brought her cup of tea and refilled Bill's coffee before he took their orders for lunch.

Bill was silent until the waiter had walked away. "I finally got the report back from the virologist who I'd asked to take a look at Dr. Baltar's work. It's his opinion that Baltar is on the right track. He's just working very slowly. The length of time between his experimental steps is outside the norm."

"Is he drawing out the work for monetary gain or do you think he has other motives?"

"Probably both."

"You should let Baltar know that if I get elected, he might not fare so well under me as he's done under President Adar. He and Richard are friends. I don't consider Gaius Baltar a friend. I think the good doctor is enjoying his research-assistant harem far too much. I think he could work faster."

Bill chuckled. "You're probably right."

"Gaius will earn his keep, or he'll be off the project and I'll hire your virologist. I'd like for him to be able to test the anti-virus within the next year."

"I'm sure Baltar will be happy to hear that."

Laura sipped her tea. "I hope it inspires him to put more effort into his work. Dreilide Thrace told Kara that the heartbroken Natasi has started conducting some sort of worship service down at an old warehouse in the commercial district. She's preaching her monotheistic beliefs and appears to have gotten some followers."

"Something to take up her time since she's no longer seeing Baltar."

"She considers her classes at the university a failure last term because she doesn't think anyone took her seriously. I spoke with Chancellor Enwright several weeks ago. He was still laughing about how many male students were disappointed that she cancelled her classes for spring term. She had quite a few followers at the University as well…just not for the reasons she wanted."

Bill chuckled again. "College boys, the gods love them. We are in their debt. The Cylon picked the wrong audience to preach her message to."

"She's apparently found a more receptive audience now." Laura took a sip of tea. "Can we expect to see you at the President's birthday party Saturday night?"

"Yes. I asked Fiona."

Laura knew her surprise showed. "I thought you two were…over."

"We stepped back for a couple of weeks. She understands my priorities now. There's no reason not to see each other on occasion."

Laura mulled his information. "Not to mention that she's very beautiful. She will grace you arm admirably, Admiral." She smiled at her choice of words.

Her remark almost got an answering smile. "I'm not the only man in her life, Laura."

"She never mentioned anyone else to me."

"She never mentioned him to me, either, but when a person's in the kind of position I'm in right now with my access to the President, everyone who comes in contact with me on a regular basis is checked out. I don't like it, but I understand why it has to be done."

"You mean she was investigated?"

Bill shrugged. "A routine check was done. The other man turned up. He's married though he and his wife are currently separated. That's why she never mentioned him."

"Dear gods," Laura said.

"That's all I can say, all I _will_ say. I enjoy her company. She's a beautiful...and interesting woman. I see no reason not to continue seeing her…occasionally."

Laura sipped her tea in silence for a moment and wondered once again why the heart sometimes made its choices.

Finally she said, "I understand your chat with Kara went well last week."

"I kept my word to you. No orders, no threats. Kara convinced me that we have nothing to worry about at the current time so for now I'll let it go, but before the attack begins, I'll have those names from her. Then I'll make a decision how to handle the situation."

"I think you would do well to continue to build a relationship with her. Given some time and effort on your part, she may trust you enough that you don't have to make it an order. She has a tremendous amount of faith in your plan." Laura smiled. "She even chastised me once for my _lack of faith_. Kara has a great deal of respect for you, Bill. "

"And I have a great deal of respect for her. Anyone who has endured what she went through and is still functioning, let alone attending the Academy, has my respect."

"In many ways she's quite the tough one. When she first moved into the apartment with us, she barely interacted with me at all. It was almost like we had a boarder who got up early, went to her job, and ate dinner with us on the days she wasn't riding the motorcycle. I talked to John about it and he asked me to let it go for a while. They were trying very hard to be father and daughter, still finding their way with each other, so I did. They had to form some sort of bond before she could even consider me. I tried little things. I took her shopping. I asked her to help me in the kitchen occasionally. The few times she did talk to me, I listened. I tried to be open with her. She's usually very cordial with me, usually polite, but emotionally she still keeps her distance from me. There was only once when she was arguing with John about something and it…expanded to include me. She raised her voice in a way that John considered disrespectful and he stopped her. I wish he'd let us continue. If I'd been her…real mother, I doubt he'd have stepped in."

"John's never talked about Kara's mother to me. He said she was a Marine and that she had stayed on Picon. I know they weren't married. That's about it."

"She was apparently a rather…oh, how shall I say this…a rather hands-off mother. I don't think she and Kara ever formed a close bond. Kara probably doesn't want another mother or think she needs one so we may never be close. That doesn't mean I won't continue to try, but with her at the Academy this year and only coming home on the weekends and with my schedule lately, we don't see much of each other. She is bonding with her brother, though. She does appear to love Braedon. She calls him her _little star-mapper_ and can always get him to smile."

At the mention of her son, Laura saw a look come into Bill's eyes that she didn't know how to interpret. "You've taken well to motherhood," he finally said.

Their food arrived. Laura smiled. "By some small miracle, you mean?"

"No miracle. Just your ability to handle whatever comes your way and handle it well, like everything else you've done in your life."

"Is that a compliment, Bill?"

"You can treat it as one if you'd like."

"I've made my share of mistakes."

She saw the faraway look in his eyes for a moment. "Not nearly as many as some of us have."

...

"Cadet Thrace, the sim exam will last thirty minutes," her father said to her as she sat in the cockpit. "The first sixteen minutes are atmospheric. There will be a one-minute break during which your screen will count down from sixty. The last thirteen minutes will begin when you launch from a battlestar. There are a number of scenarios. If you make a mistake, keep going unless it's a fatal one. If that happens, then the computer will log it and move on to the next part of the exam. Follow the instructions in your headset. Watch your instruments."

Kara said, "Yes, sir." She was nervous, but she was also excited.

"Are you ready?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good hunting…Starbuck."

The canopy closed.

The first part of the sim was boringly simple. A routine takeoff and some turns and altitude adjustments. It was almost too simple and she kept wondering if she were missing something. A Cylon Raider pulled into formation beside her. She stifled the urge to open fire on it. She had better get used to seeing a Raider beside her. Still the sight of it made her trigger finger itch.

They flew into heavy cloud cover. Raindrops pelted the canopy. She was flying blind. She watched her instruments and stayed on course. She emerged from the clouds. The Raider was no longer beside her. She looked at her dradis. It was still there only it was behind her now. What the frak was it doing?

She followed the instructions in her headset and plotted a course across the simulation of the bay. She stayed at the instructed altitude of 8,500 feet. When she reached the Penny Point Lighthouse, she banked right and continued out over the ocean. The Cylon was still behind her on her dradis. She was instructed to plot a course to the smallest of three islands forty miles out. The island, not much more than volcanic rock, came into view on the horizon. She followed the instructions again, descended to 5,000 feet and circled the island, now a larger gray mass in a gray-green sea. The Raider appeared off her wingtip again. Damn, what was it doing?

She was eleven minutes into the sim when her fuel gauge began flashing and chiming a warning. She was low on fuel. She quickly did the calculations in her head. Damn. Damn. Damn. Even with the reserve, she didn't have enough to make it back to the base. The sim wasn't so simple anymore. The voice in her headset had gone silent. She was going to have to try to get herself out of this one. She slowed her airspeed to conserve fuel. There was a small civilian airport just up the coast, much nearer than the base. She used her computer to get the coordinates and locked them in. She just might make it. She radioed the airport and declared an emergency. She managed to get the Viper on the ground before her fuel was completely gone.

The sim ended and the screen in front of her began counting backward from sixty. She wondered how much the mistake was going to cost her on her score. She was sweating, her hands shaking slightly. By the time the screen flashed zero and she was in the simulation of a battlestar launch tube, she had gotten herself under control. There was nothing to do but keep going.

The sim began as a routine CAP with six other Vipers flying with her, but four minutes in, Raiders jumped into space ahead of them and behind them. The headset instructed her to take them out. It took her only seconds to arm her missiles. She fired and glimpsed two of the Raiders explode before she jammed the rudder pedals and pulled her Viper into a tight over-the-top turn. She barrel-rolled out of the turn and prepared to take on the Raiders to their rear.

There were six of them on her dradis, not much bigger than large dots on visual, but at the speed they were approaching each other, it would be a matter of ten seconds before they met. She slowed for another Viper to catch up to her before they rocketed forward to take on the Raiders. She flew well for the four minutes it took her to take out five of the six Raiders. Her simulated wingman had taken out the one Raider that could have gotten her. The voice in her headset instructed her to return to the battlestar and land normally. She did it. The canopy slid back. The cockpit of the simulator was always kept cool. The warmer air of the room washed over her and kept her from shivering in her sweat-soaked tanks. She climbed down, picked up her fatigue jacket and put it on.

Her father was at the computer as she picked up the energy drink she had left on the steps. She walked over to him.

"How did I do?"

"The computer is calculating your score now. You made a 92. Running out of fuel is a big mistake. That cost you 30 points, but you got 12 of them back by diverting to the civilian field and landing your Viper safely. You picked up 2 additional points for each Raider you took out."

"What should I have done about the fuel?"

"You tell me."

"Before I followed the instructions to go to the island I should have checked my fuel level."

"That's exactly right."

"I let the Raider distract me."

"Which could have been a fatal mistake."

"Did anybody else make the same mistake?"

"Kara, you know I can't talk about other cadets' scores. All I can tell you is that you did very well."

"I've got my math exam in the morning. It's my last one. Will you be ready to leave at lunch?"

"I'll come over to the dorm and pick you up when I finish here. How do you think you did on your other exams?"

"Basic Flight, I think I did good. The others I don't know. I thought they were harder than midterms first semester, but I haven't studied as much either."

She put her arms around him to get her hug.

"You've got to watch those instruments, baby. If you don't take one other thing away from what I'm teaching you here, remember to watch your instruments and trust them."

She grinned. "Did you dream up this sim just to teach me a lesson?"

"You and all the other nuggets. It appears to have worked fairly well. Better it happens here than when you're in Flight School."

"I'll bet Lee would have noticed the fuel levels."

Her father smiled. "Probably so. But I doubt he'd have taken out five Raiders the way you did either."

...

Kara didn't know how long she would have slept on Sunday morning if Braedon's fretting hadn't awakened her. Slowly she opened her eyes. She smelled coffee, heard hushed voices. She rolled over, a mistake she soon realized, and looked at the clock. Nearly eight. A hundred tiny hammers began pounding in her head.

The night before she and Lee had gone to the pyramid semi-finals and used the free third-row seat tickets that Zak had given Lee for his birthday. The Buccaneers had beat the favored Dominos, coming from behind in the last twenty seconds on a score and then a penalty shot by Sam Anders. She and Lee had gone with Zak and one of the blond cheerleaders, whose name Kara finally learned was Missy, to celebrate afterward at Crocodiles, one of the _in _sports bars in the entertainment district. Sam had come in later with a woman on each arm. Kara never did learn their names. She hadn't mentioned Maggie to Zak and Zak hadn't mentioned Maggie to her. The mood had been wildly festive.

Someone had kept buying pitchers of beer and sometime during the evening they had switched to shots. Sam had come by their table later that night and had put his hands on her shoulders while he had talked to everyone at the table. Kara had been able to tell that Lee didn't like it, but Sam had moved on in a few minutes so nothing had happened. She had thought of her curfew almost two hours after midnight. Getting into the transport had been a hysterically funny experience as had Doug's look when they had gotten back to the apartment building.

Now as her headache got worse she had a vague memory of schussing Doug and telling him not to wake Laura and John. Lee had gotten her to her bedroom, had helped her off with her jeans and then…what? Gods, had she been that drunk? So drunk she didn't even remember? She must have been.

She got up and went across the hall to her bathroom. She stood under the shower for a long time, finally gave up on easing the pounding head, and dressed in sweats before she went into the kitchen. She found a fresh pot of coffee and a bottle of aspirin sitting on the counter. Gifts from her father, no doubt.

She was sitting at the table drinking coffee and waiting for the aspirin to take effect when he came in without Braedon. He poured a cup of coffee and sat down.

"Do you feel like eating anything yet?"

Kara shook her head. The motion made her feel nauseous.

"Was it a good game?"

"Great game," she managed to get out.

"Even better party afterward?"

"I know I'm probably grounded or something."

"Do you want to be grounded? I'll be glad to do it if it will make you feel better."

"Nothing will make me feel better right now."

He smiled. "I think nature is taking care of your punishment. I don't need to do anything."

"How was the President's birthday party last night?"

"Nice. We didn't stay but about two hours. Laura was tired and we wanted to get back so Maya could go home. Bill was there with Fiona. They make a nice-looking couple. Laura told me a few weeks ago that they weren't seeing each other anymore, but I guess that changed. The biggest surprise of the evening was Dr. Baltar coming in with D'Anna Biers. Laura said she'd seen them together last year when she was dating Chuck Winters. I never quite understood if it was really a date or if Biers just needed an invitation so she could troll for a story. She spent a lot of time talking to me and Laura. You know how reporters are…always sniffing around for a lead. D'Anna asked me twice if she could come out to the Academy and interview me in the sim room. I turned her down since it's against Academy policy. Then later she asked to come here one weekend and interview me to get some background on my _interesting career_. I put her off and told her to call later. Laura thinks I should do it. I'm still thinking about it. D'Anna worked the whole room, though, not just us. Baltar spent his time at the bar chatting up some politician's wives who don't know he's ninety-eight percent bullshit. That about covered our evening."

"Is Laura gone or is she with Braedon?"

"Braedon's asleep. I just got him down. Laura left before you got up this morning. She said she'll be back for lunch. She wants all of us to go to Channing's."

"Does she know?"

"That you came in very intoxicated last night? No."

"Can we keep this to ourselves, then?"

"Sure, baby. I don't think you're going to repeat this experience for a while."

"No. How did _you_ know?"

"You and Lee weren't nearly as quiet getting you to your room as you probably thought you were. I was waiting for him in the hall."

"Oh, gods," Kara moaned.

Her father laughed. "I didn't hurt him. I walked with him to the door and asked him if he was going to make it home all right. He said he had a transport waiting downstairs. He's going to have a headache today, too, maybe not as bad as yours, but he'll have one."

"We didn't buy a single drink last night. Somebody else kept buying for the whole table."

John laughed again. "Kara, free booze will get you just as drunk as booze you pay for. Maybe drunker since you tend to drink more of it."

"I don't think I've ever felt this bad."

"I have two pieces of news that might make you feel better. Tomorrow morning we go look at the Raider and early Wednesday morning we're leaving to fly down to my place on the island. We're not coming back until Sunday. Lee's going with us."

In her hung-over state, Kara couldn't quite wrap her thoughts around the fact that she and Lee were going to be together at the beach for five days.

All she could think of to say was, "I don't own a bathing suit."

"I've got a credit card. We'll take Braedon and go shopping tomorrow afternoon or Tuesday."

"Do I get to do any of the flying?"

He smiled. "If your hangover is gone by then, you'll get to do most of the flying."

"I think I feel like eating a piece of toast now."

"Is that a hint for me to make you one?"

"No. I'm just moving slow this morning."

Her father got up. "Keep your seat. I'll fix it for you. I was a little younger than you when I got really drunk for the first time. I was working on a fishing trawler and we put into port. There was a hole-in-the-wall dive where everybody went. The Barnacle, a corny name for a den of iniquity. Over the next two years I did a lot of drinking…and other assorted sinning…in that place. It's just karmic justice."

"Whose?" Kara asked, massaging her temples. "Mine or yours?"

"Probably both. How can I come down hard on you for something I did myself? I don't think you're going to make a habit of doing this, are you?"

Kara felt like smiling for the first time that morning. "Gods, no, not the way I feel right now. I'm really glad you didn't spend your Sundays attending worship at the temple. I'd be grounded for life."

She heard him press the lever on the toaster. "No worries there. I lost my faith after my parents and my brothers died."

"But you got it back now?"

"I'm still working on it."

...

The inside of the hangar at the military salvage yard, the boneyard as her father called it, was huge. In the front, as they went in, were old engines, massive CO2 scrubbers and other pieces and parts of ships. If anyone looked inside the hangar, the first impression was of a building crammed with junk. Dusty fluorescent light fixtures hung on long pipes from the tin roof. Many of them had just one bulb burning. The place smelled of grime and oil and metal.

Kara's father had told her that the massive doors at the rear had been welded shut. The outside of the building was surrounded by more junk parts and pieces of ships. When the time came to bring the Raiders out, the junk would be cleared from the outside of the doors and the welds would be cut.

Getting to the back of the hangar where the really important work was being done on the two Raiders meant navigating a maze of eight-foot high stacks of more parts and assorted boxes and crates. Bill Adama must have done it enough times he had memorized the path. John and Kara and Lee followed him.

They emerged from the maze into an area that resembled an operating room more than it did an aircraft hangar. Low interior walls had been built that were hidden by the tall stacks of parts and junk at the front part of the hangar. Everything was painted white including the floor. At the very back was a section partitioned off from the rest by plastic walls and ceiling. Through the translucent walls Kara could see what looked like a stainless steel table with some microscopes and other lab equipment. She could make out several humans in white clothes moving around inside. The rest of the people working in the hangar were mostly at various stainless steel tables around the walls. She saw all kinds of computers and engineering equipment. A few people looked in their direction as they entered the room and then went back to work.

Bill pointed to the plastic-walled room. "That's where the neuroscientist worked on the first Raider's brain after he determined that it was dead. All he has been able to tell us so far is that the pathways that conduct everything are made of silica. It seems to be a distinguishing Cylon characteristic."

What now had Kara's attention, though, were the two Raiders themselves, one on either side of the hangar, suspended from the ceiling by heavy chains and straps that encircled each of the scythe-shaped wings. Other straps and chains anchored the wingtips and kept them even.

"Which one did the neuroscientist remove the brain from?" Lee asked.

Bill Adama gestured to the Raider on the left of the hangar.

Lee and Kara walked over to it. The wingtips were slightly higher than their heads. Kara ran her hand over the underside of the wing. It felt like any other metal, hard and cold. The fuselage was lower than the wingtips. She crouched down and walked under it.

Lee said, "Kara, I'm not sure we should…"

"How do you get in this thing, sir?" Kara called to the admiral.

"On the other side, but you can't get into it unless you're suited up."

"Where do I get suited up?"

"Hold on a minute, Kara," her father said.

A heavy-set man wearing glasses and a lab coat had just walked up to Bill and her father. The men all shook hands.

"We need to go over there," Lee hissed. "That's Dad's chief scinetist and engineer. He wants us to meet him."

Reluctantly Kara left the underside of the Raider and joined them.

The man's name was Richard Rafferty and he had one of the limpest handshakes Kara had ever felt. By his third or fourth sentence, though, she had decided that he was probably the smartest man she had ever met.

He walked them around the other Raider, rattling off its dimension and other characteristics in rapid-fire sentences. He talked of aerodynamics and other things related to physics that Lee seemed to comprehend but she didn't. As they neared the front of the Raider, the horizontal slot suddenly glowed red as its eye moved back and forth across the opening.

Kara, who was the closest one behind Rafferty, jumped. "Frak me."

"I should have warned you about that," Rafferty said. "It's similar to a motion detector. It comes on when anyone gets within ten feet of the head. There's some autonomous part of its brain that's still functioning. It's harmless."

She saw her father and Bill glance at one another.

"If you say so," Kara said.

Lee said, "The armaments and missiles have been removed, haven't they?"

"That's the first thing we did," Rafferty said. "As well as remove the remaining tylium fuel. It wouldn't do to have this thing come to its senses and try to fly out of here now would it?"

Kara grinned. "Just think, Lee. You're the one who neutered this thing."

Rick Rafferty laughed. "I'd never thought of it like that."

"It looked a lot bigger when I was toe-to-toe with it in my Viper," Lee said. "It looked twice this big."

"Anything that can blow you out of the sky looks big," John said.

"It still gives me the creeps," Lee said.

Kara said to Rafferty. "How do I get inside the other one?"

Rafferty looked at Bill. "Is that all right with you?"

Bill made a gesture of approval. "Have at it."

She followed Rafferty to a small area beside the plastic-covered room. There were stacks of white coveralls in cubicles. The one they found for her was large, even over her jeans and turtleneck. He had her to put paper booties over her shoes. Then he led her to the far side of the Raider. A three-step ladder was under a small opening in the side of the fuselage.

"Be careful, Kara," John said.

"Don't worry." She looked at Lee. "Don't you want to have a look?"

"Not right now. I stuck my head inside. It smells pretty bad in there."

"I'll get one of those air-fresheners. You know the kind the transport drivers hang on the rearview mirror."

"I think it will take more than one," Lee said.

By the time she was half-way inside, she knew what he meant. It smelled like a mixture of oil and rotting meat. Her eyes began to water and she nearly gagged, but she kept going and wriggled completely inside.

Rick Rafferty poked his head through the opening. "The space behind the eye slot is where the brain was located. We removed everything organic that we could, but we had to leave the organic parts that hold the mechanical parts together. They function like muscles and tendons. Until we work out something to replace them with, I'm afraid it will continue to smell funky in here. You eventually get used to it."

"If you say so."

Over the next fifteen minutes he explained what they thought each of the internal parts did. "In three to four months we'll have a computer ready that will control the interior of the fuselage or body, whichever you prefer to call it. The scientists call it a body, my engineers call it a fuselage. The computer geek who is working on the programming for me calls it Sadie."

"Sadie the Cylon," Kara said. "I like it. So how would I fly this thing?"

"Part hand and foot controls like you fly any other ship. The rest will be done by the computer."

"Where's the FTL drive?"

"That cylindrical device near your left foot."

"Wow, it is small. Okay, I think Sadie and I will have to get better acquainted later. I've had about all of her perfume that I can take."

She carefully wiggled back out of the opening.

She could tell that Lee was trying not to make a face. "You smell like you went for a swim in a port-o-potty."

Kara unzipped the coverall and peeled it off. Rafferty indicated a plastic bin on the other side of the room. "Our laundry bill is our biggest expense," he joked as she walked off holding the coverall at arms' length. She threw the coverall into the laundry bin and the paper booties into the trash.

When she got back, Bill asked her, "What do you think of it?"

"Like I imagine a cocoon would feel. It's doable though, I think."

"We were just talking about the cameras," Bill said. "Rick thinks they can use the missile housing under the wings to mount cameras. Somebody's already working on it. I've given him six months."

"Who needs sleep?" Rick asked with a grin.

When they left the boneyard, Bill's driver was waiting to take him back into the city. Lee and Kara had ridden out with John.

"What did you really think?" Lee asked.

"I could do it," Kara said. "I thought you wanted to fly it. Why didn't you want to get up in it and see what it looked like?"

"There will be plenty of time for that if my dad green-lights me to fly the mission. Personally I don't think either one of us stands a chance. He's going to want a really experienced pilot."

Kara looked at her father. He drove along silently. Finally she said, "I think Lee was hinting about someone."

"Don't look at me," John said. "I'm out for a couple of reasons. The leg, for one, and I'm about five inches too tall. Rick has already said the pilot needs to be a few inches under six feet at the max. I'm six three. He said five foot six was ideal."

Kara grinned. "My height."

"I don't want to burst your bubble, but Lee is right. Bill will be looking for a very experienced pilot. He's probably going to look for an experienced Raptor pilot who has jumped a small ship before."

"A lot of Raptor pilots are claustrophobic. That's why they don't make it in Vipers."

"But not all of them are," Lee said.

"Why wouldn't he even give me a chance?" Kara asked.

John answered her. "Well, for one thing he knows I'm not in favor of it."

Kara's chin came up stubbornly. "That won't be your decision. I'll be eighteen by then. You won't be able to stop me."

"I know that, but this is not only a very dangerous mission, it's also a very important one. He'll go for the experience. You'll still be a nugget next winter. You won't even have four months experience flying in deep space by then."

Kara realized her father was right, but she refused to let go of the hope she would get to fly the mission. The inside of the Raider had smelled about as bad as the inside of a sewer, but Kara had sensed something while she was in there, like Sadie knew she was there and was okay with it.

...

Kara was not prepared for what travelling with a baby was like. On Tuesday she and her father took Braedon's new portable crib as well as a big box of diapers and a bag with assorted toys, quilts and blankets out to the airport and stowed them in the small cargo compartment of the ship. They inspected the ship, inside and out, and got the flight plan ready to file. They spent nearly two hours out there, but it paid off early Wednesday as they were ready to leave in a lot less time.

Lee met them at the airport and helped them carry the rest of their luggage.

He watched with envy as John settled into the pilot's seat and Kara into the copilot's seat. Lee sat behind them at one small window. Braedon was in his carrier strapped backward into the seat beside Laura and Laura was at the other window. Before they had even taxied for takeoff, Laura had taken a thick document out of her briefcase, put on her reading glasses and immersed herself in it.

He looked at Braedon sucking on the pacifier. The serious blue-green eyes watched him. Lee picked up a small stuffed toy from beside Braedon's leg and held it out. Braedon reached for it and Lee felt the small hands close around it.

He studied the child, the baby that Laura and John had made and wondered again how it had happened. He never had asked John what had made him break his own number one rule about being careful, but maybe on this island, with a little bit of ambrosia between them, he might just kid John enough that he would get an answer.

"Two hours," Laura said without looking up from the document she was reading. "You were wondering how long we'd be in the air, weren't you?"

"Actually, no," Lee answered her as Kara began to taxi the plane toward the runway. "I was looking at your son."

Laura finally looked up from her reading. "It's not just a mother's pride, is it? He really is a beautiful baby."

"Yes, he is, but he's got a beautiful mother and a good-looking father."

"He's going to look like John, tall, handsome and green-eyed."

"As long as he's got your brains."

Laura laughed as they began to roll down the runway, the ship quickly picking up speed. "Of course he'll have my brains. He'll have the best of both of us. He's going to map the stars on the way to Earth. The Oracle said so."

Lee felt the ship leave the ground.

...

They reached the cottage in mid-afternoon. They had to rent two jeeps to carry the luggage and Braedon's crib and the groceries they stopped to buy in the little town.

Lee was impressed with the cottage. As he followed John into the area behind it and parked the jeep he was driving, he whistled low to Kara.

"This is a nice little place."

"My dad said he'd been working on it for a couple of years. He and Laura came down here about a year ago. It's when he knocked…when she got pregnant."

Lee didn't say anything. One little piece of the puzzle fell into place. So this was probably where it had happened.

They unloaded the jeeps. John opened windows and in a short while the closed, slightly musty odor disappeared. Lee and Kara put up the groceries while John checked the inside and outside of the cottage. They had eaten lunch at a little restaurant in town.

"You did a good job flying us down here," Lee said. "That was a really good takeoff. The landing was okay, too."

"It was only my second landing."

"You'd only landed once before. I'm glad I didn't know that."

Kara grinned. "Yeah, you'd have put bigger claw marks on the armrest. I saw those white knuckles."

"So what are the sleeping arrangements?"

"You get the couch. It looks nice and comfortable."

"I didn't think John would be okay with us…sharing a room."

"You can put your stuff in my room. He said as long as you were on the couch when he went to bed and on the couch when he got up, he wouldn't kick your ass."

Lee smiled. "Let's go walk on the beach."

"I'm going to put on some shorts."

"Good idea. You first."

They walked down to the beach and took off their shoes. Lee was surprised at the chill of the water yet the breeze was mild. They walked to some large rocks, scrambled up and sat down.

"This is a beautiful place," Kara said. "My dad said it reminds him of where he grew up on Virgon."

Lee felt the late afternoon sun on his back and the warm breeze on his face.

"Everybody should be able to get away from school and jobs and Cylons once in a while."

"Yeah." Kara reached out and took his hand and they sat in contented silence for a long time.

That night after Braedon was asleep, Lee, Kara and John sat at the table and played triad. Laura chose to continue reading the thick document that Lee had seen on the trip down. He finally realized she'd started a new one. Several times he saw John look at her. The expression on his face was not a happy one.

Laura was still reading by the light of one lamp, curled in an armchair when Lee rolled over on the couch and went to sleep that night.

...

Kara was awake but still in bed when she heard a soft knock the next morning. She got up in her pajamas and opened the door. Her father stood outside holding Braedon.

"I've changed his diaper, but he's hungry. Will you warm a bottle and feed him?"

"Sure. What's up?"

"I've got to make a trip into town."

He handed Braedon to her. She followed him out into the living room and watched as he gathered the documents that Laura had left on her chair the night before and put them in her briefcase. He closed her laptop, quickly disconnected it and put everything into the carrying case.

"If Laura gets up and notices all this is missing, tell her I'll be back in about an hour and a half and we'll discuss it."

Kara rocked Braedon back and forth on her hip. "She's not going to be happy."

Frustration was evident in her father's voice. "She was up until two o'clock reading this morning. That is _not_ why we came down here. We came down here so she could get away from all this stuff for a couple of days."

Without another word he gathered the laptop case and her briefcase and walked out the door.

Kara carried Braedon into the kitchen and got a bottle from the refrigerator. She put it in the warmer. She kissed his chubby cheek.

"Something tells me there's going to be some fireworks a little later this morning."

Lee walked into the kitchen. "What's going on? I heard a jeep start."

The timer on the bottle warmer chimed. "How about starting some coffee?"

He yawned and ran water in the pot. "Did somebody leave?"

"My dad. He had to go into town."

Kara shook the bottle, sat down in a chair and began feeding her brother.

"Gods, this is so domestic it scares me," she said.

Lee turned and leaned back against the edge of the sink. "Are you saying you don't ever want this?"

She shrugged. "Maybe someday. I've got to kill a load of toasters and have a lot of fun before I'll be ready for this."

He didn't say anything.

"What?" Kara asked with surprise in her voice. "Are you saying you want a kid?"

Lee turned and looked out the window over the sink. "_Our_ kid. Yeah, in the future. After we get rid of the Cylons and…have a few years to have some fun and…I need to shut up, don't I?"

"Yeah, Lee. You need to shut up." He was still looking out the window. "Look, if I ever have a kid, it'll be yours. Does that make you happy?"

He turned around and smiled. "I'm a patient man."

Kara stood up. "Sit down." When Lee sat in the chair, she put Braedon in his arms and handed him the bottle. "Take him for a test drive. I'll fix us some breakfast."

After a few minutes Lee looked up. "It's not all that hard."

Kara grinned. "Wait until you get to change his diaper."

...

Laura was still asleep when John got back. He came in and threw the keys to the jeep on the table before he went to the coffee pot. He returned to the living room with a mug.

"All hell's going to break loose when she gets up. You might want to take Braedon and go to the beach. Just keep him covered up and out of the sun."

"What did you do with Laura's stuff?" Kara asked.

"It's locked in the ship. Her mobile phone too. There's security at the airport twenty-four seven. Everything will be safe."

Kara glanced at Lee. There were definitely some fireworks coming.

The bedroom door opened. Laura walked out dressed in a fluffy robe. "Good morning, everyone. Did you all sleep well?"

"Fine," said Kara quickly. "We fed Braedon. He's getting sleepy. Lee and I are going to take him to the beach."

"Keep him out of the sun," Laura said. She turned and went into the kitchen. Kara was already scrambling to her feet. Lee grabbed the beach bag.

"Good luck," Kara said to her father. "Send up a flare if you need help."

...

Laura took her cup of tea to the kitchen table and fixed a bowl of cereal. "Have you eaten?" She called to John.

"Not yet."

"Do you want to keep me company?"

He walked into the kitchen. "I took your briefcase and your laptop this morning and put them in a safe place."

Laura looked up, not sure she had understood him. "You did what?"

"It's gone from the cottage. All of the work you brought down here. Gone."

"My phone, too?"

He walked over, stood at the sink and looked out the window. "Your phone, too."

Laura felt the first wave of anger sweep her. "What makes you think you have the right to...do something like that?"

"I called Billy and told him you were out of the loop for a few days. In fact I told him and Tory to take a few days off. You're not the only one who has been working seven days a week. They need a break, too."

"And what if someone needs to get in touch with me?"

"I called Scott Michelson. He and Billy have both got my number. If there's any kind of an emergency, they'll get hold of me."

Laura's fury increased. "How dare you."

"I didn't know any other way to get through to you. The main reason we're down here is for you to take a break from killing yourself."

Laura tried to control her temper and failed. The fact that he was right did not make it any easier. She stood and clenched her fists.

"Give…me…my…phone."

John turned around at the sink. He crossed his arms and looked at her. "I don't have it."

"You will give me back my phone and everything else I brought down here _right now_."

"It's locked in the ship," he said evenly.

The fury threatened to blind her. Laura was aware that she had raised her clenched fists as she started toward him. She had no idea if she would really have hit him, but he must have thought she was going to. The instinct of someone who had been in more than his share of bar fights took over.

He had both her wrists in a tight grip and had turned her around and pushed her against the edge of the counter before she realized what was happening to her. He trapped her wrists beside her head which was now against one of the cabinets.

They stared at one another, the heat of her anger crackling around them.

"Calm down, Laura. This isn't like you."

"I will leave here and I will go back to Caprica City _today_!"

"It's sixteen miles into town. Another four to the airport. I've got the keys to the jeep. Are you going to walk?"

"If…I…have…to," she said through clenched teeth.

"It's always about _you_, isn't it? It's always about what _you_ want. You don't really give a godsdamn about what I want, do you?"

For the first time his voice betrayed the emotion she now saw that was driving him.

She was breathing hard. "Let go of me," she said coldly.

He looked at her and shook his head. She saw the glitter in his green eyes, something primal and hot. Slowly he grinned and pulled her wrists down into the small of her back. He pulled her against him.

"No," she said. "No! You cannot charm your way out of this."

He leaned down to kiss her and she turned her head, realizing too late that she had left him another target, another spot that was just as vulnerable, maybe more so. His mouth fastened on her neck, on the sweet, sensitive spot that sent chills throughout her body. She tried to resist, tried to maintain her indignation and anger, but she was powerless again the rising tide of desire. She moaned softly and struggled to free her wrists. He let go of them.

She put her arms around his neck and sought his mouth. The tight knot of desire was too strong to ignore. His hand was under the robe, under the sleep shirt she wore. His touch was sure, almost rough.

His breathing was quicker, too. "We can't, not here. The kids might come back." He pulled her into the bedroom and kicked the door shut behind him.

His kisses never quite crossed the line into bites, his touch, rougher than it had been before, never became painful, but together they pushed her quickly beyond her endurance.

She began to come with his first hard thrust, her body trembling, her surrender complete. No one had ever been able to make her feel like this.

Afterward she lay in his arms, too stunned at what had just happened with them to think. She felt something shift in her like the breeze from the ocean changes after a storm. It wasn't the physical release they had just shared. It was something deeper and more profound that she didn't understand, something she was almost afraid of.

She felt the past slipping farther away, that comfortable place she had clung to for years.

John loved her. She no longer doubted that. But the balance in their relationship had now shifted closer to being equal. He was right. For the year they had been together, it had always been about her...her schedule, her needs, her career. He had stayed patiently in the background, always there for her, taking only what she found the time or desire to give him, and she had let him, but gradually, oh so gradually, she had come to rely on his presence in her life, had drawn strength from his love even as she had taken it for granted.

She opened her eyes. He was propped on one elbow looking down at her. She knew he was waiting for her reaction, and yet she liked the fact that he hadn't apologized for anything.

He touched the side of her throat with the tip of his finger. "I'm afraid I...marked you a little bit."

"Yes," she smiled at him. "Yes, I think you have."

TBC...


	59. The Island

Chapter 59

The Island

_In a controversial book published early in the fourth year of Cylon occupation, the author Roland Daley claimed that a triangular area of space between the planets of Scorpia, Saggitaron and Tauron was the source of mysterious forces that had caused the disappearance of numerous ships since the founding of the Colonies. The area was dubbed the Kobiashi Triangle by the author to honor Maru Kobiashi, captain of the first ship Daley claimed to have been 'sucked into the void due to a suspension of the laws of physics.' The book, which was to have been his comeback, was panned by critics and soon dropped entirely off the charts._

_-Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War _

Kara carefully repositioned Braedon's carrier on the beach towel and adjusted the blanket partially covering one side so that no sun reached him. He was sleeping soundly now, the pacifier fallen to the side. Carefully she picked it up and turned it in her hand.

Lee was lying on his stomach on a beach towel beside her. With the sunglasses she couldn't tell if he had gone to sleep or not.

She leaned down on her elbow and poked him lightly on the arm. "Are you awake?"

He didn't move for a moment and then he stirred. "I am now." He rolled onto his back. "I thought Laura was _never_ going to go to bed last night."

"I think things will be different tonight. My dad was really angry to do something like take her stuff."

"That kind of surprised me, too," Lee said.

"He's trying to be a good husband, but Laura makes it so damned hard. I think she's selfish."

"She's in a position of power. She's like my dad in some ways. They have to be selfish. It goes with the territory. You've got to remember that for years it was just her and her career. She invested her whole life in her work, just like my dad."

Kara rolled on her stomach and propped up on her elbows. "Sometimes I wish it was just me and my dad. And then I see how much he loves Braedon and I feel selfish."

"John loves Laura, too."

"For all the good it does him. She's totally wrapped up in running for President. She's not even breast-feeding Braedon anymore. My dad's the one who gets up with him at night now if Braedon wakes up. He said Laura needs her sleep. He takes care of Braedon the rest of the time, too, after Maya leaves. Laura's never there anymore. "

"Laura is an accomplished woman," Lee said diplomatically. "I have a great deal of admiration for her. After the treaty was negotiated, she put her career, probably even her life on the line to get food and medical supplies to the camps. It's one of the reasons she has the kind of support she has from the citizens of Caprica now. That and the way she's always stood up to Cavil and her stand on education. She really does care about the future of Caprica's children."

"A lot more than she cares about her own kid and her husband."

"I don't think you're being fair to her."

Kara shrugged. "She does love Braedon. And she's always been nice to me. She tries…it's just…I don't know. I just think my dad would have been happier with somebody else."

"This is really bugging you, isn't it?" Lee asked, mild surprise in his voice.

"Yeah. And I know I need to get over it. My dad can handle his own problems. At least they're not always yelling at each other the way my mom and Dreilide did. Sometimes I wonder…forget it."

"Finish it. What were you going to say?"

"Maybe one of the reasons I didn't miss him very much after he left is that I didn't have to listen to them fight anymore. It was so quiet…"

Kara stopped talking, wondering why her father's relationship with Laura had gotten to her so badly. It really _wasn't_ her problem.

"I used to tease John about Laura," Lee said. "I thought they would make a nice couple. They met at my Academy graduation so in a way I guess I'm partly to blame for them being together. I never thought it would end up with them married and having a baby. Knowing how careful John always was and how he used to lecture me on it, I can't believe they got caught that way."

"It was Laura's fault."

"How do you know that?"

"She told me before the wedding. I guess she thought she owed me an explanation. It's a long story, but basically she didn't think she could get pregnant. I guess that proves she _can_ be _wrong_ about something."

The last piece of the puzzle fell into place for Lee. It hadn't been John's carelessness after all.

Kara said, "Laura needs to be with somebody like _your dad_ instead of mine."

"I wouldn't wish my dad on any woman, least of all Laura."

Kara snickered. "They're a good fit. Think about it. They're both so busy they could email or text each other a couple of times a day and meet for tea once a week. Oh, big surprise, I think they do that already."

"You're not trying to say they've got something going on, are you? Because if you are, you're wrong. My dad wasn't much of a father or a husband, but he would never have cheated on my mother and he would never do anything like that with Laura now. I don't care how he feels about her. And you're ignoring the fact that my dad and John are friends. They're not friends like my dad is with Saul Tigh, but they're still friends. I know my dad respects John or he wouldn't have asked for his help on this project."

"I believe you. And I don't think Laura would actually sleep with your father. My dad might put up with a lot from her, but that's one thing he wouldn't take."

Lee remembered the night John had come to his apartment after catching Lissa with Dr. Baltar. Of course that situation was different because John had already decided to end things with Lissa. But still it was exactly like Kara had said. John might take a lot from Laura because he loved her, but he wouldn't stick around if she cheated on him.

"You're right," Lee said. "That's one thing John wouldn't take. But Laura wouldn't do that. Laura has just as much integrity as my dad. She would never cheat on John. If she ever wanted to be with my dad that much…or any other man…she would leave John first which will never happen because she's running for President. I just think you're way off base about her and my dad."

"Do you think somebody has to have _sex_ to cheat?"

"Isn't that what cheating is all about? You meet somewhere, you have sex, you go back to your spouses or whatever. What are you trying to say?"

"I think what matters is where your heart is. I think when Laura meets your dad for lunch or tea once or twice a week, I think it's as bad as cheating because I think they both still have feelings for each other. They've just never crossed that one little line that makes it cheating in most people's eyes. You said your dad still loves her. I think she still loves him. I think she's got the best of both worlds. She's got a son, two men who love her, and next year this time she'll be President. What more could she want?"

"Kara…that may be so. But it's not your problem to work out. It's between John and Laura…and maybe my dad, too. You need to stay out of it."

"I know. I just don't want to see my dad get hurt."

"John's been hurt before. He survived. If Laura ever left him, he'd make it. But you're worried about nothing. It's not going to happen. Next January when she's sworn in as President, John will be right by her side holding Braedon."

Kara looked up to see her father walking down the beach toward them. He was wearing shorts and a t-shirt and his hair was wet. She had a feeling she knew what that meant.

He walked over to the carrier and picked it up. "I'll take Braedon back up to the cottage. I appreciate you taking care of him."

Kara shaded her eyes and handed the pacifier up to her father. "Is everything all right?"

"I hope so. I think Laura and I got this issue resolved…for now." He turned to walk away and then turned back around. "There's a little…place on Laura's neck. It's not much, but you can still see it. I'd appreciate it if you ignored it. None of your smart remarks, okay? Not to her and not to me in front of her."

Kara grinned and gave him a little left-handed salute. "Yes, sir. No smart hickey remarks, sir."

John couldn't conceal his smile. "Don't stay down here too long and get burned. Laura said she had put sunscreen in the beach bag."

"We found it," Lee said. "Tell her _thanks_."

After John had walked back up the beach and started between the rocks to go up to the cottage, Kara said, "Well, I guess we know how _that_ discussion ended."

Lee said, "You really give him a hard time, don't you?"

"No harder time than he gives me."

"When I met your dad on the _Galactica_ all he wanted to do was get back to Caprica and the airport where he had left you. My dad was going to let him go after he had his story checked out, but then the Cylons attacked and he was stuck on board for four more days."

"I know. When I was staying with him in the hospital in Sovana, he told me about being on the _Galactica_ and meeting you."

"I couldn't get over the fact that a man loved his kid so much that he would risk as much as he did to get you off Picon and then try to get back to you." Lee snorted. "I guess fatherly love was an unknown concept for me at the time."

"You don't still feel that way?"

"Not exactly. When I almost died in the deep space simulator, my dad stayed with me in the hospital for a couple of days. I was out of it most of that time so I don't remember a lot. I woke up on the third day and John was there. He'd made my dad go home to get some rest. John told me how my dad wouldn't leave until he knew I was going to be all right. Things changed with me and him after that. But it's hard to undo all those years of him not being there and him ignoring Mom's problems, especially considering what happened to her."

"Maybe you need to do like I did with my dad. We started from scratch. He wasn't there for me either when I was growing up. I didn't even know about him until that night leaving Picon, but later, after I visited the Oracle that first time, I remembered something. It was about being at the beach with him. I told him about it while he was in the hospital. He said that was during the summer before my third birthday. After that my mom quit taking me with her when she went to see him."

"You starting from scratch with John…and…me pretending my whole childhood didn't happen are two different things."

Kara shrugged. "Whatever, Lee. I guess you'll never know because you're not even going to try."

"I didn't say that."

Kara got up and dragged her beach towel away from Lee before she began shaking the sand out of it. "I guess we'd better go back to the cottage. Dad's right. We don't want to get burned on our first day."

Lee got up and shook out his towel also. He picked up the beach bag. "It's almost time for lunch anyway."

...

Kara couldn't understand why her father had made such a big deal about the little place on Laura's neck. She could barely see it. At least the tension between them, so evident the night before, seemed to have disappeared.

Late in the afternoon Laura and Lee finished the game of chess they were playing. Laura got up and said she was going to start getting something ready for dinner that night. She asked Kara to help her. With a slight eye roll to Lee, Kara got up and followed her into the kitchen.

"Domestic time," she grinned.

John went into the kitchen, got two beers out of the refrigerator, and handed one to Lee. "Let's go for a walk. This is too good of an opportunity to pass up. I think _we_ get kitchen duty tomorrow night."

They didn't speak until they were down on the beach and walking toward the dark rocks that made up one end of the small bay.

"Who won the chess match?" John finally asked.

"Laura. She's good."

"She's had a lot of practice. Her father taught her when she was a girl. They played a lot while she was growing up. What do you think of the place?"

"It's great," Lee said.

"I did most of the work on it the year you were on the _Triton_. Lissa was working seven days a week by then. I didn't have anything else to do when I wasn't flying. I just finished it last year…right before I brought Laura down here. This is the first time we've been back."

"You should come down here more often," Lee said and took a sip of his beer as they walked.

"I thought we'd be doing that since Braedon is getting older, but then Laura decided to run for President."

"I'll always be glad to make a trip with you."

"Thanks, Lee. Next year when Kara's on a battlestar and Laura's running the country, we might have to do that. I'll probably start bringing Brae down here. I want him to love the sea the way I do."

"Kara wants to go to the _Galactica._"

"I know. It doesn't mean she'll get to go to the _Galactica_."

"She's good. She'll either be in the top spot or close to the top spot in her class in Flight School. The top three get their pick of the battlestars."

"Then she'll probably be on the _Galactica._"

"She really wants to fly that Raider, too."

"I know. I would have made a bigger deal of it if I thought for a minute Bill would consider her, but I'm like you, I think he'll go for an experienced pilot who has jumped a ship before. Kara doesn't qualify."

"Neither do I."

"You've still logged time in deep space. I know whoever flies it will have to jump that Raider here in Caprica's atmosphere, but the other end of the jump will be in deep space far enough from Nereid for a long-range sensor reading. In about a month Felix Gaeta will be back on Caprica. We'll all get together at the apartment and talk about the coordinates. Your dad is going to invite you if he hasn't already."

"Why? I won't be piloting the Raider."

"He didn't tell Laura why. He just said he wants you there. Your dad did pick you for the mission that shot down the Raiders."

"This one is different."

"I wish I could do it," John said. "I'd love to see Nereid, but there's no way."

"That doesn't mean you won't get to see Nereid someday especially if we have to mop up a Cylon base there."

"I guess that's a possibility. And if my son is ever going to map the stars to Earth, he'll have to start somewhere. Nereid is a logical place. In her second journal Irina Hoshi relates some speculation among several of the scientists and archeologists. They thought that information about the location of Kobol is somewhere on the planet. One of them mentioned something called the Kobol Stone that was supposed to be in their temple but wasn't. I'd like to be part of an expedition to explore Nereid. I'd like to be the one to take my son there."

"Maybe we'll all go."

"That's a nice thought. What do you see in your future, Lee?"

"Short-term or long-term?"

"Both."

Lee held the neck of the bottle and sipped the beer again. "If I survive the fight that's coming and Kara does, too, one day I want to marry her. I want…a child, a family with her."

"Have you asked her?"

"Not yet. We joked about a kid, but no. I should probably ask you how you feel about it first."

John sipped his beer. "Ask me again in a couple of years. Of course Kara's going to do what she wants to do, with or without my blessing. If you wait for a few years, you'll have my blessing. Are you going to stay in the military?"

"I haven't decided, yet. My CO, Major Parker, has mentioned the possibility of law school and the Admiralty Judge Advocate's office. He thinks I have…the potential to be a good attorney. I'm not ready to make a decision like that yet."

"So you're not bucking to command a battlestar one day?"

"I don't think so. I'm not trying to be my father. I guess with not knowing what will happen next winter when Dad puts his plan into effect and not knowing what we'll find on Nereid, it's not the best time to make long-range plans right now."

"You're right."

"Maybe I'll want to explore Nereid, too. What about you? What are you going to do for the next couple of years?"

"Assuming we survive whatever happens next winter, my first priority is being the husband of the President, but I also hope to keep teaching at the Academy. I guess the Presidential spouse is allowed to have a job. One thing I won't do is sit around Marble House. Laura knows that. And I won't take some political appointee job. She knows that, too. I'll either be teaching or flying. The rest of the time will be spent with my son or suited up in my dress grays or a tuxedo attending banquets and other functions with her. This summer when I'm not at the Academy, Laura wants us to take Braedon and go on the campaign trail. I can't tell you how much I'm dreading that, but…" he shrugged.

They reached the rocks and John looked out over the ocean. "I sometimes wonder what would have happened in my life if I hadn't had the motorcycle accident and met Kara's mother."

"We all wonder stuff like that about ourselves."

"Kara is so young. She's so full of life for somebody who's been through so much. I love my wife and I love my son, but my little girl…she'll always own a big piece of my heart."

"She's you, John. And not just the green eyes. She's going to be a great pilot like you. You don't need to worry about her."

"I didn't want to sign the form for her to attend the Academy this year. I wanted her to wait a year. Maybe if we'd been back together longer, I would have waited. But that's what she wanted, and I was trying so hard not to turn her against me right at the start. I didn't sleep much on the night after I went out to the Academy and talked to Conrad Burgher and signed the form for her to attend. I spent it second-guessing myself as to whether I'd done the right thing or not. Now I've got to let her go to a battlestar and be ready to take on Cylon Raiders next winter, and after that, the gods only know what will happen if we find Cylons on Nereid."

"She'll be fine, John," Lee said with a lot more confidence than he felt. He didn't know if any of them would be _fine._ "How old were you when you took out your first Raider?"

"Nineteen."

"See there. Kara will be eighteen. She's going to be fine. She's going to beat your combat record."

"I fought the old-style Raiders just like your dad did. These newer ones are a lot more sophisticated. I've looked at hours of film footage taken from a lot of gun cameras four years ago. I'm putting every new move I can find into the sims for these nuggets. The Raiders are still making some of the same old moves, but they're definitely smarter and faster."

"But not as smart as a good human pilot."

"No, not that smart. I teach my students that all other factors being equal, a good human pilot will take out a Raider every single time, but they can't get cocky or complacent about it. They've got to stay on top of it out there or they're dead. If I can just get Kara to watch her instruments and stick with her wingman and leave those lone gunman antics in the Ready Room, she'll be fine."

"You never pulled any of those top gun, hot shot stunts?"

John grinned. "And it nearly got me killed a couple of times. I was lucky."

"You've got more lives than a cat, John."

"My luck will run out someday."

Lee drained the rest of his beer. "I'm getting hungry."

"Me too. Let's head back. And Lee, let's keep what was said today between the two of us."

"You've got it. It'll be just like old times at McGee's."

John put his hand lightly on Lee's shoulder for a moment and squeezed. "I can't imagine her marrying anybody but you…in a few more years, that is."

Lee was so touched by his friend's remark that for a moment he couldn't speak. He finally asked, "Who else do you think will put up with her smart mouth?"

John laughed. "If you've made it this far, I think you're going to do just fine."

...

"You're very quiet," Laura said as she stirred the sauce for the pasta.

"I don't guess I have anything to say," Kara said as she peeled a carrot for their salads.

"You know what your father did this morning, don't you?"

"You mean taking your stuff?"

Laura laughed. "Yes, taking my _stuff_."

"I know what he did."

"He was right. We didn't come down here so I could spend every minute working. How did exams go for you?"

"I guess I'll know when we get home on Sunday. My grades should be there."

"Any hints or clues?"

"I don't think I did as good this time as I did on midterms last semester, but I haven't studied as much either."

"How is Fiona's class going?"

Kara shrugged. "Okay, I guess. She picks all these dark, sad stories for us to read. I got Cadet Pike, her little pet, to ask her why. She said everything we're reading is considered _classic Colonial literature._ We just finished reading this long, love poem by Kataris and it was sad, too."

"_Whisper the Rainbow,"_ Laura said.

"How did you know?"

"I did an undergraduate paper on it when I was at the University. It appealed to my youthful, romantic ideas about unrequited love."

"Because you were in love with Admiral Adama and he was married to Lee's mother?" Kara knew her question was cruel, but at the moment she didn't care.

Laura continued stirring the sauce. She clearly remembered sitting on her bed in the dorm weeping the first time she had read the poem by a man who loved a woman he could never have. She recalled the feeling that the poet was speaking directly to her. She had related completely to those deeply-felt and poignant words of longing. How could anyone really understand how that felt unless she had lived through it?

Laura sighed. "He wasn't an admiral, then. He was Captain Adama. But that was a very long time ago. Nearly twenty years. There have been a great many changes in my life since then."

Kara didn't say anything as she began grating the carrot with more force than was necessary.

Laura felt Kara's emotion and thought she read it correctly. "I _do_ love your father," she finally said and heard the defensiveness in her voice.

"You might try treating him a little better, then," Kara said.

Laura smiled tightly. "I'll take your advice under advisement."

"Meaning?"

"I'll think carefully about it. You've got to understand, though, that I'm running for the top office in the Colonies. I can't do that by staying home all the time. John understands that. But I crossed the line with bringing so much work on our vacation. I've apologized to him."

Kara felt her anger beginning to dissipate and tried to hold onto it a little longer.

"I noticed."

Laura was glad she was looking at the saucepan instead of at Kara. Without thinking she touched the side of her neck.

Kara put the carrot and the grater down and turned to look at her stepmother.

"You know in some ways you remind me of _her_."

Laura turned to face Kara. "Who?"

"My mother."

"I remind you of a Marine?" Laura asked incredulously.

"You don't look at all like her, but the first time I met you in the camp, I thought you were tough and brave because you followed me to Connelly's tent. Nobody else who came to the camp making pretty speeches had the guts to get out and see how we were living. And you did it in spike heels."

Laura made a small sound, almost a laugh. "Which were very expensive and which I ruined that day in the mud and the gravel, but it was very well worth it to meet Hugh Connelly. I'm not sure I ever thanked you for pointing out what I needed to do that day. I know it took a lot of courage for you to walk up to my Marine guard like that."

"My mom was tough and brave, too," Kara said.

"I'm sure she was."

"My dad really _loved_ her." As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Kara regretted her cruelty. She saw the look on Laura's face, almost like she had slapped her.

Laura felt an odd pain at Kara's words, a pain she struggled to understand. Perhaps it was because Kara could only have gotten that bit of information from John. John must have spoken with Kara about his feelings for Socrata Thrace. He must have told Kara how much he loved her mother.

"I know he did," she finally said very quietly.

For the first time Kara became aware that she was taking deep breaths. She forced herself to continue because she still had something to say to Laura.

"She loved being a Marine more than she loved me. More than she loved my dad. Zak's right. She knew what staying behind meant. She did it anyway. The damned Corps was more important to her than…" She had to stop for a moment or choke.

"Oh, Kara," Laura said. She stepped forward, but Kara stepped back.

"No. Don't you understand? You're doing the same thing to Braedon. You're doing the same thing to your son. You'd rather be President than be a mother to him."

Laura turned and looked out the window over the sink as she assimilated Kara's words. Finally she turned back around.

"Please at least be fair enough to me that you'll consider my motives," Laura's voice was a soft plea. "The reason I'm running for President is _because_ I care. I want a better future for _all _the children of Caprica, including my son. John understands this. I have his support. He enjoys all the time he spends with your brother. He missed that part of your life. He…" she stopped, aware of the pain on Kara's face.

"Yeah, _everybody_ missed that part of my life," Kara almost snarled. "Lee thinks he had such a rotten childhood because his father was gone all the time and his mother was having a love affair with a bottle of booze. My mom was there and Dreilide Thrace was there, but they didn't give a frak about me because if they weren't fighting, they were wrapped up in their own worlds. She was wrapped up in being a Marine and he was wrapped up in his music. He…he tried, though, sometimes, he…tried to teach me…to play the piano…"

Kara stopped and took a deep breath. "Frak it. It's not important now. It's the past. I was just getting on Lee's case because him and his dad still have a lot of problems about the past and they won't talk about them. He says he tries but the Admiral always shuts him out. At least my dad will talk to me about anything, even stuff that hurts, like me going to see DreilideThrace again."

Kara turned back to the counter and picked up the carrot and grater again.

Laura put the pot for the pasta into the sink and ran the water.

"Bill does love Lee," she said to Kara as she put the pot on the stove and turned on the burner. "He loves both of his sons, but he is very proud of Lee. He's so very proud of what Lee has accomplished."

"Then why won't he talk to him?"

"I think it's his pride. Bill has so much pride. It's what kept us apart over twenty years ago. Sometimes it's very difficult for a man like that to admit he's wrong…was ever wrong about anything. In order for him to have a meaningful conversation with his son, Bill would have to admit he'd made a serious mistake, a number of serious mistakes with regard to Lee's and Zak's childhoods. I'm not sure he can do that."

"But you think he knows?"

"Oh, yes. I think he knows. I think he has a number of regrets about the past."

"If he would just tell Lee sometimes how proud he is of him."

"I'll try to find a way to mention it to Bill without seeming like I'm trying to tell him what to do. A man in his position is used to giving orders, not taking them."

"That would be nice. If he'll listen to anybody, he'll listen to you."

"You're very concerned about Lee's relationship with his father. You must love him very much."

"I do."

"Do you envision a future with him?"

"I don't think about our future right now. If we make it through what's coming next winter, then I'll think about our future. The future for me right now is making it through Flight School and getting on the _Galactica. _There's a mission I want Admiral Adama to consider me for, and I need some experience flying in deep space."

Laura watched the tiny bubbles start forming on the bottom of the pot for the pasta. "Kara, if you ever want to talk to me about anything, please don't hesitate…"

"Thanks."

"I'm never too busy that we can't sit down and…"

"Don't worry about me, Laura. You just treat my dad like he deserves to be treated and you and me will get along fine."

...

Kara had realized the first night that the northeast shore of the island was warm during the day that time of year and much cooler at night. They had built a fire in the fireplace earlier in the evening that had now burned down to glowing logs with small, dancing flames. John and Laura had gone to bed when Laura had put Braedon down after giving him a bottle at ten o'clock. Their door had been closed for thirty minutes. With any luck they were both now asleep.

Lee and Kara had the living room to themselves. Kara got up and turned off all the lamps.

"Calling it a night?" Lee asked in surprise.

"No. Just turning out the lights. I like a fireplace in a dark room."

She joined him on the couch. He put his arm around her and she snuggled into him.

"When I was living in the little stone house with Karl, late in the winter an ice storm brought a tree down across the power lines. We had to use the woodstove in the kitchen to heat the house and cook and heat water to bathe. We took the cushions off the couch, and at night Karl and I would sit on the floor in front of the stove. All we could see was the orange flame through the slits in the door. Sometimes we'd talk, but a lot of times we didn't. We were both so tired. Karl was cutting firewood for hours every day and I was carrying it to the house and stacking it. It takes a lot of firewood to keep a woodstove going. The animals were hibernating and the fish weren't biting. We were living on the vegetables that the old woman had canned. Karl was getting really skinny. Every day I would tell him, _we're one day closer to spring_."

"Gods," Lee said. "How long did you live like that?"

"Not long. A little over three weeks." She snorted softly. "It just seemed like a lot longer. Then the soldiers came and took us to the big camp outside of Antioch. We'd been doing fine until we lost the power and everything in the freezer."

"Does John know about what happened?"

"I told him while he was in the hospital. I had to tell him bits at a time because it upset him so much. Really, it was only those last three weeks that were bad."

"No wonder you and Karl are so close."

"I told you he's like my brother."

"What's he doing over midterm break?"

"I think him and Sharon are hanging out at her apartment so that answers the question of what they're doing."

"I guess that means they're back together now?"

"Yeah. I think Shelley's short skirt did the trick. Sharon told me a couple of guys, including Cadet Pike, asked her to dance that night at McGee's. I think Karl almost got into a fight with one of them because he thought the cadet was putting his hands on Sharon's butt."

"I think Sharon can take care of herself."

"It made her feel good that Karl was jealous. You understand _jealous, _don't you?" Kara teased. "Isn't that what you were when Sam Anders had his hands on my shoulders at Crocodiles last Saturday night?"

"I didn't notice. Did Sam put his hands on your shoulders?"

"Right. You didn't notice. I saw you _not noticing_."

Lee grinned. "Breaking Sam's arms would not have been a smart move considering what it would have done to their chances in the finals coming up next weekend. Not to mention what his loyal fans at the table would have done to me."

"What did you and my dad talk about this afternoon while Laura and I were busy getting dinner?"

"Just guy stuff," Lee answered. "What did you and Laura talk about?"

"Girl stuff. No, that's not exactly true. We talked about her and my dad and her running for President and my grades and my mom. Lots of stuff."

"That sounds like an interesting talk," Lee said as he shifted his hand to rub his index finger gently over the outer rim of Kara's ear.

"It was…very interesting."

He heard her breathing change as he slid his fingers down and gently pinched her earlobe. He continued tracing a path down to her collarbone. He leaned down to her other ear. "Did I tell you how good you looked in that red bathing suit…that _little_ red bathing suit?"

"I believe you mentioned it before you fell asleep on the beach this morning. You look good, too. You've been working out."

"I've been trying to go by the gym after I get back from the Academy a couple of nights a week. I do a lot of pushups and crunches at the apartment."

"It shows." She rubbed her hand across the tight muscles of his abdomen.

He trailed a finger down the front of her t-shirt and brushed it over her nipple. "You've been working out, too." His lips grazed hers briefly. "It shows everywhere. How lucky are you feeling?"

"As in?" Kara asked.

"As in here on the couch or in your bedroom?"

"Let's stay here in front of the fire. We're going to have to be quiet either place."

"It's good training for when I visit you on the _Galactica._ Take off your shorts and t-shirt. We'll get under the blanket."

They lay in their underwear, their hands exploring, their lips pressed against throats and ears when they whispered. Lee found he couldn't take nearly as much of her hands on him as he wanted to be able to take. He had been thinking about this all day. He had to stop her as her mouth slid down his chest.

She bit his nipple lightly and heard the sharp intake of his breath. He slid his hand into her panties again and put his mouth over hers to muffle her moan. She pressed up against his hand, encouraging him, wanting the sensation to continue and intensify.

"Yes, oh, yes," she whispered. "Keep doing that."

They both knew a few minutes later that they were not going to stop and move to her bedroom. He lifted himself slightly as she wiggled out of her panties. Her hands grasped his underwear and pulled it down. The first seconds inside her were almost more than he could take. He stopped until he could gain some semblance of control.

He brought his mouth to her neck and then to her ear as he whispered. "I love you, Kara. I'll always love you."

They began the rhythmic dance that was at once so familiar to them and yet always so good, the feelings spiraling inward and tightening, the intensity increasing. Her leg was beside his hip, her hands gripping the muscles of his back when she began to come. Her neck arched. She choked back the cry in her throat.

Lee's body shuddered in response as he finally let go, the sensations so intense that he pressed his mouth against her shoulder to suppress his own groan of pleasure.

A log broke into two pieces in the fireplace, sending a shower of sparks up the chimney and bathing them in a ruddy glow.

Lee bent his head and kissed Kara on the lips. He could tell she was already slipping into that contented state, almost, but not quite asleep. He eased himself down beside her and pulled her against him as he stared at the fireplace, the logs mostly glowing now instead of burning.

The red made him think of the Cylon Raider's eye, the malevolent presence that had been with them for the last four years. Maybe Kara was right. Maybe they weren't all bad, but Lee had not yet made that leap of faith. He didn't know if he ever could.

Kara adjusted her body against his.

"Don't go to sleep," he whispered. "You're going to have to get up and go to your bedroom."

"In a minute," she murmured sleepily. "It's so warm here."

He felt her body soften and relax, he heard her breathing slow as sleep dragged her under.

He pulled the blanket over them again. He would let her sleep for a while before he made her get up and go to her bed. He stared at the fire and drifted, trying to stay awake. Kara was right. The room was sleep-inducing warm. He closed his eyes.

Time shifted. A brown-haired young boy was playing with a group of children at the edge of the water. Kara was sitting on a beach towel and beside her a carrier like Braedon's. The teenage girl was gone, the lines and planes of her face were more mature, more beautiful. He walked toward her and she looked up and smiled. He could see inside the carrier now, a baby with a wisp of soft blond hair.

Another log fell in the fireplace, once again sending up a shower of sparks and Lee opened his eyes. The dream or the image vanished, but not before he had committed it to his memory. Somehow he knew in the days to come that he would recall that image again and again, especially when the Colonials went to war with the Cylons for the survival of the human race. For if they lost this time, Lee knew there would be no negotiations and no treaty. There would be no second chances.

Even though it was only a dream, or as the Oracle might say, only one possible future, it was the one that Lee Adama wanted with all of his heart.

...

The first thing Kara did when they got back to the apartment on Sunday afternoon and got all the luggage upstairs was to go down to the mailbox in the lobby and get their mail. She thumbed through it in the elevator and found the mailer with her grades. She put the rest on the table in the den before she sat down and tore the edges.

Braedon had been fretful for the last hour of the trip and all the way home in the car. Kara knew that Laura was having a difficult time coping with him today so she wasn't surprised to see her father take him into the kitchen and warm a bottle. He was on his way down the hall to the nursery with his finally quiet son when Kara slipped back out to get the mail.

Now Laura sat on the couch with a drink in one hand and her mobile phone in the other. Her head was back against the cushions and her eyes were closed. Kara knew she was listening to her messages because of the lengthy silence and the way Laura kept forwarding. Occasionally she took a sip of her drink. Often she put the drink down and jotted something in the spiral notepad on her lap.

Kara had to admit that Laura had been a good sport about what John had done at the beginning of their trip. Laura and her father had seemed to reconnect on the island. They were more the way she remembered them earlier, before Braedon's birth, but especially before Laura had decided to run for President. Kara hadn't seen her father look that happy or relaxed in a long time. Laura either.

Lee had told her several times to lighten up on Laura, and Kara had finally quit talking about it to him. Lee liked and respected Laura. There was simply no denying it, and Kara had realized she would get no sympathy from him. He thought Laura's bid for the Presidency was the right thing for her to do, and he supported her completely. Kara finally decided that Lee must think because Laura wasn't on a battlestar somewhere, she was going to be there for her son. Kara knew better, but she had finally dropped the subject to keep the peace.

After that talk in the kitchen on their second day at the cottage, she and Laura had gone back to their usual polite and almost impersonal interaction. Laura hadn't made another attempt to discuss their relationship and neither had Kara.

In a way Laura really was like her mother, involved in her own career...with her husband and child on the periphery of her life. The only thing that was missing was the drill sergeant mentality that her mother had always exhibited with her, although Kara knew Laura could give orders with the best of them when necessary. Kara had heard her before, the polite but clipped words with the unmistakable ring of authority.

But her father loved Laura. She was simply going to have to accept that fact and deal with it. What he chose to put up with in their marriage was his business. Lee had been the one who had pointed out in one of their conversations on the island that John seemed to be attracted to strong, independent and beautiful women. It was the first time that Kara had ever considered the fact that maybe Bill was not the only Adama who was a little bit under Laura Roslin's spell. His son was partially smitten as well.

Carefully Kara unfolded the mailer. She breathed a sigh of relief. A 3.2 overall grade point average, not nearly as bad as she thought it would have been. She had a perfect 4.0 in Basic Flight. All her other averages had dropped, even her sim average, but not enough to cause her to be that upset. If she studied hard between now and the end of the term, she would do all right.

"Good news?" Laura asked finally closing her phone.

"Better than I thought," Kara answered.

"Are you going back to the Academy tonight?"

"No. I'm signed out until tomorrow morning. I'll ride with Dad."

"This was a nice vacation for all of us."

"I had a good time," Kara said.

"You'll be the envy of your dorm. You have a nice suntan."

Her father walked into the den and poured a small drink. "Brae's asleep, finally. He was just worn out and fighting it."

"Thank you," Laura said. "I just couldn't cope with his crying today."

John looked at Kara and must have noticed the mailer in her lap. "What's the verdict?"

She smiled. "A 3.2 overall. I'd have done better if I hadn't screwed up my sim exam."

"That might be the best 92 you ever made in your life. A 3.2 is good, baby. I'm proud of you. You had yourself worried for nothing." He looked at Laura's phone and the notepad. "Anything on your voice messages that couldn't wait?"

"No. Nothing that couldn't wait. I did have a voice message from Billy. The owners of the Talk Wireless radio network fired Elliott True this week. Kara, he's the man who has been libeling me on the air. It hasn't hit the news yet. The station's attorney contacted my attorney. They wanted us to know before the announcement was released to the press. I'm sure there will be another storm of controversy over that."

"What made them finally see the light…a lawyer?" Kara asked. She saw Laura and her father look at one another.

"Actually it was a strongly worded letter from my attorney," Laura said. "Mr. True left me no other choice. And his real name isn't Elliott True. It's Humphrey Browning."

"Good for you," Kara said.

"I doubt you've heard the last of him," her father said to Laura. "Self-righteous pricks like him don't give up that easily."

Laura sighed. "Probably not. He seems to have very much gotten it in for me. I'm not sure why. I'm having him…investigated. The attorney agreed to ask one of the private detectives they keep on retainer to take a look at him. I believe you know him…Romo Lampkin."

"I know him," John said. "If this Elliott True aka Humphrey Browning has anything hidden in his life, Lampkin will find it. He's a master at uncovering the hidden. I've got every bit of faith he would eventually have found Kara even though she was using another name. If you see him tell him I said _hello._"

Laura smiled. "I'll do that. Maya left a message saying she had to leave an hour early tomorrow afternoon. Can you get home or do I need to?"

"I can make it. Maya's got a dental appointment. She's having problems with a molar."

Laura looked at John. "She never mentioned that to me."

"Probably because I'm the one she usually hands Braedon off to in the evening. I noticed last week that she looked like she was in pain. I asked. She told me she had a toothache. The next appointment at the free clinic was six weeks."

"Why in the world would she have to go to a free clinic?" Laura asked in a surprised tone of voice.

"She's not exactly earning a fortune being a nanny for us, and she's paying for college, going to school at night trying to get her teaching degree. She doesn't have a lot of cubits left at the end of the month. I called our dentist and he agreed to work her in. He put her on antibiotics and scheduled her for a root canal. She must be having it tomorrow afternoon."

Laura said. "I pay her very well for being a nanny. I checked around."

"I didn't say she was underpaid. I just said she has a lot of expenses right now. She can't afford health or dental insurance."

"I'm sure she was very grateful to you."

"She thanked me," John answered. "I'd have done the same for Jennet or Doug or anybody else who needed help."

"Even an Oracle?" Kara asked in a teasing tone.

Her father winked at her. "Even an Oracle."

Laura began scribbling on the notepad. She scribbled several whole sentences this time. When she looked up and saw Kara watching her, she said, "Just a note to myself if I'm elected. We need to investigate how to make cheap or free health and dental care available to our unemployed and underemployed."

"You'll never make Caprica into a utopia," John said.

"No, but if we're not squandering millions on making human-Cylon hybrids and some of Cavil's other foolish programs, I might be able to expand some of our currently existing free clinics."

Kara brightened. "More free clinics will help Jack's drug delivery business."

Laura smiled. "See there? Everyone will benefit."

...

Lee sat at Channing's on Thursday evening waiting for his father. Bill had surprised him the night before with a phone call asking to meet for dinner the next night.

Lee had already ordered a beer when his father walked through the door and sat down across from him in the booth.

"Hello, son. You look tan and rested."

"We haven't even been back a week and it seems like a month or more. You look tired."

"It's been a long week and it's only half over. Laura tells me you had a very nice trip."

"We did. John has really fixed up that little cottage."

"I remember when he was working on it a couple of years ago."

The waiter came to the table and Bill ordered a whiskey and then told the waiter to make it a double.

"So what's up?" Lee asked.

Bill smiled. "Does something have to be up for me to ask my son to have dinner with me?"

"I guess not."

"How is War College going?"

"My team is holding its own. Do you remember the cadet I dated for a couple of months while I was at the Academy, Shelley Sydell?"

Bill shook his head. "I can't say that I do."

"She's on my team. There's only three other women in the class. I could tell at first that the rest of the guys didn't want Shelley on the team. Now I think they've changed their minds. She's had some good ideas."

"Four women in the class," Bill mused. "That's three more than when I was attending War College. Helena Cain was the only woman in our class. In the beginning she was very thoroughly resented by most of the men. But she always had a solution for the most difficult scenarios we faced. Some of them were harsh, even by war standards. I'm certain she would have no trouble giving the toughest of orders."

"Is she still commanding the _Galactica?_" Lee asked.

"She is."

"Does she have any idea what you've got planned?"

"All of my battlestar commanders know they've got to keep their ships ready for anything. None of them know the details yet."

"But Colonel Tigh knows?"

"Saul Tigh has been my closest friend for over twenty years. I trust him with my life. He said Commander Cain is doing a good job of keeping the _Galactica _ready and the morale of the crew good."

"John said Felix Gaeta was going to be home soon."

"Two and a half weeks. We'll meet at Laura and John's apartment. I'd like for you to be there. You know Lieutenant Gaeta. And I want to keep you involved in this mission."

"Why? I'm not going to be flying the Raider."

"I haven't made a decision yet on who my pilot will be."

"Please tell me that you're not considering Kara. She's way too inexperienced. She'd just get herself killed."

"I can't tell you that, son. She climbed right up into that Raider. That kind of enthusiasm impresses me. Rick Rafferty told me the Raider fit her like a glove."

"She's never even flown a Viper before."

"She will have by the time we're ready for this mission."

Lee felt his temper begin to rise. "So you'd consider her before you would me?"

"I didn't say that."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying I haven't made a decision yet. I'm saying I'm not nearly ready to make a decision. That mission is still seven or eight months away. A lot can happen in that amount of time."

They sat in silence until the waiter brought Bill's drink.

"Don't let this bother you, Lee. There's a lot of time between now and then. I…want your input as we move forward. I respect your ideas."

"Wow," Lee said sarcastically. "What brought all this on? I'm not good enough to fly your Raider, but you respect my _ideas_."

Bill sipped his drink in silence for a moment. Finally he put it down and said, "I graduated thirty-third out of a class of three hundred ninety-two at the Academy. I finished fifth in my class of sixty-two in Flight School."

"Those are both respectable places," Lee said.

"You were first in both. You did it because you're smart and you worked hard. I value your input. I don't know any other way to say it. I'd like you with us when we talk to Gaeta."

"All right. You've made your point. I'll be there."

Bill toyed with his drink, moving the glass around the table in a small circle before he suddenly said. "You were right. Your mother killed herself."

Lee stared at his father and swallowed hard. He picked up his beer. "What made you change your mind?"

"I finally read the coroner's report. I've had it for months. I couldn't bring myself to look at it until last week."

"Why would seeing it on paper make any difference to you? We all know she died of an overdose. You insisted it was an accident."

"She had cancer. It was very advanced…in her lymph system and her brain. The coroner estimated she had less than three months to live. It wouldn't have been…an easy three months. I spoke with her physician. She refused any kind of treatment. All she asked him for was something for the pain."

Lee felt the hurt wash over him again. "Oh, gods. You didn't know?"

"No, I didn't, but I should have. Zak told me she'd gone to the doctor several times. I thought she was finally trying to get help for her drinking. I should have known something was wrong. I should have asked her, talked to her."

"What could you have done?"

"I could have been there for her. That's just another burden I'll carry about your mother."

Lee looked at his father and for the first time in a long time he felt something stir deep inside him. The little boy watching at the window for his father to come home on a Friday evening, watching and waiting for the transport to pull up in the driveway and the man in the uniform who had always seemed larger than life to step out. For the first time in his life he felt the stirrings of sympathy for his father.

"Does Zak know?" Lee managed to get out.

"Not yet."

"Would you like for me to tell him?"

"You've shouldered enough of my responsibilities when it comes to Zak. I'll tell him."

They sat in silence for a long time. Bill signaled the waiter for another drink.

Lee finally said, "We're going to defeat the Cylons next winter, aren't we?"

"We have to."

"Have you thought about waiting?"

"If we're not ready by the Solstice next winter, we never will be. Our battlestars aren't getting any younger. Cavil has allowed only enough in the way of repairs to keep them space-worthy. Of the seventeen left, three of them aren't in good enough shape to make it through a jump. The longer we delay, the more risk we run that another one or two will be in the same shape. We're hiding the extra fuel here on Caprica. We're hiding the munitions. Every day we delay is one more day the Cylons could find something. I would have already gone ahead with the plan, but we need the pilots we're training right now."

"They'll still be nuggets."

"Nuggets have killed Cylons before. I did it. John did it. I had twelve nuggets on the _Galactica _when we were attacked four years ago. I only lost two of them. We're going to have the element of surprise in _our_ favor this time. We go in fast. We destroy everything quick. We take _no prisoners_. It's us or them."

"They could have destroyed us four years ago. They didn't." Lee could hardly believe he had just said something that sounded like he was defending the Cylons.

"That was their mistake. I won't make a similar one."

"What if we find they've got a base on Nereid?"

"I've already started working on that. I'll probably leave half my battlestars here to protect Caprica. Depending on what that Raider mission finds, I'll take the rest to Nereid and wipe them out there."

"It would be a shame to destroy a planet that might be…rich in our own past, our own history."

"I agree. It would be a shame, but it might be necessary. Of course I've got to consider the possibility that the Cylons are holding prisoners on the planet."

"Prisoners?" Lee asked in surprise. "Why would you think they have prisoners?"

"I don't necessarily think it, but it's a possibility that I've got to consider. I would hate to go in guns blazing and kill any humans that had the will to survive five years of Cylon captivity. But just like you're learning in War College, there are some situations that are not winnable for everyone, where you have to sacrifice the few for the good of the many."

"Why would the Cylons have wanted prisoners to keep up with?"

"I still remember that horror of a lab I found on the ice planet. Those poor souls that the Cylons were using as lab rats had come from a captured ship. Who's to say the Cylons didn't take at least some of the ships that disappeared four years ago? I had an aide of mine do some checking. Not counting the ships we know were destroyed, there are eighty-seven ships that we have no record of except for an initial distress call that they were surrounded by Raiders. My aide has determined that all of them had FTL drives. The Cylons don't surround a ship with Raiders just to destroy it. They send in a couple of missiles from a distance. Something didn't add up for me. John and I have discussed the possibility that at least some of those ships were forced to jump to the Cylon homeworld."

"And the Cylons were smart enough to know that the Colonials would probably write them off as casualties of the war…destroyed in the fighting."

"Exactly."

"And now you think the passengers might be on Nereid?"

"It's a better explanation than the one that author came up with. The one who seems to believe in the suspension of the laws of physics for a certain area of space."

"The Kobiashi Triangle guy?"

"Yes. I think there's a more rational explanation. What if Baltar's lab here on Caprica wasn't the only place where the Cylons were experimenting on making a human-Cylon hybrid? Maybe they were hedging their bets all the way around. There were almost fifty thousand humans on those eighty-seven missing ships. I'd say that's an ample number to experiment on."

"Does anybody else know this?"

"Just John. I dropped by the apartment last night. Laura was still at work which was good. John and I talked about it. He's finished Irina Hoshi's journals. He was updating me. He wants to go back and talk to her again soon. I'd like for you to go with him. I'd like for you to read those journals, too. I have a lot of faith in John, but a second set of eyes can't hurt."

"I'll go by and get the journals tomorrow before I leave the Academy."

"He's making a copy for you. He said he'd have it ready."

"I guess I know what I'll be doing this weekend."

Bill smiled. "I'm sure Kara will understand."

"I'm also sure I'll be tired of reading by Saturday night. I'll probably have to take a break."

"Breaks are good," Bill said. "We all need breaks."

As Lee got into a transport outside Channing's that night, he raised his hand and waved to his father as Bill began walking toward his apartment. Something shifted inside him again, the little boy waving goodbye to his father, but this time Lee knew there was a difference. This time he knew that he would see his father again soon.

TBC…


	60. Demerits

Chapter 60

Demerits

_During the spring of the Cylon's fourth year of occupation, a Caprican tabloid was rumored to have a series of photographs taken via a mobile phone of Presidential candidate Laura Roslin's stepdaughter Kara Thrace as Cadet Thrace walked off demerits at the Academy. Prior to their publication the tabloid's data server was penetrated and its entire photographic contents were destroyed. The act was later determined to be the work of a skilled hacker who was never caught. The mobile phone, traced to a cadet, was confiscated by the administration at the Academy. Without the evidentiary photographs, the tabloid backed away from printing the story._

_-Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War _

Kara knew a few moments after she woke up on Tuesday morning that the day was not going to be good. No sunshine greeted her through the slats of the blinds, only a gray gloom, and she heard rain, driven in gusts of wind, slashing against the window. She had felt the night before like she might be getting sick with the cold that was going around the Academy right now, but had convinced herself that the sore throat and stuffy head would be gone by morning. They weren't.

She felt slightly better after a hot shower. The stuffiness abated somewhat, but she still didn't feel good. Even under the hooded waterproof poncho, her legs and feet were soaked by the cold rain as she walked to the cafeteria for breakfast and then to Colonial History, wishing it could be Wednesday morning instead of Tuesday. If it were Wednesday, she could go back to the dorm and lie down for an hour before she had to head out for her first class.

"Are you sick?" Karl said as they waited for Connelly to get to class. "You don't look so good."

"I don't feel so good, either. I think I'm catching a cold."

"You and half my dorm."

"It's going around. I thought I'd be lucky, but I guess not."

"Maybe I'll miss this one. I got one on the last go-round."

"I remember. Sharon never gets sick."

"She never gets tired either when we run together or when we…never mind."

Kara grinned as she saw Karl actually blush. "Have you ever had that talk with Maggs?"

"Sort of."

"What does that mean? _Sort of_?"

"I told her Sharon and I were dating again."

"You didn't mention to her that you were _in love_ with Sharon?"

"I didn't see the need. Maggie got the point."

"How did she react?"

Karl shrugged. "She was okay with it."

"Yeah, I'll bet she was."

"Look," Karl said angrily and then lowered his voice, "I apologized to her for what happened that night at Jared's apartment. Okay? I took the responsibility for it even though she's the one who started it."

Kara grinned. "So Maggs made the move on you just like I thought. You didn't mention that before."

"Mainly because it was none of your business."

Kara made a pout and said in a mock-hurt tone, "We don't keep secrets like that from each other. I'm crushed."

Karl snickered and then they both started laughing. "I'll just bet you are."

Connelly walked into the classroom and put a box of tissues on his desk. As soon as he greeted them, Kara realized the tissues were for him as well as for the class. Connelly had caught the cold, too. They spent most of the class reading their next assignment since Connelly was too hoarse to lecture. The hour was punctuated often by the sound of sneezes, coughs, and sniffling. Half the cadets in the room were sick.

At the end of class Kara climbed the stairs to the third floor and went to the restroom. She stood in a stall and blew her nose on some toilet tissue. Gods, she hated the feeling of not being able to breathe through her nose.

She had just thrown the wad of tissue into the commode and flushed it when she heard the door to the restroom open and then Maggie's voice. Kara left the stall door closed and stood where she was.

Maggie said, "Cadet Pike said he's sure she made the highest sim grade on the midterm. She's the only one he talked to who didn't either crash her Viper trying to get back to the base on bingo fuel or eject because they were going to crash. Of course everybody knows her father gives her grades. Major Gallagher probably told her ahead of time what was going to be on the test and told her what to do when she ran out of fuel."

Kara opened the stall door. Maggie was standing at the sink talking to another cadet.

"Do you want to accuse _me and my father_ of cheating to my face, Maggie?"

Maggie turned. "Well, look who was eavesdropping."

"I have every right to be in the bathroom just the same as you."

Maggie looked at her coldly. "You might think you've got everybody fooled, but I know better."

"Oh, yeah, Maggs? What do you know? Are you accusing me of breaking the code? Are you accusing me of cheating? My dad, too? Do you want to go to Colonel Winters and repeat what you just said? I'll be glad to go with you. Come on."

"Why? He'd just side with you because your dad teaches here and you date an admiral's son."

"Then if you don't have the guts to make it official, keep your frakking mouth shut about me. I know what your problem is. I've always known. You're jealous."

"Everybody knows how you're making it here…your father and Lee."

"You leave them out of this. This has always been between me and you anyway. Ever since Karl told you I was his best friend and broke up with you. That's what's got your whiney little panties in such a twist. Did you really think you could throw yourself at Karl and he'd come running back to you? He's in love with Sharon."

"Bitch," Maggie said and shoved Kara hard into the stall door. It gave inward. Kara stumbled and went down. She scrambled to her feet and swung. The punch was ill-timed, but it still grazed Maggie's jaw. Kara could tell it infuriated her.

The cadet with Maggie backed away quickly and said, "Frak, stop it. Stop it. You're in big trouble if you get caught."

Neither one of them listened to her. Kara blocked Maggie's first punch, but the second hard one got through and connected high on her left cheekbone. It hurt. Kara knew it was going to leave a mark.

Suddenly she was the little girl fighting on the playground once more. Her next blow was harder and more accurate. She got Maggie on the side of her jaw again, knocking her against the tall trash can. Both went to the floor, the trash can with a loud clatter.

"Get up," Kara panted, feeling her left eye watering. "Get up so I can do that again."

Maggie scrambled to her feet and shoved the trash can out of the way. Neither one of them got to throw another punch, though, because the door flew open and two faculty members came in.

Kara dropped her hands and relaxed her fists. She knew the drill by now. She also knew how much trouble she was in. She came to attention and looked straight ahead. There was no way either of them was going to walk away from this one.

...

At 16:00 that afternoon, she and Maggie stood at attention in the small conference room near Colonel Winters' office. In front of them Colonel Winters sat with Captain Riddick and Lieutenant Sydell. Kara remembered the one other time she had been in this room, the day she had talked to Lee's father. What was Admiral Adama going to think of her now? Worse, what was her own father going to think? The thought of disappointing him made her sicker than she already felt.

She saw Colonel Winters open a folder and study it before he looked up.

"Which one of you threw the first punch?" He asked.

"I did, sir," Kara answered.

Maggie quickly said, "Sir, I pushed her before she hit me."

Kara was surprised. That admission took guts.

Winters studied both of them. "What was the fight about?"

"It was personal, sir," Kara answered.

"Do you concur, Cadet Edmondson?"

"Yes, sir."

"Do you both know the penalty for fighting?"

"Yes, sir," they said at the same time. Early during the first term they had all had to memorize the rules from the _Cadet's Code of Conduct_.

"Do either of you see any reason why you shouldn't _both_ receive the punishment?" Winters asked.

"No, sir," they answered in unison.

"Very well, then. You are both confined to campus for a month beginning immediately. Your phone calls will be restricted to emergencies only. You will participate in no social functions. That means no dating, even on campus. You will receive twenty-five demerits each and will have thirty days to walk them off on the quad. Are we clear so far?"

"Yes, sir."

"If either of you is caught breaking any rules for the next thirty days, the penalty will be more severe, up to and including expulsion. Do either of you have any questions?"

"No, sir."

"Lieutenant Sydell will oversee you walking off your demerits. Cadet Edmondson, you are dismissed. Cadet Thrace, please remain behind." Colonel Winters then turned to Captain Riddick and Shelley Sydell. "You may both leave. Lieutenant Sydell, please ask Major Gallagher to come in."

Kara thought she would have longer before she had to face him.

A few moments after Riddick and Sydell walked out, her father walked in. Colonel Winters said, "Close the door, John."

He complied before he came over to stand beside her.

Kara found that she had to struggle to suppress tears. She kept her eyes straight ahead and didn't look at him.

"Please be seated, both of you," Winters said.

John pulled out a chair across the table from the colonel and gestured to it. Kara sat and her father sat beside her.

"Major, I'm extending this courtesy to you because you're an instructor here and because your daughter is still technically a minor. She's received twenty-five demerits and a month's confinement to campus with no social privileges. The offense was fighting with another cadet."

"I've already heard about the fight, sir," John said.

A thin smile curved the colonel's lips. "Word travels fast. The cadet who witnessed the…argument that led up to the fight between Cadet Thrace and Cadet Edmondson said that among other things there was an accusation of cheating involved." Colonel Winters leaned back in his chair and took a deep breath. "Is that true, Cadet Thrace?"

Kara also took a deep breath. "Yes, sir."

"And did this accusation involve the simulator class your father teaches?"

"Yes, sir. But it's not true. Not a word of it is true. I've never cheated. My dad has never _given_ me grades like some of the other cadets think. He's _never_ told me how to beat the sims or given me any help that he hasn't given to all the rest of his students."

"My daughter's telling the truth, sir. She's good. She doesn't need to cheat. If anything I've been harder on her than I have the others."

"I would never question your integrity, John, and I'm certainly not questioning hers, but we have got a situation where there is apparently a broad perception of favoritism. I think the only way to remove any doubts is to let Colonel Burgher assume the responsibility for teaching Cadet Thrace in the simulator. I've already spoken with Conrad. He agrees it's the best solution to a very sticky situation. Cadet Thrace begins with him this week. Do either of you have a problem with that?"

John said, "I have a problem with it, sir. One of the reasons I agreed to take this job was so that I could teach my daughter."

"I agreed to let you teach her against my better judgment because I wanted you as an instructor. I'm sorry. It didn't work out. Conrad doesn't have your combat experience, but he's a very competent sim instructor. My decision is not negotiable."

"I have nothing but the highest regard for Colonel Burgher. Would it be inappropriate for me to keep up with Kara's progress through him, sir?"

"No. That will be fine. I hate this, John, but I don't see any other way. That's all I have. Do either of you have anything else you'd like to say."

Kara said, "I do, sir." She took a deep breath and got herself under control. "I'd like to apologize to you and…and to my father for what I did."

Colonel Winters nodded and stood. Kara and her father both stood as well.

Winters gave her a tight smile again. "Next time you feel the need to slug it out with someone, go to the gym and put on some boxing gloves and do it under supervision."

"Yes, sir."

"Could I speak with my daughter alone, sir?" John asked.

"Take your time," Winters said as he left and shut the door behind him.

Her father put his arms around her. "I'm sorry, baby."

The tears that Kara had been holding back now came. For a moment she couldn't speak.

"I've disappointed you. I'm sorry. I'm such a screw-up," she finally choked out.

"You haven't disappointed me, and you're _not_ a screw-up. You've caught that cold that's going around, haven't you?"

She nodded. "I won't get to see Lee for a month. I won't get to see Braedon, either."

"I'm afraid I can't do anything about Lee, but I just remembered that I have to come out here Saturday morning. Laura will be at her campaign headquarters so I'll have Brae with me. Come by my office about ten o'clock."

"Will you tell Lee what happened for me?"

"You know I will."

"He's going to be disappointed in me, too. He didn't get a single demerit the whole time he was here. He does everything perfect."

Her father put his hand on her chin and lifted her face so he could look at her eyes. "For years I thought the best way to handle a dispute was with my fists." He grinned. "You're my daughter. Maybe it won't take you quite as long to learn there's usually a better way to settle things."

"Will you tell Admiral Adama before he hears it from someone else?"

"I'll tell him."

"Who told you about the fight?"

"Karl. He blamed himself. I told him nobody made you throw that first punch."

"I know. It was stupid." Kara wiped her eyes. "This thing with Maggie and me goes way back. It wasn't just her saying I cheated. It was about Karl, too. She's always resented how close me and him are. It would probably have happened sooner or later anyway."

He gently touched the bruise on her cheek. "Who won the fight?"

"We didn't get to finish it. Maggie's tough. I'm not sure which one of us would have won. We'd probably have wound up hurting each other."

"I got my ass kicked one time by a guy smaller than me."

"What were you fighting about…a woman?"

"I don't remember. It was when I was working on the trawler. Now, you need to go back to your dorm and go to bed. I'm going to go back to my office." He took her chin again. "Just remember that I love you no matter what. You're _not_ a screw-up. You're just unfortunately a lot like your old man. You're going to be the best Viper pilot to come out of this class and you'll prove it in Flight School. You walk out of here with your head up. And don't you be ashamed when you're walking off those demerits, either. I am so proud of you. Nothing you can do will ever change that."

His words got to her and the tears welled in her eyes again. "I love you. And tell Lee…tell him…"

"Don't worry, baby. I know what to tell Lee."

"Will you…will you ask Lee to call Dreilide Thrace and let him know what happened. Lee's got the number. I don't want him…thinking I just…gave up…and quit coming to see him."

"How is he doing?"

"His cough isn't as bad. That religious fanatic Paulla has been bringing him food and stuff. He calls it soup and sermons. She's trying to convert him to the Cylon's one God."

"That would be enough to make me get well just to get rid of her."

Kara finally smiled. "Maybe that's what happened."

...

Lee knew something was wrong when a cadet brought a note calling Shelley Sydell out of their War College session that afternoon. After the glance Shelley gave him, he couldn't shake the feeling that it had something to do with Kara. His fear was confirmed when he started across the quad on his way to Kara's dorm and saw John waiting for him.

The rain that had pounded them all morning had stopped, but the stone benches and walkways still glistened with rainwater in the glow of the lights.

"Oh, gods," Lee said, fear clutching him. "Has something happened to Kara?"

"Except for having a cold, she's fine. She got into an altercation with Maggie this morning."

"Altercation…as in a fight?"

"Yep."

"Twenty-five demerits and a month's confinement to campus?"

"You got it."

"Is she okay?"

"She's got a small bruise on her cheek. It's not bad."

"Damn," Lee said. "That was a stupid thing for her to do."

"I'll agree it wasn't a smart move on her part, but I hope she's learned her lesson. And I'd appreciate it if you didn't make her feel any worse than she already does."

"What was it about?"

"Mainly some remarks about Kara cheating in the simulator…with my help."

"Damn," Lee said again.

"Colonel Winters has fixed that. I won't be teaching her for the rest of the year. Colonel Burgher is going to be taking over her instruction. And yeah, this is killing me."

"You've had her for most of the year," Lee said logically. "There's only six weeks left in the semester. Then she'll graduate. You taught her the tough part, the part she needs to remember. The rest is just practice."

"I know. That doesn't make it any easier, though."

"A month. I don't know if I'll last a month without seeing Kara. What am I going to do?"

"You're welcome to come over to the apartment on Saturday night. You can hang out with me and Brae. You might even talk Laura into a rematch on that chess game."

"Thanks. I might do that."

"Kara wants you to call Thrace and let him know what happened."

Lee nodded

"She also told me to tell you that she loves you."

"She told you _that_?" Lee asked in surprise.

"Not those exact words, but she didn't have to. You two will survive this. Besides, when she goes to a battlestar in the fall…" John took a deep breath.

"Don't remind me."

"Write her a letter," John said. "She can't get phone calls but she can still get mail. Or you can give it to me. I'll get it to her. I know it would do her a lot of good to hear from you…if you aren't giving her hell about what she did. She needs our support right now."

"You're right. I'll write her a letter tonight."

...

Laura sat in her favorite chair in the den with her son on her lap. She had put aside the campaign speech that she had been trying to write for the retired teacher's luncheon the next day. She had tried during the last week to spend as much time as possible with her son. She held his tiny fists and talked to him as he watched her with eyes that were now more green than blue.

Often he cooed to her or made other unintelligible sounds, but sometimes his mouth moved silently like it was doing right now, like he was trying to tell her something without saying the words aloud.

"I love you, too, my little man," she said to him.

Laura heard the door open and John walked into the den. He put his briefcase on the floor beside her chair and leaned down to kiss her cheek.

"Hey. There's my big boy."

Braedon was already wiggling happily. John picked him up and kissed him, too. "This has been a hell of a day. I'm glad to be home."

"What's wrong?" Laura asked.

"I'll tell you about it in a minute. I'm going to change clothes first."

"You'll have to take Braedon with you. He'll cry if you give him back to me. Just be careful if you put him on the bed while you're dressing. He's rolling over now."

John smiled. "I'm the one who told you that. Remember?"

"Yes, you did."

Thirty minutes later they were in the kitchen eating the dinner Jennet had left for them. John had just finished telling her about Kara's fight with Maggie and their subsequent punishment.

"Oh, this is going to look good when it hits the news."

"Why is it going to hit the news?"

"Because I'm running for President and she's my stepdaughter."

"Academy records are confidential. The media won't get anything from Colonel Winters or the staff."

"Still, with almost four hundred cadets out there, someone will leak it."

"You care more about what this is going to do to your campaign than what it's doing to Kara."

"Surely Kara knew the consequences of her actions before she decided to try to settle something with her fists."

"Of course she did. Knowing the consequences doesn't always stop us from doing stupid things."

"What are you implying?" Laura asked in a cool tone of voice.

"I'm not implying anything. I'm stating a fact. When I was her age, I was quick to settle things with my fists. I finally learned that you can't go through life brawling with everybody who picks on you or insults you."

"You're right," Laura conceded as she remembered the way she had angrily and blindly gone after him on the island. "Sometimes we act before we think."

"What hurts me the most is that I won't be teaching her any longer."

"Hopefully she's also learned that actions sometimes have more far-reaching consequences than the immediate."

"I'm sorry, Laura. I'm sorry this might impact your campaign in a negative way. But she's my daughter, and I'll stand by her no matter what she does."

Laura's voice softened. "I wouldn't expect you to do anything else. Of course I'll stand by her, too, despite her misgivings about me."

"Misgivings? Why do you say that?"

"She and I had a talk on the island. She was very concerned that I was ignoring you and especially our son. I got a rare show of emotion from her, albeit a negative one. She hasn't really accepted me. I obviously don't know how to be a mother to her."

"Hell, her own mother didn't know how to be a mother to her or didn't care. I'm not sure which. She mostly left Kara to raise herself. I didn't know how bad it was until Kara and I started talking in the hospital. Socrata was so possessive of her. She didn't want me to be part of Kara's life, even after her husband left and yet she was, to quote Kara, _a hands-off mother_."

"Maybe because she knew how much Kara would love you if she got to know you."

"Who knows?"

"How is Lee taking it? He does know, doesn't he?"

"He knows. And naturally he's not happy. This will be another test for them, but I think they'll make it just fine."

...

Lee sat on the couch that night with the lined composition book he used for notes in his War College class and stared at the blank page. He finally got up and put on the CD by Dreilide Thrace before he went to the kitchen and got a beer out of the refrigerator.

He sat down at the small table with his notebook and began to write.

_Dear Kara,_

_John told me about the fight. I don't want you to worry, not about how I feel and especially not about us. I understand how hard it would have been to walk away from an accusation like Maggie made. You've got a smart mouth and you've got a temper, too, but I know that you would never cheat on anything. Beating the simulator is far too important to you. I know you view it as a test of your skills. I know you will show all of them when you get to Flight School. I love you and we'll make it through this. _

His phone rang. When he answered, Zak said, "Big bro, guess what I am looking at right now?"

"Can you give me a hint?"

"I have four of them and they're center court on the third row."

"You scored tickets to the pyramid finals."

"Good guess. I thought I'd call Maggie. You and Kara can go with us."

"Kara and Maggie got into a fight this morning. They won't be going anywhere for a month."

"No kidding, man? You aren't screwing with me, are you?"

"No. They're both confined to campus for a month."

"Did Kara kick Maggie's ass? Because the way she slugged me that time, I have a feeling Kara could kick just about anybody's ass."

"They didn't get to finish the fight."

"Man, that sucks. I mean the fight, not that they didn't get to finish it. I guess I'll have to find some other poor girl who will put up with me Saturday night."

"Missy was all over you at Crocodiles."

"I've gotten tired of her. Not much between the ears if you know what I mean. I can't say that about Maggie. She's beautiful _and_ she's got brains. Maybe you can help me out."

Lee started laughing. "You want _me_ to find you a date?"

"Just kidding. So maybe I'll give away two of these tickets and me and you can go to the game."

"I can handle that. Does your buddy Anders think they're going to win?"

"Of course."

"I don't know. The Antioch Angels are good. That's why they've made it this far. You haven't got any money riding on the game, have you?"

"A few cubits. Nothing like last year. I had to show Anders I have faith in the team. So I'll come by and pick you up Saturday night."

After he ended the call, Lee looked back at the letter. He picked up his pen and continued writing.

...

By Saturday morning when Kara went to her father's office, she had already walked off four of her twenty-five demerits. Four times for an hour each time she had continuously marched in a square on the quad, moving along the smaller brass stars set into the granite inner walkway and making sharp right turns at the larger brass stars in the four corners of the quad. One hour's marching equated to the reduction of one demerit.

Shelley Sydell had arranged it so that Kara and Maggie weren't marching at the same time, although Kara had twice shared the quad with another cadet, a male whom she knew only by sight. She had no idea what his infraction was. They had kept their distance from each other and their eyes straight ahead. She had remembered her father's words and kept her head held high. She had also remembered the words of Lee's letter. _I love you and we'll make it through this. _He hadn't once mentioned the error of her ways which had surprised her.

What had also surprised Kara was Shelley's lack of gloating. She seemed sympathetic, but something about her concern struck Kara as false. As she lay in bed on Friday night, Kara had finally decided that Shelley's attitude had more to do with Lee than with her. It wouldn't do to have Kara tell Lee that Shelley was rubbing it in. Kara had decided that keeping Lee's good opinion was more important to Shelley than reminding Kara of her mistake.

The door to her father's office was open. Braedon's carrier was in the extra chair. He had Braedon on his lap as he was studying an enlarged copy of one of the hand-drawn star charts from the Hoshi journal. One of Braedon's fists was in his mouth and the other gripped the edge of her father's desk.

"Little star-mapper," Kara said and was rewarded by one of her brother's big smiles. He began to bounce happily and she picked him up.

"Hey, baby," her father said. "How are you feeling?"

"Much better today. I'm heading for the quad when I leave here to do two more hours of marching. How's Lee?"

"He dropped by for a little while last night. I've got another letter for you, and I've got one from Laura, too. And Maya said to tell you _good luck_ and that she'll miss seeing you on Friday afternoons for a month."

"Maya's nice. I like her. How's her tooth?"

"She got it fixed."

"You paid the dentist for her, didn't you?"

"She doesn't have any extra money…and I do. She's a sweet kid. She does a good job with Braedon. She's always willing to help us out on the weekends, too. If Laura is elected, which I'm sure she will be, I think she's going to ask Maya to move into Marble House so she can take care of Braedon full time."

"Maya's not a kid. She's almost thirty."

Her father shrugged. "I know. She just looks a lot younger."

"Did you know she was in one of the refugee camps?"

"She told us when we interviewed her for the job. She was in the one between Sovana and Kinsdale. Her husband was killed in the bombing. She lost her baby daughter during the first year she was in the camp. She's had a tough time and she's trying to do something better with her life. She deserves a break."

"You've got a soft spot for anybody who spent time in a camp."

"Yes, I do."

Kara put Braedon's carrier on the floor, sat down in the extra chair and stood him in her lap. "His legs are getting stronger."

"He's starting to sit on his own. He can't do it long, but he's doing it."

"Why are you studying Irina's star chart?"

"I'm trying to decide exactly where in the Prolmar Sector would be the best place to jump that Raider. Felix Gaeta will be home next weekend. I'm going to go talk to Irina Hoshi again Sunday afternoon. Lee's going with me."

"I wish I could go," Kara said.

"I wish you could, too."

"Will you do something before you leave today? Will you go downstairs and take a picture of me in the Viper simulator with Braedon on my lap?"

"I think I've got my camera in the briefcase. What made you think of that?"

"I don't know. I guess I want a picture of me and the little star-mapper…something I can take to the _Galactica_ with me…something to remind me of when I was here."

Her father didn't say anything.

"Is something wrong with that?" Kara asked.

"I just can't think that far ahead, yet. I know it's coming, you going to a battlestar, but I don't want to think about it."

"Have you ever jumped a ship before?"

"A number of times. After the First War was over. We'd lost a lot of pilots so I flew a Raptor as well as my Viper. I ferried a lot of admirals and commanders from one battlestar or planet to another. The fastest way to get them there was to jump them in a Raptor."

"What does it feel like?"

"Why do you want to know that? Vipers aren't equipped with FTL drives."

"I want to fly that Raider mission to Nereid."

"Kara, that is _not_ going to happen. Bill will pick an experienced pilot."

"When I was in Sadie looking out that eye slot, it felt right. I can do it. I know I can."

"How about this, then? I don't want you to do it. I don't want my daughter risking her life on a mission that is going to be beyond dangerous."

"What if Admiral Adama picks me anyway?"

"He won't. I've already made my feelings very clear to him. He's looking at next November for the mission. You won't have the experience by then."

"You can't keep me under your wing forever," Kara said hotly. "You've got to let me go sometime."

Her father looked up at the ceiling for a moment before he took a deep breath and let it out. "It's just too dangerous, baby. It's going to be dangerous even for an experienced pilot. We don't know what that Raider is going to jump into. It could be a hornet's nest of Cylons for all we know."

"It's a frakking Cylon Raider. It's one of their own. They're not going to shoot down one of their own right away. I've been thinking about this. The first thing I would do is put the return coordinates in the FTL computer and spool up the drive again. Then I could jump away any time."

"Why don't we table this discussion for now? It's not getting us anywhere and your tone of voice is upsetting your brother."

Kara looked at Braedon. He was watching her again with those serious eyes of his, green eyes like hers, like her father's. His little mouth had begun to pucker.

"You're right." She pulled Braedon close to her and kissed him. "I'm sorry, little star-mapper. I didn't mean to make you cry."

"Let's go take that picture. Brae's been up a while. I know he's getting sleepy. I need to take him home and feed him and put him to bed."

...

Saturday night Lee's mobile phone rang. Zak said, "We're downstairs waiting for you in a transport, bro."

"On my way," Lee said and grabbed his jacket. He was in the elevator before he realized that Zak had said _we_.

Lee had to admit the girls were gorgeous…and twins. Zak had a grin on his face that Lee might have found humorous if he hadn't been first surprised and then exasperated. He had thought Zak was going to sell two of the tickets.

"Damn, Zak," he muttered as he squeezed into the back seat of the transport with them. "Move over. I can't shut the door."

One of the blonds laughed and made room by climbing onto Zak's lap.

"Brigitta and Annabeth, meet my brother, Lee. Brigitta just started work for the PR firm this week. And I did have four tickets. It seemed like a shame to waste one of them…especially when she told me that they both _love_ pyramid."

"Ladies," Lee said. He shot Zak a dirty look and Zak laughed.

"We're harmless. We don't bite," Annabeth said and smiled, showing a set of beautiful, even and very white teeth.

"Is that a promise?" Lee asked.

Gods, what had he gotten himself into? Or rather what had Zak gotten him into? All he could think about at the moment was two weeks ago when Kara had been with him. He wanted Kara with him now. Not even this beautiful blond who could easily compete for Miss Caprica could make a difference.

"So, Lee," Annabeth said, "Zak tells us you're a pilot."

"One morning a week," Lee said dryly.

"Which spaceline?"

"The military."

"Oh."

"Lee flies a Viper," Zak said. "I thought I mentioned that."

Brigitta said, "My sister never listens. She's always planning her next gig."

"You're a musician?" Lee asked in surprise.

"No, man," Zak said. "Don't you ever look at the commercials? She's a model. She does the Grenwald beer ads."

"Sorry, I don't watch much television, and I don't drink that brand of beer."

"Too bad, Lee, she could probably get you a couple of free cases."

Lee forced himself to smile. "I'm sure you'll be glad to take them."

It was going to be a long evening.

Fortunately the game was fast-paced and exciting enough that Lee didn't have to make much conversation with Annabeth. When the two women got up at halftime, Zak moved over one seat and sat beside him.

"What do you think about them, big bro?"

"I think this is your lucky night. You're going to get to take both of them home."

Zak grinned. "I was planning to anyway. I knew you were going to be faithful to your true love. Are you going to Crocodiles with us?"

"I'll pass."

"You're going to miss a good time, man."

"Kara and I are exclusive. You know that."

"What was her fight with Maggie about?"

"Maggie repeated some gossip about Kara that didn't go over too well."

"I thought they were friends."

Lee shrugged. He didn't want to get into the cheating accusation or Maggie's feelings for Karl.

The twins came back from the restroom. Zak stayed in the seat beside Lee. The teams returned to the court to much whistling and cheering.

The second half was nearly an exact repeat of the year before. The Buccaneers held their own and kept the score tied until the last thirty seconds. Then an Angel scored and the Buccaneers were never able to regain control. The buzzer sounded. The opponent's court went wild.

As they waited for a transport that night, Lee turned to Zak. "Anders played a hell of a game. They should have won. Tell him I said so."

"Yeah. Are you sure you won't go with us?"

"We need consoling," Annabeth pouted prettily.

"Thanks, but no thanks. In fact I think I'm going to walk a couple of blocks and take the subway. It'll be quicker than trying to get out in this traffic." He clasped his brother's shoulder. "Thanks for the ticket…and have fun."

Zak grinned. "Don't I always, ladies?"

Lee came up from the subway and started walking toward his apartment. As he passed Zeno's, he hesitated and then kept walking. He had no desire to have a drink alone at the bar when the last time he'd been there it had been with Kara on their anniversary. He got back to his apartment and threw his jacket on the chair. He went to the refrigerator and got a beer before he picked up the notebook and again began writing.

_Dear Kara,_

_Tonight I went to the pyramid finals with Zak and his two dates. I think the C-Bucs lost because you weren't there to cheer Sam on. I can't tell you how much I miss you and how wrong Saturday night feels without you. I would write down what I'm thinking about right now, but I'd only get myself hot and bothered and make myself more miserable than I am. I'm trying to tell myself that this is just practice for when you go to the G in the fall, but who am I kidding?_

Lee read what he had written. He didn't like it. He tore out the sheet of paper, crumpled it and hit the trash can across the room. He started over.

_Dear Kara,_

_Tonight I went to the pyramid finals with Zak and his two dates. I think the C-Bucs lost because you weren't there to cheer Sam on or at least give him a shoulder to lean on. (Bad joke). I'm sure the mood at Crocodiles was a lot more somber than it was a few weeks ago. I took the subway and came home. I didn't even stop in Zeno's. I can't tell you how much I miss you and how wrong Saturday night feels without you._

_Tomorrow afternoon your dad and I are going to visit Irina Hoshi, and I will write you more about that later. I called Dreilide Thrace this morning and we chatted for a few minutes. He remembered me as soon as I told him my name. He said to tell you to watch out about the fighting and try not to imitate your mother. I asked him how he was doing and naturally he said 'fine'. He only coughed once while we were talking. He also said to tell you he was going to miss seeing you for the next four weeks. I don't think he can be missing you nearly as much as I'm missing you._

_I'm off to bed to try to sleep which isn't always easy because I get to look at Posiden's daughter and think of you._

Lee put the letter aside. He would finish it the next night and give it to John on Monday to give to Kara. He walked into his bedroom and studied the painting. The green-eyed sea nymph was beautiful as she floated in the trough of a wave, her blond hair billowing around her. He closed his eyes and imagined Kara like that on the island. The sea nymph wasn't alone in the water. A naked man swam beside her. They would go back after her graduation from the Academy. They would go back to the private little bay and they would…

He opened his eyes. His imagination had already gotten far ahead of the artist's painting. He would settle for having Kara in his bedroom right now, much less on the island. He almost groaned aloud as he went to take his shower. The next three weeks were going to seem like the longest in his life.

...

"Mrs. Hoshi," John said as he gently took the small woman's hand. "I'd like for you to meet a good friend of mine, Lee Adama."

Lee gently took the fragile hand that Irina Hoshi now extended to him. She smiled. "The admiral's son. Which one?"

"The oldest," Lee said. "I'm very pleased to meet you."

"Likewise. Please, have a seat. You didn't bring your son, Major? I was looking forward to seeing him. And where is your lovely daughter?"

"My daughter had to stay at the Academy today, and my son is with our nanny. I was afraid he'd be a distraction. I'll bring him to visit another day."

Irina nodded. "My daughter is making tea. You do drink tea, don't you Lieutenant Adama?"

Hot tea was not Lee's favorite drink, but he said, "Sure."

"You've read the journals?" Irina asked.

"Both of us have," John answered. "They're impressive for the amount of information they contain. If it's all right, I have a couple of questions. Lee may have some, too."

Irina made a slight gesture. "Whoever wants to go first?"

John said. "You said the _Hyperion_ stayed in orbit. Where was that exactly?"

"We were in a geosynchronous orbit with a zero inclination above the ruined city. The base camp was a hundred miles away from the city, close to where the expedition leaders thought we'd find mineral deposits."

John took a drawing out of his briefcase and unfolded it. He took it over to Irina Hoshi and pointed to a spot on it. "This is an enlargement of the star chart you drew in your journal. Is this the moon you refer to several times?"

"Yes," her voice softened. "It was quite lovely when it was full and rising. Larger by a fourth than either of Caprica's moons."

Nadia Hilliard, Irina's daughter brought a tray with a teapot. Lee helped her by handing out the cups of tea.

Lee said to Nadia, "John tells me that your nephew Louis Hoshi is an officer on the _Pegasus._"

"Yes, he's the communications officer," Nadia said. "Or one of them, I should say."

"He looks like his grandfather," Irina said. "He looks so very much like my Joshua when he was that age."

The all sipped their tea in silence for a few moments. Lee saw what Kara had meant about a love that lasts for a lifetime. He heard it in Irina Hoshi's voice. She was as much in love with her husband now as when they had explored Nereid together. He and Kara had that kind of love, a love that would last through the years. He knew they did.

Finally John said, "I noticed in your journal that you said the former inhabitants of the planet had used two large dams to power hydroelectric plants. Do you remember a discussion of other kind of power being used on the planet?

"No, the scientists scanned for nuclear signatures before we landed. They found nothing at either of the power plants. There are several other dams on the planet that were photographed from orbit. All I remember is that they were south of the city by quite some distance."

"Were the dams still intact?" Lee asked.

"I don't know about the distant ones. One of the nearer ones was still very structurally sound. The other one wasn't. That's another reason our base camp was so far away from the city. We were higher in the hills, far away from where we would be caught if there was a catastrophic failure of the second dam."

John asked. "If a group of…people were to inhabit the planet once again, where would you think they would settle…in the ruined city…or would they build somewhere else?"

Irina Hoshi looked thoughtful for a long time. "That's a very difficult question, you see, since our mission was a year in duration. We didn't look at the planet as permanent settlers might."

"Suppose someone went in and destroyed the second dam so that it wasn't a threat, would the city then be the logical place to settle, the best place?"

Finally Irina said, "In terms of geography, yes. It's closest to the power plant and the topography was good, but the city was a hodge-podge of structures that might have been adapted for living and those that should have been razed because they were dangerously close to collapsing. Of course I saw none of this first hand. Joshua was the one who told me."

"Where would the next best place to settle have been?"

"An area several hundred miles southeast of the city. The original report contained hundreds of photographs. Such a pity it was destroyed during the holocaust."

"Where was your camp?"

"We were almost due west of the city in a beautiful valley." Suddenly she said. "It's not Kobol, is it? We didn't find Kobol, did we?"

"I don't think so," John said gently. "We think you found the planet of the lost Thirteenth Tribe. We think they stopped on that planet while the other twelve continued to our solar system."

Lee said, "John's daughter and I named the planet Nereid."

"Nereid," Irina said the name slowly and thoughtfully. "Sea nymph. That's very beautiful. We always referred to it by its catalogue number when we weren't calling it _the planet_. We didn't dare give it a name in case it already had one. You're sure it's not Kobol."

"Fairly sure, but there is speculation in your journal that the map to Kobol can be found on Nereid," John said.

"Yes, we were of divided opinions. Some were sure it was Kobol and others were not. Tell me, Major Gallagher, are you asking these questions for a reason? Are the Cylons going to allow another expedition to the planet…to Nereid?"

"It would be nice to think one day they might allow it."

"Ah," she said, "an evasive answer. Perhaps no one will ask the Cylons for their permission to travel to Nereid."

John smiled. "You know we always ask the Cylons before we do anything. I think it's in our treaty with them."

"A politically correct answer from a man whose wife is going to be the next President of the Colonies."

Lee grinned. "John is always politically correct."

John laughed. "These days I am."

...

Kara sat at her desk on Sunday night and reread the letter from Laura that her father had given her the day before.

_Dear Kara,_

_John told me about the unfortunate incident in which you were involved. To have one's honor impugned is a terrible thing when you are innocent and especially knowing the high standard to which you have held yourself at the Academy. We both understand your motives, but I know based on what John said that you regret your handling of it. _

_I want you to know that John and I both stand behind you and are equally proud of your accomplishments. You began your Academy year at a distinct disadvantage due to going three years without any formal education, but you have persevered and have every right to hold your head high._

_As you go through life you will find that there are always jealous people who will want to denigrate your abilities, or, as some fellow cadets have done, to explain away your talent in the cockpit by saying your high marks were simply handed to you. To tell you that these people are not your true friends would be, I'm sure, redundant._

_I feel that you and I have struggled with our relationship, which was most unfairly thrust upon you at the same time you found your father. I have watched you and John form a bond in a very short time, a bond which I'm sure many fathers and daughters are not able to achieve in a lifetime. One of John's biggest regrets is that he missed your early years, but I think you two have made giant strides in making up for it. His love for you is and always will be one of the defining characteristics of his life._

_I will close by again offering my ear if you ever want to talk. I am proud to call you my daughter._

_Love, Laura_

Kara put it down and then picked it up and read it another time before she tucked it away in her desk drawer. It sounded to Kara like something a politician would write, and yet she couldn't deny that Laura had gone to the trouble to write it…not on her computer…longhand on two sheets of creamy-colored, expensive-looking vellum with her initials at the top. It looked much like the stationary she has used to write the note she'd years before stuck in the third volume of _The Caprican Prince_.

Kara took the letter out and read the last sentence again. She smiled. Yeah, maybe she should do like Lee said and lighten up on Laura.

She picked up Lee's letter and read it again, too.

_Dear Kara,_

_John told me about the fight. I don't want you to worry, not about how I feel and especially not about us. I understand how hard it would have been to walk away from an accusation like Maggie made. You've got a smart mouth and you've got a temper, too, but I know that you would never cheat on anything. Beating the simulation is far too important to you. I know you view it as a test of your skills. I know you will show them all when you get to Flight School. I love you and we'll make it through this._

_Yes, I know four weeks is going to seem like forever, but considering how many years we'll have together, it's the blink of an eye. On our wedding night I'm going to remind you of this and we're going to laugh. On second thought, maybe not on our wedding night because we'll have other things on our minds, but one day in the future we'll look back on this as just another test we passed with flying colors._

_When you get to Flight School and fly circles around your classmates, they'll know who was right and who was wrong. It doesn't seem fair that some of us have to prove ourselves over and over, but the important thing is that you can do it._

_I love you, now and always. Lee_

Kara refolded the letter and turned out her study lamp. He had said _wedding night_. That must mean that some day he wanted them to get married. She got into her bunk and tucked the letter under her pillow. It was a juvenile thing to do, she knew, but maybe if she slept on the letter, she would have a good dream about Lee. She almost ached with wanting to be with him. Just to hear his voice now would be a treat. How much had she taken that for granted during the last year?

"Are you doing okay?" Sharon asked from the other side of her desk partition.

"I'm missing Lee."

"I understand that feeling," Sharon said. "When Karl wasn't talking to me, I missed him, too. It's not a good feeling."

"No, it's not."

Kara turned over and settled into her pillow and wondered again if the Cylon's programming was that good or if Sharon was really learning what it was like to feel.

...

_Two weeks down, two weeks to go, _Lee said to himself as he rode the elevator up to John and Laura's apartment a week later. _We've made the half-way point._

Ten minutes after he arrived, Laura went to the door and came back with his father and Felix Gaeta.

"I believe you two know each other," Bill said.

"Felix," Lee said. "I haven't seen you since the winter dance at the Academy."

"That was the first time I'd been back since we graduated," Gaeta said.

Bill then introduced Gaeta to John and Laura.

"It's an honor to meet the next President of the Colonies."

Laura smiled. "I'm not elected yet. Bill, I see you've helped yourself to a drink. Mr. Gaeta, what can John get for you and Lee?"

Gaeta said he'd have what everybody else was having. In a few minutes they were all seated. Very briefly Bill laid out the mission. He explained that they were planning to jump the captured Raider to the fourth planet in the Prolmar Sector, a planet they had named Nereid. The admiral said it was a code name they could use in communications since it meant nothing to the Cylons.

Lee could tell by Gaeta's reaction that he was surprised, almost stunned. His father had prefaced his explanation with a warning of strictest confidentiality and he ended his explanation with a similar statement.

"What can _I _do to help, sir?" Gaeta asked. "I don't know anything about flying, much less Cylon Raiders."

"I hear you understand jump technology and that you can plot coordinates better than anyone," Bill said.

"String theory in physics is the foundation for how the FTL drives work. Once you understand…"

"We're none of us versed in theoretical physics except possibly my son. We're more interested in how well you can plot jumps," Bill said.

"From here to the Prolmar Sector? That's way beyond the red line."

"Could you do it, though?"

"I think so."

John unfolded a copy of the hand-drawn star chart. "This is the planet we've named Nereid. That little dot represents the _Hyperion_. The coordinates underneath are the location of the ship. The larger circle represents Nereid's moon. That number is the approximate distance from the surface of the planet."

Bill added, "The question is, given all this information, could you plot coordinates near enough to the planet to be within a long-range sensor, but far enough away to avoid detection if there were hostile forces on the planet and in space surrounding the planet?"

"Hostile forces?" Gaeta asked in a puzzled tone.

"Cylons," John said.

"Cylons! You think there are Cylons on this planet?"

Bill answered him. "We don't know. That's what this mission will find out. We're calling it Operation Sadie."

"That's good," Lee said. He looked at John and smiled, got an answering smile in return.

"Might I ask, sir, what you're going to do if you find Cylons on this planet?"

Bill sipped his drink. "You can ask."

Laura said, "It was a reasonable question, Bill."

"The truth is I haven't gotten that far yet. I don't know what I'm going to do. Our first task if to find out if they're there or not."

Gaeta accepted his answer. Lee knew that at the moment, his father was telling the truth. He hadn't yet formulated a plan for how they would handle Cylons on the planet.

John said, "Lieutenant Gaeta, we can't let you take any of this with you. You'll need to study the star chart and give us your calculations before you leave here."

"I'll need a calculator and some paper."

Laura got up. "Follow me to my office. I have both in there."

When they were out of the room, Bill asked, "How's Kara?"

"She's holding up," John said. "She's walked off eighteen of her twenty-five demerits in two weeks. She's on the downhill side."

Bill smiled. "I walked off a few demerits once while I was at the Academy."

Lee looked up in surprise. "You got demerits?"

Bill chuckled. "I got caught in…let's just say I got caught doing something I shouldn't have been doing in a place I shouldn't have been with a very attractive female cadet. We both walked off a few demerits."

John laughed. "That sounds more like something I would have been caught doing if I'd gone to the Academy."

Bill was still smiling. "I wasn't always the somber old man my son sees when he looks at me."

"I don't see you as _old_," Lee said.

They all laughed.

Laura walked back into the room. "It's good to hear some laughter from you three. May I ask what's so funny?"

"You can ask," Bill said.

"Dad just admitted to being human," Lee said.

...

When Felix Gaeta left the apartment that night, he left behind a half page of jump coordinates in the Prolmar Sector both near the planet and at a distance from it. Laura made a copy of the page and gave the original to Bill. He folded it and put it in his pocket.

Lee offered his father a ride back to his apartment. His father accepted.

"It sounds like you had…fun at the Academy," Lee said.

"I had my share."

"Did you know Laura then?"

"No. I didn't meet her until after I graduated. I met Laura at the end of that summer, not long before I was deployed to the _Galactica._"

"How did you meet?"

His father chuckled softly. "Blind date."

"That…surprises me."

"It was her debutante dance. Our fathers arranged it. She walked down the stairs that night in a white dress. I thought she was the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen."

"She's still beautiful," Lee said.

"Yes, she is."

Lee pulled into the driveway and his father got out of the car. Before he closed the door he leaned down.

"Don't ever let pride get in the way of what your heart wants. Pride makes us do some very stupid things. Thanks for the ride. Goodnight, son." Bill shut the door.

Lee put down the window. "Goodnight, Dad."

When Lee got home that night, he put on Dreilide Thrace's CD, tore open the envelope that John had given him and took out the letter from Kara.

_Dear Lee,_

_I got up early so I could write this and take it to my dad today when I go by his office to see Braedon. Two weeks. We've made it two weeks. Halfway. YAY!_

_Sharon thinks I'm crazy, but I sleep with one of your letters under my pillow at night. I know it sounds stupid, but it makes me feel better._

_I told my dad this week about a rumor Sharon heard that someone (as in a cadet) had taken pictures of me marching off demerits and was going to sell them to a tabloid newspaper to embarrass Laura. Dad didn't say much, but I could tell he wasn't too happy about it._

_Dad said he had talked to your dad and that the admiral was okay with what I did. Your father even said that given my aggressive way of handling things that it didn't surprise him. (Guess he was talking about how I climbed up in Sadie.) So that makes me feel better too._

_Did I say yet how much I miss you? I MISS YOU! I would give anything just to hear your voice even if it was giving me grief about what I did. But what I really want to hear is your voice telling me…well, you know what I want to hear. I love you and I'm sorry (for the 100th time) about what I did, not because Maggs didn't deserve it, but because it's keeping you and me apart._

_Two more weeks and then I can show you how much I love you. Kara _

Lee read the letter several times before he refolded it. He would add it to the growing collection in his bedroom. He closed his eyes and let his mind drift with the music. _Angel, Wings of Fire _began to play. He felt the raw and passionate love of a young Dreilide Thrace for Kara's mother, his emerging talent as a composer, the way the notes elevated his feelings to speak to anyone who would simply listen to the song.

Irina Hoshi would understand that song much the same as he did. And then Lee realized so would his own father. Bill Adama had bared another small piece of his soul that night.

It was late and Lee knew he should go to bed, but he wanted to start a letter to Kara. He wanted to try to put into words what the song made him feel. He got his notebook from the table beside the couch, opened it and began to write.

_Dear Kara,_

_I haven't got Dreilide Thrace's talent to write you a love song, but if I could, I'd write your name across the sky with my Viper. I'd shout the words for the world to hear, and I'd whisper them just for you. Lee Adama loves Kara Thrace and I always will. _

TBC…


	61. Trust

Chapter 61

Trust

_In a rumor circulated during the spring of President Adar's last year in office, Dr. Gaius Baltar was alleged to have embraced the monotheism of the Cylons. When asked by journalist D'Anna Biers, Dr. Baltar claimed to have no religious beliefs, either in the many gods or the one God. When then asked about his attendance at some of the warehouse sermons preached by his former colleague, the Cylon Natasi, Dr. Baltar refused further comment._

_-Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War _

On Monday Lee got out to the Academy in time to eat lunch for the first time in weeks. Even though the students attending War College were not allowed to eat at the faculty table, they could eat with the staff. Staff members rotated assignments at the cadet tables, but the others sat at their own table.

Lee took his tray and sat down beside Lieutenant Tucker '_Duck_' Clellan who had been in his class at the Academy. They had also gone through Flight School together and had been posted to the _Triton _together. Clellan was now on the staff at the Academy as resident-in-charge of the men's dorm.

"Duck," Lee said as he sat.

"Apollo," Clellan answered. "Keeping it in the air?"

"One morning a week."

Clellan snorted. "Same here. Colonel Winters lets me go on Wednesday mornings."

"Mondays," Lee said. "I just came from the airbase."

"What are you doing out here?"

"War College."

Clellan took a bite of his hamburger. "I applied. I didn't make it. Too far down in our class, I guess."

"You still dating Nora?"

"Who else?"

"Is she still on the _G_?"

"Yeah. I've put in for a transfer three times, but I've been turned down so far. I don't know whose decision that is. I talked to Colonel Burgher. He thinks the Cylons are turning down all requests for experienced pilots to transfer to a battlestar. He thinks the only ones they don't have a problem with are the nuggets. Every fall a dozen nuggets rotate onto each battlestar, and a dozen experienced pilots get shipped back to Caprica."

"It looks that way. How much longer does Nora have?"

"Another year. We're not sure why they've decided to keep her there. I told her it's probably because the CAG has the hots for her, but it's not his decision who stays and who goes. We've been talking about getting married. She gets one ten-minute ship-to-shore call a week. The Cylons don't seem to understand why any of us want to talk to each other more often than that. We write each other a lot of letters, too. The mail bag on the weekly personnel transport is huge."

Lee grinned. "Writing letters isn't such a bad thing when you're apart."

"I hear you're dating Major Gallagher's daughter."

"That's right."

"She's hot. Good-looking, too."

"What would Nora think if she heard you say that?" Lee joked.

"She knows I love her. She knows I look, but I would never touch. I heard Cadet Thrace is walking off demerits right now for mixing it up with another cadet."

"That's true, too."

"Is it true the other cadet accused her and her father of cheating?"

"I haven't talked to Kara since it happened. I'm not sure of all the details."

"You know the latest wrinkle on it, don't you?" Clellan asked.

"No. What's the latest?"

"Last week some tabloid reporter called Colonel Winters' office trying to get confirmation that two cadets were walking off demerits for fighting over a guy and that one of them was the stepdaughter of a certain Presidential candidate. The reporter claimed to have pictures of Cadet Thrace marching on the quad."

"I'd heard that," Lee said in a non-committal way. "Is it true?"

"We think so. This morning the colonel himself got an email from some anonymous user that told him the pictures came from a mobile phone registered to Cadet Eammon Pike. I was with Winters when they searched Pike's room. We found the phone. The dumbass was too stupid to delete the pictures. He said he didn't know anything about them, that somebody must have _borrowed his phone and taken them_. Yeah, right. How stupid does he think we are?"

"What did Colonel Winters do?"

"He took the phone. He's trying to decide what to do to Pike. Winters is in a dilemma. Pike is a good student and he's got a lot of potential as a pilot but Winters can't ignore the phone issue either. I imagine Pike is going to be walking off some demerits of his own fairly soon."

"He deserves it. For doing something like that, yeah, he deserves it. And I'm not just saying that because Kara is my girlfriend. Cadets should stick together and watch each other's backs. That kind of betrayal is the worst kind. If he did it, I'd never want him as my wingman."

"Winters said they couldn't prove Pike took the photos or sent them to the tabloid, but cadets can't have mobile phones on campus, so they're going to get him for that."

Lee nodded and took a bite of his mashed potatoes. "Frak, these are awful. What are they, ground-up cardboard?"

Clellan laughed. "Never get the reconstituted spuds without lots of gravy. Then put on plenty of salt and pepper. We changed food vendors. Budget cuts. Colonel Winters is juggling other expenses so he can maintain staff and train pilots."

"So we eat potato flavored paper so we can put pilots in the air."

Clellan laughed again. "Talk to your father about it."

As Lee was putting salt and pepper on his mashed potatoes, Shelley sat down beside Clellan and across the table from him.

"Hey, Shelley," Lee said. "What's up?"

She smiled. "Help me convince Duck that he should show up at the spring dance next weekend. He doesn't want to go without Nora even though we need him as a chaperone."

"Next weekend?" Lee said in surprise. "The spring dance is next weekend?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. Cadet Thrace will still be on restriction next weekend." Shelley's voice was full of sympathy. "Her last weekend on restriction and she'll miss the dance."

"Damn," Lee said.

"You could still come to the dance and help us chaperone. Since you're in War College out here, you're invited anyway. Your friend Major Gallagher will be there." Shelley smiled again. "He may or may not bring his wife. I heard she didn't want to _politicize_ the event."

"I don't know how she could politicize a dance. She'd just be accompanying her husband to a school function. There won't be any press allowed."

"Not everybody who teaches or works out here is a supporter of hers."

"They should be. Education is a high priority for her. She'll make sure the Academy gets its share of funds."

"Some don't think she'll be sympathetic to the military. Some think she'll cut our funding."

"You're forgetting who _really_ controls the budget, aren't you?" Lee asked in a quiet voice. "We're lucky to continue to get any funds at all."

Clellan snorted. "Cavil's a power-hungry little bastard who likes to surround himself with a pack of neutered politicians and other advisors."

"Like my dad?" Lee asked, his voice betraying his attempt the keep his tone neutral.

"No, frak. Sorry. I forgot your dad works for Adar. Is he going to work for Roslin if she's elected?"

"Neither one of them has thought to discuss that with me, yet."

Lee knew that by time for the inauguration in January, Caprica would either be free and their Colonial battlestars would possibly be engaging the Cylons on Nereid or they would all be dead. He hoped it was the former.

Shelley looked at Lee. "Back to the dance, won't you consider helping us chaperone?"

"I don't think so, Shelley."

"At least say you'll think about it."

Lee shrugged. He had no plans to attend the dance without Kara, but it wouldn't hurt to let Shelley believe he was thinking about it.

"Did you ask Lieutenant Gaeta to this one?" Lee asked.

"Felix was home last weekend. He'll be back on the _Galactica_ before the dance. So no, I'm going to do my duty since I've been asked to coordinate the staff chaperones. I've already been told it takes more effort during the spring dance to keep the cadets on the dance floor and out of the bushes. The weather during the winter dance makes the outdoors less attractive."

"Maybe it'll rain," Clellan said.

"Yeah, maybe it'll rain," Lee echoed.

"You're both a big help," Shelley smiled and Lee realized once again how attractive she was. But like Clellan said, looking was all he would do. Lee definitely had no interest in her. The past was the past and his heart belonged to Kara.

John was waiting for him outside the cafeteria. They began walking toward the Math and Sciences Building.

"I saw you come in for lunch," John said. "Did you have a good training flight this morning?"

"I did. Every time I go up now, I try to imagine what it's going to feel like to line up on one of those Raiders and pull the trigger for real. It's going to feel good." They walked in silence for a few moments before Lee said, "I heard about Cadet Pike."

"What about him?"

"He's the one who took the pictures on his mobile phone of Kara walking off demerits. He said somebody must have borrowed it, but I doubt that. Winters has the phone, but the tabloid still has the digital images. I'm surprised they haven't hit the internet yet."

John grinned. "They won't ever hit the internet or be printed."

"How do you know that?"

"A friend of a friend."

"What happened?"

"Some computer geek was hacking around on servers and just happened to get into the one where the tabloid kept all their pictures."

"Some computer geek?" Lee asked skeptically.

John smiled. "I've told you all I know."

"Resistance?"

"I didn't use that word. I just mentioned the rumor about the pictures to one person. Then I was out of it. You've got to understand why."

"I've got something for you to give Kara."

Lee handed the letter to John who unbuttoned the breast pocket of his uniform and put the folded envelope in it. "I'll walk this over to her dorm after I'm through in the simulator this afternoon."

"We're going to miss the spring dance."

"Kara knows. She's trying not to let it get her down, but I think it has. She feels like she's disappointed you."

"Tell her I could care less about going to a dance. No, don't tell her that because I wanted to take _her _to her spring dance, but it's one night out of our lifetimes. I'll find a way to make it up to her."

"Laura wants to surprise Kara so don't say anything about this, but she's already reserved the small dining room at Bonnie Patrice and is planning a graduation party. She wants us, me and you, to quietly invite Kara's friends. She wants to invite your dad and Dreilide Thrace, too. I don't have a problem with that if he can take being in the same room with me."

"He seems like a mellow kind of guy…at least that one time I met him, he did."

"Yeah, I always had trouble picturing him with Kara's mom. The Marine and the musician. That's how I thought of them. So you think the graduation party is a good idea?"

Lee smiled. "I think it's a great idea. And don't worry, I can find a way to get Kara there without giving it away. I'll tell her I'm taking her to dinner at Bonnie Patrice."

"Laura and I knew we could count on you."

"Are you both going to be chaperoning the dance?"

"Right now that's the plan."

"What are your plans after graduation?"

"Kara graduates on a Saturday. On Monday, Laura, Brae and I are on a ship to Delphi with her staff and some volunteers for a week of campaigning there. Then we're back in Caprica City for a week and then we head north on a campaign bus. I read the schedule, but I zoned out after the first couple of stops. You know this is not how I want to spend my summer break. I'd rather be working with Bill on the scope of Operation Sadie and what comes afterward depending on what we find there. But I support my wife and her campaign so I'll go."

"You won't be gone the whole summer."

"No. It just seems that way."

"I'd like to take Kara somewhere before she starts Flight School."

John grinned. "Somewhere like an island?"

Lee knew he looked sheepish. "An island would be nice."

"I guess I could trust two pilots with the keys to my ship and the keys to my cottage. I'll even throw in the fuel to get you there and back as part of her graduation present, but you rent the jeep and buy the food."

Lee smiled. "You've got a deal. Do we keep this a secret, too, and surprise her?"

"That's going to be hard to do since Kara has already asked me for the same thing."

Lee glanced at his watch. "I've got to get to class. Shelley has asked me to help chaperone the spring dance. I told her I'd think about it, but I'm not going to do it. It wouldn't seem right without Kara."

"That's between you and Kara," John said. "I think she would trust you to chaperone a dance, especially since she knows I can chaperone you."

"You're funny," Lee said as he started toward his classroom. "In a few days I'll tell Shelley I've thought about it and I'm declining."

...

Kara lay on her stomach on her bunk rereading all of Lee's letters. She knew the dance hadn't started yet, but she could already hear the music in her imagination. She could hardly wait for Sharon to leave so she could be alone. Her only consolation was that on the third floor of the dorm, Maggie was in her room, too. Karl was taking Sharon to the dance and Zak was probably out with one of the hot twins Lee had written to her about…or maybe both of them.

Sharon had been really nice about not talking about the dance. Kara had asked to see her dress and Sharon had shown her a simple, long satin sheath in a lemon yellow color. It was a far cry from the frilly, purple dress that Boomer had picked for the winter dance.

Kara looked up as Sharon finished putting on some lipstick. She adjusted her strapless bra, took the dress off its hanger and stepped into it. Kara got up and zipped the dress for her.

"Thanks," Sharon said. "I'm really sorry you can't go. You'd think they would have made an exception for the spring dance."

"Why should they?"

"At least Cadet Pike is sitting in his room tonight, too."

"It couldn't have happened to a nicer person. He'll probably try to sneak out so he can get a glimpse of Mrs. Nagala in whatever hot dress she decides to wear."

"Is she bringing Lee's dad tonight?"

"I think so. She likes to flaunt her admiral," Kara said sarcastically as she wondered about Fiona's other relationship with Frogman. Was that still going on? She liked and respected Admiral Adama, but she liked Paul, too. For a fleeting moment she wondered which one of them was the better lover, a thought which left her completely grossed out. It was almost as bad as thinking about her dad and Laura.

"I guess your dad and Laura will be here," Sharon said, mercifully interrupting Kara's thought.

"Of course." Kara went back and sat on her bunk. "You look really nice tonight. That color is good on you."

"Thanks."

"You and Karl keep an eye on Lee."

"Lee's going to the dance without you?" Sharon asked in surprise.

"My dad told me that Lee had gotten a hand-signed invitation from Colonel Winters asking him to help chaperone. He said that Bill had advised him not to turn it down. Shelley's behind it. I know she is."

"Don't worry about Lee and Shelley. She doesn't stand a chance with him. Didn't you say they had something once and he broke up with her?"

"She got jealous and broke up with him when he started dating another girl."

"Oh."

"It didn't exactly break his heart, though, because it wasn't his heart she appealed to."

"See? You don't have anything to worry about."

"Thanks, Sharon. Tell Karl I said _hello_."

"I will. I guess I'd better go."

After Sharon had gone, Kara lay back down on her bunk and let the pain wash over her. She knew that it was only a dance that she was missing, only a few hours out of a lifetime, but she couldn't stop the thought that Shelley was up to something.

"I love you, Lee," she whispered. "I love you and I trust you. I don't trust Shelley, but I trust you."

...

Lee was talking to his father and Mrs. Nagala when John and Laura walked into the ballroom. Colonel Winters immediately detached himself from a group of faculty members and went to greet them.

Lee saw his father watching the small group that quickly gathered around Laura and John.

"Your brother knows where his funds are coming from next year," Bill said to Fiona and smiled.

"For a former CAG turned XO turned school administrator, Chuck has grown very adept at playing the political game," Fiona retorted. "Laura looks lovely tonight. That blue dress is gorgeous."

"She wore it to the President's birthday party last year," Bill said.

"You're very observant," Fiona said.

"Even I could remember a dress like that," Lee said and saved his father the need to reply. He knew Bill hadn't taken his eyes off Laura since she and John had walked in.

Shelley walked up to them. "Good evening, Admiral. Mrs. Nagala. I need to borrow Lee."

"We'll just go speak to John and Laura," Fiona said. She took Bill's arm and they walked off.

Lee had to admit that Shelley looked good tonight. Her hair, usually worn pulled back or put up was down on her shoulders…her bare shoulders. Her dress was strapless and black. She filled it out well. He immediately lifted his eyes to her face.

"You look very nice tonight, Shelley."

"Thank you. So do you."

"So where do I post myself tonight to keep wayward cadets from sneaking out?" Lee asked.

"I think we have you patrolling the terrace."

"All evening?"

"Of course not. Just wander up and down every fifteen minutes. You won't be the only one keeping an eye on the terrace."

"And if I catch a couple…misbehaving, what do I do?"

"Ask them to return to the ballroom. Make it an order if you have to. I hope you and I might share a few dances tonight."

"I don't think that would be a good idea. Someone would be sure to tell Kara before I could." He saw the disappointment in her face. "It's nothing personal, Shelley. You really do look good tonight."

"I need to make sure the others know what their assignments are." She smiled, a tight smile, before she turned and walked away.

Lee joined the group that included his father and Fiona Nagala and now John and Laura.

As he walked up, Fiona was saying, "Three more weeks and we start final exams. I can hardly believe it."

Laura smiled at Lee. "I don't think John would mind if I asked you to dance."

Lee smiled back at her. "I hope not."

"Just don't take her out to the terrace," John said and grinned. "I know what happens out there."

"Oh hush," Laura laughed.

Lee offered his arm and they walked onto the dance floor. "You look very nice tonight."

"Thank you. So do you. Dress grays are so becoming on handsome men like you and John…and your father. I do hate that Kara couldn't be with you tonight."

"Not as much as I do."

"Did John tell you about the graduation party we're planning for her?"

"He did. I think it's a great idea."

"She's done so well this year. I know she hates to have this on her record."

"She'll be fine…as long as she doesn't make a habit of it. Aggression is a good thing in a fighter pilot…to a degree."

"John is struggling with letting her go. He feels like he just got her back and now she's going to become a pilot and go to a battlestar and of course next winter…" she didn't finish the sentence.

"None of us wants to think about that right now."

"I'm equally as concerned about what will be found on Nereid. If that planet has become the Cylon homeworld, defeating them here on Caprica will be just the beginning."

Lee said emphatically. "We can't leave them there. We can't trust that they wouldn't come back and try to destroy us."

"I know that. I want my son to grow up without having that fear. I want him to grow up in a universe free of the Cylons."

"When we defeat them here on Caprica next winter, what do you plan to do with the Cylons here on the planet…with Cavil and Simon and Natasi...and the others?"

"Provided I'm elected, of course, I haven't decided yet which solution I'll propose to the Quorum of Twelve. I'm sure there are many who will want them executed."

"And if any of them help us? What about them?"

"If that happens, we'll make a decision at the time. The question will be could we ever trust any of them? Could we trust their programming not to…revert to whatever it was when they were created and decided to destroy humanity? Could we trust them not to turn on us in the future?"

"That's the whole crux of the matter, isn't it?" Lee asked. "Trust. To have a true alliance whether it's between governments or friends, you've got to have trust or you don't have the basis for the relationship to survive."

Laura smiled. "Well spoken, Lee. I should have you helping write my campaign speeches. You have a knack for expressing your thoughts very well."

"Thank you. My grandfather's probably smiling right now."

The song ended and he and Laura began walking toward the side of the room. Bill met them.

"I'll have to claim the next dance," he said.

Laura smiled and turned around. Lee watched his father take Laura in his arms and begin to dance. There was no denying there was an easiness and familiarity between them. John was standing beside the refreshment table with a cup of punch.

"Too bad this is not stronger," he said as Lee walked up. "If I wasn't driving, I'd have pulled a Colonel Tigh tonight and brought a flask."

"Where's Mrs. Nagala?"

"She got a call on her mobile phone and went outside to take it."

"My dad's not the only man she's seeing."

"I know."

"The other guy is married."

"He's separated," John said.

"Mrs. Nagala told you that?" Lee asked in surprise.

"She didn't. Someone else did. I feel sorry for Fiona's other lover. How do you compete with an admiral? Of course I guess it would be a lot worse for this other guy if the admiral was in love with Fiona, but he's not. He's in love with my wife. And I'm in love with my wife. And I'm not sure who the hell she's in love with. Maybe both of us, maybe neither of us. Sometimes I think she loves her job and serving the people more than anything else. So everywhere you look there's these neat little triangles."

"John, I…"

"No, Lee. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said what I just did. It's been a long week. Brae's been fussy for the last couple of nights and I haven't gotten much sleep. I need to keep my mouth shut. This is not your problem."

"My dad would never…I don't care if he does…still have feelings for Laura. He would never…act on them."

"I know that. I've got nothing but respect and admiration for Bill. And that just makes this…situation all that much harder for me to handle. To have accomplished what he has with his life…and to have worked out the details of this operation for…you know what I'm talking about. I don't have to say it. It's nothing short of military genius."

"He's had help," Lee said. "He didn't do it by himself."

"He's had help in carrying out the logistics of all the preparations, but it's still his ideas everybody is working on."

"He's sacrificed himself to do it."

"He feels like it was worth it…will be worth it if we succeed."

Lee saw Shelley beckon him. "Time to go to work. Terrace patrol. Don't let this eat at you, John. You don't have a thing to worry about."

John nodded and finished the punch. "I wish I could say that with your confidence. Time to be sociable. I'd better get used to it since next January, everybody will be calling my wife Madame President."

Lee walked out to the terrace. A few couples were standing at the balustrade as far away from the light coming through the windows as possible. Lee casually strolled the length of the terrace. He saw some hand-holding and some kissing, but nothing that he felt like he needed to stop. Before he went back inside he looked out over the land behind the Admin building. The wooded hillside dropped away sharply to the running track and playing fields. The hardwood trees were lacy with new growth, the small lake beside the parade field was silver in the moonlight.

He thought about the year he had spent here, just three years ago. It seemed like such a long time. And then he thought about Kara as he had done frequently all evening. He had wanted to stand here with her tonight. He'd wanted to take her hand and kiss her and have this memory.

"A cubit for your thoughts," Shelley said as she walked up beside him.

"Just remembering when I was a cadet here."

He realized immediately that she had misunderstood his remark because she slid her arm through his.

"We stood out here during our winter dance. I was freezing. You put your arm around me. You always could warm me up, Lee."

He turned to her. "That was then. Things have changed a lot."

"Kara doesn't have to know. It'll be our secret."

He lifted her hand from his arm in preparation to back away from her, and Shelley took the opportunity to put her other hand behind his neck and pull him to her. She kissed him hard on the mouth and for a few stunned moments he didn't seem to be able to react. Shelley's mouth was soft and insistent, her tongue searching. He finally pulled himself away from her.

"Come on, Shelley. That's enough. Stop it. This is not going to happen."

She smiled and he realized that she was looking over his shoulder.

Lee turned and saw Sharon and Karl standing hesitantly just outside the terrace door. He was sure they had seen Shelley kiss him.

_Oh, frak_. He walked past them and back into the ballroom. John and Laura were talking to Hugh and Stacey Connelly. Lee walked over to them.

"I need to see you outside," he said to John.

"That sounds serious," Laura said.

"Excuse me," John said to the others. When they were outside the ballroom, he asked. "What's wrong?"

"I've got to see Kara."

"You can't."

"Please, John. Karl and Sharon saw…something."

"Something?"

"Shelley kissed me. I know if I don't go tell Kara right now that Sharon will."

"Let me go talk to Kara."

"I'll walk with you."

"You'll have to stay outside the dorm. I won't take a chance on getting her into any more trouble."

"Okay. I'll stay outside."

"Let me tell Laura where we're going."

When John got back, they started across campus to Kara's dorm.

"I used to date Shelley," Lee said.

"I remember you talking about her. You thought she was hot."

"I don't feel that way anymore."

"I didn't say you did."

"I didn't even want to come tonight."

"You told me, Lee. I believe you."

"I'd never do anything to screw things up with Kara."

"Lee," John finally said. "You don't have to convince me. I know you love her."

They reached Kara's dorm. Lee paced the sidewalk while John went inside.

...

Kara was lying on the bed when she heard the knock at her door. She opened it to a cadet who said, "Your father wants to see you in the lobby."

Filled with both dread and curiosity, Kara went downstairs.

Her father was standing near one of the couches.

"What's wrong?"

He smiled. "Does something have to be wrong for me to come see my daughter?"

"In the middle of a dance, it does."

He stepped up close to her and asked softly. "Have you been crying?"

"No. It's just a stupid dance. Why would I cry over a stupid dance? There's other cadets who didn't have dates tonight. We've been having a blast…twice as much fun as anybody at the dance is having. Now tell me what's wrong."

"Let's walk outside a minute."

"What's going on? Has something happened to Lee?"

"No, baby, nothing's happened to Lee." Her father put his arm around her shoulders and they began walking toward the door. "I was going to give you a message from him, but I think it should come from the horse's mouth so to speak."

"Lee's with you?"

As they walked past the desk, John said to the lieutenant. "We'll be back in five minutes. I need to talk to my daughter in private."

They walked down the outside steps.

"Lee!" Kara said.

John said, "Make it quick. Otherwise we're all in trouble."

Lee grabbed both of Kara's hands and held them. "Shelley made a pass at me tonight. Karl and Sharon saw her. I wanted to tell you first."

"What did she do?"

"She kissed me."

"Did you kiss her back?"

"No."

Kara wrapped her arms around him. "My thirty days is up on Wednesday. Will you come see me after class?"

He held her tightly. "You know I will."

Having her in his arms was good. It was so right with Kara. He kissed her hard and quickly. The kiss was right, too.

"Come on," John said. "Kara needs to go back inside."

"I love you," Lee said softly to her.

"I love you, too."

Her father walked with her back up the steps. At the top she looked up at him. She was so happy that she almost felt like crying.

"Thank you."

He grinned. "You should probably thank Shelley. Now go back in so Lee and I can get back to the dance before we're missed. I'll see you Monday."

Kara was in her bunk when Sharon came in that night.

"I already know about Shelley," she said.

"You do?"

"I'm okay with it."

"You are?"

"I trust Lee. It was her doing anyway. She kissed him not the other way around."

"I'm surprised that you don't want to kick her butt."

Kara smiled. "I do, but I don't want to get my ass kicked out of school, either. My thirty days is up Wednesday. Lee will make up for it next weekend. I know he will."

...

Laura was surprised when John pulled up outside the front of their apartment building and said, "Send Maya down. I'm going to take her home."

"Why would you need to do that? We pay for a transport for her?"

"I'll tell you when I get back."

Doug had already opened the car door for her. She got out.

Maya was reading what Laura took to be a textbook when she entered the den. Maya capped a yellow highlighter and closed the book.

"Did you have a nice evening?"

"Very nice," Laura said. "John is waiting for you downstairs. He said he would take you home."

Maya looked surprised. "He doesn't have to do that."

"He's says he does."

Maya hastily picked up the book and her purse. "Braedon's been asleep about an hour."

"Thank you," Laura said. "I'll check on him."

Unsure of exactly what she was feeling, she walked into the nursery. Her son was sleeping soundly. She gently touched his silky brown hair, thicker now than when he was born. She wondered briefly whether she had made a mistake in running for President and then lifted her head. Her course was set. She would follow it to its conclusion.

She had washed her face, put on her gown and robe, and was sitting in the den with a drink when John came in. He pulled the sash off his dress uniform, put it on the back of a chair, and unbuttoned the tunic before he went to the liquor cabinet and also poured a drink.

"I took Maya home because Doug told me that instead of calling a transport, she's been walking ten blocks to the subway whenever she works for us at night. It's not bad in the afternoon during rush hour, but at this time on a Saturday night, she's got no business walking alone, especially on the other end. She lives off Forty-Ninth Street."

"Why would she do something like that?"

"I guess she needs the money."

"I give her twenty cubits for a transport. That's hardly a fortune."

"It is to someone who's trying to put herself through college."

"You and Maya have become quite close, have you not?"

"What do you mean by _close_?"

"Do you know how many evenings I've come home and found you sitting here talking to her?"

"I give up. How many?"

"You know what I mean," Laura said, surprised at the shortness in her voice.

"Ninety-five percent of my conversation with Maya deals with Braedon."

"And the other five percent?"

"This is starting to sound like an interrogation. Are you trying to pick a fight with me, Laura?"

"No. I just expect an answer to my question."

"Occasionally Maya and I talk about what she's doing in school. But most of our conversations are about Braedon. They're really conversations I should be having with you."

"Oh, that's good. That's very good. Now I'm a bad mother."

"I didn't say that."

"You implied it."

He downed the rest of his drink. "I'm going to bed."

"We're not through talking, yet."

He put the empty glass down on the bar and turned to her. "I am. I'm tired. I was up with Brae a couple of times last night. If we keep on, I'll probably say something I'll regret."

"I think I can handle that."

For the first time she heard an edge of anger in his voice. "You know what your problem is?"

She very carefully put her empty glass down on the table, stood and faced him. "No, please tell me what my problem is."

"You've got to control everything. You want to talk tonight, then we're going to talk tonight. You don't care whether it suits me or not. You know when I saw you go through having our son and you wouldn't take anything for the pain, I didn't understand it. Now I know it was a control issue with you. You didn't want to give up even a tiny bit of control. So you suffered and I suffered watching you go through it."

"You don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't I? Everything is always your way. I said it on the island. I haven't seen anything that's made me change my mind. You question me for taking our nanny home after midnight. You try to read something into me talking to her about our son, but you don't see anything wrong with meeting your former lover for lunch or tea a couple of times a week."

The undercurrent of anger in John's voice had gotten stronger. It was a tone she didn't think he had ever used with her before. She knew she should probably stop now, but she had never been one to back down from a fight.

"When did this become about me and Bill?"

"It's _always_ been about you and Bill! You don't think I know that if it hadn't been for Braedon, you'd be with him now. If you hadn't gotten pregnant, even if you'd still been seeing me when Carolanne died, you'd have dropped me for Bill Adama so fast…"

"You're wrong! You're so wrong!" She walked over to him. "Look at me, please." She saw the anger, but she also saw the pain in his eyes. It made her want to cry. "I love you. And not just because you're the father of my child. I love your gentle ways and I love how you take care of our son and the way you love him and Kara. Bill Adama is my past. I can't deny the bond I still have with him. But I'm with you now because I want to be with you."

He finally put his arms around her and his mouth down against her ear. The anger was gone, his tone was more mocking now, more sarcastic.

"Are you sure you're with me now because you want to be with me or because you're running for President and dumping your husband for a former lover wouldn't look so good? It might even cost you the election."

He must have anticipated how angry his words would make her because his arms tightened around her as she tried to twist away from him.

"That was completely uncalled for. Let go of me!"

His mouth was still against her ear. "You don't really want me to, do you? That's why you picked this fight, isn't it? Tell me again to let go of you and I will."

Just like on the island her anger had morphed into desire. The feel of his body, hard and lean under his uniform was too much of a promise of what was going to happen. He knew just how to get to her, and she realized that in this one area of their life, she had never been in control. Even when their lovemaking was slow and gentle, she had never been in control with him.

Her arms went around his neck, her mouth seeking his, unashamed of her surrender.

It was the only answer to his question that he needed.

...

Early the next morning Laura got out of bed as soon as she heard Braedon start to fret. John rolled over.

"Go back to sleep," she said quietly. "I'll get up with him this morning."

An hour later she was sitting in the kitchen with her son on her lap when John walked in.

"I've got the coffee ready. All you need to do is turn it on."

"Thanks." He flipped the switch and then came and sat down at the table. "I'm sorry about last night."

She smiled. "All of it?"

He smiled, too. "No, not all of it."

At the sound of his father's voice, her son began bouncing on her lap. John reached out and she handed Braedon to him.

"We need to talk," she said.

"I know."

"I've already called Billy. I'm afraid I woke him up, but I told him I wouldn't be coming to the campaign headquarters today. We're going to take Braedon and we're going to the park and we're going to push our son in his stroller and we're going to talk. I have made a number of unilateral decisions that I should have discussed with you first. It's something I've done for most of my career and it's a hard habit to break. I have come to rely on you so much. I have taken you for granted and that has been wrong of me."

"Laura, you don't need to…"

"No, I need to say this to you because I've been sitting here for the last hour thinking about how much you mean to me and what it would do to me if you said you were leaving me for…"

"You don't need to worry about that. There's just one thing that would ever make me walk out on you, and I think you know what that is."

"I know you loved Kara's mother."

"Yes, I did, and I didn't leave her. She left me. She stayed behind. She left me and Kara both. Not the other way around."

Laura nodded. "You're a wonderful father to Kara and to our son. I want you to know how grateful I am to you for that." She struggled for a moment and finally said what she knew, had known in her heart for years. "Bill Adama was a terrible father to his sons. I couldn't even imagine raising a child with him. If he and I had married years ago, my life would have been…miserable."

John's eyes met hers and she saw the surprise. "He seems to be trying now. People change. Just look at me. I'm not the same man I was twenty years ago."

"Bill's trying now because during one of our lunch meetings I talked to him. On the island Kara made me aware of Lee's efforts to forge a closer bond with Bill and the way Bill always shut him out. Despite what you might think, it's not easy for me to talk to Bill about something that personal. Bill is a very proud man. He's very stubborn…very opinionated."

John nodded. "I know."

"He thinks a great deal of you."

"I admire and respect him, too."

"I can't promise life is suddenly going to be easy for us, but I want to try. I want to make things better for you than they have been."

"Things haven't been _bad_ for me, Laura. Last night I was tired. Last night I was upset because my little girl was in her dorm room instead of at the dance with Lee. And I guess I was upset because I saw you dancing with Bill and for some reason last night, it was hard for me to take."

"And I was upset because I thought you had…romantic reasons for wanting to take Maya home. You know, Lee said it very well last night. Trust. It's the one absolute ingredient to a successful relationship, whether personal or professional. Trust is the foundation."

"Lee's a smart guy."

"And love is as important as trust."

"Did Lee say that, too?"

Laura smiled. "No, I said that. I want to try. I want us to start talking again. Will you help me try?"

"You know I will. It hasn't all been you. I've been wrapped up in this thing with Nereid."

"You think we'll find Cylons there, don't you?"

"Yes, and Bill thinks we may find humans on the planet, prisoners from a number of ships that disappeared during the fighting almost four years ago. Lee brought up an interesting point too, on our way back from talking to Irina Hoshi. He mentioned the fact that survivors were found on Tauron when Zarek's mining crew got there. Now we wonder if the Cylons might not have taken survivors from some of the other planets, too, before the radiation from the nukes killed everyone."

"Why would they want human prisoners?"

"The same reason Baltar needed humans to try to create a hybrid. The prisoners may be their lab rats."

"Oh, dear gods."

"Bill thinks they may have had been trying to double their chances of success in mixing human and Cylon DNA. They had Baltar and crew working on it here and probably some of their Simon models working on it there."

"What does that mean for us?" Laura asked.

"It means Bill has to make a decision. Do we destroy Nereid without regard for the humans that may be there, or do we try to save the humans and destroy the Cylons at the potential cost of more Colonial ships and personnel? It won't be an easy decision especially since there's some indication in Irina Hoshi's journals that more clues to the location of Kobol may be somewhere on Nereid."

"What if the Cylons on Nereid…assuming there are Cylons on Nereid…have already discovered the clues to the location of Kobol? What if they've gone there?"

"That's a very good question. One I'm sure Bill has thought of. I guess we build more battlestars and follow them until we've destroyed them. As long as there are Cylons out there anywhere, I don't think the human race is safe."

"It's such a beautiful spring day," Laura said. "Let's eat breakfast and put the stroller in the car and go to the park. Let's forget about the Cylons and the Presidency and Nereid. Let's enjoy the day."

John smiled. "Did you really want me to kiss you that day you met me in the park two years ago?"

"What do you think?"

"I think you should ask me again today."

...

Kara pulled her Viper through a series of fast-paced turns in the simulator, through an obstacle course of asteroids, any of which could hide Raiders. She had already taken out three of them. Her eyes constantly scanned the screen outside the canopy. The dradis was useless because of the asteroids.

She was almost through the asteroid field when the Raider appeared, a slice of wing coming at her with the sun at its back. She held up her left thumb to block the glare as she keyed the trigger on her machine cannon. The tracers arced out and the ordinances found their target before she pulled the Viper up quickly to avoid an asteroid. A second later and she would have impacted the surface. One dead Raider, but also one dead Viper pilot.

She cruised out of the asteroid field and the sim ended. The canopy slid back.

It didn't seem right to climb down the steps and not see her father. She was still trying to get used to it.

Colonel Burgher was at the computer. She walked over.

"Another perfect score, Cadet Thrace."

Kara beamed. "I'd like to try that sim that no cadet has ever successfully flown, sir."

"What sim would that be?"

"I heard you have a sim that no cadet has ever beaten."

Burgher scratched the side of his jaw and smiled. "Your father mentioned that to you?"

"No, sir. It was not my father."

"When do you want to try?"

"You tell me when you can do it."

"Next Saturday morning at 10:00."

"I'll be here," Kara said.

"I allow my top five students to try each year if they ask. I think we can safely say you're one of the top five."

"Thank you, sir."

Kara climbed the stairs to the third floor and went to her father's office.

He stood up and hugged her. "Hey, baby. How did your sim session go today?"

She grinned. "Another perfect score. Colonel Burgher is going to let me try that special sim next Saturday."

"It's hard."

"You've seen it?"

"I've flown it."

"Did you beat it the first time?"

He grinned but didn't answer her.

"Don't tell me anything about it."

"Are you coming home this weekend?"

Kara smiled. "My first weekend off restriction? What do you think?"

"I don't guess we'll see too much of you."

"You'll see me enough. Kiss Brae for me tonight."

"I'm glad to see you in such a good mood, baby."

"I feel like I just got out of prison."

"Being in hack is no fun. Just remember what put you there."

"Did you ever get sent to the brig?"

"No, but I should have. Chuck Winters was my CAG on the _Solaria_. Let's just say that he's a merciful man. I got away with a lot more than I should have."

"You think Colonel Winters is merciful? I just spent a month confined to campus for one little fight. The worst thing that happened to me before in school was I had to take a note home to mom."

"The colonel has to enforce the Academy's rules. It's a bit looser on a battlestar. But that doesn't mean you and Maggie can take up where you left off if you both get stationed to the same ship."

"It's not Maggie's ass I'd like to kick."

"It's probably a good idea if you forget about kicking anybody's ass right now. You're too close to graduation."

"I know. In a couple of weeks I'll graduate and Lee will finish War College and we won't ever have to see Shelley Sydell again. How's that for being mature about things?"

"Colonel Burgher's sim is hard, baby. I don't want to see you beat yourself up if you don't get through it."

"You didn't make it on the first try, did you?"

"Nope. I made it on the second."

"What are you going to say if I make it on the first try?"

"That you're going to be a better Viper pilot that I was."

Kara smiled. "I'll settle for _as good as_."

"I want you to be better because next winter…" he stopped and took a deep breath.

"Next winter I'm going to kick some Cylon ass just like my old man did."

...

Friday night at Lee's apartment, he put on a CD by the band that had played at the Academy's spring dance. He and Kara walked into the kitchen where he poured them each a small glass of ambrosia. He raised his glass.

"To Kara Thrace's freedom," he toasted.

"To Kara Thrace learning a lesson. I hope."

Lee took a sip of his drink and Kara did the same.

"Do you want to dance?"

"Here? Now?"

He put his drink on the counter and then took hers. "Here and now. You missed your spring dance."

She smiled as she put her arms around his neck and smirked. "You didn't."

"Don't remind me." He put his arms around her waist and they began to slowly dance around the little kitchen.

"I've missed you. Gods, I can't tell you how much I've missed you."

"Not as much as I've missed you."

Kara put her cheek against his. "You write the best letters. I would read a few each night and then when I finished, I'd start over."

"Your letters are in the drawer by my bed."

"Being on the _Galactica _is going to be…hell without you."

"You'll stay busy. There's always something to do on a battlestar."

"Are you trying to make me feel better about going?"

Lee kissed her neck and felt her shiver. "I think I'm trying to make myself feel better."

"Do you think you can get posted there?"

"I don't know. I can try, but I was talking to Tucker Clellan a few weeks ago. He's tried to get on the _G _a couple of times because his girlfriend Nora is on there, and he's gotten turned down."

"I'm sure your dad could make it happen."

"Maybe. But I don't want to do it like that. I don't want to get something because my father has to pull rank and give somebody an order."

Kara sighed and pressed her body against his as they danced. It didn't surprise her that Lee felt that way. She didn't like anyone thinking her father had done something special for her either.

"Would you really write my name across the sky in your Viper?" She asked.

"I've gone to sleep a lot of nights thinking of exactly how I'd do it."

"Would you really shout it to the skies?"

"Do you want to go up to the roof of the building? I'm ready to go right now."

"I'd rather you kissed my neck again," she whispered.

"You like that?" Lee asked as he complied.

Kara shivered. "Yes."

It was a very short distance to her mouth. His lips found hers and explored slowly, savoring what had been denied to them for the last month.

She took her arms from around his neck and slid them under his shirt, feeling the hard muscles of his back. He moved his mouth to the other side of her neck and heard the soft intake of her breath.

"You're going to drive me crazy tonight, aren't you?" She asked.

"For as long as I can stand it. It's been a month. I want it to last long enough to make up for all those times we missed."

Her hands found the button of his jeans. "That might take all night. I've still got a curfew."

He took her hand and led her into the bedroom. The bedside lamp was dim, just enough light to see Posiden's Daughter.

"Where were we?" Lee asked and kissed her again, the kiss more urgent this time, their mouths greedier.

She unzipped his jeans. He pulled the t-shirt over her head and pushed one strap of her bra off her shoulder. He kissed the hollow of her neck as he slid the other strap down. He found the clasp in the back and her bra dropped on top of her t-shirt. Her hand had found him inside his jeans. He had to stop her. "Not yet," he groaned. "I don't want it to get too good too fast."

She unbuttoned his shirt and slid her hands up the muscles of his chest before she pushed the shirt off his shoulders. "More pushups?" she murmured.

"It helped keep my mind off what I really wanted to be doing."

Kara kicked off her shoes so Lee could help her out of the jeans. He slid her panties down and nudged her back onto the bed before he lay beside her. He started at her mouth again while his fingers found her nipple and squeezed gently. He knew what she wanted. His lips followed his hand and he took her nipple in his mouth.

She was making the soft breathy whimper she did when the feeling was getting almost too good to take.

"You like this, don't you?"

"Yes," she moaned. "You know exactly...yes, exactly...just like that."

Kara meant to stop him before she came. She meant to have him inside of her, but it had been so long and what he was doing felt so good that she let him keep going. The soft whimpers turned into a sharp cry. The fingers of one of her hands clutched the sheets and the fingers of her other hand dug into the muscles of his back.

Her breath was still coming in short gasps as she felt him kick his jeans off. "Yes," she moaned as he entered her. It still felt so good. Her hands slid down his back, encouraging him, helping him as he moved. "Yes," she said again. "Yes."

Lee closed his eyes for a few moments and thought of how right this was with Kara, how right and how good. "I love you," he said. "There will never be anyone for me but you."

"I trust you, Lee. I love you. Say my name. I want to hear you say my name."

He had waited so long to have her in his arms again that it was almost like the first time. He put his mouth against her throat and surrendered to the feeling, her name on his lips like a prayer, the right name this time, the name of the woman he knew he would always love.

_Kara._

TBC…


	62. Boxing Lesson

Chapter 62

Boxing Lesson

_In the late spring of President Adar's last year in office, the military Academy on Caprica graduated a record four hundred thirty-three cadets, over ninety of whom were headed to some sort of further training as pilots. Admiral William Adama gave the commencement speech during which he spoke of responsibility and accountability for one's actions. While never directly mentioning the Cylons, he referred to 'the mistakes of our past' and 'our hubris that we could dare to assume a role that belonged to the gods'._

_-Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War _

On Saturday morning Kara parked her motorcycle on the street outside Dreilide Thrace's apartment and removed her helmet. She pulled the elastic off her pony tail and smoothed her hair back before she refastened it. She had called him earlier. He was expecting her. She had barely knocked on the door before he opened it.

"Hi," she said.

"Look at you," he said. "You think you could spare a hug for me?"

"Sure."

They hugged lightly before she put her helmet on the couch, unzipped the leather jacket and threw it on the couch as well.

"How are you feeling?" She asked him.

"Much better. I've cut back on the smokes. I can't give them up, but I did cut back…a little. I finally went to the doctor and got some more antibiotics. I still cough, but not as much."

"That's good. Are you still composing?"

"As long as my Muse hangs around. You look like you lost weight."

She shrugged. "I spent a lot of time in the gym during the last four weekends since I couldn't leave the Academy. Sometimes I'd swim laps until the PE instructor on duty made me get out of the pool. I've started doing some martial arts. If it tired me out, I did it. "

"Your mother was a fighter."

"I know," Kara smiled. "She smacked you around from time to time."

"She never hit me _that hard_."

"Why didn't you hit her back?"

Dreilide didn't answer for a minute. Finally he said, "I don't believe hitting is the way to solve things. I don't believe there's ever a reason for a man to hit a woman. Just my personal philosophy." He held up his hands. "And I didn't want to damage these since they're my livelihood." He laughed. "But the main reason is because I was afraid she'd really kick my ass."

Kara laughed, too. "You remember the time I was in that school play and forgot my lines and Charlie Murphy laughed at me. I was seven years old. I punched him out up on the stage and broke his nose. Mom spanked me when we got home. She'd never done that before and it hurt like hell because I was wearing a dress. You stopped her and she punched you, too."

"I remember grabbing her arm. I also remember her punching me. That was the hardest she ever hit me. I think she was about as angry as I ever saw her."

"She never did it again, never spanked me again. That's when she started making me stay in my room when I was bad and not letting me go outside. It was like…like prison. I hated it. I wished she would have just spanked me and gotten it over."

"I talked to her that night after she calmed down. I told her that _you_ had learned to hit people because you had seen her do it enough times to me. I thought she was going to hit me again, but I think I got through to her. Your mom was just a very…physical person. I always wondered if she hit him, your dad."

"I doubt it. I'm not sure he would have the same philosophy about not hitting back. He told me he used to settle a lot of things with his fists when he was younger."

"When Lee called me and told me what had happened out at the Academy, I thought of her. Now you say he was a fighter, too. I guess you got it honest."

"I got into a lot of fights after you left and we moved into base housing and I had to change schools. There was a pack of girls who didn't like me and I…got good at signing mom's name to the notes I had to bring home. Then I met Karl and he was like a big brother to me. When I hung around with him, those girls left me alone."

"Karl?"

"Karl Agathon. He's a year older than me. His mom and dad used to take me with them on camping and hiking trips. Karl's at the Academy with me now. He's going to be a Raptor pilot or an ECO."

"ECO?" Dreilide asked.

"Electronic countermeasures officer. Raptors aren't armed. Not normally anyway. Electronic countermeasures are defensive. The ECO also operates a lot of computer equipment on board the Raptor and helps with navigation and stuff. They have to be trained pilots as well."

"But you're going to be a Viper pilot. Go out there all by yourself."

Kara smiled. "Yep."

"How does your dad feel about that? I know he was one, but how does he feel about you...following in his footsteps?"

"He'd still have me in a playpen with a pacifier in my mouth if he had his way."

"Kara, I don't think you're being fair to him. That's a natural response when your child is getting ready to leave the nest…especially for a dangerous job. I feel that way myself."

"I guess I'm not being fair to either one of you. Dad's mostly been cool about it so far. He's taught me everything he can in the simulator. A week from now I get to try a special sim that no cadet has ever flown…I mean never successfully flown. Then the Monday after that we start final exams and the next Saturday I graduate from the Academy. It's early in the afternoon. I'd like for you to come."

"I think I can manage that."

"Good. I'll send you an invitation. You know my dad will be there."

He smiled. "I assumed he would be."

"You're okay with that?"

"I can handle it. When you told me that your mom didn't move in with him after I left, it made a difference in how I feel about him. He didn't get such a good deal from her either. Maybe she didn't love him as much as I thought she did. Maybe he and I have more in common than I thought."

"Laura thinks my mom didn't want him around me because he's good with kids. He loves my little brother. He takes care of him more than Laura does."

Dreilide shrugged. "Maybe your stepmother is right."

"Is Paulla still bringing you soup?"

"Yeah. I finally had to pay for it, though."

"Ewww gross! I don't want to hear about _that_."

Dreilide Thrace laughed so hard that he started coughing and finally drank from the glass of whiskey on top of the piano.

When he stopped coughing, he said, "I went with Paulla to hear the Cylon woman preach one night when I wasn't playing at one of the nightclubs."

"Why?"

"It seemed harmless enough…and I owed Paulla for feeding me while I was sick. That's all she wanted in return."

"What did you think of the sermon?"

"The Cylon seems to be sincere in what she believes."

"How many people were there?"

"More than I thought there would be. Maybe seventy-five, a hundred."

"That's a hundred stupid people to get taken in by her like that. Did she pass the collection plate?"

"No, and she didn't mention cubits in her sermon like I've known some priests to do. There was a collection bowl at the door, but I didn't notice much in it. Some of the people there were homeless. I saw some college-age guys. Paulla and her friends were a big group. The rest, I don't know…just average looking people."

"What did the Cylon preach about?"

"How the one God has a purpose for each of us. About how God loves us. About the power of belief and how it can change your life for the better. That sort of thing."

Kara snickered. "I wonder what she would say if I told her that her one true God's purpose for me is to blow away as many of those motherfrakkers as I can?"

"Are you sure that's the path for you?"

"One hundred percent."

"There _was _someone there to hear her preach who is well known in Caprica City. I was surprised…the scientist, Dr. Gaius Baltar."

"No kidding. Dr. Baltar was in an old warehouse listening to Natasi preach her one-true-God sermons? You're sure it was him?"

"Positive."

"How did they act?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like they knew each other? Like friends? Like boyfriend and girlfriend?"

Dreilide thought a few moments. "I didn't stick around afterwards. He was down front talking to her. Beyond that I can't say."

"Are you going back?"

"I doubt it. How are you doing this semester?"

"Really good in Basic Flight and the simulator. Not as good in my other subjects. Math is probably my next best, a solid B. PE is okay, another B. History is maybe a B-. I'm doing the worst in Colonial Lit. I don't like the stuff we've been reading. I'll probably make another C or C-. I don't care, though. Lee said when I get to Flight School, they're going to be looking at my Basic Flight grades and my sim scores. That's all I care about."

"Despite the fact that your mother wanted something else for you besides the military, I think she would have been proud of what you've accomoplished."

"Maybe." Kara debated about saying what was in her thoughts at the moment and finally decided to go ahead. "Lee told me that there's a chance the Cylons might have taken prisoners off some of the planets before the radiation killed everybody. Do you think there's a chance…I mean it would take a while for the radiation from that basestar to get down through the atmosphere to Picon and…you know…you think maybe she got taken to a basestar?"

"No, Kara, no I don't think there's a chance. Your mother would never have allowed herself be taken prisoner by the Cylons. I doubt any of her fellow Marines would have. They would have fought to the end. All of them would have."

"Is that what she meant when she told me that when you're in a firefight for your life, you never fire your last bullet until you're sure you've won?"

Dreilide Thrace nodded. "That's exactly what she meant. She would never have surrendered to a bunch of toasters. She'd have gone down fighting."

"I would probably do the same thing rather than be taken by them. Whatever happened, she was still a hero."

"Yes, she was."

"But the Cylons might still have taken other prisoners…maybe from the city."

"Maybe. If they were looking for prisoners they could have had their pick. I'm sure some people would have gone willingly knowing what they faced by staying on the planet."

"I'll let you get back to composing. I've got a couple more stops to make this morning. I probably won't make it next Saturday. I'm going to try to fly a special sim and then I've got to start studying for my finals. I'll send you the information about my graduation. I'll see you then."

"I'll be there, Kara."

"Good. I'm glad." She hugged him before she left. "The first Cylon I take out will be for her, will be for my mom."

"I didn't think the military was in the business of taking out Cylons right now."

"Maybe that will change one day and then I'll get a chance."

"If that happens, take one out for me, too."

She smiled. "You bet. The second one will be for you."

...

Kara rode her bike several blocks and again parked across the street from the Oracle's place. When she climbed the stairs and knocked, Keshia answered the door and asked her to wait. Someone was with Yolanda Brenn.

Kara sat down at the top of the steep stairs. She waited almost ten minutes until the door opened and a well-dressed woman came out and hurried down the steps so quickly that she nearly stepped on Kara's hand.

"Come in," Keshia said as Kara scrambled to her feet.

"What's wrong with her?" Kara asked as the woman pushed through the door at the bottom of the stairs.

"She came seeking one answer and found another. She was not pleased."

"I'm not seeking answers. I just came to see both of you."

"Would you share tea with us?"

"Sure."

Keshia held aside the gauzy curtain and Kara went into the little kitchen.

Yolanda sat at the table sipping a cup of tea.

"You look much better," Kara said.

"I am well finally. We have wondered about you."

"I was restricted to campus for a month for getting into a fight with another cadet."

"Ah. Fighting is a serious offense?"

"It depends on when and how you do it. If we'd taken it to the gym and put on boxing gloves, it would have been okay."

"Why did you fight?"

"Well…as my stepmother put it, the other cadet _impugned my honor_, my father's, too. There's more involved than just that. The other cadet and me have never exactly been friends. It's complicated."

"Did you win?"

"We didn't get to finish it. Maybe next time."

"Would that not just prove which one of you is the better fighter instead of who is right?"

Keshia put a cup of tea on the table in front of Kara before she sat down with a cup of her own.

"Thanks."

"Your fathers are both well?" Keshia asked.

"The one you know is. The musician has emphysema. He's cut down on his smoking, or so he says, but I don't think there's any cure."

"There is no cure for any of us," Brenn said. "We will all die sooner or later. I came very close this winter. If not for yours and your father's help and my dear Keshia, I would have."

"The Cylons don't die. I mean they do, but their consciousness downloads into another body. They start over."

"Our souls ascend to Elysium. Some refer to it as crossing over or crossing the river. We leave our earthly body behind. The Cylons have no souls," Keshia said. "They will never enter Elysium."

"Some of them think they do," Kara said, "have souls I mean. The blond Cylon, Natasi, preaches her monotheism in an old warehouse. She's attracted some followers."

Brenn said. "The Cylons didn't originate monotheism. The lost Thirteenth Tribe was created by members of the twelve tribes who had grown to believe in only one God, a Supreme Being who did not rule humanity as the rest of the gods did. It is why they broke away from us centuries ago on Kobol."

"That's interesting," Kara said. "It's interesting that machines would adopt the Thirteenth Tribe's religion and worship one God."

"It's amazing that machines would worship a god at all," Brenn said.

"You're right. It's probably just their programming. Maybe the humans who created them believed in one God and that's what they put in their programming."

Without another word Brenn held out her hands. Kara took them.

"You have been in the belly of the enemy," Brenn said. "You will leave Caprica. You will journey to another world. Your faith and your resolve will be greatly tested. _Do not_ give up in your quest even when the odds do not favor you."

She dropped Kara's hands.

"I know what part of it means," Kara said and grinned. "I think it means that I'm going to fly…a certain mission that nobody thinks I can fly."

"A time in your future will be difficult for you. You must not give up. That is all that I can see."

"I knew that anyway. Lee and I are going to be separated when I get posted to a battlestar this fall. All new pilots have to put in a year on a battlestar so I don't have any choice."

"Separation from a lover is hard when you are very much in love, especially when you're so young."

"The last time I was here you said I would know despair."

"Despair is a test of our faith. When I lost my eyesight, I knew despair, and yet here I am. The gods took one sense from me and gave me another. We are each tested in our own way. Your test will not be mine or any other's test."

"I'll remember that," Kara said as she slipped the hundred-cubit note from her pocket and gave it to Keshia who nodded her thanks. "From my father."

"She prays for him, for all of you. We both do…for the times that are to come."

...

Kara had one more stop to make. She hit most of the traffic lights green, and ten minutes later was outside Leoben's bookstore. She had to browse around for nearly fifteen minutes as he waited on customers.

Finally he walked over to her. "I see you got out of jail."

She looked at him in surprise. "You knew I was restricted to campus?"

"Your father was in here a couple of weeks ago. He told me."

"What was my father doing in here?" She asked warily.

"Buying a gift card."

"A gift card?"

Leoben smiled. "The kind you give to someone so they can come in and purchase books."

"Who would my father buy a gift card for?"

"I think you'd better ask him that question. I think he said it was a birthday gift."

Suddenly Kara knew. Who else? Maya was taking a night class at the University.

"Did you talk about anything else" Kara asked.

"He wasn't in here long. I told him I thought his wife would win the election. I noticed Elliott True disappeared from Talk Wireless. Last week I found he's got an internet site and is spewing out his…views that way. I think most of his problem is that Laura Roslin is a woman. True doesn't believe a woman is capable of running the Colony. He's a misogynist."

"I don't have a dictionary in _my _head. What does that mean?"

"It means he doesn't really like women."

"He likes men?"

"No, not like that. Elliott True is married and has a family. But he has no respect for women or their abilities. The idea of the Colonies being led by a woman is something he can't accept."

"Oh, okay. I'll mention that to my dad and Laura. She needs to know this Elliott True is still doing his dirty work against her."

"She's in a precarious position. I don't envy her. She can't silence True from voicing his opinions. Freedom of speech is a protected right under the Articles of Colonization. The only thing she can stop him from doing is telling lies about her."

"Like saying she had Braedon out of wedlock."

"Exactly."

"Thanks. You've been a big help. Any more memories?"

"I tried the chamalla."

"And?"

"I had a few strange visions. A woman in a hooded, white gown running through a forest at night. She had a small child with her and told me we had to save him."

"Was it Laura?" Kara's voice was filled with concern. "Was it my brother?"

"I don't know. It might have been her. I didn't see her face. The vision shifted to a cold place. There were mountains and snow. I was alone. I was lost. I didn't know which way to go. Then the snow was gone and I was at a gathering of people, somber, mourning people. There was an altar with a white light on it coming from above. A priest lifted an object, a glass chalice. The liquid inside was red, maybe wine, maybe blood. Somewhere among the mourners a child began to cry."

"That sounds like something an Oracle would see."

"That's me," he said sarcastically. "Leoben, the oracle."

"You didn't see your past? You didn't see anything on the basestar."

"No, just crazy images, things I couldn't understand. Confusing, crazy images. Hallucinations. I never tried the chamalla again."

"Do you…still feel like the Cylons made a mistake in coming back to try to destroy us?"

"More than ever."

"Your memory of being shot and killed by a centurion and downloading is real. Cavil ordered it because you were arguing against him when he wanted to occupy Caprica. Killing you silenced the others."

"How do you know this?"

"I know another one of you. She saw it happen. Or rather a copy of her saw it. Then Cavil made that one share her memories with the one I know. All copies of the same model aren't alike. Some are good. Some aren't."

She saw the corner of his eye twitch. He turned and went back to the tall counter where he had a cup of coffee. He took a sip.

"I let it get cold."

"Did the Cylons take prisoners from ships or from the planets onto one of the basestars?" Kara asked.

"I don't know."

"Where are all the basestars? Are there more than four?"

"I don't know that, either."

"You haven't remembered _anything_ since I was here last time?"

"Cavil is called Number One. I'm known as Number Two. The numbers don't denote our importance, just the order of our creation. There were originally eight. Cavil destroyed all the copies of the seventh model. He said there was an inherent flaw that we couldn't allow to replicate. I think…I think the seventh model was our creative model, our artists, our musicians, our writers. I think that's why we don't have any Cylon music or literature or paintings."

"Why would Cavil have destroyed him?"

"I'm not sure. Jealousy, maybe? The ability to create is considered by many of us to be a gift from God. Maybe Cavil was jealous. Or maybe the Sevens wouldn't go along with his plans to destroy humanity."

"Cavil's quick to take offense when something doesn't agree with him, isn't he?"

"Maybe I should pay him a visit."

"Why? He's not going to listen to you. He didn't listen on the basestar. You need to stay here. You have a part in the future."

"Maybe my part is killing Cavil."

"He'd just download. It wouldn't do any good. You can't kill him. Not now, anyway. I…I think your destiny is something else. It's linked to mine and mine is linked to my brother. I just don't know what it is, yet."

"So I wait?"

"So _we_ wait. I'll know when the time is right. You'll remember more. I'll come back. We'll talk again."

He nodded. "We wait, then."

...

Kara let herself into the apartment. She knew her father was still at the Academy because his car wasn't in the designated parking space in the underground garage when she pulled her motorcycle into the adjacent spot. She knew he and Colonel Burgher were working on the final exam sim today. Laura was at her campaign headquarters.

Kara put her helmet and her jacket in her bedroom and went into the kitchen. Maya had a book opened and some papers spread out on the table. She quickly began moving them out of the way.

"Leave everything where it is," Kara said. "All I need is room for a plate and a glass." She went to the refrigerator and got out the makings for a sandwich. "What are you studying?"

"Algebra," Maya answered. "I took it in high school, but that was almost fifteen years ago. It's like starting over."

"So how old are you, really?"

"I just turned thirty...two weeks ago."

Kara rolled her eyes and grinned. "Ancient. You're ancient."

Maya smiled also. "Don't remind me."

"You lived in Sovana?"

"Kinsdale. My husband Peter and I and our little girl. He was an engineer. He and his father had formed a company, Laird Electronics. They died when their building was bombed. My daughter and I were at the supermarket. It was bombed, too. We were both injured. She died later in the camp from an infection because there were no antibiotics."

"How old was she?"

"Six months."

Braedon was six months old. Kara tried to imagine what it would do to them to lose him. She couldn't imagine what Maya had been through. She thought of Hugh Connelly and the day she had met him, the day he had tried to kill himself.

"One of my instructors at the Academy was in the same camp I was in. He lost his wife and parents in the bombing of Antioch. His little boy died in the camp. He was two. I know the camp was hard on the little ones. I'm sorry about your daughter."

Maya nodded. "I call Peter my husband. We hadn't gone through an official ceremony, but when I found out I was pregnant, we went to a temple and pledged ourselves to each other. I knew he would never leave me."

Kara took her sandwich and glass of lemonade over to the table and sat down.

"Is it hard taking care of other people's kids?"

Maya said softly, "That depends on the kids. Before I came to work for Laura and your father, I worked for Sarah Porter. She's on the Quorum of Twelve. Her kids were…I shouldn't say bad things about a former employer, but her kids were very difficult."

"Braedon's a good baby, isn't he?"

"Braedon is a dream most of the time. He'll probably start teething soon and things might get a little rough, but he's basically a happy, sweet child."

"One day maybe a gazillion years from now, I want a baby."

Maya smiled. "Just any baby? You'll pick his father at random off the street?"

Kara grinned. "Lee's baby."

"How does he feel about that?"

"He had a rough childhood, like mine in a way. I didn't think he would want kids but something changed his mind."

"Maybe seeing your father with Braedon."

Kara shrugged. "Maybe."

"Your father is the kindest man I've ever known other than Peter. He…remembered my birthday. It was just a gift card for books, but every little bit helps. He's the only one who remembered."

"Don't you have a boyfriend?"

Maya shook her head. "I still haven't gotten over losing Peter. I know it's been four years and I should move on but…" She was silent for a moment and then Maya said passionately, "Enjoy your time with Lee, every single minute of it. You just never know. I kissed Peter that morning before he went to work. I had no idea I'd never see him again. I loved him so much."

Tears had formed in Maya's eyes and now rolled down her cheeks. She hastily brushed them away and smiled. "Listen to me telling you what to do."

"No, Maya, I understand."

On the baby monitor they heard Braedon begin to make a few sounds.

"I'll get him," Kara said. "You keep studying. I haven't got to spend any quality time with my little star-mapper lately."

As she started down the hall toward the nursery, she thought.

_The third Cylon I take out will be for you, Maya. For you and Peter and your little girl._

...

Lee and Kara sat in a booth at Zeno's waiting for their meal to arrive. The waiter was new and had never seen them before so he had carded them. She had told him she didn't have her ID with her, and he had refused to bring her a beer. A glass of water sat in front of her. She reached for Lee's beer and took a sip.

"Three more months and I won't have to put up with this crap," she said. "That magic number will have rolled around and I'll be legal."

"Don't wish three months away, Kara. In three months you'll be six weeks away from going to the _Galactica _or wherever you get stationed. And then it will be another three months before we see each other again."

"I keep forgetting that. It's not real to me yet."

"I avoid thinking about it, too."

"I went to see Dreilide today. He told me that Gaius Baltar was at one of Natasi's sermons in that old warehouse where she preaches."

"Have you told your dad or Laura yet?"

"Not yet. Dad had just gotten home from the Academy when we left tonight. Laura was still at her campaign headquarters. I'll tell them tomorrow at breakfast."

"What was John doing out at the Academy?"

"Him and Colonel Burgher were putting together the final exam for the sim. It must be a good one if they spent all day on it."

"My final was thirty solid minutes of flying."

"My midterm was thirty minutes of flying."

"John's being tougher on your class than Burgher was on ours."

"Maybe that's because my dad knows we're soon going to have to kick some Cylon butt. Did you ever get to try Burgher's sim that no cadet has ever beaten?"

"Yeah. The cadets with the top five sim scores each year get a shot at it."

"How did you do?"

"It's still the sim that no cadet has ever beaten, isn't it?"

"No, I mean like did you last five minutes, twenty minutes? What? How long is it anyway?"

"I don't know how long it is. I made it eight minutes. Don't you want to know what got me?"

"No. I don't want to know anything about it. I'm flying it next Saturday morning at 10:00."

"Why didn't you mention it before now?"

She gave him an eye roll. "Last night it slipped my mind."

"It's hard, Kara. You shouldn't be too upset when you don't make it."

"That's what my dad told me. I'm good with whatever happens." She grinned. "Unless I don't make it eight minutes. I didn't ask my dad how far he made it the first time. He nailed it on the second try."

"Damn, he must be good."

"He said he hopes I'm better. He's really tried hard this year to teach me, to teach all of us what it takes to survive out there. He's been trying to teach us combat skills without being able to tell all of us that we're going to be using them soon."

Their meal arrived. Lee said, "This looks a lot better than Academy food. I don't see how you eat it every day. It's a lot worse than when I was there. I almost choked on those mashed potatoes."

"Maybe it was the company you were eating lunch with," Kara said.

"I've been waiting for you to say something about Shelley. I'm surprised you made it this long."

"What's there to say about her other than she's a man-stealing little bitch?"

"Kara…"

"No, Lee. I don't want to hear any excuses from you about how she was just doing her job and all that crap. Trying to tongue-kiss you out on the terrace was not _doing her job_."

"I never said she tried to tongue-kiss me."

"You didn't have to. She had one shot at you. She would have gone all out. She got Colonel Winters to send you that invitation to chaperone the dance because she's been trying all year to get her hooks into you again. I heard all about the black dress with her boobs hanging out."

Lee looked at the ceiling for a moment. "Sharon…"

"You're damned right Sharon told me. Karl, too. They're my _friends_."

"I thought you said you trusted me."

"I do trust you. This is not about you. It's about _her_."

"I don't want us to fight about Shelley. It's not worth it. What I had with her was over three years ago."

"You're right. It's not worth fighting over. But one of these days her and me will have a chance to…how should I say this…her and me will have a chance to address the issue."

"Kara, you've got to promise me you won't do anything stupid. Getting into it in any way with Shelley right now, even verbally, could cost you everything you've worked for all year. It could get you expelled from the Academy and that means no Flight School and _no_ flying Vipers."

"Okay. I, Kara Thrace give my solemn oath to you, Lee Adama, that I will not do anything _stupid_ regarding Shelley Sydell while I'm still a cadet at the Academy. How's that?"

"Can't you be satisfied knowing that every time she looks at you she knows I'm with you…that I have no feelings for her? What she tried didn't work."

"It's not just what she tried with you. She's had me in her sights for a long time. She tried to push me into doing something at the winter dance. I'll bet she was laughing her ass off because I missed the spring dance. I'll bet she had like a major orgasm sitting right there beside Colonel Winters when he told me and Maggie that we were on restriction for a month. I'll bet she had another one each time I had to report to her while I walked off my demerits. That's why I tried to walk off at least two hours at a time. Fewer orgasms for Shelley."

Lee tried not to smile. "Just let it go, Kara. In the whole scheme of things it's not important."

"It's important to me."

"Shelley Sydell is not worth it. She is just not worth it."

"We'll have to agree to disagree. You have my promise I won't do anything _stupid_. We'll let it go at that."

"Okay."

"Is she a good kisser?"

"I thought we were going to let it go."

"Is she?"

"Not nearly as good as you. I don't remember a lot about kissing her. Now can we please talk about something else?"

Kara picked at her salad. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Anything but Shelley."

"I invited Dreilide to my graduation. He said he would come."

"That's nice. My father is the commencement speaker."

"Oh, wow. When did you find that out?"

"I met him for dinner one night this week. He asked me to give him some ideas for his speech. I told him to talk about responsibility and accountability and accepting the consequences of our actions."

"Were you thinking about _me_ when you told him that?" Kara asked testily.

"No. I was thinking that the reason we're in the situation we're in now is because humans created the Cylons years ago, and now we're acting like it's all the Cylon's fault that we're under their control."

"I guess things are going better with you and your dad if he's asking you to help him write a speech."

"We're both trying. It's not easy, but we're trying. Old habits are hard to break. It's like our brains get wired into certain patterns and we want to keep going down the same path instead of trying something new. How about you and Laura?"

Kara shrugged. "Okay, I guess. She was already at the apartment when me and my dad got home from the Academy yesterday afternoon. She hugged me and told me she'd missed seeing me. She and my dad are acting all kissy-faced again."

"You say that like it's a bad thing."

Kara shrugged.

"You might be surprised at how much she cares about you," Lee said. "Would you like to go somewhere tonight…a movie or something?"

She remembered Maya's words. "It doesn't matter as long as I'm with you. Let's just go back to the apartment."

He smiled. "You talked me into it."

...

They sat on the couch in his apartment listening to a slow jazz CD. The urgency of the previous evening was gone. For a long time they simply sat with his arm around her and her head on his shoulder, enjoying the closeness of the contact and the mellow music. Kara was the one who finally raised her head and gently bit his earlobe. She leaned back and waited.

Lee upped the ante with a kiss to the side of her neck and then sat back. She straddled him being careful to sit back on his thighs. She leaned down and slowly kissed his mouth, drawing out the kiss as she gently sucked his lower lip. He put his hand behind her head and held her while their mouths began to explore. She slid forward on his lap until she was almost touching the zipper of his jeans.

"Whose night is it to be driven crazy?" she whispered.

He put his hands on her hips and inched her forward. She would only let him pull her so far before she stopped and began to unbutton his shirt. Lee let her do what she wanted. Her hands slid up his chest. She leaned down and bit his nipple. Her hands found his zipper and tugged it down. He helped her. Her hand was on him and then as she slid off his lap, her mouth was on him.

He put his head back on the couch as he felt her lips and tongue. The night before he couldn't have stood what she was doing to him now. It didn't take long, though, before she had him close to the edge.

"Kara," he groaned. "Stop. You'd better stop."

"Too good?" She asked playfully.

"Way too good. Take off your jeans."

"Say please."

"Please take off your jeans."

She complied, slipping out of first her jeans and then her bikini panties. She straddled him again, once more resting on his thighs. He grasped the bottom of her t-shirt and tugged it upward. She finished pulling it over her head. His hands had already found the clasp of her bra. He grasped her hips and lifted her up just enough that her breasts were within reach of his mouth. Kara put her hands of the back of the couch while he took first one nipple and then the other between his lips, gently using his teeth and then his tongue.

She grasped him and slowly sat, taking him an inch at a time, watching his face as she did it. He knew how much she liked it like this. He knew how quickly it always made her come. Tonight was no exception.

He grasped her hips again as she began to move, pulling her down a little harder with each stroke. The sensation began to build. She didn't try to fight it. Her fingers dug into his shoulders.

"Lee, oh gods, Lee."

The only sound afterward was their gradually slowing breathing as the CD started over. She was still on his lap, her head against his shoulder, her face turned into his neck. She kissed it gently. His hand caressed her back as he leaned his cheek against her forehead. Sometimes they didn't need words.

What they had was real. What they had would last.

...

When Kara and Lee walked back into her dorm early Sunday evening, Kara saw that Shelley was on the front desk. Lee stayed to the side of the lobby as Kara went to check in.

"Cadet Kara Thrace returning from _weekend leave_, sir," Kara said to Shelley and smiled. With Lee standing close by, there was no way Shelley could mistake the meaning of her words.

Without saying a thing Shelley turned the log book around and Kara flipped back to Friday afternoon when she had signed out. She wrote Sunday's date and time in the _Date Returned_ column and signed her name beside it.

She walked back over to Lee who had set her duffle bag on the floor. "Will I see you after your class tomorrow?"

"If we get out in time."

Kara knew Shelley was watching them out of the corner of her eye.

"Kiss me," she whispered, "with some tongue."

"That's cruel."

"Humor me. She deserves it…and then some."

He did as she asked, their mouths coming together in a kiss that quickly got hotter than either of them had anticipated. Lee finally pulled back.

She said softly. "I love you."

"I love you, too, Kara."

She watched Lee go out the door before she picked up her duffle bag. As she turned with a smile on her face, she saw Shelley quickly glance down at the log book. She had been watching them. Feeling like whistling, Kara walked to the door leading to the stairs. _Take that, you bitch._

Shelley was waiting for her the next morning as she and Sharon walked back to the dorm after breakfast.

"Walk on Cadet Valerii," Shelley said. "I need a word with Cadet Thrace."

Sharon hesitated and looked at Kara.

"I'll be okay. Go."

She watched Sharon walk toward the dorm as she came to attention and looked straight ahead.

"That was some little show you put on yesterday."

Knowing exactly what Shelley was talking about, Kara kept her tone neutral. "What show would that be, sir?"

"You and Lee. That was for my benefit, wasn't it?"

"No, sir. It was for our benefit. Mine and Lee's. It was a nice way to end the weekend we had together."

"He told you what we did at the dance?"

"He told me what _you_ did, _sir_."

Shelley smiled, her lips forming a thin line. "Would you like to take a swing at me like you did at Cadet Edmondson?"

Kara kept her eyes straight ahead. "Yes, sir, but that would get me expelled from the Academy. Lee and I had a long talk about it Saturday night. He said you weren't worth it. I agree with him, sir."

"You want a shot at me then you stay in the gym this morning after your PE class is over. Come to the boxing ring. We'll put on some gloves. Dismissed, Cadet Thrace."

Shelley turned and walked away. Kara hurried back to the dorm.

"What did she want?" Sharon asked.

"She wants me to stick around after PE today. She said we'd put on some gloves and I could take a shot at her. I can't believe I'm going to get a chance to knock her on her ass."

"You know she was women's boxing champ during her year at the Academy?"

"No," Kara said in surprise. "Frak. Maybe I won't be knocking her on her ass. I'll bet she's been planning this since last night."

"What happened last night?"

"I made a point to kiss Lee in front of her."

"Not smart, Kara, not smart."

"Look, don't say anything about this, okay? If my dad finds out…"

"You're not doing anything wrong. If you and Shelley are wearing gloves and it's under supervision, than it's all right, even if she's an officer and you're a cadet. If you both willingly go into a ring with gloves on, then rank doesn't matter."

"Why does that not make me feel any better?"

"I've got to get to class," Sharon said. "If you're not back after lunch, I'll go look for you in the infirmary."

"Ha ha. You're funny, Valerii."

...

During her math class that morning and while she played volleyball during her PE class, Kara's mind was on the upcoming fight…or whatever was going to happen.

Shelley was in tanks and shorts and was warming up at a bag when Kara walked into the room that contained the boxing ring and equipment.

Kara watched her for a minute. Shelley was good. Her coordination was good and her timing was good. She moved with a natural grace. As if she felt Kara's eyes on her, she turned and motioned to the rack of gloves.

Tucker Clellan had agreed to serve as referee. He pulled a new mouth protector from a drawer and handed it to her. "You know the rules?"

Kara tore open the wrapper on the mouth protector. "Just tell me what I can't do."

"No biting, pushing, tripping, kicking or wrestling. No hitting below the belt or on the breasts or the back. If you go down, you've got thirty seconds to get up. I'll call it anytime I think either one of you can't go on."

"Sounds simple enough," Kara said. "Let's do it."

Duck helped Kara put on the gloves after she positioned the mouth protector and bit down on it. She'd never fought with gloves on. They felt funny on her hands. She felt like she would do a better job without them, but she knew she and Shelley would never be allowed to go at it bare knuckled.

They climbed into the ring. Several cadets working out on the bags had stopped to watch as the two of them warily circled each other. Without warning Shelley stepped inside and delivered a quick, hard uppercut to Kara's chin. Her head snapped back and she stumbled backward a few steps. Shelley followed her, her next punch a quick jab that Kara barely managed to block, but which gave her the opportunity to drive her left glove into Shelley's abdomen.

She saw the momentary surprise in Shelley's eyes. She had probably expected this to be over in less than a minute.

Kara adjusted her mouth protector with the back of a glove.

They slowly circled each other again. Kara's bare-knuckled playground fights were not much help against an opponent with Shelley's skill. She quickly and deftly blocked the next two punches Kara threw and then landed a cross punch that got Kara on the side of her head. She went down and heard Clellan start to count.

Kara was back on her feet before he got to six.

"Are you all right to continue?" He asked.

Kara nodded and thought about her father. He wasn't going to like this at all. She thought about Lee. He was going to like it even less. Still, she couldn't back down now. She _wouldn't_ back down now.

She lifted her gloves as Shelley moved in once again. As Shelley jabbed, Kara moved to the side and used the same uppercut that Shelley had first used on her. She followed it quickly with a cross. Shelley stumbled but didn't go down. She blocked Kara's next punch and landed another cross. Kara managed to stay on her feet but just barely.

Clellan called the end of round one.

Kara could hardly believe that only three minutes had passed. It felt like fifteen or twenty. They walked to opposite corners. Kara was sweating and breathing hard. She knew one eye was swelling. She also knew she was outclassed.

The boxing match had drawn fifteen or twenty cadets by now. Kara wondered how long it would take word about the fight to get around the Academy.

Clellan called it two minutes into the next round. Both she and Shelley had managed to land punches, but Shelley's had done more damage. He helped Kara off with her gloves. She spit out the mouth protector and tasted blood. There was a cut on the inside of her lower lip.

"I'm going to give you a cold pack for that eye," Clellan said.

"Bad, huh?"

"I don't know if you two settled whatever you came here to settle, but you held your own against her. I could have let it go on, but there wasn't any point. You've got a lot of guts. A little work on your technique and you could have another go at her."

"She still won," Kara said.

Clellan grinned. "Did she?"

Ten minutes later as Kara stood in the shower, she finally realized what he meant.

...

Thursday afternoon she walked into her father's office after her sim session. He stood and hugged her before she sat down in the chair in front of his desk. She took a deep breath and let it out.

"What's wrong, baby?"

"This is not my week. Shelley kicked my ass on Monday, and now I frakked up my last sim before the final exam."

"Frakked it up how?"

"I lost points because Colonel Burgher said a couple of my moves were _too aggressive_. He told me that just because I got away with them and didn't get shot down doesn't mean they were the best moves. When I tried to tell him why I did it, he said, '_That's a big gamble to take with one of our few remaining Vipers, Cadet Thrace.' _Frak that. I did it so I could go to guns up faster. I wouldn't have done it if I hadn't been sure it would work. I took out Burgher's Cylon before it had even realized I wasn't in front of it anymore."

"What'd you do?"

"Inverted Split-S. I got the Raider from below."

Her father smiled. "I'd probably have done the same thing. In fact I probably did do the same thing on more than one occasion. Conrad tends to look for text-book moves. I'm not saying that to be critical of him, but he's never flown under combat conditions. Sometimes you can't follow the book."

"I did it twice. He took off twelve points total or his stupid computer took off twelve points. My last sim before the final and I got a lousy 88 on it."

"You're still way ahead of the game." He paused for a minute. "Lee told me about the fight with Shelley. Let me see the eye."

She lifted her chin and turned slightly sideways so that he could look at her. "Nice, huh?"

"It's not too bad. It didn't break the skin. Just a little bruising."

"My lip is cut. My jaw is sore. It hurts when I chew."

He smiled. "I remember those days. I almost walked over to your dorm to see you on Tuesday, but I didn't want to embarrass you. I figured if you wanted to talk to me about it, you'd come find me."

"What was there to say? Shelley kicked my ass. What did Lee say?"

"He talked to Clellan. Tucker said it was closer than you probably thought it was. He said Shelley is really good and you held your own against her. He was impressed…considering you'd never had on a pair of gloves before."

"I'm glad somebody was."

"Some guys would think it's cool to have two women fight over them, but not Lee. He got upset when I kidded him about it. I think he was very embarrassed. What did he say to you?"

"He said it's a stupid and juvenile way of handling things. He said Shelley and I should have both known better."

"In this case he's probably right, but I'm hardly in a position to say anything to you."

"We weren't fighting _over_ Lee. It's not like whoever won the fight was going to _get_ Lee. Shelley challenged me. I wasn't going to back down."

"And you didn't. How are you and Shelley getting along now?"

"We're back to ignoring each other except when we can't avoid it. Mom used to hit Dreilide a lot. Did she ever hit you?"

"Once."

"Just once?"

"Just once."

"Because you hit her back?"

"Because I hit her back. Not hard, but I did hit her. She damned near broke my jaw. It's the only time in my life I ever hit a woman. I'm ashamed of it now."

"Dreilide says there never a good reason for a man to hit a woman."

"He's right."

"Why did you hit her?"

"It's not important now."

"This whole week has just really sucked!"

"Don't let it get you down, baby. Put the fight and Burgher's last sim behind you, and you get ready to fly that special sim on Saturday. I want you to go to bed early on Friday night and get a good night's sleep. Eat something light for breakfast that morning and come over here ready to do it."

"Will you be here Saturday?"

"I'll be in my office working on the final exam sim. I'll watch you fly Burgher's sim if you want me to, but I don't want to make you nervous. You tell me. I'll do whatever you want me to do."

"You bring me luck. I want you there. Lee said he made it eight minutes. How many did you make it?"

"Almost twenty. And mine was a stupid mistake. I let myself get distracted by something and that was it for the first time. You go in there relaxed. You get in that cockpit and you become part of that ship and you can do it. I know you can."

...

On Saturday morning Kara sat in the cockpit of the simulator and listened to Colonel Burgher run down the components of the sim. Instruments, navigation, maneuvering, targeting and quick decision making both separately and in any or all combinations. She knew she should be nervous, but she had either done a great job of conquering her nerves or she had moved beyond nervous into a state of semi-consciousness. She was afraid it was the latter.

Burgher's voice penetrated her thoughts. "Are you ready, Cadet Thrace?"

"Yes, sir." As she said the words, she felt everything around her take on a clarity that was almost eerie. The canopy slid shut. She took a deep breath. She was part of her ship.

The screen flickered. The voice in her headset said, "This is a timed simulation. If you make a mistake, the sim will reset to the beginning and you must start over, but the clock will keep ticking. If you are more than two minutes into the sim when you make a mistake, it will end since you cannot possibly make up the time. Do you understand the conditions?"

"Yes, sir."

"On the count of three you will launch from a battlestar into hostile conditions. Enemy ships are approaching. You are free to engage."

Engage she did. The first three kills were quick and easy. The next three harder, her opponents more elusive, but as she pursued the last one and locked onto it with a missile, she felt like she was flying a real Viper.

She wheeled her ship around. There was nothing but empty space around her. The sky flickered. Her Viper was suddenly still. She was facing the famous obstacle course that had once existed above one of Gemenon's small moons. Twenty-eight buoys suspended in space and controlled from the surface of the moon. Large LED lights created arrows on the surface of each buoy that told her whether to pass the buoy on the right, left, top or bottom. Her headset told her she had ten minutes to find and correctly pass all twenty-eight buoys…in the right order. Coordinates for the next buoy were given only after she had correctly passed the current one. It was a test of her navigational and decision making skills. A disembodied voiced marked the minutes counting backwards at each minute mark. If she made a mistake, and passed a buoy incorrectly or went to the wrong one, she had to start from the beginning, a sure guarantee of failure since she was well past the two-minute mark.

Seven minutes into the course she had just passed the twentieth buoy. She saw one in the distance and almost made the mistake of heading for it when she realized the coordinates just given to her couldn't match it. There was at least one between her and that one. It was below her. She pointed the nose of her ship down, made twenty-one and twenty-two before she reached the distant buoy, number twenty three. Another minute had passed. She had two minutes and seven buoys left.

Again she started to head for the next buoy and again it was the wrong one based on the coordinates. She took a deep breath and fought down her impulse to rush without thinking. With four seconds of her ten minutes left on the clock, she passed under the downward-pointing arrow of the twenty-eighth buoy.

She didn't have time to rejoice, however.

Space flickered and became the atmosphere of a planet. She was flying through dense fog or clouds. Her instrument and navigational skills were being tested. As she listened to the directions in her headset to plot a course based on coordinates being given to her, she scanned her instruments.

She saw the Cylon on her dradis only seconds before her computer indicated that her ship had been missile-locked by the Cylon. Damn. She was already reacting, pulling the Viper into a climbing inverted turn when the Cylon launched the missile. She rolled her ship upright before kicking in the afterburners. On the screen she saw the missile turn with her, closing on her as she now flew straight at an enemy she couldn't see except as another blip on her screen. Playing chicken with a ghost. Was this what had gotten her father when he flew the sim?

She watched her dradis. She and the Cylon were closing on each other now faster than the missile was closing on her. She nudged the nose down and leveled off. She and the Cylon were at the same altitude on course for a head-on collision. She watched the blips get closer. She saw the Raider through the clouds and fired her machine cannon. The tracers arced. The missile continued straight into the ship that had launched it. The Raider disintegrated in a stunning fireball.

She flew her Viper clear of the explosion. Her palm was sweaty and she risked quickly wiping it on the leg of her fatigues.

The canopy slid back. _Sim Over _displayed on the screen. Frak. What had she done wrong? Where had she screwed up? Dejected she climbed down the ladder. Burgher turned from his computer.

"Congratulations, Cadet Thrace."

"You mean I beat it?"

"You beat it. Not exactly text-book, but you still beat it."

She turned and looked at her father who had just come down from the amphitheater. There was a huge grin on his face. Without a word he wrapped his arms around her.

"I did it. I can't believe I did it," she said.

"You're good, baby. I told you that you're good," he said softly.

"This stays between us," Kara said. "It stays between the three of us."

Colonel Burgher walked over to them. "Did I understand you, Cadet Thrace? You don't want this known?"

"No, sir. Nobody will believe it anyway. They'll think it's just something else that was given to me. I flew the sim. I know it, my dad and you know it and I'm going to tell Lee, but I don't want anyone else to know."

Her father asked, "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. We all know. That's all I care about."

Colonel Burgher held out his hand and she shook it. "I knew the day you came out here with Lee last summer and sat in that Viper cockpit that you were going to be an excellent pilot."

"Thank you, sir."

Her father smiled and said to the colonel. "Now you're going to have to make that sim harder."

"I'll wait until someone else nails it. Then I'll think about it."

Kara and her father walked out of the building into the sunshine.

"That was a dangerous move you pulled with that Raider," he said to her.

"It worked, didn't it?"

"It worked in the sim. I wouldn't try it for real. If that Raider had started firing, you'd have been killed. Burgher never programmed it to do that because he wasn't expecting anyone to do anything that crazy."

"What did you do?"

"A wing-over turn and took the missile out with machine cannon fire. Then I took the Cylon out with a missile."

"I'll remember that. Where did you mess up the first time you tried the sim?"

"I missed a buoy. I got ahead of myself and didn't listen to the coordinates. By the time I realized what I had done it was too late. I ran out of time."

"I almost did that twice. Do you think Lee is going to have a problem with this?"

"Maybe. I've known Lee for four years and I'm not sure how to call this one. If it was anybody else, I don't think he would have a problem, but you…I don't know."

"He's so smart. He did a lot better than me when he was here. He graduated first in his class."

"That may not matter. It may be an ego thing. Like I said, baby, I don't know how to call this one."

"I'm going to have Lee bring me back to campus tonight so I can start studying for finals."

"Come see me Thursday after your sim final."

"You know I will."

...

Sharon wasn't in the room when Kara walked back to her dorm. She changed out of her fatigues, put on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and lay down on her bunk to wait the forty-five minutes until Lee would get there. The morning's adrenalin finally began to wear off.

She would tell Lee. She had to. Why shouldn't she tell him? She was proud of what she had done. He was going to have to deal with it.

At noon she got up and walked down to the lobby. He had just walked through the front door. She smiled at him and went over to the front desk and signed out until midnight.

As they walked down the steps, he said, "Well?"

"I did it."

"You beat Burgher's sim?" The surprise was evident in his question, maybe even a hint of skepticism.

She nodded.

"Wow. I don't know what to say."

"How about _Congratulations, Kara_ or _great job, Kara_? Something like that might make me feel good."

"Congratulations."

"Thanks," she said sarcastically. "I can tell you really mean it."

"I just wasn't expecting it. That's all. I was ready to put my arm around you and tell you I was sorry you didn't make it."

"Like you did after Shelley kicked my ass?"

They got to his car and got inside.

"I didn't…"

"I know. You didn't do anything except tell me how juvenile it was."

"What did you expect me to say? _Wow, Kara, I'm impressed and pleased that you and Shelley knocked each other around a boxing ring because of me._"

Kara sighed and looked out the window. "I knew this was going to cause us a problem. I knew it. I'm not as smart as you are. I'm not going to graduate from the Academy at the top of my class or with a perfect 4.0 average, but I'm a good pilot. I'm a damned good pilot. I'm going to be a better pilot than you are. So there. I've said it."

Lee tried to conquer whatever he was feeling at the moment, tried to push it down to a place where he could deal with it later. He took her face and turned it toward him. For a long time he just looked at her, at the green eyes that could change like the surface of the ocean depending on her mood.

"You're going to be a _great_ Viper pilot. I _never_ had any doubts about that."

"I'm not telling anybody about the sim."

"Why not?" Lee asked surprised.

"Because everybody will just say my dad told me how to beat it. My dad and Colonel Burgher and you are the only ones who know. I want to keep it that way. I just want to graduate and go on to Flight School and show everybody what I can do up there."

"That's not fair to you, Kara. You did something no cadet has done. You should get credit for it."

"It's not about credit. _I_ know I did it. That's what's important. That's what I care about. Wait until I get to Flight School. Then I can get in everybody's face if they hassle me. They can't say my dad is helping me cheat my way through Flight School."

"I told my father you were going to try to fly the sim today. What should I say if he asks?"

"Tell him I did it. Tell him that next winter I'm going to kick some Cylon ass for him."

Lee smiled as he started the car. "Next winter _we're_ going to kick some Cylon ass."

Kara finally smiled, too. "Okay, _we're_ going to kick some Cylon ass. I'm sure I'll need just a _little_ help."

TBC…


	63. Kara's Song

Chapter 63

Kara's Song

_During the last year of President Adar's term in office, four hundred thirty-three cadets graduated from Caprica's Academy. Ninety-three went on to attend Flight School and all received their wings. Fifty-two became Viper pilots and forty-one became Raptor pilots. Colonel Jackson Spencer, head of the pilot training facility credited the Academy's tough Basic Flight class and an enhanced simulator program with the high quality of the pilot trainees all of whom played an important part in the battle to free Caprica from Cylon control. _

_-Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War _

On Monday morning Laura sat at her desk absent-mindedly toying with her nearly empty cup of tea. She was waiting for Romo Lampkin to arrive for an appointment and her thoughts were straying, had been straying for the last several minutes to early that morning when Braedon had been later than usual beginning to fret and she had snuggled against her sleeping husband, feeling him awaken against her in more ways than one.

Their lovemaking was sleepy and hot, their whispers urgent, the rising tide of feeling quick for both of them. And afterward, they had ten luxurious minutes that they were able to lay drowsily together with her head on his shoulder, enjoying the closeness of what they had just shared, before Braedon began to fret.

Their relationship was better now than it had ever been and not just the physical part. They had both been trying since the night of the Academy's spring dance when John's words had jarred her into realizing how left out of her life he was feeling. She knew their marriage had started with a number of strikes against it and had probably survived those months before and after Braedon's birth based more on John's love for her and his desire to be a father to their son than to any real effort on her part.

She had also not realized until that night how much her relationship with Bill Adama had bothered him. During their walk with Braedon in the park the next day, they had talked for a long time about the differences in the way they viewed their relationship and also her friendship with Bill. She believed by the end of that day, they had understood each other much better. The bond of trust they had established would grow.

Her phone buzzed interrupting her reverie. Tory said, "Mr. Lampkin is here."

"Send him in, please."

Laura stood and walked around her desk. Romo shifted his briefcase to his left hand and shook hers.

"Good day, Ms. Roslin," he said in the slightly lilting Gemenese accent that she found so easy to listen to.

"Please, have a seat, Mr. Lampkin." She gestured to a chair in front of her desk. "You understand why I asked you to come here, don't you? You understand why I would not want anyone to see me visiting your office."

"Of course. Your face is far more recognizable in Caprica City than mine. Could we sit at the table?" He gestured to the small round conference table on the other side of her office. He held up his briefcase a few inches. "I have something I'd like for you to see. We can talk better at the table than across your desk."

"Certainly. Would you like a cup of coffee or perhaps tea?"

"I'll pass this morning."

When they were seated at the table, he opened the briefcase. "You might say we hit the proverbial pot of gold at the end of the rainbow."

"That sounds like good news."

"Mr. Humphrey Browning, also known as Elliott True, is indeed continuing his campaign against you on a web site…the contents of which are not libelous but are defamatory and will no doubt be damaging to your campaign."

"I already know that."

Romo took off the sunglasses he had been wearing up until that point and placed them on the table.

"How far are you willing to go to damage Mr. Browning's reputation with his rabid and extremely conservative fans and supporters…supporters who will also be casting votes and influencing others?"

"Suggest something to me…short of having him harmed, of course. That is _not_ an option."

"Mr. Browning has a rather interesting habit for one who professes to be such a staunch family man and an elder in the Order of the Delphinian Temples."

Lampkin took a series of photographs from his briefcase. They were pictures of Humphrey Browning entering a Caprican massage parlor called _Hands On_. Just before opening the door, he had glanced back to make sure nobody was watching him. Nearly his entire face was visible.

"These are very good," Laura said. "Very clear. There's absolutely no doubt it's him."

"I use a very good camera. _Hands On _is a front for prostitution despite their claims to be therapeutic massage. The arrest records of more than a few of their employees bear witness. If these pictures were to find their way to a certain tabloid, I have no doubt that Mr. Browning would find himself on the front page of next week's edition…and with some explaining to do to his followers."

Laura smiled. "You understand that my name cannot be associated with this in any way."

Lampkin also smiled. "I'm very good at what I do."

"It would show Browning to be the hypocrite that he is. Mr. Family Values has shown us his weakness. He may continue to spew his…criticism of me on his web site, but this will go a long way toward discrediting him. Will you take care of it for me?"

He nodded. "My bill to your office will say Romo Lampkin, Attorney at Law and not Lampkin Detective Agency."

"Tell me, why do you no longer practice the law?"

"I lost my stomach for it after the attacks. I was here for a law conference. My wife and two daughters were back on Gemenon. All I was left with was the cat I was taking home as a reconciliation gift to my wife."

"I'm very sorry," Laura said. "Would you be amenable to taking another job for me?"

"What do you have in mind?"

"Dr. Gaius Baltar was recently seen at an old warehouse in the commercial district where the Cylon woman, Natasi, preaches her one-true-God sermons. I'd like to know if they're seeing each other again or if his being there was a fluke, a one-time thing."

Lampkin put the photographs of Humphrey Browning back into his briefcase. "I'll get back to you in two weeks or sooner if I have any news about Dr. Baltar."

Laura stood. "Thank you, Mr. Lampkin."

He also stood. "I saw the article in _The Caprican View _about you and your family_._ Tell Major Gallagher I send my greetings. He has a beautiful daughter. I'm glad they found each other."

"I'll do it. Kara is following in her father's footsteps. She's going to be a Viper pilot just like he was."

"A father's dream, a child who wants to be like him…and a father's nightmare as well if it involves that much danger."

"Yes, John is both proud of her and fearful for her."

"Perhaps if all goes well, you might find a spot for me on your Cabinet when you're elected."

"What did you have in mind?"

"I think the office of Attorney General might suit me."

"I thought you had given up practicing law."

"I think I could be persuaded to resume it."

Laura walked with him to the door of her office. "I'll put your name on my list of candidates…should I be elected."

Romo smiled as he put on his sunglasses and went out the door. "I don't think there's any doubt of that." He lifted his briefcase containing the photographs. "You don't back away from playing hardball. You make a decision and go with it. And you're Cavil's worst nightmare. It's too poetic not to happen."

...

Lee took his tray to the staff table in the cafeteria and made a point to sit on the opposite end of the table from Shelley even though there was a place beside her. There was no way she could miss the deliberate nature of his act.

Tucker Clellan sat down across from him. "Apollo."

"Duck."

Clellan grinned. "What? No mashed potatoes?"

Lee shook his head. "I learned my lesson the last time."

"How's Kara?"

"Kara is fine. I saw her Saturday. I'd been rough on her earlier in the week about the boxing match. We talked about it again on Saturday. I apologized to her for what I'd said. I was wrong to tell her she should have walked away from it. The way Shelley put it to her, Kara did about the only thing she could have done."

"Shelley should never have challenged Kara. I was surprised at her. She's an officer."

"I agree. Saturday afternoon I finally got Kara to tell me the whole story. Kara had a rough time with some bullies …other girls on the playground when she was a kid. I should have known she would never back down. It's just not in her nature."

"So what is it with Sydell, anyway, other than she's still got a thing for you?"

"I'm not sure this is about me."

Clellan shrugged. "Shelley does have a chip on her shoulder about losing. I noticed that when we were cadets here. Everything is always about winning with her."

"I'm going to say something to her. I'm just not sure what, yet."

Clellan laughed. "Tell her you're going to have your old man ship her up to Sovana. She can go to work every day wearing a bullet-proof vest. Sovana is the arm-pit of assignments."

"I would never ask my father to do something like that."

"Shelley doesn't know that."

"Thanks for the advice. I'll have to handle this another way, though."

Clellan grinned. "Am I going to be refereeing for you and Shelley?"

"No, but the thought did cross my mind. I can't do that, either. It would just make a bad situation worse."

"I still like the idea of Sovana. I can see it now…Lieutenant Shelley Sydell, staff assistant to some colonel who's frakked his career by mainlining too much ambrosia or something stronger."

"I'm sure that would be a living hell for Shelley."

Clellan laughed again. "Look at the bright side. Up in Sovana she might get to use something she learned in War College."

Lee finally smiled. "Yeah. Maybe all we need to do to break the back of the Resistance in Sovana is turn Shelley loose on them."

...

Lee waited in the hall for Shelley after their War College class that day. When she came out he fell into step beside her. "Have you got a minute?'

She looked skeptically at him. "You snub me in the cafeteria. You only speak to me in class about the assignment, and now you want to talk? What's your problem, Lee?"

"Right now my problem is you, Shelley."

"Well, I certainly don't want to be your _problem_," she said sarcastically. "So talk."

"I just want to say that I'm disappointed in what you did regarding Kara and the boxing match. In fact I'm more than disappointed. What you did was childish and wrong. There's no other way to say it."

"That's really not your business."

"Yes, it is my business because if it weren't for me, you'd never have done it."

"She's had an attitude problem from the beginning of the year, a long time before I knew you were dating her. Take her fight with Cadet Edmondson. I had nothing to do with that. She's been gunning for me all year. I just gave her the opportunity she wanted. Your girlfriend is trouble any way you look at it."

"No, she's not. And I think it's the other way around. I think _you've_ been gunning for _her_ all year. But no matter what, the point is you're an officer and she's a seventeen-year-old cadet. You shouldn't have challenged her. What you did was the worst kind of bullying and hazing, but you got away with it by taking it to the boxing ring under supervision."

"So now she's got you fighting her battles for her." Again the sarcasm was evident in Shelley's voice.

"Kara doesn't have any idea I'm talking to you about this. In fact after we talked about it Saturday afternoon, and I apologized to her for thinking it was her fault, she told me to drop it. All she wants to do is graduate and go on to Flight School. She's ready to put it behind her and move on, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that _I _couldn't let it go. _I_ had to say something to you."

"Well, now you've said it. I hope it made you happy."

"What's your problem, anyway, Shelley? When we were dating you made a big deal of telling me it was no strings attached. And then when I went out a couple of times with Blaire, you broke up with me. You're the one who ended things with us. Remember? What do you think I did wrong?" Lee could hear the exasperation finally creep into his voice.

When she answered him, he heard anger in her voice, but he also heard something else…pain maybe. "Men can be so damned dense. You don't get it. You never got it."

"What don't I get?"

"The way you feel about Kara…that's how I've always felt about you."

She turned and walked away from him.

Lee let her go. He was too shocked to say anything else. Was Shelley trying to tell him that she was in love with him, had been since they were cadets? Part of him, his ego maybe, wanted to believe her explanation, but another part, the rational, logical part of him felt that nobody could nurture an unrequited love for that long.

As he slowly walked down the hall toward the exit, he thought of his father and Laura. Maybe he was wrong about the capacity of the human heart to sustain an impossible love for a long time. Then again Lee wasn't all that sure at least some part of his father's love wasn't returned. As much as he wanted to believe that Laura loved John exclusively, there was at least a small part of her, Lee believed, that would always belong to Bill Adama. It was just there between them when they were together. Definitely nothing overt, definitely nothing either of them would ever act on, but there nonetheless.

Lee walked over to the Math and Sciences Building and up to the second floor. He and Kara had agreed that since she was studying for two big exams on Tuesday, he wouldn't try to see her in the dorm lobby on Monday afternoon.

John was unlocking the door to his office when Lee got there.

"Hey," Lee said. "How go the sim finals?"

"I'm beginning to think Conrad and I might have made this one _too_ hard. It looks like we'll be grading on the curve. Of course Kara hasn't taken it yet so we'll see."

"Is it harder than Burgher's special sim?"

"No. We didn't want everybody to flunk. What makes Burgher's sim so hard…besides getting away from that missile at the end…is beating the clock on that obstacle course. You've got to be damned near perfect to do those twenty-eight buoys in ten minutes, especially when you don't get the coordinates for the next one until you've correctly passed the current one, and any little mistake throws you back to the beginning with the clock still ticking. That's a sure fail."

"That's what got me. I made a mistake eight minutes in. The computer knew I couldn't make it being thrown back to the beginning. It ended the sim. I never got to the missile. I was trying to be too careful."

John chuckled. "I was almost to the end of it when I saw that buoy in the distance and went for it. Wrong choice. I didn't listen to the next coordinates. Sim over. Conrad told me that's what gets ninety-five percent of those who try it. The missile gets the rest."

"I didn't react too well when Kara told me she'd done it. I wasn't expecting her to do it. In eight years no cadet has beaten it."

John smiled. "My brain told me the odds were against her, but my heart told me she was going to do it. I just had a feeling…"

"Which was right."

"She's good, Lee. I've been watching her in the simulator all year. She's going to be a better Viper pilot than I was, and it takes a lot for me to say that."

"She's better than me, isn't she…or she will be?"

John didn't say anything for a moment.

"We're friends. I can take the truth from you," Lee said.

"You and Kara have totally different styles. You're careful, which is good. And you're really smart, which is also good, but you tend to over think in the cockpit which is good most of the time, but not always in a combat situation. Kara is smart, but she tends to fly by the seat of her pants a lot of the time. She doesn't think enough. She takes a lot of chances. That's why I've tried to teach her discipline to go along with that natural ability of hers. That instinct for flying is the only thing that tips the scales slightly in her favor."

"She deserves to be recognized for what she did."

"I know she does. Colonel Burgher knows it, too. But we both understand Kara's reasons for not wanting it known. I'm glad I got to teach her, though. I wouldn't trade this year with my daughter for anything. I don't think she would either."

"Has Kara talked to you about the boxing match with Shelley?"

"A little bit. Colonel Winters called me in and asked my opinion about what had happened. I didn't know what to say. I've known him long enough that I could tell he wasn't too pleased with what Lieutenant Sydell had done. She was out of line to initiate a boxing match with a cadet. Winters said that as long as Kara went willingly into the ring, he couldn't discipline Sydell for it, but I'm not sure she'll be back at the Academy next year, either. I don't think her conduct exemplifies what Winters is looking for in his staff."

"I talked to Shelley today. I know it's after the fact, but I wanted her to know how I feel about the whole thing. I came down on Kara for it. That was wrong of me and I told her so. I understand now why she did it."

"Kara won't back down from a fight…which is both good and bad."

"I feel like it was my fault. This afternoon Shelley admitted having…feelings for me that she'd never mentioned before."

John laughed. "Damn, Lee, you're just now realizing that? I barely know the lieutenant and I figured that out after she kissed you at the dance. So what's the verdict? How did you leave things with her?"

"I don't think there's anything left to say between me and her."

"Good. Then put it behind you and move on."

"That's what I thought I'd done three years ago."

"You did, but apparently she didn't. Unrequited love mixed with a big dose of jealousy can make a person do stupid things."

Lee grinned. "So can almost any kind of love, unrequited or not."

John smiled. "I'll have to agree with that."

o

Kara sat in the big auditorium in the Admin Building and listened to Admiral William Adama give the commencement address to her graduating class. She wondered which were his words and which were Lee's since she knew Lee had not only given him some ideas, but had written part of the speech for his father. She listened to the admiral talk about accountability and accepting responsibility for one's actions. She listened to him allude to mankind's creation of the Cylons, referring to it only as _a_ _mistake of the past_, _of the way the sins of an earlier generation are being visited on their children and grandchildren_. Though he never mentioned the Cylons by name, everyone in the auditorium that day knew exactly what he meant.

She wished she could see Lee right now, but he was somewhere behind her and she didn't dare turn around. Her father and Laura were in a section to her right that had been reserved for the faculty. The staff was sitting in the same section on the left.

Earlier that morning Kara had stood at attention at the front of the small auditorium in the Admin Building. With her in the auditorium had been the rest of those cadets who were headed for Flight School and careers as pilots. All had received their commissions as officers. In other smaller auditoriums around campus, the other cadets in her graduating class had also received their commissions.

When her turn had come, her father had stood facing her and had pinned the lieutenant's bars on the collars of her uniform. She had kept her eyes straight ahead, certain that if she had looked at him, they would probably have both teared up. She had stepped back and saluted him before they had resumed their seats. Only during the salute had she dared to glance at him. She had been right. They had both been on the verge of tears, but both had managed to control them.

She was now Second Lieutenant Kara Thrace, one of the youngest cadets ever to graduate from the Academy.

She now fought the impulse to touch the pins on her collar and kept her eyes on the admiral. Several times she thought he looked directly at her, once when he was talking about the accomplishments of her class of cadets and another time when he was talking about the tasks that lay ahead of them. She wondered if he knew about the sim yet.

At the end of his speech, he sat down to heavy applause, and the class valedictorian, Cadet…or rather Lieutenant…Dwight Saunders got up. She was glad that Saunders and not Eammon Pike had the highest grade point average for their class. She knew it had been close. She liked Saunders. He was a nice guy, friendly and unassuming, very different from Pike whom Kara had always seen as smart and yet arrogant.

Saunders got a lot of applause, too, at the end of his speech. He had talked about commitment to a worthy cause and the strength and fortitude it often took to hold to ideals and not follow the crowd.

Colonel Winters stepped up to the podium and motioned for the graduating class to stand. As he called their names, they each filed across the stage and were presented with their graduation scroll. They were seated alphabetically and Kara was in the last group to walk across the stage. As she came down the steps on the other side, she found Lee in the crowd and smiled. Dreilide Thrace was sitting beside him.

She was back in her seat for what seemed like only a few minutes when Colonel Winters looked at them and said, "Congratulations. This has been a memorable year. Go forward and continue the careers you have begun here. Class dismissed, Lieutenants."

Thunderous applause filled the auditorium as well as whistles and shouts. Her year at the Academy was over. She let the noise and the emotions wash over her for a few moments before she joined in.

As the assembled group broke up, her father got to her first. He had always been careful not to show any open affection toward her in the presence of other cadets, but now he gathered her in his arms in a hug.

"I'm so proud of you, baby," he said.

She hugged him in return. "Be careful, you're going to make me cry."

He stepped back. She could tell he was struggling with his emotions as much as she was.

Laura also hugged her. "I'm very proud of you, too, Kara."

Kara nodded. It was getting harder to talk. She looked up and saw Lee making his way down the aisle. Dreilide Thrace was behind him.

When Lee got to her, they hugged long and tightly. When he let her go, the emotion had finally gotten to her and she had to brush tears off her cheeks.

Dreilide was standing hesitantly to one side. She had a hug for him as well. Then she turned to her father and made the introduction that neither man needed, but that she felt was her place to make.

John held out his hand. Dreilide shook it.

"I never dreamed this day would ever come," Dreilide said.

"Me either," her father echoed. "I'd like for you to meet my wife, Laura Roslin. Laura, this is Dreilide Thrace."

Laura held out her hand. "It's my pleasure, Mr. Thrace."

He took her hand. "It's an honor to meet the next President of the Colonies."

Bill joined their group and introductions were made again.

"Congratulations, Lieutenant Thrace," he said to her.

"Thank you, sir."

He smiled. "I understand this year has been quite an accomplishment for you."

Kara looked at the admiral's eyes. He knew about the sim. She could tell.

"I've done my best, sir."

"That's all we can ever ask of any soldier."

...

Kara rode back to the apartment with her father and Laura. Lee was coming over shortly to take her out to eat at Bonnie Patrice. She would wear the same blue-green off-the-shoulder dress she had worn the last time she had been there. It was the only short dress she owned and shopping had not been on her list of priorities during the previous weeks.

Her father and Laura had gotten dressed up and had left shortly before Lee got there. John had told her earlier that they were attending a very important function that night. Kara hadn't asked any questions. It was probably some fund-raising dinner. He and Laura had gone to a lot of those lately and politics bored Kara.

When she was dressed, she wandered into the kitchen where Maya was feeding Braedon, or trying to. Braedon was fretful and didn't want to take his bottle. He kept sticking his fist in his mouth and gnawing it.

"He's teething," Maya said as she shifted him in her arms. "I can feel the little bumps under his lower gum. Could you get his teething ring out of the refrigerator?"

Kara complied and watched her brother begin to gum the cool, gel-filled circle. It seemed to pacify him for the moment. "How do you ever learn all this stuff about babies?"

"Experience…or asking other mothers…or reading. It's not all instinct. You should see some of the mothers and other nannies in the park on nice afternoons huddled around our strollers talking about our little ones."

The doorbell rang.

"That's Lee," Kara said.

"Have a good time tonight," Maya said. Kara thought there was wistfulness in her voice.

"Maybe when Lee and I get back from the island, before I start Flight School, maybe you and me can go out for a girl's night on the town or something. Or just go out to eat and to a movie."

"That would be nice," Maya said.

Kara opened the door. Lee had changed out of his dress uniform into a dark blue pin-stripe suit with a blue shirt and dark burgundy tie. He looked so incredibly good. He was staring wordlessly at her.

"There ought to be a law," she said in a joking tone.

"A law?" He still had not taken his eyes off her.

"Against any guy looking as good as you do." When he didn't answer, she said, "What?"

"You look beautiful in jeans and you look beautiful in nothing, but that dress is just…just…"

"Just what?"

"I may have to fight some guys at Bonnie Patrice tonight."

Kara had to admit when they got there that Lee had done a great job of keeping the secret. She didn't have a clue, not a clue until they entered the private dining room and she saw her father and Laura, Admiral Adama, Dreilide, Sharon, Karl, Zak and half a dozen more of her classmates. Hugh and Stacey Connelly were there as well as Colonel Burgher and his wife.

Lee nudged her and they entered the room.

"Let me guess. You were part of this," she whispered.

He grinned. "Laura planned it. Your dad is paying for it, but yeah, I had a part, the fun part. I got to invite the cadets and Dreilide. Your dad and Laura took care of inviting the rest. And then of course I had to get you here without giving anything away."

She saw the buffet table against the wall, the bartender behind the bar ready to serve drinks. She walked across the floor to her father and Laura.

"Thank you," she said.

"Now we can start the party," her father said. "The guest of honor is here."

Laura had hired a DJ for the party and the music he started spinning was popular with a few oldies mixed in. There were a number of parties going on tonight, and Kara was touched that Karl and Sharon weren't the only graduates who had come to her party.

Karl was the first one of her friends to come up and hug her. He literally picked her up and swung her off her feet. "Who would have though a year ago that we would be here today? The Academy is behind us…Flight School ahead of us."

"And a party tonight," Kara said and grinned.

Later Kara asked Lee if he had invited Maggie.

"I invited her. She declined."

"Her loss," Kara said.

"I told Zak she had turned down the invitation. He came solo anyway."

"I'm surprised he didn't bring the twins. I guess I'd better keep going and speak to everybody."

When she and Lee got to Admiral Adama, she said, "That was a good speech today, sir."

He smiled. "I'm sure Lee told you I didn't write all of it."

"You still had to get up in front of everybody and make it. I get nervous in front of a crowd."

"Apparently you don't get nervous in a simulator. John says you have a real gift."

The admiral definitely knew. She grinned. "My father just likes to brag on me."

"He has every reason to be proud. The same way I'm proud of Lee."

Lee quietly said, "Thanks, Dad."

"Lee tells me you want to serve aboard the _Galactica._"

"Yes, sir."

"She's not the newest ship in the fleet."

"That doesn't matter to me, sir."

Bill smiled. "All you need to do is graduate from Flight School in one of the top three spots in your class. Then you get to pick your battlestar."

"I don't think that will be a problem," Lee said.

Kara and Lee walked over to Dreilide who was talking to Colonel Burgher and his wife. "I'm glad you could come."

He smiled. "John and Laura were kind enough to include me in this special occasion for you."

Colonel Burgher said, "I'm a very big fan of Mr. Thrace's. I had no idea there was a relationship."

Kara smiled. "I got to harass him for a couple of years when I was a kid."

"I explained to the colonel that I was married to your mother for a while," Dreilide said tactfully.

An hour into the party, the DJ announced he was taking a short break. Dreilide looked at Kara and then motioned toward the piano that sat in the corner of the room. "Come sit beside me for a minute."

Kara walked over and they both sat on the bench. "I remember doing this when I was a little girl, sitting beside you while you played. My feet didn't reach the floor."

Dreilide's fingers began to move across the keyboard, the melody he had played some of once before for her.

"I wrote this for you."

"For me?" Kara asked in surprise.

"You brought my Muse back."

They sat at the piano together while he played and she struggled with her emotions as she had done all day. She wanted to enjoy this time with her friends and family while she could.

She glanced at Admiral Adama who was talking to John and Laura. Before the end of the year he would put his plan into effect. In less time than that he would choose a pilot to jump the Raider to Nereid. Somehow she knew as she listened to the song that she would be in the Raider when it jumped. The Oracle had as much as said it. She would journey to another world.

She glanced at Lee also standing with John and Laura. What would he say when it happened? What would her father say?

But now was not the time to think about Cylons and the future. Everyone in the room was watching them. She smiled at Dreilide as he played.

"What did you name the song?"

He smiled back at her. "I'm calling it _Kara's Song_ in honor of my Muse."

...

"He's good," Lee said to John and Laura.

"Very good," Laura said. "He asked me earlier if it would be all right if he played something tonight. I told him we'd be honored. It's a song he wrote for Kara."

Lee saw John's eyes on his daughter and Dreilide. He watched John take a drink from the glass in his hand. "What?" Lee asked John. "You've switched from ambrosia to straight vodka?"

John finally looked at him. "I never started on the ambrosia tonight. This is water."

"Water?" Lee said in a shocked tone. "You're drinking water to celebrate Kara's graduation?"

"Not because I want to. I'm flying you both down to the island tomorrow. I want to be in the air by eight o'clock."

"I thought we got the keys to the ship."

"I checked. Since neither one of you has a commercial pilot's license, I don't want to take a chance and cause Kara any kind of trouble that might keep her from going to Flight School."

Laura said, "John is going to fly you down there, drop you off and fly back here so we can leave for Delphi and campaigning on Monday. He'll be back to pick you up next Sunday."

Lee smiled. "That's fine with me."

Bill asked, "When does Kara start Flight School?"

"Two weeks from Monday," John said.

"Is she looking forward to it?"

"A lot more than she did going to the Academy. I think part of that is because she wants to show everyone that I didn't just give her good sim scores."

"She's going to show them," Lee said. "She's really going to show them."

Dreilide came to the end of his song. Everyone in the room began clapping. He stood up and took a little bow. Kara stood too and he put his arm around her.

Lee looked at John. He was still watching them. He finally seemed to feel Lee's gaze and turned.

"It's okay. I know she loves him. He was the only father she knew growing up."

Laura touched the side of John's face so that he turned to her. "Kara loves you and you know it."

He nodded.

Bill said to Lee. "I'm going over to speak to Colonel Burgher and his wife."

The DJ had returned and now spun another tune. The beat was slow. Couples began to dance. He saw Dwight Saunders walk over to Kara and Dreilide. Kara introduced them because the two men shook hands. It was obvious a moment later that he had also asked Kara to dance because they stepped out onto the small dance floor with the other couples. Lee knew that Kara liked Saunders. They had been in math class together and Kara had said on more than one occasion how smart Saunders was.

Lee felt a twinge of jealousy as he saw Kara and Saunders begin to dance. He knew there was nothing to worry about and yet it still got to him to see Kara smiling up at Saunders as they chatted and danced.

When the dance was over, they walked over to John and Laura. Saunders was polite as he thanked them for inviting him and said he had several more parties to attend that night. Polite and popular, too, not to mention good-looking.

When he was gone, Kara said, "I'm glad he was our valedictorian instead of Pike. I like Flat Top."

"I can tell," Lee said.

Kara gave him an eye roll. "Would you get me a glass of ambrosia? I'm thirsty."

"Say please."

She looked at him, remembering a time in the not-too-distant past that she had said the same thing to him. She smiled. "Please."

He went to the bar and got two glasses of ambrosia. When he got back to her, Dreilide was also saying goodnight. Lee held the two glasses while Dreilide hugged Kara.

"I'm so glad you could come to my party," Kara said to him.

"I'm glad, too. Goodnight, Lee. I hope I see you again soon."

"I hope so, too," Lee said. He handed Kara her drink and watched as Dreilide walked over and said his goodbyes to John and Laura. This time Dreilide extended his hand and John shook it.

"He's going to pick up a few hours playing at one of the clubs tonight," Kara said. "He doesn't get paid if he doesn't work."

"I heard John is flying us down to the island tomorrow."

"I'm okay with it. That way the ship's not my responsibility. He'll probably still let me fly, though. I want all the experience I can get."

"Experience is good," Lee smiled.

Kara downed the rest of her ambrosia. "So this is my last drink tonight. Come on. Let's dance."

They carried their glasses back to the bar. Bill stood there alone. He turned as they walked up. "I'm going to be leaving soon. I wonder if I might have a dance with the guest of honor."

Kara smiled at Lee as she followed the admiral to the dance floor.

"Lee told me about the sim," he said as they began to dance. "Congratulations."

"Thank you, sir." Kara took a deep breath. "I'd like for you to consider me when you make a choice of which pilot flies that…of who flies Sadie."

He smiled in a bemused way. "You think that pilot should be you?"

"Yes, sir. I can do it. I know I can."

"I think I'd better wait to put you on the list until you've finished Flight School."

"Fine," Kara said confidently. "You wait until I've got my wings. You'll find out I'm just as good in a real Viper as I am in the simulator."

"I have no doubt," Bill said. "You know John doesn't want your name on that list of pilots."

Kara nodded. "I'll be eighteen by then. He won't be able to stop me if I'm chosen."

"That may put me in something of a predicament. I consider your father a friend. I think he considers me one."

"He does. Are you going to let him influence your decision?"

Bill said very seriously. "I'm going to pick the pilot I consider best suited for the mission."

"Is Lee on your list?"

"He's asked to be put on it."

"Doesn't that put you in a predicament, too?"

The admiral finally smiled. "Maybe I'll just put all the qualified names in a hat and pick one. That way I can say Fate made the choice."

"You wouldn't really do that, would you?" Kara asked skeptically.

Bill was still smiling. "We'll find out late in the autumn, won't we?" They danced in silence for a few moments until he said, "By then I hope you'll have decided to talk to me about your Cylon friends."

Kara looked him directly in the eyes. "I'm going to graduate in one of the top three places from Flight School. I'm going to get my choice of battlestars and I'm going to request the _Galactica_. If I give you a list of pilots, some Raptor, some Viper, would you make sure all of them get sent to the _G_?"

The smile was gone from Bill's face. "Does this involve the Cylons?"

"One of my Cylon friends will be on that list…one who has agreed to feed Cavil false information about the…readiness and morale of the fleet. I'd like to monitor how things are going."

"In other words, you don't trust this Cylon?"

Kara thought of Pike and Shelley Sydell. "There's some humans I trust a lot less."

"When am I going to get the names of these Cylon friends of yours?"

"When I get a promise, sir, and the time is right."

"What kind of promise?"

"That you won't do anything to them…no arrests…nothing….that you'll give them the chance to prove that they have loyalties to us."

"That's what I can't understand. Why do you think these Cylons would have any loyalty to humans? They're always just a hair-trigger away from destroying us. That's why Cavil keeps that base star in such a close orbit over Caprica City. Why do you think any of them would go against their kind and help us?"

"Because one of them thinks what Cavil did is wrong and the other one is in love with a human."

Bill laughed, short and mirthless. "In love? You aren't serious."

"I am, sir. Your promise. Your word of honor you won't do anything to them."

She watched the internal struggle in his eyes. Finally he said, "My word of honor…unless they betray us. Then all bets are off."

"I understand. And the list of pilots that get sent to the _Galactica_?"

"I think I can manage that, too."

"I'll give you one name when I give you the list."

"You do realize how much trust I'm placing in you, don't you?"

Kara smiled. "Yes, sir. But your gut tells you I'm right, doesn't it? That's really the only reason you're going along with me on this."

Bill slowly nodded. "Right now my gut tells me it can't hurt to let this play out a little longer. I just hope the day comes that I get to see the look on Cavil's face when he finds out he was betrayed by his own kind."

The song ended.

"Are you going to tell Lee about our conversation?" Kara asked as they began walking toward the bar where Lee stood waiting.

"I'll let you do that."

"He's not going to be happy when he finds out I've asked to jump Sadie to Nereid."

"He might not be happy," Bill said, "but I don't think he'll be surprised."

Before they got to Lee, Zak stopped them.

"Next dance," he said as he took Kara's arm and steered her back onto the floor.

"Smooth move," Kara said.

"I have to dance with the guest of honor," Zak said. "Then I'm out of here. The twins are waiting for me at Crocodiles."

"I should have guessed that's why you're here alone. Two girls waiting for you. Do the three of you…" Kara didn't finish the sentence.

Zak laughed. "Do the three of us what?"

Kara felt her cheeks grow warm. "Do I have to spell it out?"

"They don't mind sharing. If I can't have Maggie, I'll just have to settle for Brigitta and Annabeth."

"I feel so sorry for you."

Suddenly the smile was gone. "Maggie won't return my phone calls. Karl told me tonight that she was moving back into the apartment with her cousin while she goes to Flight School."

"Jared. Karl and I don't talk about Maggs much anymore, but he did tell me that."

"Lee told me about you getting into a fight with her."

"It got us both restricted to campus for a month. It was a stupid thing to do."

"Yeah, just like when Lee and I got into it that time. It was stupid. It didn't solve anything."

"You really like Maggie, don't you?"

Zak shrugged. "I keep telling myself I don't, but yeah, I probably do. I was really hoping she'd show up tonight. I've…missed her."

"After she finishes Flight School, she'll be posted to a battlestar for at least a year."

"I know," Zak said glumly. "It takes a strong relationship to stand being separated for a year. Do you think you and Lee are going to make it?"

Kara looked at Lee who was standing at the bar talking to his father. He glanced her way and smiled at her. She smiled back.

"Oh, yeah. Lee and I are going to make it."

He met them halfway when the song ended.

"I'm finally going to get a dance," Lee said.

Before he dropped her hand, Zak squeezed it. "Good luck in Flight School."

"Thanks, Zak. Good luck with whatever you want out of life, too."

Lee took Kara in his arms. They smiled at each other as they began to dance. She saw the love in his eyes. Oh, yeah. They were going to make it. She had no doubt of that. They were going to make it just fine.

...

The runway stretched ahead of her. Kara glanced at her father sitting in the copilot seat. He smiled and nodded as they were cleared for takeoff. In less than half a minute they were off the ground and climbing steeply.

She glanced at him for his appraisal of her takeoff. He grinned and raised his thumb. Only when they had reached their cruising altitude and their course was set did they engage in any conversation.

She got her standard, "Good takeoff, baby."

Kara grinned. "When I start flying Vipers, it's going to seem weird not to hear someone tell me _good takeoff, baby_ or _good landing, baby_."

Her father grinned, "Does that mean you're actually going to miss me?"

"I'm going to miss you. I wish you could teach me to fly a Viper."

"I wish I could too. You just remember what you learned in that simulator. Remember what I tried to teach you about watching your instruments."

"Who's going on the campaign trail to Delphi tomorrow?"

"Laura's staff, Tory, Billy, six volunteers, me, Braedon and Maya. That's it."

"Maya's going? I thought Laura had given her the week off."

"I've arranged to copilot the ship. Russ Russo is going to be our pilot. Laura will be working while we're there so it made sense for her to take Maya. Maya is going to take the next week off since I'll be home from the Academy and can keep Braedon. He's been fussy this last week."

"Maya told me he's teething."

"I know. At first we thought it was just the bottom, but I'm pretty sure I felt two little teeth under his upper gum as well. Poor kid."

"Why can't you watch him in Delphi while Laura campaigns?"

"Apparently I'm expected to be by Laura's side most of the time."

"Are you making any speeches?"

Her father looked out the window and didn't answer her.

"You are. Tell the truth. Who are you speaking to?"

"A group of retired military, a lot of them former pilots. Most of these guys are old enough to be my father. They may be a really tough audience. A lot of them were flying in the time when there were a lot fewer women pilots so some of them may have a problem with a woman leading the Colony. I'm not sure what _I_ can say that will change any of their minds, but I guess I'll give it a shot."

"Why don't you start by telling them what Laura did for the refugee camps? If you could get a copy of the _Hope _picture it will be even better. You know the one with the pilot taking off with supplies for the camps."

"That's a good idea, baby. I'm sure Billy can help with the picture."

"Now all you need to do is get Lee to write the speech."

Her father grinned. "Are you volunteering to let Lee go on the campaign trail with us writing speeches instead of spending the week at the beach with you?"

Kara gave him a look. "You're funny, Dad."

...

An hour and a half later she landed the ship at the small airstrip on the northeast part of the island. Her father stayed with them until Lee had rented the jeep and their luggage was in the back. Even then it seemed like he didn't want to leave.

"We'll be back here at the airport next Sunday at noon," Kara said.

"I'll be waiting for you." John took the keys to the cottage out of his pocket and handed them to her. "Be careful, baby. You, too, Lee. Don't get out too far if you go swimming. The current is strong near the mouth of the bay."

"Don't worry," Lee said. "I'll take care of her."

Kara gave her father a smug smile. "I'll take care of him, too." She stepped over to her father and hugged him. "We'll be fine. I'm not going to do something like Boomer did and get carried out to sea."

He kissed her forehead. "I love you, baby."

"I love you, too. This is so great of you. Everything you did, the party, this trip. I couldn't have a better Dad."

Reluctantly he let her go and turned to walk back to the ship. Kara and Lee waited until they saw him take off. Lee cranked the jeep and drove out onto the main road. They were silent for a long time.

Finally Lee said, "He wishes he and Laura and Braedon could be with us."

"I know," Kara said. "I wish they could, too. But in a way…I'm glad it's just us."

"Me, too. Let's stop at that restaurant where we stopped over spring break and eat lunch. Then we'll get some groceries."

"Sounds like a plan," Kara said.

An hour and a half later they pulled up outside the cottage. Everything looked just like Kara remembered it, the light gray limestone, the blue-gray shutters and slate roof. The cottage sat on a slight rise overlooking the little bay.

"This place is beautiful," she said.

Lee smiled as he got bags of groceries from the jeep. "Who gets the master bedroom?"

"Who do you think?"

"Both of us?"

Kara smiled. "You get a gold star for the correct answer."

"Did you mention that to your dad?"

"Gods, Lee, I didn't have to. He isn't dumb."

"I just meant did you talk about the sleeping arrangements?"

"No. My dad knows. End of story. We don't have to talk about it."

Together they carried the groceries into the cottage and then their suitcases. The air inside was stuffy and hot. While Kara put up the groceries, Lee went around and opened the windows. The breeze from the ocean filled the rooms.

"Let's go to the beach," Lee said when he walked back to the kitchen door. "It'll take a while for the cottage to cool off."

"Fine with me." Kara found her red bikini in her bag. "If we change in front of each other, we'll never make it to the beach. We'll end up all hot and sweaty here on the bed."

"Agreed." Lee took his swim trunks into the bathroom and shut the door.

Beach towels draped over their shoulders and holding hands, they walked down to the little cove. They spread their towels and lay down, Kara on her back, Lee on his stomach.

"This place is as close to perfect as it gets," Lee said.

"Yeah. Dad said the weather was supposed to be good all week. He said the worst weather here is in the late fall and early winter. Storms come from the northeast. Maybe we can come back in the early fall…after I finish Flight School, before I go to the _Galactica._"

"Do you think Laura and your dad could come then, too?"

"I don't know. The election is early November. She'll probably be doing some heavy campaigning then. Maybe Dad could get away for a few days with Braedon."

"The Raider mission to Nereid will be late October or early November."

"Oh?" Kara said. "Your dad told you that?"

"The last time we talked about it, yeah."

"I asked to be considered to fly Sadie."

"I figured you would."

Kara was surprised by Lee's mild reaction. "What? No telling me how impossible it will be? Because he did say he would consider me."

"He'll consider every single pilot he thinks can do it, and then he'll make his choice," Lee said tactfully. He didn't think Kara stood a chance because of being such a new pilot at the time, but he didn't want to start an argument, either.

"You told him I flew Burgher's sim?"

"I told him. He was impressed."

"More than you were," Kara said sarcastically.

"No. I wasn't impressed. I was more like _blown away_. John told me you were going to be a better Viper pilot than me."

"My dad told you that? Really?"

"I asked him if you were going to be a better pilot than me. He said yes. He said your_ natural ability _tipped the scales."

Kara grinned. "I guess he knows what he's talking about."

"I'm sure he does."

"And that bothers you?"

"Probably," Lee said, admitting it out loud for the first time.

"Because I can do _one thing_ better than you?"

"Kara, I…yeah…okay. It did get to me. All my life I've tried to do my best. I've tried to be the best at everything and now…now…"

"Now some girl has come along who is better than you at something. Is this going to come between us?"

"No. I'll deal with it."

Kara stood up. She sensed they were on the verge of something that might lead to an argument and she didn't want that to happen. There would be plenty of time later to talk.

"Let's go swimming. No, let's go skinny dipping."

"No way. It's the middle of the afternoon. Anybody could…"

"Could what?" Kara laughed. "Fly over in a helicopter? We were here for nearly a week in the spring. We didn't see a single person."

"You're crazy," Lee said.

"That's me. Crazy Kara. I dare you. I double dare you." She quickly pulled off her bikini bottom and then untied the top. Naked and laughing she ran the twenty feet to the waterline and out into the surf.

A wave rose up and he watched her dive cleanly under it.

The image came to him, strong and sensual. Posiden's Daughter. The sea nymph. He remembered how he had resisted her when she had wanted to make love to him on her motorcycle. He remembered how hot that had turned out. He stood up and pulled off his swim trunks.

She was already out beyond the breaking waves. He dove and came up beside her. Her body was silver-white in the water. Her hair floated around her. She really did look like the sea nymph in the painting. He knew he would never be able to look at it exactly the same way again. He knew he would always see Kara like this, unashamed of her nakedness and unaware of her beauty.

Their kiss was salty and hard to maintain because of the buffeting of the waves. He took her arm and pulled her to shallower water where they could stand before he kissed her again. His arms tightened around her. She licked the salt water from his mouth and he closed his eyes, the desire for her as strong as he had ever felt it. She put her arms around his neck and locked her legs around him.

"Kara," he groaned just as a wave knocked them over. When they regained their footing, he took her hand and began pulling her toward the shore.

He made it to the beach towel and pulled her on top of him. They kissed again, her wet hair falling around his face. Then she managed to move just right and he was almost inside her. She moved again and he heard the soft moan as she took him all the way in.

The afternoon sun, golden around them, highlighted her body. He barely heard the crashing of the surf over the blood pounding in his ears. He heard her voice, a mermaid's song, telling him she loved him, and then her mouth on his in a siren's kiss. The world condensed for him into those tight moments of pleasure, feeling her abandon herself the way she did without shame or conscious thought and then feeling himself being taken by the sensation a few moments later.

Perfect. He was right. Everything about this place was perfect.

Eventually they went back into the water, still naked but playful this time, swimming and chasing each other, diving through the waves, the sea nymph and her lover, the daughter of Posiden, who had blessed their union by giving them this week alone together.

He and Kara had each other. They would always have each other. Lee reached out, caught her and pulled her to him.

She smiled at him, her hair floating around her shoulders, the sun a golden shimmer on the water.

Posiden's green-eyed daughter, as at home in the ocean as she would one day be in the air.

He committed this moment to memory. Like a painting in a museum. Perfect and beautiful.

TBC…


	64. A Promise

Chapter 64

A Promise

_Beginning with the second year of Cylon occupation, when the top-grossing film of the year depicted a small group of resourceful humans defeating a number of large metallic robots with human speech characteristics, Cavil's team of censors began controlling more and more of what was filmed and published on Caprica. In the third year new history books went to press that glorified the creation of the Cylons as God's ultimate plan for populating the universe. Older history books that related the Cylons' functional beginnings as helpers to their human creators were collected from bookstores and libraries and destroyed. Cavil, especially, was said to denigrate the human desire to create art and music and literature_.

_-Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War_

Laura Roslin looked at her son sleeping on Maya's shoulder in the seat beside her on the ship taking them to Delphi and the first stop on her summer campaign tour. They were an hour out of Caprica City and an hour away from Delphi and Braedon had just now stop crying and gone to sleep. Even his father's arms had quieted him only temporarily when John had left the cockpit and had walked up and down the aisle with him. Braedon had started to cry again the moment John had handed him back to her so he could return to the copilot's seat. Laura had almost decided that bringing Braedon with them was a mistake, but she also couldn't think of going a whole week without seeing her son.

Now she whispered to Maya that she was going to get up and stretch her legs. She walked to the back of the thirty passenger ship, only a third full with her staff and the six campaign volunteers who were with them.

Billy sat on the back row by himself staring out the window at the clouds below them. Laura sat down beside him.

"Are you all right?"

Billy turned glumly. "I guess."

"Something has been bothering you lately. I've noticed. Is it anything you'd like to talk to me about? I know I've asked a lot of you lately."

"Blaire broke up with me a month ago. We were having problems before that."

"Oh, Billy, I'm so sorry. Why didn't you say something? I could have arranged some time off for you if you wanted it. Why don't you take next week?"

He looked back out the window for a moment and then shook his head. "I'm better off working. It keeps me from thinking about it too much. Blaire was expecting a ring and a proposal for her birthday a couple of months ago."

"Which she obviously didn't get."

"She said we'd been dating for two years. She said if I couldn't do it by now, I'd never be able to do it. She wants to get married and start a family. I'm not ready."

"Is it a case of not being ready or perhaps Blaire not being the right woman?"

Billy shrugged. "Maybe a little of both. She really hated the long hours and weekends I put in. I told her it would be that way until the election. Probably longer. If she can't take it now, getting married is not going to make it better unless I get another job and I don't want to do that."

"You're smart not to take a big step like marriage without being sure. Is the breakup why you turned down the invitation to Kara's graduation party?"

He nodded. "I should have come. I'm sorry. I haven't been in the mood to go out. I knew somebody would ask about Blaire and I didn't want to talk about it."

"It's all right. I understand. Do you know why Tory didn't make it to the party? She told me she would be there. She hasn't mentioned it or given me any explanation. Not that it mattered to Kara. She barely knows Tory."

"I don't know what happened with Tory. She's been seeing somebody lately that she's been really mysterious about. I wonder if maybe he's married."

Laura remembered the first time she'd met Tory. Tory had been at the end of an affair with her married boss. Could they have gotten back together or was it someone else? If Tory were involved in an adulterous liason, it didn't bode well for the campaign. It would be only a matter of time before someone in the media dug it out and that, of course, would reflect on her and her bid for the Presidency. Laura realized that she had another job for Romo Lampkin. Of course if might be nothing. It might be that Tory was only trying to protect her private life, but Laura couldn't afford to take the chance.

Billy asked, "How do you know if the person you're with is the right one?"

At the front of the plane Laura saw John leave the cockpit and sit down beside Maya. She thought about Billy's question for a while. How did you know?

Finally she said, "I would think if you have any doubts then it's better to wait."

"With your husband…were you sure?"

"No. But I wasn't in a position to wait until I was sure. I made the right choice. You've very young, Billy. Don't be in a hurry. You'll meet someone. I know it doesn't feel like it right now, but you will."

He nodded. "Thanks."

"I want you to know that if I'm elected, you'll have a job on my staff. I'm thinking of you for my Press Secretary."

"That's a big responsibility."

"One for which you have proven yourself more than capable. I hope you'll consider accepting."

Billy finally brightened. "Consider the job accepted."

Having apparently assured himself that his sleeping son was fine, John got up and went back into the cockpit, but not before looking back at Laura and smiling.

Yes, she had made the right choice, for their child and for herself.

Before she got up she asked Billy, "By the way have you seen my ivory-handled letter opener, the one that belonged to my father? I haven't seen it for over a week. I was going to bring it with me and I couldn't find it."

"No, I haven't seen it. Don't you usually keep it on your desk?"

"On my desk or on the table. I can't imagine someone taking it," Laura said. "It's not _that_ valuable, but it has a great deal of sentimental value to me."

"Maybe you should ask Mr. Lampkin to look into it."

Laura smiled. "I hardly think I need trouble a private detective about a letter opener. I'm sure it will turn up somewhere."

o

Lee woke up early and rolled over. He expected to see Kara next to him, but the bed was empty. Although the days on the island were warm, almost hot, the nights got cool. They had left some windows open and the bedroom was as cool as the early morning air outside. Lee got up and quickly put on jeans and a sweatshirt. He yawned, wondering what had gotten Kara up at such an early hour. He looked east out over the ocean. The sun had barely cleared the horizon.

Kara sat at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee. One leg was pulled up, her bare foot propped on the seat of her chair. She was staring out the window and appeared to be deep in thought.

"Good morning," he said.

She turned and looked at him. "Hi."

"You're up early. Is something wrong?"

She shook her head. "I made coffee."

He poured a cup and sat down across from her.

"Okay, Kara, what's up?"

"What's Flight School like?"

Lee took a deep breath. "It's hard, but you're going to do fine."

"Tell me more. Tell me all about it."

"The classroom part is a lot like Basic Flight at the Academy, but your instructor may not be as easygoing as Colonel Burgher. And you'll cover the material a lot faster. Aerodynamics, navigation, everything you've already done plus aviation rules and regs. They expect you to know most of it already. You'll have to learn the Viper inside and out. There's tests. It's important to do well on them."

"Okay. I can handle that."

"You've got to do a pretty strenuous obstacle course, too."

"I did Burgher's. I should be able the handle the one in Flight School."

"I don't mean an obstacle course for your Viper. I mean one for you, like the one at the Academy with the hurdles and the water pit and the wall and crawl."

"I did everything okay at the Academy except for the wall. I had trouble with that."

"Then you already know what you need to work on. It's timed. You've got four minutes to make it from one end to the other."

"Yeah. Being able to get over a six-foot vertical wall in a few seconds is going to make me a better pilot," Kara said sarcastically.

"The point is physical conditioning and…well, overcoming obstacles. The drill instructor will try to psyche you out. Don't let it happen. There's a trick to doing the wall. If you see somebody who does it well, don't be embarrassed to ask for help. The DI won't mind if you spend time working on your own."

Kara smiled. "Flat Top was really good on the wall at the Academy."

Lee almost took the bait. "So ask him for help," he said mildly.

"Maybe I will. And maybe I'll try to figure it out on my own. So what else?"

"You'll spend some time in a machine we affectionately call the Spin and Puke where you'll learn what it feels like to…well, I can't describe it, but you'll learn about spatial orientation or more like disorientation. You'll learn you can't always trust your senses. What feels like up isn't always up."

"The Spin and Puke. Great."

"Then you'll do survival training in the deep space simulator where I nearly bought it. But they've made some changes and improvements since then so you'll be fine."

"My dad told me that after your accident, they revamped the whole thing. Admiral Adama insisted."

Lee shrugged. "Yeah, something good came out of it."

"So I get through deep space simulation, then what?"

"You'll be strapped into a cage with a rig like your Viper harness and the cage will be dropped into the water of a big training tank. You'll have to get yourself out. That's in case you ever have to ditch your Viper in an ocean or other body of water."

"Like you almost had to do when you shot down those Raiders?"

"Yeah."

"So Flight School is more than just doing the class work and going up in a two-seated Viper trainer a couple of times before I get to solo?"

"Lots more. But you can do it, Kara. You're not afraid of the water so that helps a lot. The worst part for me was the second dunking in the cage. In that one you'll be blindfolded."

"Blindfolded?"

"To simulate going into the water at night. You'll have to get out of the cage by feel. But they let you make a couple of dry runs before you actually go into the water."

"Oh, man."

"There're divers standing by under water in case you get in trouble. They haven't let anybody drown…yet."

Kara rolled her eyes. "That's good to know."

"You asked me about Flight School so I'm telling you. Oh, I almost forgot. Before you get dunked, they hook you up to a parachute harness and drop you into the tank. You get to practice getting out of the harness before the chute fills with water and drags you under."

"It all sounds like lots of fun, but when do I get to fly?"

"The fifth through the twelfth weeks. You won't solo until the eighth week. Not everybody makes it that far. Some wash out. A few more will probably bust their check rides with the instructors. They'll wash out, too. There's four important check rides. You'll get a different instructor each time."

"To keep everybody honest."

He nodded. "You'll probably take some hazing…especially because of your age. You're going to have to prove yourself. Everybody does."

"Did you have to prove yourself?"

"More than anybody else in my class. My last name made sure of that. Just like I had to do at the Academy."

Kara rubbed the top of her foot and sighed. "At least I won't have people saying my dad is giving me good grades."

"No, but he was an ace during the First Cylon War. You'll be held to a higher standard. It's not fair, but that's just the way it is. The same thing happened to me. My father was good so they expected me to be good. Just go in prepared for it and it won't seem so bad."

Kara sighed again and continued rubbing the top of her foot.

Lee said gently, "Look at me, Kara." When she looked up, he asked, "Is there something else going on with you? Something else you want to talk about?"

"I've wanted to be a Viper pilot since I was a little girl. My mom used to tell me I'd never get into the Academy if I didn't pull my grades up. Of course that's when I thought I'd be going to the Academy on Picon and…and…I just want you to know this isn't some kind of competition thing with you and me. I didn't decide to be a Viper pilot because I wanted to show you up."

"I know you didn't. Kara, I'm okay with it. Yeah, it took a while, but I'm okay."

"I can't change the fact that I've got some…skills in the cockpit. I don't want to change it. I want to do my best, just like you do."

"You have a gift. You're going to take that gift and hone it into a real skill. You're going to live up to your potential as a pilot in that Viper."

"I don't want to let my dad down. I just hope I can do it. I hope I can get my wings and make him proud…and you, too."

"You will. Where is this self-doubt coming from? Is it what I just told you about Flight School? A week ago you were gung-ho. You were ready. You were going to show _everybody_. I didn't just frak that up by telling you what you're facing, did I?"

"No, and I don't know where this is coming from. I've been awake since five o'clock this morning thinking about it. I guess all of a sudden it's real to me. I've been at the Academy for a year. That's not the real world. We've been down here for a week on the island and that's not the real world, either. Tomorrow we go home. In a week I start Flight School. That's the real world for me. I'm not a cadet anymore. When I graduate in twelve weeks, I'll be a pilot. I'll have my wings."

Lee looked at her in her jeans and zipped-up hooded sweatshirt and messy ponytail and suddenly realized what had been bothering him. It wasn't so much her potential as a pilot as it was her age. She was still so young. In five or six months, just a few months past her eighteenth birthday, she would go up in a Viper and put her life on the line to free Caprica from the Cylons.

And not just Kara. A great many young officers and enlisted men and women would do the same thing, put their lives at risk to free the Colony. Not all of them would survive. Maybe that's what he feared more than anything else, not that she would be a better pilot than he was, but that she wouldn't survive the coming battle. Maybe that had been his fear all along. Maybe what he had been dealing with was his fear of losing her.

Lee stood and took her hand. "Come on. Go put on your shoes. Let's drive into town and get some breakfast. Then I want to go somewhere a couple of miles past the airport. I saw it as we were coming in over the island."

Kara stood. "Where?"

"You'll see."

The place was harder to find than he had thought it would be and he took several small roads that became dead ends before he finally found the right one. He crested the hill and below them he saw the ruin of a small temple.

The road became a path. He parked the jeep and they walked the rest of the way through a field of windswept grasses and white and purple flowers. The bluff overlooked the northern ocean, much less sheltered than John's cottage and the little bay beyond it.

Lee took Kara's hand.

"Whose temple do you think this was?" Kara asked when they got to the structure and had walked around it.

"I don't read ancient Caprican. Based on the location, it could have been Posiden or it could have been any of the gods. It's hard to tell since all the statues are gone."

The roof was gone as well. Several of the fluted pillars had toppled and lay in sections, but the stone floor was still completely intact.

They climbed the steps. It was like walking into a skeleton.

"I wonder why it was abandoned." Kara said.

"Who knows? People move away. Priests die and aren't replaced. This isn't a heavily populated island. I doubt it can support many temples."

"Why did you want to come here?"

He reached into his pocket and took out the ring, three narrow ropes of braided gold. He held it in the palm of his hand.

"It's not what it looks like. It's not a wedding ring or an engagement ring. It's for your right hand. It's your graduation gift. The jeweler said a braided ring is a promise from one person to another. It symbolizes intertwined lives."

Lee took the ring from his palm. It slid easily onto the ring finger of Kara's right hand.

Kara studied it. It felt strange because she'd never worn a ring before.

"A promise?" She asked.

"That I want to always be a part of your life. There's three strands to the braid. You, me and the love that binds us together…to quote the jeweler."

She put her arms around him and they stood on the rough stone floor of a long-abandoned temple that had been buffeted by the northern winds for a thousand years and still stood in defiance of the elements.

The moment reassured Lee as nothing else had in a long time. Some things withstood time and all kinds of storms. Some things lasted.

Kara held Lee tightly. Sometime during the last few weeks something had changed between them. She wasn't sure exactly when, but she knew she had first felt it last night as they had walked hand in hand on the beach under the silvery half moons of Thyone and Elara with the stars as bright as she had ever seen them.

Something had deepened in their relationship and she now felt a closeness with him that had nothing to do with the physical. The physical part had always been easy for them, maybe too easy. They touched each other and there was fire. Becoming lovers had been the easy part. Becoming friends and accepting each other with all their differences, had been the hardest part of all.

Kara knew though, that they had crossed a chasm and there was no going back. She didn't want to go back, and yet as she and Lee had pulled closer together during this last week, ironically her doubts about herself had surfaced. Maybe her doubts had come through the now-gaping crack in the hard shell around her heart, the shell that she had spent years constructing…from the time she was a little girl who couldn't seem to please her distant yet mercurially-tempered mother until long after Dreilide Thrace had vanished from her life.

She had fortified that toughness almost five years earlier beginning with a nearly-impossible escape from a dying planet and her mother's choice to remain behind…another parent who had abandoned her. She had found her real father and then had lost him in the same night. She had nurtured her toughness through the time she and Karl had spent living alone and then later in the camp. Life had forced her to grow up and yet inside her somewhere the little girl still dwelled, fearful at times, and doubting herself, dealing with some events as an adult and some as a child.

It was easier when she was challenged…challenged to survive, challenged to get a job and live in an adult world and challenged by her decision to attend the Academy. It was easier when others doubted her. It was especially easy when someone got in her face because the tough girl knew how to handle that. Someone pushed her and she pushed back. Her classes and the simulator had challenged her and she had risen to it. First Maggie and then Shelley had thrown down the gauntlet and she had taken it. Lee had doubted her ability and her hackles had come up, that old knee-jerk reaction of _I'll show you. _

But now that the Academy was behind her and Lee had accepted her budding skills in the cockpit, she was the one having problems with it. Did she deserve the trust her father had in her abilities? Did she really deserve a chance at flying that Raider for Bill Adama? But most of all did she deserve Lee's faith in her and his love for her?

She took his hand and led him over to the steps of the temple. They sat down and she stared out over the ocean before she looked down at the ring on her hand.

By accepting the ring she felt like she had made a promise to him as well. A pledge of their love. An unspoken vow for their future. Too soon to talk of marriage, too soon to make any kind of plans knowing what lay ahead of them, but it was there nonetheless, unspoken yet perhaps more real because of it, a life together for them, their lives always touching, bound by love.

"Kara, you're too quiet," Lee said. "Do you think the ring was a mistake because…"

"No," she squeezed his hand. "The ring…it's beautiful. Thank you."

"I didn't know what to get you for graduation," Lee confessed. "I've been trying to get you to mention something you wanted for months, but you never seem to want anything. I finally went into a jewelry store and explained the situation to this nice older guy. He suggested the ring."

"Lee, I love it. It's perfect. Our lives entwined, touching."

She rubbed her thumb across the golden braid. And where they weren't touching, the third braid, the love, was holding the other two together. Like in the fall when she would go to the _Galactica_. It was perfect.

"Then why do you seem so sad right now?" Lee asked. "I don't understand."

She smiled. "Maybe because tomorrow we go back to the real world."

"You're sure that's all it is?"

How did she explain her feelings to him? In the past she would have shrugged it off. Now she tried. "When you were younger and your mom was drinking, how did you deal with it?"

"I…concentrated on my school work and taking care of Zak…and building up a lot of resentment toward my father…and my mother, too."

"My mom…mostly she ignored me. Once when I embarrassed her by punching out this kid on the stage at school because he'd laughed at me, she spanked me. It's the only time she ever hit me. The rest of the time she would just send me to my room if I did something that made her mad…like she didn't even want to see me. Like out of sight, out of mind."

"My mom hit me a couple of times when I tried to take her bottle away from her. I was maybe fourteen or fifteen. "

"Did you ever tell your dad?"

Lee shook his head. "He was oblivious. He wouldn't have believed me if I'd told him. She always managed to pull it together when he was home…which wasn't often. When he moved back into the house after the treaty negotiations, she did okay for a year or two. She seemed to control it. Then as he spent more and more time on his plan, her drinking must have started getting worse. I was already gone by then, at the Academy and then later on the _Triton._ I think dad was always in denial about it…or his plan was more important. And then she got sick and…he didn't even realize it."

Kara took a deep breath. "I always wanted my mom just once to say, _good job, Kara._ I played soccer. I scored a lot of goals, but she hardly ever came to my games. She was always too busy being a Marine. Or maybe she was afraid I'd do something to embarrass her like I did when I was seven. I think she was happiest when I went off camping for the weekend with Karl and his family. I think that's when she and my dad would get together. There's times I resent…I resent both of them for that. I love my dad. He's been so good to me. But sometimes I feel like he should have done more while I was growing up…especially after Dreilide left. I know he said Mom didn't want him in my life, but…I don't know. Maybe I'm not being fair to him. I know he loves me."

They sat silently for a long time on the steps of the temple. The breeze from the ocean lifted small strands of hair that had escaped from Kara's ponytail around her face.

Finally Lee said, "It's really hard to let go of the past."

"I don't understand why this is bothering me so much right now. I've got it great. I've got my dad and Dreilide and Laura and the brother I never thought I'd have…and I've got you. I graduated from the Academy with a 3.5 GPA. I was in the top ten percent of my class. I've got everything I ever dreamed of and then some…and I'm not sure what's wrong."

"Maybe it's that post-graduation let-down. In a lot of ways this was a tough year for you. You did good, but you went through a lot, too."

Kara nodded. "Maybe it's because I don't know what's coming in the future."

"None of us knows that."

"I'll be fine when I get to Flight School. I'll have a lot of challenges to concentrate on. I'll have something _to do_."

He squeezed her hand. "I'm here for you, Kara."

"You don't believe in the gods, do you?"

"No," he said softly.

"Then why did you want to bring me here to give me the ring?"

"Because I know you do believe. I felt like it would mean more to you."

"I know the gods aren't with us the same way they were on Kobol before the Thirteen Tribes left, but that doesn't mean…just because we can't see them doesn't mean they're not still with us in spirit."

Lee was silent for a long time. Finally he said, "I just don't believe in them. I believe in us…in humans…in our abilities to persevere and survive."

"You don't believe the gods stopped the Cylons from destroying us almost five years ago?"

"No. I believe the Cylons stopped because they wanted something from us. I believe they still want something from us."

"Maybe there's more of them like Sharon out there trying to learn about human emotions so they can go back and share with the other Cylons. Maybe they're trying to become more human…more like us."

"Maybe. And maybe Cavil just wants a planet full of lab rats to experiment on. Maybe he's on a power trip because they're in control of us now instead of the way it was for years when they were mostly our slaves."

"Your dad is having a hard time believing any of the Cylons would want to help us."

"Do you blame him?"

"No. I know he's putting a lot of trust in me."

"Is that part of what's bothering you?"

Kara sighed. "Probably. What if I'm wrong, Lee? What if I'm wrong about Sharon and Leoben?"

"I don't know what to tell you. I know my dad, though. He doesn't think as much is riding on this as you probably do or he would have done something about it."

"Like put my dad in the brig to make me talk?"

"No. He wouldn't have done that. He would have just given you an order to tell him. If you'd disobeyed, your career in the military would have been over before it got started. I don't think he has as much faith in these Cylons as you think he does, certainly not as much as you do. I don't think he feels like they're important to his overall plan."

"Maybe not. Maybe I'm the one who's making a big deal out of nothing."

"Only time will tell."

"I still believe they're both going to play some kind of part in what's coming."

"So am I. So are you."

She thought of the bright stars she had seen last night. One of them in that sea of stars was Nereid's sun, a solar system thirty light years away across an ocean of empty space. Kara recalled part of a line of a poem by Kataris they had read during the past semester.

_Over the velvet black and deep, the torches burn of other worlds..._

That's how the poet saw other suns, as the torches of other worlds, their lights, their beacons shining in the heavens like the lights of a lighthouse guiding a ship into a harbor. Somewhere out there Nereid orbited a sun and so did Kobol and maybe even so did Earth.

"I think I'm going to fly Sadie to Nereid. I know you and my dad don't believe the Oracle like I do, but she told me I was going to journey to another world."

"If it turns out there are Cylons on Nereid, we're all probably going to journey to another world. My dad has already started work on another plan. Even if we destroy them here, we can't leave them there. We can't leave them to regroup and come back to destroy us on Caprica."

She looked down at the ring again…a promise that Lee would always be part of her life…a promise that she would always be part of his.

She smiled as she stood up. "We've got one more day on the island. Let's not talk about the Cylons anymore…or the past…or the future. Let's enjoy today. Come on. I'll race you back to the jeep."

o

Her father noticed the ring right away, the minute she lifted her bag from the tarmac at the airport. He raised his eyebrows and looked over the top of his sunglasses at her.

"My graduation present," she said.

"That's all?"

"A promise."

"Of?"

"Lee and I will always be in each other's lives."

He nodded and then grinned. "I know it's on your right hand, but I wanted to make sure you hadn't gotten married."

"Not yet. Maybe someday."

"Don't do it without me, baby. I want to dance at your wedding…a few years from now."

"Don't worry." She grinned. "I'm going to make you give me away so we can both cry. How was your week?"

"It's over. That's the most important thing. Of course we're only home a week and then we start campaigning through the central and northern cities."

"How's Braedon?"

"We can see the edge of his teeth now, upper and lower. He's still fretful, but we'll get through it. Maya's off next week so I'll be taking care of him."

"Off? I told her we would go out one night."

"Laura has her number. You can call her."

"I'll help take care of Braedon next week, too. I feel like I've hardly seen him for the last two months."

Lee walked back from returning the rental jeep. "All done. Are we ready to go?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," Kara said.

When they were in the air, her father asked, "Did you and Lee have a good time?"

Kara smiled. "The best. Maybe we can all go back in the fall for a couple of days…before I go to the _Galactica._"

"That would be nice. Yeah. That would be nice."

"Even if Laura can't go, maybe you and Brae and me and Lee can do it."

"I'd like that a lot."

"This week was good for me and Lee. This island…your cottage…it's almost like a magic place."

He smiled. "I knew that as soon as I found it. You can step away from the real world here."

"I did for a while, but I'm back now."

"Ready for Flight School?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

o

Kara and Maya walked along a downtown street in Caprica City. "I'm sorry we didn't have a big choice in movies," Kara said.

"There's nothing being made these days that's worth spending any cubits on."

Surprised, Kara asked, "You aren't into romantic comedies?"

"Not really. I don't believe in…romance any more, certainly not the way it's portrayed in the movies. Tonight was nice, though. I enjoyed it."

"Would you like to go get a drink? We're close to a place I've been before called Crocodiles. A lot of sports stars go there but on a week night it shouldn't be too crowded."

"That's fine with me," Maya said.

Kara was right. On a Wednesday night Crocodiles wasn't crowded. They got a booth.

The waiter came up to their table. "What's the best drink you have with rum?" Maya asked him.

"The bartender makes a mean Geisha Girl," the waiter answered.

"I'll have one of those."

"Make it two," Kara said.

He eyed her. "You have ID?"

"Not with me."

"Haven't I seen you in here before?"

Kara gave him her best smile. "I was in here a couple of weeks ago. We sat at that big table over there with Sam Anders and Zak Adama and about a dozen other people. I didn't get carded that night."

The waiter shrugged. "Two Geisha Girls coming up."

Maya laughed. "That was smooth."

Kara was still smiling. "I told the truth."

"This is nice. I appreciate you asking me to go out."

"Life shouldn't be all work and no play. I got enough of that at the Academy first semester."

"How is Braedon doing this week?" Maya asked. "I miss him."

"Fine. I've been helping my dad with him. Brae got on his hands and knees today…like he's almost ready to start crawling. He was rocking back and forth, but he just couldn't quite make that first move."

"It won't be long before Brae will be going all over the place. Then we'll all wish he had waited a little longer."

The waiter brought their drinks. "Two Geisha Girls."

Kara sipped. The drink was strong. She tasted rum and pineapple juice. There was something else in it, too, but she couldn't identify it.

"My dad said you were going on the campaign bus with them this summer. How are you going to work that in with school?"

"I'm taking the summer off. I've got some books to read for next fall." Maya took a big sip of her drink. "Do you ever think about…being in the camp?"

Kara shook her head. "Not anymore. Do you?"

"When it rains, I think about the mud …and the children…the orphans. There were so many orphans."

"Mud, yeah. Our camp was muddy when it rained, too. How long were you there?"

"Almost three years."

"Me, too. I was thirteen when I got to the camp. Almost sixteen when I left. I had my best friend with me. Karl. We told everybody we were brother and sister so we could stay together."

"You were lucky. A pretty girl like you…in the camp I was in…if you'd been alone…" Maya didn't finish the sentence. She didn't have to.

"It almost happened to me once. I was stupid. I went into the woods beside the camp. Two guys caught me. Another guy saved me. He was older and really hot. I got a huge crush on him. He's married now. I don't have…romantic feelings for him anymore, but there's still something between us…a bond from being in the camp together. It's weird. I'm not sure how to explain it."

Their eyes met. She didn't have to explain it. Maya understood exactly what she was talking about. Kara realized that they, too, shared a bond.

"There were people in the camp I was in," Maya said, "people who could get you anything you wanted…for a price."

"A black market. Yeah, I know. Our camp had one, too."

"When my little girl was sick and the camp doctor couldn't get the antibiotics to…help her…I went to these men…"

"Maya, you don't need to tell me about them. I know what they were."

"Then you know what I did to get the medicine I thought would save her."

Kara nodded. "I'd have done the same thing. If I'd had a little girl…yeah, I'd have done the same thing."

Again their eyes met.

"Laura and your father don't know."

"Do you think that would make a difference to either one of them?"

"People who weren't in the camp can be…judgmental."

Kara shook her head and finished her drink. "Not my dad and Laura." They sat for a while until Kara echoed Lee's words. "Sometimes it's hard to let go of the past."

"Do you ever dream about the camp?"

"No. Not anymore. I dream about flying most of the time now."

Maya smiled sadly. "You're lucky."

Kara glanced at the door. Sam and Zak had just walked in. It took Sam about five seconds to spot her. He nudged Zak and they started toward the booth.

"Uh-oh. We're going to have company."

"Who?"

"Lee's brother Zak and his friend Sam Anders."

Zak slid into the booth beside her. "Kara. You're looking tanned and good."

Kara smiled. Zak was in smooth-guy mode tonight. "Thanks, Zak. This is Maya. Maya, this is Zak Adama and Sam Anders."

Maya slid over and Sam sat down. The waiter hurried over to their booth. "Two more Geisha Girls? What can I get you gentlemen?"

Sam and Zak ordered beers. "Put all this on my tab," Sam said. When the waiter was gone he turned to them, "What brings you lovely ladies out tonight?"

"We went to a movie," Maya answered.

Sam laughed. "You mean there's a movie playing in Caprica City that's worth seeing?"

"A chick flick," Kara said.

Maya smiled. "Not exactly Antonichi, but entertaining."

"Hey," Sam said, "You're an Antonichi fan? Me, too."

Zak asked. "Who's Antonichi?"

"Only about the greatest director ever to make a film," Sam said. "_Steel River…A Street in Arcadia…Night Watch."_

Kara and Zak gave each other blank looks.

"I have a lot of time in the off season," Sam said. "I don't party _every_ night. I'm a film buff…the older stuff before the you-know-whos took control."

"My father was Antonichi's main cinematographer," Maya said quietly.

"No kidding," Sam said. Kara could tell he was impressed.

"They were all on Aerilon filming when the…five years ago."

"So you actually met Antonichi?"

"He had a home on the lake outside of Kinsdale where I grew up. My father used to take me over there."

Sam appeared enthralled. "Tell me about him. What was he like?"

Maya finally smiled warmly and Kara realized just how pretty she was.

"About half your height and a mind that moved so fast it made me think of a swarm of bees."

o

When Kara got back to the apartment close to midnight that night, her father was still up, sitting in the den with his feet propped up, working on his laptop.

"Hey, baby. Did you have a good time?"

"It was fun. We went to a movie and then to Crocodiles. Sam and Zak came in and Maya and Sam instantly bonded over some movie director so Zak and I said about four words the rest evening. I'll bet my first paycheck that Sam is going to ask her out. I made sure Maya got in a transport like you told me to do. For a minute I thought Sam was going to get in with her, but she made it clear she was going home alone. I mean she was nice to him, but…"

"Sam and Maya," her father said thoughtfully. "I hope she knows what she's doing. He's a player. He's not her type."

Kara grinned. "Yeah, it wouldn't do for Sam to snake your nanny like you snaked his girlfriend Lissa."

Her father gave her a look that said she was pushing her luck. "I'll let that go since I can tell you you've had a drink...or two. Crocodiles must not check IDs."

"Our waiter didn't tonight. And don't worry. Maya won't be any pushover for Sam. I don't think she's ever gotten over her husband…not her husband, the father of her little girl. I told her we'd go out again. What are you working on? Another speech for next week?"

"I scanned all the sketches from Irina Hoshi's journal into my laptop. I'm putting together a composite of what the area around the ancient city may look like now. Bill wants every scrap of information about the terrain we can get."

"For the Raider mission?"

"And afterward...if we find what we think we're going to find."

"I asked Admiral Adama to consider me for the mission."

"I know. He told me. I wondered when you would get around to mentioning it."

"That's all you're going to say?"

He looked at the ceiling and drew a deep breath. "What can I say? You know I don't want you on that mission. You asked to be considered anyway. In a couple of months you'll be eighteen. I can't stop you. All I can do is tell you that I don't want you to do it and hope you'll listen."

"You didn't tell Admiral Adama not to pick me?"

"It's not my place to tell Bill how to do his job. He knows exactly how I feel about you flying that mission. If he chooses to ignore that, then there's not a lot I can do about it. Majors don't tell admirals what to do."

"Do you not think I can jump that Raider? Do you not think I can perform the mission?"

"I know you can jump that Raider. There's not a lot to jumping a ship. It's that big unknown that's waiting on the other end that scares the hell out of me. I love you and I don't want to take a chance on losing you. I thought I'd lost you once. I'm not sure I could go through that again."

"What about after the mission? What about the admiral's plan? I'll be in a Viper fighting the Cylons. That will be just as dangerous…probably more so."

"Maybe it won't come to that."

"How can you say that? You think that base star is just going to stand by when the attack starts? They'll launch every Raider they've got as fast as they can launch them."

"The plan is to destroy it before it launches any of its Raiders."

"Lee said there were always Raiders in the air over Caprica."

"A few dozen, yeah. That's nothing. A dozen good Viper pilots armed with missiles could take them out in seconds."

"Things don't always go according to plan. That base star could get hundreds of Raiders in the air before we destroy it. It could jump away before we destroy it."

"Bill's counting on the element of surprise. His engineers have got the second captured Raider rigged so that it can be controlled by a Raptor. It will be loaded with explosives. They've got Cylon homing devices in both ships."

"Who's going to fly that Raptor? Who is Admiral Adama going to get to fly _that_ suicide mission?"

"It won't be a suicide mission. We've got it worked out. The Raptor will be well away before the explosives are detonated. The pilot in the Raptor will control the timing of it."

"You're not flying that mission, are you?"

"No, Kara." He gestured to his laptop. "This is my contribution to Bill's plan. He isn't about to ask the husband of the next President of the Colonies to fly a Raptor into a base star for him. He's got a short list of pilots right now. He'll make his choice in about a month so the pilot can start training in a special Raptor."

"Have you worked out how we're going to be able to jump that Raider to Nereid without the Cylons detecting it?"

"I've got a couple of ideas."

"What?"

"I'll let you know after I talk to Bill about them. What we're going to have to do is jump it where there's enough dradis interference, either natural or man-made that the Cylons won't pick it up."

Kara walked over to the couch, sat down beside her father and put her head on his shoulder. He put his arm around her. They sat like that for a long time, neither one of them speaking.

Finally she said, "You'd do the Nereid mission if you could. You'd fly that Raptor, too, if the admiral asked you. You'd risk your life because you want your son to grow up free. I'm just like you. You should know that by now."

He didn't say anything, just squeezed her shoulder tightly.

She kissed his cheek. "I love you. Don't stay up too late. All of this will still be here tomorrow."

o

The Flight School instructor strode into the classroom at exactly 8:00. He was lean, medium height and dark-skinned with a prematurely graying crewcut. Before he spoke, he wrote his name on the board. Major Desmond Valinski. Beside his name he wrote his call sign, _Dizzy._

He turned to the eighteen students in the class. "How many of you in here plan to wash out?"

There were no raised hands.

"Good." He turned and wrote again on the board. NAFOD. "Many of you come in here suffering from this. Who can tell me what it is?"

Again there were no raised hands.

"No guesses? Okay. NAFOD. No Apparent Fear of Death. I would encourage those of you so afflicted to develop a healthy respect for your ship and what it is capable of, but more importantly, what it is _not_ capable of. The same goes for you as pilots. I have studied your folders. I know your strengths and weaknesses based on your Basic Flight grades and your sim scores. We're here to enhance your strengths and work hard on your weaknesses. When you receive your wings in twelve weeks, you will have earned them. Any questions before we begin?"

Eammon Pike raised his hand. "Do you expect _all of us_ to _earn_ our wings, sir?" Kara knew his question was a snide slam on her.

"Based on evaluations by Colonel Burgher and Major Gallagher, I see no reason why all of you shouldn't. The same goes for the thirty-four other Viper pilot trainees starting Flight School today." Major Valinski looked directly at her. "The Academy graduated an exceptional class this year."

Kara smiled. _Yeah, Pike. Listen to what the man says before you make a fool out of yourself._

o

Kara took her tray over and sat down with Karl and Sharon in the cafeteria.

"You look nice and tan," Karl said.

"Lee and I had a good time on the island."

"Like we couldn't tell," Sharon said.

Kara grinned. "What did you do the last two weeks?"

Karl said, "We went up into the mountains and camped and hiked for a week. Sharon's trying to get me in shape. Then we just hung out at her apartment and relaxed."

"I thought I saw Lee on base earlier today," Sharon said.

"Yeah. He still flies every Monday morning. He's staying over at the apartment with me. Laura and my dad left this morning. Laura has a tour bus for the next part of her campaign. They're stopping at all these little towns on the way north. They'll be gone three weeks. The only town they're avoiding is Sovana."

"Did they take your brother?"

"Of course. And his nanny, too."

"I don't blame them for avoiding Sovana," Karl said.

"Lieutenant Sydell won't be back at the Academy next year," Sharon said.

"Please don't tell me she got posted to Sovana," Kara said. "I know we didn't get along too well, but I wouldn't wish Sovana on anyone…except maybe Ackerman and he deserved it."

"Ackerman?" Sharon asked.

"Long story. So is that where Shelley is being sent?"

"No," Sharon said. "She's not going to Sovana. I heard she got posted to the staff of a colonel here in Caprica City. Something to do with Requisitions and Supplies. I heard it's a chance for her to move up if she does well."

"That doesn't sound too bad," Kara said. "Maybe she can requisition the Academy some better food."

"Yeah," Karl said. "I'll vote for that."

Dwight Saunders sat down at their table. "How goes it everyone?"

"Hey, Flat Top. Okay for the first morning. How was the diving trip to the Kaoli Reef?" Kara asked.

"Great. Me and Narcho and Crashdown had a great time. What about you?"

"Same here. A great time."

"We've got to go," Karl said. "We'll see you later."

"Right," Kara said. After Karl and Sharon were gone she said, "Pike is in my class. I had a one in three chance."

Saunders grinned. "Lucky you."

"You were on his hall at the Academy. Is it just me or is he like that with everyone?"

"Pike and I didn't hit it off. Mostly I avoided him when I could."

"He just bugs me. He asked the instructor this morning if he thought all of us were going to _earn_ our wings. I know that was just for my benefit."

"Don't let him get to you, Kara. He's jealous. We all know it."

"You think so? From what he told Maggie, he doesn't think I can cut it in the simulator. He said my dad told me how to beat the sims. That always just frosted me. If anything my dad was tougher on me that he was on the others."

"Pike would really piss his flight suit if he knew what you did a couple of weeks ago, wouldn't he?"

"What did I do a couple of weeks ago?" Kara asked suspiciously.

"Right before graduation I was waiting outside Winters' office to talk about my valedictory speech. He and Colonel Burgher were talking. I wasn't trying to listen but the door was open. It seems some cadet beat Burgher's impossible Viper sim. Winters wanted the cadet recognized at graduation and Burgher said that _she_ had refused. The minute I heard that, I know who it had to be. You beat that sim, didn't you?"

"You can't tell anyone. You've got to _promise me_!"

"Why? I don't understand. You're a pilot. You're supposed to be cocky and proud of what you've accomplished."

"Let me explain it," Kara said patiently. "No one would believe I did it without help. I'd rather not have it known than to have every nugget in Flight School give me the same snide treatment as Pike. I don't want to have to keep proving the same thing over and over."

"Okay, okay, Kara. My lips are sealed."

"Do you know who the other two cadets were who got to try the sim?"

"You mean your dad didn't tell you?"

"No, and he wouldn't have even if I'd asked."

"Pike and Narcho. Noel told me while we were on vacation. Once he found out Pike had gotten to try, we figured you were the other one. They just thought you'd busted it, too. I almost told them what I'd overheard, but since Burgher said you didn't want it out, I didn't."

"Thanks. I owe you one. Why did you pick a Raptor instead of a Viper?"

"Raptors suit my skills better. Also I'm claustrophobic. That Viper cockpit is too closed in for me. I start to hyperventilate crawling through the pipes on the obstacle course."

Kara said. "I guess I'd better get back to class. Speaking of the obstacle course, will you help me on my technique for getting over the wall?"

"Sure," he grinned.

"I can't put in a good word with Maggie for you. I'm afraid I'm all out of good words with Maggs."

"I'm over that. You can just owe me one."

"You keep quiet about the sim and I'll owe you two."

Flat Top grinned. "You've got a deal."

o

Kara sat cross-legged on the floor in front of the couch at the apartment. The Viper manual was open on her knees. Behind her on the couch Lee sat massaging her shoulders. She looked at her new digital watch, a graduation gift from Laura. It told time in twenty-four hour digital format and would be great to have on the _Galactica_. The watch now said 23:33. She really needed to be in bed. It was Thursday night of her first week in Flight School and her first big test was tomorrow.

"Relax, Kara," Lee said. "The muscles of your shoulders and neck are as tight as stretched rubber bands. This is not a hard test. You're not expected to know the Viper like a crew chief or an engineer. This is basic stuff. Just enough to help you out if you have to set it down somewhere and do some minor repairs."

"Yeah, and stuff like fuel capacity and thrust to weight ratio and stall speed and all that other _minor_ stuff."

"A Viper doesn't have a true stall speed."

"Unless your vertical thrusters quit working. Then you hit stall speed and it goes down like a rock…like that first Raider did for you. Splat, right into the ocean."

"You're right. It's called equipment-failure-induced stall, but if that happens, you'll probably have a lot more to worry about than losing your vertical thrusters. You covered all of this in Basic Flight with Colonel Burgher. You did fine on your tests then. You know more than you think you do. Relax about it. It's not going to do you any good to stay up all night studying this stuff now."

"You sound like my dad," Kara said crankily.

"I'm giving you good advice."

"Maybe I should have gone over to study with Karl and Sharon. I think Flat Top and a couple of others were going over to Sharon's apartment for a big group study session tonight."

Lee stopped rubbing her shoulders. "Why didn't you go then?"

"They're all studying Raptors. Maybe I need to get a Viper study group going. I'm sure Pike would want to join," she said sarcastically. "He thinks so highly of my knowledge and skills…almost as much as he thinks of himself. Oh, wait," she continued in the sarcastic tone of voice, "I need Dad in my study group to tell me all the answers."

"Kara, you're getting all wound up over nothing. You need to quit worrying about what Pike thinks. He's jealous."

"Yeah, that's what Flat Top said."

"You've been hanging out with Flat Top a lot, haven't you?"

"He usually eats lunch with me and Karl and Sharon. And Narcho."

"Narcho?"

"Noel Allison. He was in my math class, too. Him and Flat Top are good friends. He's the other Viper pilot besides Pike who got to try Colonel Burgher's sim."

"Sounds like your study group should be with Narcho and Pike."

"I wouldn't study the weather with Pike, much less anything for Flight School. I can't stand Pike. He's a total jerk."

"You're really worked up about this, aren't you? I think you've let this rivalry thing with Pike get to you. I think you've let him psyche you out. I think you've taken a jealous remark he made to Maggie and blown it way out of proportion. _You _know your dad didn't give you those good sim scores. _You_ know you earned them. That's all that matters. Your instructors are going to see how good you are. You're always going to have to deal with other pilots who will realize you're better than they are. That's the price of being a Top Gun. Either deal with it or settle for being second-best."

Kara leaned back against the front of the couch and turned her face into the side of Lee's leg. "Yeah, you're probably right."

"I know I am. You need to get a _frak-you _attitude toward Pike. He can't get inside your head if you don't let him."

She slid her arm around his leg. "What would I do without you?"

Lee smiled. "Stay up all night studying and fall asleep in the middle of the test."

"I'm thinking about cutting my hair."

"Why?"

"It's too long."

"I don't think so."

Kara sighed. "Says the guy whose hair is an inch long all over and who can rub it dry with a towel. I don't mean cut it short. I want to leave it long enough to put in a ponytail, but not have it halfway down my back. It'll be too hard to take care of when I get to the _Galactica. _Sharon and I were talking about it today."

"Okay. You want me to cut it for you?" Lee joked. "I'll just hold out that long ponytail. One big snip should do it."

Kara snickered. "You should ask Karl sometime about the haircut he gave me the night Tom Zarek hijacked my dad's ship. I had a ponytail then and Zarek kissed my hair or something just to show my dad what would happen to me if he didn't fly Zarek and his men off Caprica."

"Gods, Kara."

"Yeah. It creeped me out. After they were gone, I used some scissors I found in a desk drawer at the airport and chopped off my hair. I made Karl cut the back. It was awful. But it made me look more like a boy which is what I wanted to look like."

"I can't imagine you ever looking like a boy…short hair or not."

"I was thirteen. I didn't have much of a…I didn't look like I do now."

"Did you know Zarek is back in Caprica City?"

"No, when did that happen?"

"Late last week. I had lunch with my dad today. Zarek came back on one of the tylium barges. He wants to talk to President Adar about a place on the Quorum of Twelve as Tauron's representative."

"How can he do that? He's not from Tauron."

"He has a petition with some signatures supposedly authorizing him to speak for the remaining natives of Tauron."

"What's Adar going to do?"

"The Tauron seat on the Quorum has been empty since their representative was killed five years ago. There are still some inhabitants living on Tauron so legally they should be represented. Adar is in a tough spot. If he says _no _to Zarek, it looks like he's ignoring the will of the people of Tauron."

"It's not even a whole Colony. We talked about it in Connelly's history class. Nobody survived on Tauron except a few thousand natives who lived in the northern arctic region."

"It doesn't matter. Tauron is still a Colony."

"Zarek is still a criminal, too. Criminals can't hold any elected or appointed office. That should be Adar's out right there."

"Zarek was granted a full pardon. It was part of the bargain for leading the mission to Tauron to get us the tylium. So the slate was wiped clean on him and the prisoners who volunteered. My dad and President Adar felt like it was worth it at the time. They had _no_ _way_ of knowing Zarek would find survivors there and come up with a plan to become part of our government."

"What does Cavil say about it?"

"I'm not sure Adar has told Cavil yet. I'm not sure Cavil would even care. He's getting the tylium he wants for his basestars. He's probably more interested in maintaining the status quo. Zarek is nothing to him."

"I met with Zarek after he got out of prison. A…mutual friend arranged it. That's when I still thought Zarek or one of his men had killed my father. I wanted to know…where it had happened …and how. I didn't believe him at first when he said my dad was still alive, but when told me about Dad almost breaking his jaw, that made it real to me."

"I was there. I saw it."

"Frak. If Adar appoints Zarek to the Quorum of Twelve, then Laura will have to deal with him until there's another election on Tauron. Who knows when that might be? And my dad will have to be around him at official functions. That ought to be fun for both of them."

Lee stood. "Put up the Viper manual. It's almost midnight. You need to go to bed. _We_ need to go to bed."

Kara looked up at him. "Say _please_."

Lee grinned. "Please."

o

Laura Roslin walked in and sat down on the couch in hers and John's suite in the fourth hotel they had stayed in that week, a different hotel every night since Monday. She kicked off her shoes and put her head on John's shoulder. They were both tired. D'Anna Biers was with them on this leg of the campaign tour, and Laura knew she was recording everything under the pretense of making a documentary about the campaign process. If Laura was right about D'Anna being a Cylon, then she knew that every scrap of information about her campaign was going straight back to Cavil.

Laura took the drink out of John's hand and turned it up just as her mobile phone rang.

"Don't answer it," John said. "It's after ten o'clock."

Laura looked at the caller ID. "It's Bill. He wouldn't call at this time of night unless it was important." She picked up her phone from the table. "Hello, Bill."

"I apologize for calling this late, but I thought you should hear this before it goes out to the press first thing in the morning. I just got off the phone with the President. At six o'clock this evening Tom Zarek was sworn in as Tauron's duly elected member of the Quorum of Twelve."

"Oh, dear gods. When is this going public?"

"Adar's Press Secretary will announce it first thing in the morning. I'm sure you'll get questions about it. Last week Zarek presented a petition to Adar with the signatures of almost eleven hundred Taurons. Adar has had his best legal experts looking at the situation for the last week. None of them could find a way to legally stop it. Zarek has called a press conference for nine tomorrow morning. It was all we could do to get him to wait until Adar's office made the announcement."

"Thank you for calling me. I'll try to get my thoughts together tonight so that I can make a coherent statement tomorrow. You're right. I'm sure I'll be asked about it especially considering Zarek's criminal past. Does Cavil know?"

"Adar briefed him before the swearing-in ceremony. Cavil doesn't care. He knows the Quorum has no real power. He said if we wanted to put criminals in our governing bodies, it was our business. How goes the campaign?"

"The deeper into the heartland of Caprica we get, the less…receptive my audiences appear to be."

Bill chuckled. "You were expecting that, weren't you? Women politicians don't do particularly well in the smaller, more conservative towns."

"Yes, I was expecting my popularity to decline as we travelled north of Caprica City. This morning I actually had a man in the crowd address a question to John instead of me. He asked, '_How does your wife feel about letting people worship one God like the Cylons do?'"_

"What did John say?"

"He told the man that I was perfectly capable of answering the question myself." Laura smiled at her husband. "I was almost afraid he was going to add _you idiot_ to the end of his answer, but he behaved himself admirably."

Bill said. "Your audiences should get more receptive when you get to Antioch and Kinsdale. The citizens of both cities owe a great deal to you."

"We're going to visit the park that was created on the site of the big camp outside of Antioch. I'm making a speech and placing a wreath at the memorial wall for all those who died…both in the bombing of the city and in the camp afterward."

"It sounds like you have a full agenda."

"Yes, we do."

"I'll let you get some rest, then."

"Thank you for calling, Bill. I very much appreciate the information you gave me."

"I'll keep you posted of anything else I hear."

She put her phone down and relayed Bill's news to John.

"That's great. That's just great," he said sarcastically. "Now I get to attend functions with a man who threatened to let his men rape my daughter."

"I'm sorry. I had no idea why he was back in Caprica City."

"What could you do about it, Laura? This is not your fault. I'm not blaming you."

"We can't blame Adar either. Unless someone could prove Zarek got those Tauron signatures under false pretenses, there's nothing we can do. Tauron is still a Colony. The still deserve representation."

"But Zarek? They deserve better than Tom Zarek."

"I agree. The man is self-serving. He could care less about a few thousand native Taurons who just want to live as they have for centuries. For the first time in five years I'm glad the Quorum of Twelve has no real power. Of course next year...provided I'm elected and the Cylons are destroyed...well, that will be a different story. I'm too tired to think of the implications of Zarek and a functioning Quorum right now. I think it's time for bed."

John stood and helped her to her feet. "You talked me into it."

o

On Friday afternoon Kara waited in the hallway near the bulletin board where their test scores would be posted. She wasn't alone. Most of the other nuggets were pacing or milling about with her. There would be no names on the posted list, only the military ID numbers that were on their dog tags.

She saw Pike propped lazily against the wall a few doors down. Pike did well on tests. He'd probably aced this one. And he was acting so cool, like he was in no hurry to see his score. Like he knew he'd done well.

An ensign came out of the office with the sheet of paper and thumb-tacked it to the board. The nuggets all crowded around. Kara had to wait for a minute before she could push her way to the front. The class average was at the top of the page. 92. They'd done well. Quickly she found her number. She'd made 98. No one had made 100. There was one other 98. It was probably Pike's.

She started down the hall toward the exit. Lee was right. Pike could only get to her if she let him.

She grinned as she passed him. "The number one Viper spot is spelled T-o-p G-u-n and it's mine."

TBC…


	65. The Shark Rider

Chapter 65

The Shark Rider

_The memorial garden created on the site of the former refugee camp outside of Antioch first received widespread attention during a campaign stop by Presidential candidate Laura Roslin. As she praised those who had survived, Roslin placed a wreath at the white granite memorial wall set into the hillside. The names of those who had perished in all three of the refugee camps was carved into the granite during the two years that it took to create the garden. Work is proceeding on plans for a museum at the site. _

_-Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War_

Kara stood in a flight suit on the high platform above one of the training tanks as two female ensigns strapped her into the parachute rig and adjusted the harness. She was one of only nine other female Viper pilot trainees and they had to wait until the two females were available to handle the job of getting them into the harness.

Her class had been processed alphabetically today and once again, Kara was the last one to go. The sun was over halfway down the afternoon sky before she stood ready.

"Does that feel tight enough, sir?" One of the ensigns asked as she adjusted the chest strap and then the straps that came up between Kara's legs.

"Plenty tight," Kara answered, her voice echoing inside her flight helmet.

"Please walk to the edge of the platform."

Kara walked to the edge.

The harness tightened as the overhead mechanism lifted her off the platform and out over the center of the tank. A blast of air inflated her chute briefly and she was dropped twenty feet into the water. She didn't feel the cold at first as she plunged deep beneath the surface. She was surprised at how heavy her limbs felt, how much the suit seemed to weigh.

Her first impulse was to kick her way to the surface. The parachute was settling on top of her, part of it already starting to sink. She felt a moment of panic before she remembered the first thing she had to do. _Release the chute…release the chute._

Her hand in her glove was clumsy as she fumbled with the catch. At least the helmet hadn't started filling with water. Later she would try to imagine what it would be like to go into the ocean if part of her suit were compromised, the stomach-churning feeling of realizing her helmet was filling with water and she couldn't get to the surface, like drowning inside of a fish bowl.

The catch released. She was no longer tethered to the parachute, but the buoyant helmet and suit kept her near the surface, not allowing her to dive and swim free of the heavy parachute settling around her, sinking, pulling her down with it.

She grabbed handfuls of nylon and began pulling it back over her head, propelling herself forward. The watertight helmet held, but she thought she could feel moisture trickling down her sides as she lifted and pulled, lifted and pulled. Had her suit been compromised? Was she going to start sinking? Later she decided that it had simply been her own adrenalin-fueled sweat.

She reached the edge of the parachute, saw sunlight on the water above her and kicked her way up. She broke the surface gasping from the exertion, the faceplate on her helmet fogged from the moisture in her breath.

Kara raised her thumb in the direction of the side of the platform to let the instructor with the clipboard know she was all right. Not exactly graceful but she had done it. The three water-related tests were either pass or fail. She had passed. She had made it through water test number one.

Kara squinted into the sun as she clumsily swam to the side. She remembered how she and Lee had swum naked like silver dolphins through the water of the secluded little bay on the island. Swimming in the flight suit was almost like swimming wrapped in a blanket.

When she reached the ladder, Kara hauled herself up the rungs and stood dripping water while one of the ensigns removed the harness rig. Kara released the catch on her helmet. The pressure changed. She twisted the helmet and got it off. She handed it to the other ensign who had come down from the higher platform. The instructor motioned for her to proceed to the locker room. Yeah, she had passed.

Diana Seelix was the only person inside the room when Kara got there. She had chosen the call sign of _Hardball _because her sport of choice at the Academy was Pyramid and she had played it well. Wrapped in a towel and with her face in her hands, Seelix was sitting on the bench in front of the lockers.

"Are you all right?" Kara asked.

Seelix looked up. "I flunked. I got tangled up in the lines of the chute and panicked. The divers had to pull me out."

"You'll get another chance."

"One more. I frak that up and I'm washed out."

"I heard you had to flunk all three water tests this year to wash out. You get two chances with each of them."

"It's still not fair. We're going to battlestars for the gods sakes. Why do we need to worry about ejecting over the water?"

Kara thought about the battle to free Caprica, now less than six months away, and about how much of the surface of Caprica was water. After that would come the battle over Nereid, which had vast oceans based on the information in Irina Hoshi's journal.

"They just want to make sure we're trained to survive anything that happens to us."

Seelix took a deep breath. "You're right."

Kara had started to shiver in the wet flight suit, partly from the air-conditioned room and partly from the adrenalin dissipating in her body. She sat down on the bench and pulled off her boots, unzipped the suit and peeled it off. She grabbed a towel.

As she passed behind Seelix on her way into the showers, Kara said, "Hey, before we get out of here, they'll probably make us prove we can start a fire by rubbing two sticks together."

"At least you can't drown trying to start a fire," Diana said.

o

At Channing's that night Kara related her day to Lee including her success in the tank. She also told him about Seelix.

"You know, it really doesn't seem fair that she would wash out of Flight School if she can't pass the water tests," Kara said.

"She won't wash out for that," Lee said. "My dad told me the instructors have been told to be more lenient on the water tests and the obstacle course. If she can fly a Viper, that's what counts. The only thing that will wash a nugget out is flunking a check ride twice. My dad wants every pilot he can get right now."

"That's good to know."

"Just keep that to yourself."

"Don't worry." Kara's mobile phone buzzed. She looked at the caller ID…her father. He called her every evening. "Hi, Dad."

"Hey, baby. I've been thinking about you all day. How did you do in the tank?"

"Fine. I got out from under the parachute just fine. How are things going for you?"

"We stopped in two more small towns today. The crowds weren't that large, but Laura wasn't expecting them to be. We're in the breadbasket of Caprica. Farmers are busy people. We ate lunch in a little café. Got our picture taken by a few locals. I just talked to the bus driver. He said we're about an hour out of Antioch."

"How's Braedon?"

"He's fine. I took him last night for a couple of hours to give Maya a break while Laura met with Billy and her campaign staff. I had Brae on a quilt on the floor in our hotel room and he started crawling. After he'd gone about three feet he looked up at me with the biggest smile on his face. He looked like he was really pleased with himself. Kind of surprised, too."

"I can't wait to see him. I can't wait to see you, either. I miss both of you."

"We're halfway through this leg of the campaign tour. Another week and a half and we'll be home. The rest of Laura's campaigning will be in and around Caprica City since that's where almost half the population lives."

"I know you'll be glad."

"You can't imagine how much. How's Lee?"

"Lee's fine. We're eating dinner at Channing's."

"One of my favorite places."

"How's Laura holding up?"

"She's doing fine. We're both tired at night, but…like I said, it's only another week and a half on the road."

"Tell Laura I said _hello_. And tell Maya, too."

"I will. I miss you, baby. I want to hear all about Flight School when I get home."

"Kiss Brae for me. Goodnight, Dad."

Kara put her phone back in her pocket.

"How is the campaign going?" Lee asked.

Kara shrugged. "Okay. Dad just wants to get back here. Braedon started to crawl."

"I'm sure John is proud of him. I talked to Zak for a while this afternoon. Major Parker is on vacation this week and I was having a slow day. I spent some time on the web reading the headlines and checking out some other sites. D'Anna Biers is posting news about the campaign. There are some good pictures of Laura and John. They do make a nice-looking couple."

"Yeah, Dad told me D'Anna was riding on the bus with them. Her and her cameraman, too. What did Zak have to say?"

"Big surprise. He's getting tired of the twins just like he did the cheerleader. He talked to Maggie. I think they're going out this Saturday night. Zak sounded really happy. He's made reservations at Bonnie Patrice. I think that's a first for him."

"I wonder what changed Maggie's mind. I hope things work out for them if that's what he wants. Oh, by the way, we've been invited to a party on Friday night…not a party exactly, but a bunch of nuggets are getting together at this place called The Shark Rider down on the waterfront. There will be some drinking, some dancing, some blowing off steam. We have another big test on Friday. The party is our reward."

"Let me guess. Flat Top invited you."

Kara gave him a look. "No. Narcho did. And he invited _us_…not just me. Sharon and Karl are going to be there. Does that mean you don't want to go?"

"No, going to a party is fine with me…if that's what _you_ want to do."

"Are we going to get into it over Saunders again?"

Lee managed to keep his tone of voice even. "I wasn't aware we'd gotten into it over him the first time."

"He's just a friend. He's a nice guy. He's never said one thing out of line to me."

"I didn't say he had, Kara."

"During first semester he had a crush on Maggie."

"Look, you don't have to keep explaining Dwight Saunders to me. He's nice. He's smart. He's tall and good-looking. He's your friend."

Kara sat without speaking for a few moments. Finally she pointed to the ring on her hand. "Lee, if I'd had any doubts about us, any at all, I'd never have accepted this from you."

"It's just that…never mind."

"No. What? Something is bothering you. Spit it out."

"I believe you when you say you only look at Saunders like a friend, but you're beautiful and you're hot so you'd better believe that even if he hasn't said anything out of line, he's thought about it. He's imagined what it would be like to be with you. It's…just a guy thing, Kara."

"So what are you saying…that I should sit in a corner and never be friends with any guys?"

"No, Kara. I'm not saying that. I trust you. I'm just saying that Saunders may look at you differently than you look at him. Just don't be surprised if some day he lets you know it."

"Okay, Lee. You're a guy. You should know. So who do you sit around fantasizing about?"

He smiled. "You."

She rolled her eyes.

"We'll go to the party, Kara. It's important for you to have fun with the other nuggets in your class."

"Didn't you ever do that?"

Lee shrugged. "I had my share of fun. Mostly I studied, though. Are you ready to go back to the apartment?"

"Yeah."

Lee put enough cubits on the table to cover the bill and a tip and they walked the five blocks back to Laura and John's apartment.

Inside the door, Kara put her arms around him and kissed him. She held him tightly as the kiss deepened.

Lee pulled back, "You've got to study."

"Later," Kara whispered. "This is more important right now."

He couldn't say _no _to her. He could never say _no _to her. He loved her and wanted her too much. He slid his hands under her t-shirt and unhooked her bra. She quickly had his shorts unzipped and pulled him into the den. By the time he stumbled back against the couch, the shorts were around his ankles.

He looked at her with a question in his eyes. "Here?"

"Right here."

He sat.

She kicked off her sandals and quickly shimmied out of her shorts before she straddled him and sat on his lap, teasingly close, but not close enough.

"Not yet," she whispered. "You know what I want."

Her soft moan and the fact that she had been unbuttoning his shirt and now stopped told him he was right. He slid his other hand under the t-shirt and found her nipple.

It didn't take long before she grasped him and took him inside her. They found the right rhythm. He watched her face, the way it suffused with pleasure, the way her body began to tense. He knew her that well by now, could tell she was on the verge of coming.

His head was back against the couch. He closed his eyes, his world dissolving into the pleasure that he always felt with her.

He held her tightly against him. "Is that what you wanted?"

"Um-hm," she mumbled.

"Ready to hit the books?"

"Un-uh. Let's go to bed. I'll get up early and study."

He took her face in his hands and kissed her. "I love you. I'd do anything for you."

She smiled. "Even hang out with a bunch of nuggets for me?"

"Even that."

That night Lee lay awake for over an hour after Kara had gone to sleep. He didn't know why Kara's friendship with Dwight Saunders was bothering him. He didn't know why he'd immediately jumped to the conclusion that Saunders had told her about the party Friday night. He knew Kara loved him. He knew she only saw Saunders as a friend.

Maybe it was because Saunders was him, three years ago, class valedictorian, but outgoing and popular, too. Lee had never been that outgoing. He'd never been that popular. He'd spent most of his time studying and with Shelley or later Blaire on the weekends. He knew many of his classmates had misinterpreted his reserved nature as arrogance. He knew that in the classroom, his readiness with the right answers hadn't scored him any points with them either. But, he'd been true to his nature. It was who he was.

He'd also had to fight the stigma of his last name and the jealousy that had sometimes inspired. Son of a Commander. Son of a Viper hero of the First Cylon War. Son of the President's senior military advisor. All three had been a source of pride for him, and yet all three had inadvertently been strikes against him with many of his fellow cadets.

During Flight School he'd been invited to some of the parties. He'd attended only a few. It wasn't his scene. The drunken antics of some of his fellow nuggets had been legendary. He hadn't participated. It wasn't who he was. Then the accident in the deep space simulator had happened and he'd been too busy trying to catch up after missing a week to attend any parties. Maybe his feelings right now had less to do with Kara and more to do with himself, with what he thought might be some of his own inadequacies. He might have earned his fellow pilot's respect, but he didn't know if they really liked him, not the way Kara's classmates seemed to like Saunders.

Studying, doing well in school had always been his refuge from what he had faced at home. It was the one area he'd felt like he was in control of his life. By the time he had reached the Academy and later Flight School, it was a way of life. Had being the best, being the top of his class become an addiction for him? Hadn't Zak and even John told him that he needed to lighten up and have fun?

As Lee finally drifted to sleep, he was wondering if he should have tried harder to fit in with the others in his class, something that didn't come easy for him, something that wasn't second-nature to him the way is was for Dwight Saunders, and something that was a lot harder for him to do than sitting in his room and studying.

Maybe he should have tried harder to be one of the guys, but that wasn't who he was.

o

John was standing in front of the mirror knotting his necktie when Laura walked into the bedroom of their hotel suite in Antioch. They had arrived late Thursday evening and were there for Friday and Saturday before moving on to Kinsdale on Sunday.

Today they would visit the site that had once been the sprawling refugee camp, the camp that had been Kara's home for almost three years. Laura would make a speech there in which she would pay tribute to the hundreds of thousands of Capricans who had died in the bombing of Antioch and in the camps during the next three years. She would finish her speech with the promise of a better future if she were elected. She hoped she could live up to that promise. She hoped they would be free of the Cylons by the time she took office in January.

John turned to her. "Does the tie look okay? I can't seem to get it right this morning."

Their eyes met. Today was going to be hard for him. She knew it. She reached up and touched the side of his face. "The tie is fine, John. You look good like you always do."

She and Billy had rewritten her speech several times in an effort to balance the tribute she would pay to the dead with praise for the survivors and references to the future they were building as the destroyed parts of Antioch were gradually razed and reconstructed. She could make no reference to the Cylons in her speech. She could point no finger of blame for the deaths or the suffering that had followed the attack nearly five years ago. Cavil had made it clear to her and to everyone who made public speeches that such references were forbidden. To make them was to risk arrest and imprisonment.

Bill Adama had followed Cavil's guidelines in his speech at the Academy graduation. The subtle use of allusion was allowed, direct references were not unless the Cylons were being praised. Laura had yet to utter the word _Cylon_ in any of her speeches since she could find nothing praiseworthy about them. They had murdered billions of humans and would never be anything to her but heartless killers.

John put his arms around her and she slid hers around him, feeling the warmth of his lean body through his shirt. They stood that way for a minute until he said, "We'd better go. I can handle this today. Kara's fine. She survived the camp. She's with me now. "

"The camp site doesn't look anything at all like it did when she was there. It's a park now. There's a beautiful memorial garden. Parents can take their children there to play. I'm told there's a wonderful field where they can fly kites. To me there's no more definitive picture of the freedoms of childhood than a boy or a girl flying a kite."

"I've seen the pictures of what they've done to the camp site, but it's going to be different actually being there. I was at the camp once. It wasn't a pleasant experience. I lost my cool and got thrown out and then I…had another experience I don't even want to think about. It was after I left the camp in Antioch that I gave up hope of finding Kara."

"Maybe today will give you some closure on the camp. Kara doesn't blame you, John. She never did. You've always blamed yourself."

He nodded.

Before Laura knocked on the door to the adjoining room where Maya was staying with Braedon, John put his hand on her arm.

"I'm not sure this will be…Maya may have a really rough time going to the memorial service. She lost her fiancé in the bombing of Kinsdale. She lost her daughter in one of the camps. Maybe we should let her stay here. I can take care of Braedon. I can hold him while you make your speech."

"You're right. I hadn't realized how difficult this might be for her. Thank you for reminding me. I get so focused on the speeches and the campaign. I forgot Maya was in the camp near Kinsdale."

"Kara told me they talked about it the night they went out. It's still on Maya's mind."

Laura knocked. When Maya opened the door, though, she was already dressed in a simple black dress and shoes. Two small artificial flowers were pinned in the side of her dark hair, one flower was white, the other one blood red. Laura vaguely remembered someone selling flowers like that outside the hotel when they had gotten off the bus last night. The flowers were small poppies, remembrance flowers. White for a loss in the camp, red for a loss in the bombing. Maya wore both.

Braedon was in his playpen. Laura walked over and picked him up. "Hello, my little man." He immediately began to babble and reached for one of her gold earrings. She caught his hand. It was wet and she realized it had been in his mouth. He looked at her and grinned, showing the beginnings of his four front teeth.

Maya hurried over with a tissue. "Don't let him get your suit wet. Those little handprints will show."

Laura handed her son to Maya. She didn't have time to change clothes.

"John and I don't want the trip to the camp and the memorial service to be the cause for any distress for you. Would you rather stay here at the hotel? We can take Braedon. John can hold him while I make my speech. It won't be a problem."

"No," Maya said quietly. "I think…I need to do this maybe more than either one of you." Braedon was reaching for the flowers in the side of Maya's hair and she deftly shifted him to her other hip. "I'll be fine. Maybe not fine, but I need to do this."

Laura nodded. John picked up the diaper bag from the bed and opened the door. Billy stood outside with his hand up ready to knock. "Tory sent me up to get you. The bus is waiting. We don't want to be late."

As they walked down the hall to the elevator, Laura said a silent prayer. She hoped there would be some closure about the refugee camp for both Maya and John today.

o

"Come here quick," Lee said as Kara entered the apartment late Friday afternoon. "Part of Laura's speech up in Antioch is on the news."

Kara walked into the den. Lee turned up the sound. The camera was focused on Laura's face.

"_We are gathered today to honor those who are no longer with us and to pay tribute to those who survived the destruction of their city and the lives they had once known."_

It made Kara angry that Cavil wouldn't allow the mention of how the city was destroyed. Laura might have been talking about an earthquake or another natural disaster instead of a horrible act of war by the Cylons.

The camera pulled back. A podium was set in what looked like the middle of a garden. Kara saw flowers and the bubbling water of a fountain in the background.

"_This beautiful memorial garden was created by the efforts of men and women who wished to transform a necessary but painful chapter of their lives into a place of remembrance for all of us. The creators of this garden have given us a reminder as we go about our daily lives that the past is always with us, but through our efforts we can not only survive it but can become the stronger for it. We can go forward with hope for the future."_

The camera angle shifted. Kara caught a glimpse of her father along with a dozen people seated on folding chairs to the left of the podium. Her father was almost directly behind Laura and was holding Braedon who was asleep in his arms, his plump little body shielded from the sun by a blanket and a sunhat. Maya was at the end of the row and had on sunglasses. She clutched a handful of tissues. Kara knew this must be hard for her. It wasn't her camp, but it was her grief, her pain and her loss just the same.

The screen shifted to D'Anna Biers seated at what looked like a desk in a hotel room.

"Good evening. D'Anna Biers reporting from the campaign trail. This morning Presidential candidate Laura Roslin placed a wreath at the memorial wall in a park that was once a refugee camp on the outskirts of Antioch. To hear her entire speech, visit the KTSNews web site. Ms. Roslin, traveling with her husband and seven-month-old son, continues her campaign swing through the northern cities of Antioch and Kinsdale before returning to Caprica City. Polls are once again placing Roslin's popularity well ahead of her rivals."

The channel went to a commercial and Lee muted the volume. "Have you seen pictures of what has been done to the camp?"

Kara shook her head. "I haven't really cared to revisit that."

"I found a web site today that had some aerial shots of the camp before it was dismantled and the way it looks now. You'd never know it was the same place."

"Lee, I don't really want to look at it. That part of my life is over. I've moved on."

"I just thought you might like to see…"

"No. Why does everyone think they can throw out a few handfuls of grass seed and plant a few flowers and everything is beautiful? It's like what we all went through is just wiped away, like it never happened."

"That's not the point of creating the memorial garden."

"Yeah? Well that's how I feel about it so drop it."

"Okay, Kara." Lee turned off the television. "How did you do on your aviation rules and regs test today?"

"I made 96. It was the second highest grade. Somebody made 100. Probably Pike. He always does good on tests."

"Don't forget you'll be scored on your check rides. That's where you'll beat him. Everything is added to get your final score. There's no way Pike will ever beat you there."

"Yeah. I'm going to take a shower and get ready. We can go to Channing's if you want to before we head down to The Shark Rider."

"That's fine with me."

Near the end of their dinner Lee said, "You're really quiet tonight. Are you still brooding about making 96? That's a good grade for the rules and regs test."

"Says the guy who made 100 on his rules and regs test. And I'm not brooding."

"You're picking at your food and you're not talking."

"Don't get on my case tonight, Lee. I don't need it."

"Kara, I know Flight School is stressful. I know how much pressure you're under to perform."

"Next week I do the last two water tests and the deep space simulator. The week after that I get to have fun in the Spin and Puke. I've also got to pass the obstacle course which I can't do yet because I can't get over that _stupid wall_. Not to mention the rest of the classroom training before I even get a chance to go up in a Viper trainer. I want to fly and I'm still three weeks away."

"I know what it's like. I went through it. You'll get there. Three weeks will go by fast. You'll be surprised how fast."

"So you think I'm whining?"

"The last two weeks and the next ten weeks are probably the most intense twelve weeks you'll spend in your life. It's okay to whine a little. Now let's go so you can have some fun."

By the time they left Channing's, the sun had set over Caprica City and the streetlights had come on. They heard the music from The Shark Rider as soon as the transport pulled up near the curb, even before Lee opened the door. It had to be loud inside. A long pier extended into the water on the left side of the building. Fishermen were ambling back up the pier with their tackle boxes and the day's catch or lack of it depending on their luck and skill.

Part of the building was constructed on pilings and jutted into the bay. Over the door a neon sign of a mermaid riding a shark glowed brightly.

"I guess we're at the right place," Lee said and paid the driver before they got out.

Several nuggets from her class were standing outside drinking beer from bottles. Kara guessed they were outside because they wanted to talk. The noise level inside would definitely make conversation difficult. They greeted each other as Kara and Lee walked through the door. The inside of the bar was bigger than it looked from the outside. It was packed with more nuggets and some locals. A band with two guitarists and a drummer played on a small stage to the right of the bar.

Kara looked around in the dim light and saw Sharon and Karl at a table near the back on the other side of the room. Karl saw her, waved and pointed to two chairs.

They began working their way in that direction.

"Starbuck." Kara heard someone call. Noel Allison got up from a table where he was sitting with Dwight Saunders and Alex Quartararo. Both had girls sitting on their laps, probably locals who frequented the bar. One was wearing a black denim mini-skirt and boots. The other one wore skimpy cut-off jeans and a halter top.

Narcho leaned down near her ear. "Was that you who made the 100 on the test today?"

She put her mouth near his ear. "Nope. It was probably Pike. I made 96. How did you do?"

"92."

"That's not so bad."

"Not so good either."

Kara introduced Lee to Narcho. "We're going back to sit with Karl and Sharon," she shouted to him. "It looks like your table is full. All you need now is a woman to sit on your lap."

Narcho laughed. "They keep switching around. I'll get one of them eventually."

While Kara went to the back table, Lee went to the bar to get two beers.

Near the back, the music didn't seem quite as loud. Kara wondered if it were all the bodies soaking up the sound.

Sharon leaned over and said to her, "This is not really my kind of place. The noise is...almost too much."

"Look at it as a learning experience," Kara said.

The music and the atmosphere were beginning to seep into her. She was beginning to find the rhythm of the place. She was beginning to relax and let go of the tension even if it was only for tonight.

The band launched into a popular song that had a good dance beat.

Karl leaned over to Sharon. "Let's dance."

Sharon shook her head. "Too crowded."

Karl looked at Kara. "How about it?"

"Let's go," Kara said. They passed Lee on his way from the bar. "I'm going to work up a thirst."

The dance floor was packed. They could hardly move. Nobody seemed to be dancing with anybody else. It was just a big group of nuggets and a few locals bouncing and gyrating to the music.

She and Karl didn't go back to the table until three songs later. Lee and Sharon were gone. Kara's beer sat at her place.

Karl leaned over. "They probably went outside. It is loud. My ears are ringing."

Kara picked up her beer and motioned toward the door that led to the deck on the back of the building. They saw Lee and Sharon walking about halfway down the pier.

Karl found two chairs and they sat and propped their feet on the deck rail. Kara sipped her beer as the ocean breeze dried the sweat on her face and scalp. She raised her arms and the short sleeves of her tropical print shirt billowed. She was wearing cargo shorts and sandals. It didn't take long at all to get cool and dry.

"What do you think they're talking about?" She asked Karl.

He shrugged. "Flight School probably. Sharon had a hard time with the first water test. She passed, but she doesn't like the water."

Kara remembered why. This Sharon had shared the other one's memories…Boomer, the copy who had drowned. Also the copy who had suffocated on Troy.

"Seelix messed up yesterday and flunked the first water test. She was supposed to try again this afternoon. I didn't see her when we came in. I hope she did okay."

"She's here. I saw her earlier. She must have passed or she wouldn't be here celebrating. I like your haircut. Sharon's, too."

"Thanks. It'll be easier to take care of on the _G_." She pulled it back and held it briefly. "See? I can still get it into a ponytail."

"You sound sure about the _Galactica._"

"We're all going to be together. You and me and Sharon. Maybe a few others, too."

Karl smiled. "Did somebody give you that in writing?"

"I've just got a feeling. My dad and Laura were at the camp today. She gave a speech."

"I know. I saw the news before Sharon and I left to come over here. I didn't recognize the place."

"Lee wanted me to look at some pictures. I didn't want to. Not today, anyway. Maybe later."

"I don't blame you, Kara."

"Do you think I need to do it to get closure?"

"Not unless you think you do."

"In a way I wish they'd left it alone. Now it's beautiful and everybody will forget what it was like. We need to be reminded of what the Cylons did."

"Nobody needs to remind me," Karl said seriously.

"No, I guess not."

"D'Anna Biers said there was a fund-raising drive going on now to collect money to build a museum on the site. It will have photographs of the way the camp looked. I don't think anybody will forget what it was like if they were there. I won't. I know you won't either. I shut my eyes sometimes and see it all."

Dwight Saunders came out onto the deck, sat down beside her and put his feet on the rail. He was also wearing cargo short with an Academy t-shirt. Nobody would ever accuse Saunders of excessive spending on his wardrobe. He had a beer in his hand.

"Man, it feels good out here. It's getting hot inside. Too many bodies packed into too small a space."

"What happened to your bimbo in the cut-offs and halter top?" Kara asked.

"She's sitting on Narcho's lap. She found out he's going to be a _Viper _pilot."

"Aw, she broke your heart," Kara teased.

Karl snickered. "It's not his heart that's interested in her."

"Easy come, easy go," Saunders said in a good-natured way. "So what happened to your prospective spouses?"

"Down on the end of the pier making out," Karl joked.

"So why aren't you two up here making out?"

Kara kept up the joking banter. "Sharon would kick my ass. Besides, it'd be like making out with my brother. Karl and I have been friends since we were kids."

"Well, if you want me to stand in for Karl, there's nobody on my lap right now."

Kara got up and dropped her empty beer bottle in the recycle barrel. She ruffled Saunders' hair as she walked behind his chair. "You'd just break my heart before you ditched me for the bimbo. I'd better go find Lee. I'll leave you here with Karl. Maybe you two can make out."

Karl said in a falsetto voice, "I don't care if you're _not_ going to be a _Viper pilot_, you big hunk."

Saunders almost spit out his beer he laughed so hard. "I'm still a few beers away from being _that_ drunk, Helo…but you do look better than you did when I came in tonight."

All three of them were still laughing as Kara went down the steps from the deck to the pier. She tried not to read anything into Saunders' slightly intoxicated remark. Had Lee been right? Had Flat Top actually thought about them being together? Was he coming on to her or had his remark been made in jest like hers had been to him?

Saunders never had any trouble getting a date at the Academy, but he didn't have a reputation as a guy who was always on the make, either, like Pike. For now Kara decided to give him the benefit of the doubt.

o

Sharon and Lee strolled slowly toward the end of the pier.

"Thank you for coming out here with me," Sharon said.

"No problem. Crowds and loud bands aren't exactly my thing either."

"Should we have told Kara and Karl where we are?"

"They're smart. They'll figure it out."

"I know you have your doubts about me."

Lee didn't say anything for a moment. "Given the history of your…fellow Cylons, do you blame me?"

"No," Sharon said quietly.

"What makes you so different? What makes you willing to betray the others?"

"I want to stay with Karl."

"I'm not sure that's enough to convince me."

"I want to stay with humans. I don't want to go back to live on a basestar…or anywhere else with the other Cylons. There're just copies and copies and copies of the same seven models. They might have different experiences, but they're basically all the same. Do you know what's it's like to run into yourself dozens of times a day?"

Lee couldn't imagine how that would be. "No," he finally said. "If you did have to go back, where would you live besides a basestar?"

"I…don't know. All I remember is being on a basestar."

If Kara were right, then Sharon might have buried memories of the place they were all created…maybe even memories of who created them. He would never believe that the centurion models had been able to construct the skinjobs on their own. He thought they'd had human help. He remembered what his father had told him about the Cylon facility they had found on the ice planet and the horrific discoveries that lay within the lab. That facility had been abandoned twenty-five years ago. If his father and John were right, the Cylons had moved to Nereid and continued their experiments until they had created the skinjobs. Maybe they were still experimenting.

"You have the knowledge, Sharon. It's buried deep inside your memories. You could tell me if you wanted to."

"Cavil has the knowledge. He was the first one created. He has all the knowledge. He kept a lot of it from the rest of us. I was the last one created. I got the least amount of knowledge about our beginnings. But I've got the greatest capacity to learn. That's why I was chosen to live among humans...to observe and to learn, especially about emotions."

"And to report back to the others."

"To share with them. But I don't want to go back. I don't know another way of saying it. I want to stay with Karl."

They reached the end of the pier and stood with their elbows against the rail. They were on one side of the harbor. Miles across the water the beacon of the Penny Point Lighthouse steadily rotated. Lighted buoys bobbed in the water of the bay, marking the deep shipping channel. The lights of the city were so bright that Lee had trouble seeing the stars. He thought about the stars the way he and Kara had seen them on the island. Kara had said that Kataris called them the torches of other worlds. As he stood thinking about Nereid, he was more aware than ever that they weren't alone in the universe. They weren't even alone in their own galaxy.

The ocean breeze caught Sharon's hair and blew it in her face. She pushed it behind her ears. "Maybe I've learned too much. Maybe I've learned more than Cavil ever thought I would. Maybe I see humans differently from the way he does. Kara could have turned me in. So could Karl. So could you. None of you did."

"So _that's_ why you're going to help us?"

"One of the reasons."

"How many basestars are out there?"

"Besides the one over Caprica City, four. There's a resurrection ship as well."

"Where are the basestars?"

"Watching your battlestars. They move around."

"Where's the resurrection ship?"

"Near the most distant planet in your solar system, a planet that's mostly ice."

"Is anything on the planet now? Is that where the Cylons live?"

"I don't think so."

"Then where did the Cylons go twenty-five years ago? Where did they go at the end of the First Cylon War? Where did they go to build the new basestars and create the…ones like you?"

"Another solar system."

"Which one?"

"I don't know."

"I don't believe you."

"That's the truth, Lee. I would tell you if I knew. I just know that it's not in this solar system."

"Is there any chance you can find out?"

"No. There's no one I can ask."

Lee thought about Leoben and wondered if he knew. If Leoben had been the second skinjob created, he might have almost as much knowledge as Cavil.

Sharon said, "Kara's walking down the pier."

Lee turned around. Sharon was right. Kara was three-fourths of the way to them.

"How did you know that?"

"I smelled her shampoo. Some of our senses are more acute than humans. We're stronger. We don't get tired. We don't even have to sleep."

"So that makes you better?"

"Cavil thinks it does."

"And what do you think?"

Sharon shook her head sadly. "That's not what makes someone better."

Kara came up beside him. He put his arm around her.

"Look at all those lights on the water," Kara said. "They look like stars."

"Where's Karl?" Sharon asked.

"Sitting on the deck talking to Saunders."

"I'd better go back."

They watched her start walking up the pier.

"Is something wrong with Sharon?" Kara asked.

"She doesn't like crowds and loud music. She said some of her senses are more acute than ours."

Kara poked him playfully in the ribs. "So what's your excuse?"

"I don't like crowds and loud music, either."

"Are you trying to tell me you're a Cylon?" Kara joked.

"It's just not my thing. I've never been a party guy."

"Do you want to leave?"

"No. We'll go back. We'll go have another beer and dance. This is your fun night. I want you to have fun."

When they got back inside The Shark Rider, the band had taken a break. Someone had fed the jukebox. The song was slow. There were fewer people on the dance floor now. Sharon was dancing with Karl, her eyes closed, her arms wrapped around his neck.

Lee put his arms around Kara. They began to move to the beat of the music. Lee saw the guy Kara had introduced as Narcho dancing with the girl in the cut-off shorts. Quartararo was dancing with the girl in the black skirt. Flat Top sat at the table, and for a moment Lee thought he was watching them, but as he glanced back around, Saunders got up and went over to a table where Diana Seelix sat with several other nuggets. A minute later they were dancing against one another, her arms around his neck. Saunders' eyes were closed, a beer bottle still in his hand.

o

Laura Roslin stood on the edge of a precipice, darkness all around her, her son clutched in her arms. She was frozen with fear, unable to move. Something was close by in the darkness, something that was going to snatch her child from her. She tried to scream but no sound came from her throat. Braedon clung to her.

She fought her way up from the nightmare and heard John's voice. "Laura, what's wrong?"

She opened her eyes. She was sitting up in a strange bed in a strange room, and then she remembered. They were in Antioch. They were in a hotel room in Antioch. She sank back against the pillows.

"A bad dream. It was a bad dream."

He pulled her to him and held her. "It's all right. You're safe."

"Something was going to take Braedon from me. Something evil…in the darkness. I couldn't see."

"Nothing is going to get Braedon. He's in the next room."

Laura got out of bed and pulled on her robe. "I've got to see him."

She padded barefoot through the living room of the suite to the door of the adjoining bedroom, opened it quietly so as not to wake Maya and went over to the portable crib. Her son was sleeping soundly. He was fine. She stood watching him until the dream had completely faded before she left and closed the door just as quietly behind her.

The Oracle had once told her that a dark force would try to take her son but would not succeed. Had being on the site of the camp today and seeing the haunted looks in the eyes of some of the survivors stirred her memories and her fears? Were the Cylons the dark force? Would _they_ try to take her son from her?

John was standing in the doorway of their bedroom as she walked back through the living room of the suite.

"He's fine, isn't he?"

"Yes. I don't know what happened to me. I had to see him."

He led her back into the bedroom and shut the door. "You need to go back to sleep. It's not even four o'clock."

She put her arms around him and her face against his shoulder. He had become her refuge from the turmoil that seemed to engulf her more and more lately. Her hands slid down against the back of his hips. They didn't speak. They didn't have to. He knew exactly what she wanted and needed. He didn't disappoint her. He never disappointed her.

Afterward she fell asleep almost immediately, secure in his arms, the dark dream gone from her thoughts. She had to believe in a better future for their son. She had to believe the Cylons would be destroyed. She had to.

o

The cage rattled and clanked. Made of metal bars and wire mesh with a Viper seat welded inside, it sat on rails that disappeared into another one of the training tanks, a much larger one than the one in which the parachute test had taken place. The cage was shaped roughly like the cockpit of a Viper.

Kara sat strapped in the seat, waiting for the guy in the control booth to press a lever that would send the cage sliding down the rails into the forty-foot deep tank. The yellow and black striped lever on her left was for ejecting the canopy of the cage just before she hit the water, the canopy in this case being made of wire mesh. The stick between her legs controlled the rotation at which the cage hit the water. She knew that upright and facing forward was best.

For some reason Kara wasn't as nervous about this test as she had been about the parachute drop. The diver on the side of the pool jumped in. The one beside the cage went over the instructions once again. Keep her head back against the seat, eject the canopy before the cage hit the water, keep the cage straight up instead of on its side, release the seat harness, swim to the surface. Simple.

Not simple, but she knew she could do it.

In reality Kara knew that a Viper pilot would rarely find himself or herself in a position where flying a ship into the water was the best alternative. It was usually always better to eject before that happened. At the speed Vipers traveled, they tended to disintegrate on impacting anything, even water. That's why last week's test had been so important. She was far more likely to find herself ejecting over the water than riding her Viper into it.

Raptor pilots had it much tougher as far as the cage was concerned. They had to ride a bigger cage into the water with no canopy to eject. They had to open the Raptor's door before they could swim out. For once she didn't envy Karl or Sharon at all. They got to do it in pairs…a pilot and his ECO.

"Are you ready, lieutenant?" The diver beside her asked.

She held up her thumb. The cage clanked again. She felt it being pulled backward up the rails. She looked down at the surface of the water as it got farther away. Lee had told her this morning to think of it as a big roller coaster ride.

Yeah, right.

The cage stopped moving. Suddenly she was hurtling downward, her speed increasing. Thirty seconds later it was over. She was free of the cage and on the surface treading water. Test number two was history. She smiled to herself as she clumsily swam to the side of the tank. She still believed that wimming in the flight suit was harder than the test.

That afternoon she went out to the obstacle course to practice again. Every afternoon that she didn't have some other kind of test, she had worked on parts of the course. The entire course was on sand, which slowed everyone down and made running tough. She was finally getting used to it. She had mastered every single bit of the course, hopping through the two rows of tires, jumping the hurdles, climbing the rope and the pulling herself hand-over-hand across the horizontal ladder set ten feet off the ground, walking the twenty-five foot balance beam across the water pit, crawling snakelike on her belly through the maze of pipes and under the barbed wire. She just couldn't get over that six-foot wall.

That afternoon she ran at the wall and jumped. She got her hands over the top but it was wide and she couldn't hold on. She fell back on the sand. She tried again. The third time she felt a pain in her shoulder. Damn.

She went over to the side of the course, sat down on the grass and massaged her shoulder. She rotated it. The pain mostly went away. The guys did an eight-foot wall beside the six-foot wall for the females, the thought behind that being that men had more upper body strength than women. Some of the guys were struggling with their wall, too. Kara took comfort in the fact that she wasn't the only one who couldn't do the wall.

She was discouraged, though. She put her arms across her knees and put her head on them.

Someone sat down beside her. She glanced up. Dwight Saunders. He was wearing boots, fatigue pants and tanks. She looked at him just long enough to tell that he worked out.

"You okay?" He asked.

"Yeah. I thought I'd hurt my shoulder trying to get over the wall."

"I was watching you. You're jumping too late, too close to the wall. You can't pull yourself up with your hands. The top of the wall is too wide. You need to get your arms on top of it. That's the only way you'll be able to haul yourself over. I'll show you."

He got up. She watched as he walked back to the starting point, turned and ran at the wall. He jumped with his arms in front of him and bent at the elbows. He hit the wall almost chest high, got his arms on top and swung his torso over before dropping on the other side. He made it look so easy.

Saunders walked out from behind the wall and grinned. "Nothing to it."

"You're six or seven inches taller than I am."

"Yeah, that helps. But you can make it up with the jump. Come on. Try it."

The first two times Kara tried it, she didn't get up high enough and fell back on her haunches. The next time she hit the wall so hard that she felt her teeth rattle. She knew she was going to have some bruises from that one.

By now she was frustrated and humiliated. "I can't do this. I've been trying for two weeks. I'll never get over it unless I sprout wings or something."

"Yes, you can. Maybe you think Kara can't, but I know Starbuck can. I'm going to put a little mark on the sand where I want you to jump. Go as high as you can and get your arms over the top. Don't lose the momentum. Let it carry your body like a pendulum. Just swing yourself right over. You don't have to be graceful. You've just got to get over it."

Kara tried again, jumping right where he put the mark, propelling herself as high as she could. She got her arms over the rim of the wall. She was tired, and it took two tries to swing her torso high enough to hook her leg over the top and pull herself up, but she did it.

She dropped down on the other side and came around the wall with a big smile on her face.

"I told you that you could do it," Saunders said.

"Yeah. Thanks. I really owe you. I think I finally see what you've been trying to tell me."

He shrugged. "I couldn't let you wash out of Flight School over a little wall. If you did, then Pike would be the Viper Top Gun and none of us could live with that."

"So if I beat Pike, then we're even?"

"Yeah. I want to see you walk away with that Top Gun trophy. You can put it beside Lee's."

"Yeah. His and hers matching trophies. I'm done for today. Are you heading back to the lockers?"

"Nope. I'm going to work on crawling through the pipes. That's the worst part for me. I don't like being in tight places."

"Sorry. I don't have any suggestion for dealing with claustrophobia."

"Last Friday night…I'd had a couple of beers too many. I hope I didn't say anything out of line to you."

Kara grinned. "You mean you _don't_ want to make out with me?"

"Oh, frak. Is that what I said? I'm sorry. I respect you, Kara. And I know you're with Lee. I would never…I should have kept my mouth shut. I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Saunders. I know you were joking. I know you really wanted to make out with Karl instead of me."

He smiled. "Don't give away my secret, okay? I'll see you in the cafeteria."

Kara turned to walk back to the locker room and the showers. Yeah, Lee had been right. Saunders probably did think about her differently than she thought about him. He might even have imagined what it would be like to sleep with her, but he was still a nice guy. He had shown her how to get over the wall. That's what friends did. They helped each other.

o

Lee sat facing his father over the table at lunch on Friday. He thought Bill had suggested lunch because he had more questions about the information Lee had gotten from Sharon. Instead his father had just asked him a question that had surprised him. He had asked him if he were serious about wanting to fly the Raider mission to Nereid.

"I'm serious," Lee said.

"I need to ask you something else, son. Do you really want to do it, or did you ask to be considered because you're afraid Kara might get the mission?"

Lee couldn't keep the edge of anger out of his voice. "You think I've got some kind of competition going on with Kara? That I'm jealous?"

"No. I ask the question because I need to know. My concern is that you'd rather take on a dangerous mission than let her do it. My concern is that you would volunteer to take the risk rather than let her take it."

"I think I can do as good a job of flying that mission as anybody."

"She asked me about it again at her graduation party."

"I know. She told me."

"She had no qualms about climbing up in that Raider."

"So that means she's more qualified?"

Bill studied his cup of coffee before looking up. "No, not that she's more qualified but it does say something about her willingness and eagerness."

Again an edge came into Lee's voice. "Did I not do a good job flying the mission that got us both of those Raiders?"

"You did."

"Then what's the problem, Dad?"

Bill seemed to be trying to decide how to word his answer. "These are two very different types of missions. Yours was a lot more…straightforward."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning we don't know what will happen on the other end of the jump to Nereid."

"What are you trying to say…that I won't be able to handle it and Kara will?"

"I looked at Kara's folder from the Academy. I read Colonel Burgher's comments about her. I talked to him. She's much less bound by…conventional thinking than you are."

"Kara hasn't even gotten her wings yet."

"Is there any reason to believe she won't?"

Lee took a deep breath. "No. She's doing very well in Flight School."

"Son, I've got to think about the right pilot for the mission."

"And out of all the Viper pilots in the fleet, there's not a single other one who's not…bound by conventional thinking?"

"I'm looking at several others."

"But you're looking harder at Kara, aren't you?"

Bill made an affirmative gesture. "She thinks fast in a critical situation. When that second Raider came after you, it was her idea for you to fly to the power plant."

"You told me. You know how John feels about her flying the mission."

"I'm aware that he and I disagree. I'm aware that we may have words over it…if I chose Kara, but in the end, the decision is still mine."

"If?" Lee said. "I thought you'd already made up your mind."

"Not yet, Lee. That's why I'd like for you to go out to the hangar with me tomorrow morning and get up in that Raider and see if you think you still want to do it."

"What?"

"Show me that you _want_ to fly that mission…not that you volunteered just to protect Kara."

"All right. I'll pick you up in the morning. What time?"

"Nine."

"I don't guess you want me to bring Kara."

"That's up to you, son."

o

Lee waited to tell Kara until they got back from eating dinner at Sharon and Karl's apartment. He waited until he had poured them both a glass of ambrosia and they were sitting on the couch.

"I'm going out to the hangar with my dad in the morning, the one where the Raider is being kept. Do you want to go?"

"Why are you going out there?"

"My dad thinks it will prove something about whether or not I really want to fly that mission."

Kara didn't say anything .

"Come on, Kara," Lee finally said. "What are you thinking?"

"_Do_ you want to fly it, Lee? Do you really _want_ to?"

Did he? "Couldn't we both have the same reason? Why do you want to fly it?"

"Because it was my idea," Kara said. "Because I know I can do it. When I crawled up in that Raider, it felt right. You didn't even want to check it out."

"It wasn't the right time."

"Tomorrow will be the right time, then. Go with your dad. I'm going to take the bike and go visit Dreilide."

"You're sure?"

"Yeah, Lee. I'm sure. Your dad will make the right choice."

"Tomorrow night is the last night I'll get to stay here," Lee said. "Laura and John will be back on Sunday."

"I know."

"Would you like to go out somewhere special tomorrow night?"

"Whatever you want to do, Lee."

"Is this going to cause us a problem? Because my dad might not pick either one of us."

"No. It's not going to cause us a problem."

Yet even as she said the words, Kara knew there was still something unresolved between her and Lee over the mission. Lee knew it, too. They both chose to delay dealing with it. The mission was months away, and Lee was right. Bill Adama might not choose either one of them. At some point during their stay on the island, Kara had begun to lose her certainty that she was destined to fly the Raider. Maybe because Lee had told her they would all probably go to Nereid after eliminating the Cylons on Caprica. Maybe that's what the Oracle had meant when she had said Kara would journey to another world.

Kara sipped the ambrosia. Yeah, best to let it go for now. Bill Adama would eventually make his choice. Kara had to trust him to make the best one. She and Lee would deal with it when and if it happened to be one of them.

"I did the obstacle course today in three minutes fifty-two seconds. That's my best practice time so far. I do it for real next Wednesday."

"So you made it over the wall?"

"Yeah, Lee. I finally made it over the wall. Saunders helped me."

Lee nodded. "Good."

"You were right about him. I think he likes me. I like him, too, as a friend. But I've never thought about sleeping with him."

"Who do you think about sleeping with?"

"Another guy. He's a Viper pilot. His dad is some hot-shot in the government."

Lee grinned. "Does this other guy have a name?"

"Yeah. He's got a name. I have it on good authority that he's great in bed. I've got a big crush on him. In fact I'm in love with him."

"I'm jealous," Lee said.

"You should be. He can make me melt when he looks at me."

"What about when he kisses you?"

Kara smiled. "Kiss me and find out."

She shut her eyes as his mouth found hers. If the admiral chose Lee to fly Sadie, then she would deal with. She knew Lee would deal with it if Bill's decision was her. They loved each other too much to let a mission to another world come between them.

They loved each other way too much to let that happen.

TBC…


	66. Check Ride

Chapter 66

Check Ride

_Conditions in the city of Sovana deteriorated rapidly during President Adar's last year in office. Criminal organizations operated with near impunity in parts of the city and an overwhelmed police force could do little to control them. Kidnappings for ransom escalated. Corruption was rampant in the local government. Businesses were forced to pay protection fees to continue to operate. The drug and sex for hire trades flourished. Cavil did nothing to halt the deterioration of the once beautiful city and frequently used Sovana to illustrate his claim that the Cylons were superior to humans in every way. _

_-Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War_

Lee Adama stood in the whitewashed portion of the special hangar in the boneyard outside of Caprica City and looked at the Raider. He wasn't sure why it evoked such a visceral reaction in him, almost like someone had punched him in the gut. Was it because this blend of organic material and metal had almost shot him out of the sky, or was it because a Raider had come to represent for him everything that he hated about the Cylons?

Rick Rafferty, his father's chief engineer, had told them that at full capacity, the Raider had some degree of intelligence. The neuroscientist who had dissected and examined the brain estimated that the intelligence was roughly equivalent to something between a dog and a chimp, definitely sub-human, but not entirely without the capacity to learn and with the ability to feel the physical sensation of pain. Lee wondered briefly what the Raider had felt when he had hit it with that electromagnetic pulse. Did it hurt or was it like zapping a bug?

The neuroscientist wouldn't go so far as to say the Raider was sentient or self-aware to the same degree as the skinjobs, but it wasn't simply a programmed machine either. Now it was dead, stripped of its internal organs, its insides wired with a computer to control it instead of a brain. It was a tool of the humans now. It couldn't harm them anymore, and yet for Lee, the scythe shape of the Raider made him think of Death, of a painting he'd seen at the Caprica Museum of a scythe-carrying ghoul, the antithesis of _Posiden's Daughter_, the opposite of everything beautiful and good.

Rafferty walked over to Lee and his father.

"Is it ready to fly?" Bill asked.

"Almost. We had to forget the idea of a CO2 scrubber for the interior. There's not enough room after we installed the recording computer for the cameras. That means carrying oxygen tanks on board for your pilot. It will cut down the mission time significantly."

"How much time will we have?" Bill asked.

"Two hours tops," Rafferty answered. "I'd say an hour and a half for a margin of safety."

"That's not nearly enough time to recon a whole planet and the area around it," Lee blurted.

"If that's all the time Rick can give us, we'll have to go with it. We think there's only a small area on the surface of the planet that will need to be photographed."

"You're basing that on a journal written over sixty years ago. A lot could have changed since then."

"I'm aware of that, son. I want two things out of this mission. I want to know if Cylon ships of any kind are in the Prolmar Sector and I want some detailed recon photos of the area around the ruined city. I may not need the second one. If there's a single base star near the planet, that's reason enough to consider destroying Nereid."

The enormity of what his father has just said nearly overwhelmed Lee. "You do realize that the minute our Raider shows up over the surface of Nereid, we may have just tipped our hand. If there are Cylons there and they have a way of communicating with the ones here on Caprica…"

"The first jump won't be near the surface of the planet. The first jump will be just far enough into the Prolmar Sector that the Raider's pilot can get some long-range sensor readings. If there are base stars over the surface of the planet, then the second part of the mission will be scrubbed. Any sign of Cylon activity will be enough for me."

"And if the planet's atmosphere isn't crawling with base stars?"

"The second jump will be into the atmosphere. A flyover of the city and surrounding area with the cameras rolling and then a jump back here."

"How are you going to conceal jumping the Raider here on Caprica? The Cylons will pick up a jump on their dradis right away."

"Not if we jump it in the middle of an electrical storm. The dradis signature of a lightning strike and a jump are almost identical."

"So," Lee said sarcastically, "on the day of the mission you order up a storm replete with thunder and lightning? When did you get a hotline to Zeus?"

His father ignored Lee's sarcasm. "We're going to crate the Raider and ship it to an island three hundred miles off the southeast coast of Delphi. We'll house it in an abandoned hangar at an abandoned airstrip. There are no military installations for hundreds of miles in any direction so the Cylons shouldn't be interested in it."

"Is it on Mykos where John's place is located?"

"No, it's a little island called Heliops about a hundred miles east of Mykos. John found it when he was flying around down there a few years ago looking for a vacation place. October is the stormiest month on that part of the planet. The first of October my pilot will join the Raider on Heliops. Then we wait for a storm. We shouldn't have to wait long. A few days, maybe a week. This was John's idea. I haven't come up with a better one. Maybe you can."

"So your pilot twiddles his…or her…thumbs waiting on the weather?"

"Give me an alternative, Lee. Give me something else that will conceal a jump out of Caprica's atmosphere and back in."

Lee thought for a minute. He couldn't come up with anything. He knew they needed some type of EM interference to mask the jump. An electrical storm would work.

"What about practice runs? What about becoming familiar with flying the Raider?" Lee asked.

"That will happen on the island."

"So we don't even know if the damned thing will fly."

"It'll fly," Rafferty said. "All of our computer simulations…"

"Computer simulations?" Lee exploded. "Do you seriously expect a pilot to crawl up in that thing with only the assurance that a _computer_ said it would fly?"

Rafferty sighed, turned and walked away from them.

"Easy, son," Bill said. "You've got no idea how hard Rick and his engineers and technicians have been working on this project. The fact that they've made this happen at all is nothing short of a miracle."

"You get that Raider to the island. I'll take it up. I'll make sure it will fly. I'll make sure your pilot and your Raider aren't going to end up on the bottom of the ocean before it has a chance to jump."

A smile crossed Bill Adama's lips. He pointed to the ship. "Go ahead. Get inside and see what you think."

His emotions were still running so high that Lee ducked under the Raider's wing and climbed up into the ship without bothering to get a protective coverall for his clothes or booties for his shoes. It was a tight fit. His shoulders barely went through the hatch. The smell was still bad but not as bad as he remembered. Maybe Kara was right about the air freshener. It couldn't hurt.

He stretched out. The contours of the ship didn't lend themselves to human comfort. He looked at the computer that had been installed, at the small keyboard and monitor. He saw the wires and the joystick that looked more like it belonged on a video game than a device that could control a ship.

He placed his feet against the rudder pedals. Yeah, he could handle it. It wasn't like the flight was going to take hours. A few seconds to jump thirty light years into the Prolmar Sector, maybe only a few minutes there if the long-range sensors picked up Cylon base stars over the planet, and a few seconds to jump back. If there were no Cylon base stars, he would have an hour and a half to photograph the area around the ruined city.

Lee carefully lowered himself from the hatch to the small stepladder. He then went over to Rick Rafferty and apologized for losing his cool.

"I'm sorry I snapped at you. I just look at this from a different angle. I see it from the pilot's point of view. Nobody wants to go up in a ship that hasn't been tested. If that thing were to go down, it's a death trap. The pilot wouldn't stand a chance. He couldn't even eject."

"No offense taken," Rafferty said. "I'm an engineer, not a pilot, but we have built in as many safety features as we can. There's a lot of redundancy. We've got it all running smoothly in simulation."

"I'm sure you've done your best," Lee said.

On the way back into the city, Bill said, "You can drop me at my office."

"No other comments?"

"Not at the moment, son. I'll keep you informed of what's going on with Operation Sadie."

"But I won't be flying it."

"I didn't say that. I'm still putting the final pieces of this mission together. John's still working on a map of the surface for me. And I'm going to look at _all_ the pilots' folders again. I'll make a decision when I'm done. Long before that Raider is taken to Heliops Island, I want the pilot working with Rafferty and his flight simulations."

Lee took the exit back into the city that led to the big complex of government buildings around the capitol. He wondered whether this morning had made any difference to his father at all.

o

Laura Roslin was happy to see the skyline of Caprica City as it finally came into view late on Sunday afternoon and even happier when the bus pulled up outside of their apartment building. In many ways the campaign tour had been grueling. She was glad to be home. She knew everyone was.

Their luggage was unloaded on the sidewalk before the bus pulled away. The weekend doorman began calling transports for Billy and Tory and Maya and the rest of the volunteers. D'Anna Biers had a car waiting for her and her cameraman.

"I'll be in touch," D'Anna said. "John still owes me an interview."

Holding Braedon's carrier John walked over to Laura. "I know that woman is a reporter, but damn, she's persistent."

"Oh, I think she just has a big crush on you," Laura teased. "She sat beside you on the bus every chance she got."

John gave her one of his looks. "A snowball has a better chance in Hades."

Maya walked up to them. "Are you sure you want me to take next week off?"

"You've worked every day for three weeks," Laura said. "Yes, I want you to take next week off, with pay of course."

John said, "I'm sure there's a nice young man out there who's waiting for you to return a phone call."

Maya smiled as she blushed and looked down. "Maybe."

Another transport pulled up and the driver loaded Maya's luggage. As it pulled away, Laura turned to John, "A nice young man?"

"Sam Anders. Maya met him the night she and Kara went out. I think Anders has called her every night since we've been gone."

Laura bit back the comment that Maya always seemed to talk about her personal life to John. How could Laura blame either of them? She barely had time to talk to Maya about her son, much less to chat about the romantic inclinations of her nanny. Maya had to talk to someone. Laura had hoped that Maya and Tory might form a friendship on this trip, but there had been an unmistakable coolness between the two women from the start. No, that wasn't fair to Maya. The coolness had been on Tory's part. Now Laura understood why. Sam Anders. He had once been Tory's lover. Now he was apparently interested in Maya.

The outside door of the apartment opened and Kara came out. Laura took the carrier so John could hug his daughter. Laura knew how much he had missed Kara, how he had called her every day.

Kara leaned over and looked into the carrier. "Little star-mapper," she said. "I have missed you."

Braedon began wiggling happily in the seat and reached for her. Kara picked him up.

Billy and Tory had just walked up to them. "Star-mapper?" Tory asked.

Kara turned. "Just my nickname for him."

"Our transport is here," Tory said to Laura. "Billy and I are sharing since we live near each other." Laura thanked them again for all their hard work on the trip.

"Where's Lee?" John asked Kara.

"Gone to Channing's to pick up something for us to eat tonight. You said you'd be home by six. It's almost six."

With the doorman's help, John got their luggage into the building and onto the elevator. He couldn't seem to stop smiling. "I am so glad to be home."

During dinner that night they all let Kara talk about Flight School. She had a lot to relate. Later Laura insisted on giving Braedon his bath and getting him ready for bed so that John and Kara could continue their conversation. When Lee left a little after eight o'clock, Kara and her father were still talking.

Laura walked back into the den and flopped in her favorite chair. Kara could tell that she was tired. John got up and poured her a drink of ambrosia.

"I saw part of your speech at the camp on television," Kara said. "It was good."

"Thank you," Laura said.

Kara turned to her father. "I saw you holding Braedon. How did you do being at the camp again?"

Her father shrugged.

"He did fine," Laura said.

"What about Maya? I saw her sitting at the end of the row. She looked like she was crying."

Her father and Laura glanced at one another. Laura finally said, "Maya had a difficult time."

Her father said, "After Laura's speech Maya wanted to go to the memorial wall. I finally had to go look for her while Laura kept the press occupied."

"He found her…" Laura started. "He can tell you."

"I found her sitting on the ground at the wall with her hand over her little girl's name."

Her father stopped talking for a minute and looked at the ceiling. Kara could tell he was almost overcome with emotion. He took a breath and blew it out. Finally he went on.

"All I could think about was that your name could have been on that wall just like Maya's little girl."

"But it's not," Kara said quickly. "I'm fine."

"I know, baby. I know."

"So do you think Maya's okay now?"

"I hope. I got her to a bench and sat with her while she cried and told me what had happened. All I could do was listen. There's a special place in Hades for the men who ran that black market."

"Yeah," Kara said. "A _real_ special place. So is Maya okay now?"

Laura said softly. "She seems…after we left Antioch she's seemed…less burdened."

"I remember the day I left the camp behind," Kara said. "That was a good day for me, too."

Laura stood. "I'm going to take a bath and go to bed. Tomorrow I go back to the office after being away for three weeks. I can't imagine what I'm going to find. I know you two still have a lot to talk about."

Kara got up and poured her father another drink before she sat down beside him on the couch.

"I don't blame you," Kara said. "I never blamed you. You came back for me. You tried. It's not your fault. It's Tom Zarek's fault we were separated…and the Cylons. They're the reason I was in that camp."

He put his arm around her and sipped his drink. "Do you want to go back and see the camp the way it looks now? We can go together. Just you and me."

Kara thought for a long time. She knew her father wanted to help. Maybe he even wanted to share something of the camp with her, but she knew he never really could. The camp that had been her home for almost three years no longer existed. It had been wiped away under the blades of bulldozers and other machinery and also the loving hands of those who had planted the garden and built the fountain and carved the names of those who had died in all three camps into the wall.

But the camp wasn't really gone. It lived on in Karl and Connelly and Maya and Maggie and Jared and her. It lived on in all of them who had struggled through the mud and the cold and the heat and the poor food and the deaths and diseases. That camp could never be planted with grass and trees and brightly blooming flowers. That camp was still just a memory or a nightmare away. That was the camp her father could never fully understand or share with her. And yet he wanted to try.

"Yeah, maybe," Kara finally said. "After I finish Flight School, before I go to the _G_, maybe you and me can fly up there one day and see it. Maybe Karl can go with us…and Lee, too, if he wants to."

She put her head on his shoulder. The camp was part of the past, but it was still part of her. She could visit it one last time. She could do it for him. She could do it for both of them.

o

On Monday morning it took Laura nearly two hours to read the correspondence that had arrived during her absence, both letters and emails. She had told both Billy and Tory to take the day off. Tory had listened to her.

At ten o'clock she met with her Vice-Presidential candidate, Scott Michelson. He was leaving in three days to follow roughly the same campaign trail that Laura had just completed. They went over the agenda and strategy for nearly two hours. He left just before noon. Thirty minutes later Bill Adama arrived.

She had not seen Bill since the night of Kara's graduation party over five weeks previously. She stood as he walked through the doorway of her office. Bill walked over and took both of her hands. He smiled warmly.

"It's good to see you again, Laura."

She squeezed his hands. "My sentiments exactly."

"How's your family?"

"Fine. Lee ate dinner with us last night. I believe he and Kara spent quite a lot of time together while John and I were gone."

"I'm sure they did."

"You know he gave her a ring for graduation."

Bill looked partly amused, partly chagrinned. "No, I didn't know that. What kind of ring? Engagement?"

"No. Nothing quite that serious yet, but I think he might as well have. Kara calls it a promise ring."

"How does John feel about it?"

"John accepted them as a couple a long time ago. Given Kara's age, I'm not sure anyone but Lee could have passed muster with him. He trusts Lee to do the right thing. He trusts Lee not to hurt her."

"I think my son is very much in love with Kara."

"I think she feels the same way about him."

Bill dropped his gaze. "We don't want our children to make the same mistakes we did."

"No," Laura said. "We always want to spare them our pain. I've ordered lunch for us from the dining room downstairs. It should be delivered soon. Would you like some tea?"

"Do you have coffee?"

Laura walked to the doorway and asked Billy to bring the admiral a cup of coffee.

When they were seated at the table, Bill said, "I've made a military decision about something, but I'd still like your opinion."

Laura smiled. "You know I've never been shy about offering you my opinion."

Bill returned her smile. "No. You've never been shy about that. I'm asking you because I value your judgment and I'm also asking because in six months you'll be my Commander in Chief. You'll be our duly elected President."

"You're presuming a lot."

"Not based on the most recent polls."

"Ask your question, then."

"There are probably humans on Nereid. How many is unknown, but an estimate of the passengers from the ships that vanished during the attack five years ago is at least three thousand. If the Cylons took survivors from any of the nuked planets before the radiation killed everyone, that number could be substantially higher, maybe five or six thousand."

"And you think they've taken these humans to Nereid?"

"If that's where their homeworld is now, yes, I do."

"And your decision concerns what to do after we've destroyed the Cylons on Caprica."

"We obviously can't leave them on Nereid to regroup and return. My dilemma is how to formulate my plan of attack. Do we jump into Nereid's atmosphere with guns blazing, destroy the base stars and nuke the planet or do we plan an attack that would allow us to try to rescue any human survivors?"

Laura thoughtfully sipped her tea. Her heart told her that any surviving humans deserved the chance of rescue, but her mind told her that from a military point of view the price might be too high. She knew the decision Bill Adama had already made.

"How many crew members are on a battlestar?" Laura asked.

"Depending on the age and class, anywhere from seventeen hundred to over twenty-five hundred."

"Then it really does become a numbers game, doesn't it, Bill? You've got to assume that in the last five years, many of the initial survivors may have died from…their mistreatment at the hands of the Cylons or illness or even natural causes. There may be only a handful left. How many lives, how many ships are you willing to put at risk to save the remaining humans on that planet?"

He looked at her, his blue eyes boring into hers. "That would be your official position, then, as President?"

"Yes," she said sadly. "John has told me that some of the Cylons may have already left Nereid in search of Kobol. Can we risk the loss of Caprica's main protection, your battlestars, to save a few hundred humans…even a few thousand?"

"I'll see what information the reconnaissance flight in the captured Raider brings us. I'll make two plans. We probably won't go to Nereid right away, not right after we destroy the Cylons here. All of our battlestars need some serious time in dry dock for repairs. We also don't know what kind of damage they might sustain in the attack. It will take several months to get our nuclear weapons factory back on line. We're going to need nukes to go to Nereid."

"I'd like to be kept informed of all your decisions. Of all of your plans."

Bill nodded. "Of course."

Billy came to the door. "Your lunch has arrived. Should I bring it in?"

"By all means," Bill said. "I'm starving."

While they were eating, Laura asked, "Your battlestars _will_ make it through the coming fight, won't they? They aren't that much in need of repair, are they?"

"Most of them will. Fourteen of the seventeen will be able to jump here after they destroy the four base stars the Cylons have watching us. Three are in too poor shape to withstand a jump. They'll have to get here without jumping."

"And that will take days?"

"At least."

"Bill," Laura said with concern in her voice, "Is this going to work? Are we not taking a huge risk?"

"The risk is worth it."

"I know how you feel about living under Cylon control…"

"Do you, Laura? Do you?" Bill said with deep feeling in his voice. "Do you know what it did to me to watch us surrender to them? To let them come in and take control of our lives? To neuter our battlestars and the military in general? To hijack our research and try to render our children sterile? To tell us what we can and can't even say in a speech?"

"I can only imagine how you feel," Laura said softly. "I know how I feel, but…" she left the sentence unfinished.

"The warrior and the diplomat," Bill said wearily. "How can I expect you to understand?"

Laura walked to the window and stood for a long time before she turned around. The emotion was clearly evident in her voice as well. "I don't want to take a chance if there's a possibility we will lose. If we lose, the Cylons will destroy us, destroy Caprica. You know they will. I don't want my son to die before he has a chance to live."

Bill got up also and walked to the window. His eyes softened as he looked at her. "Becoming a mother has changed you."

"It changes every woman," Laura said.

"Your son will be all right. Your son will grow up free. You have my promise on that."

As Laura looked into the blue eyes of the man who had once claimed her heart, she realized that she had placed her faith in him once again, but faith of a different sort this time. She had entrusted her son's life to him, the lives of all the children of Caprica. She prayed that she hadn't made another mistake.

o

Late that afternoon Billy came to the door. "Romo Lampkin is here."

Romo walked past Billy. "A cup of tea sounds good," he said. "And a bit of cake or a biscuit if you have it."

"I think I have some cookies in my desk drawer," Billy said. "Chocolate chip."

Lampkin made a slight face. "The cup of tea will do."

"That will be all, Billy," Laura said. "I'll get Mr. Lampkin his tea."

"Join me in a cup then," Romo said as he sat at the table.

Laura fixed two cups of tea. When she turned he had his briefcase open. A report that looked like it was a dozen pages thick lay on the table.

"I see you have news," Laura said.

"Dr. Gaius Baltar has the inclinations of an alley cat with regard to women."

Laura smiled. "Tell me something I don't already know."

"Your suspicion is correct. He's seeing the Cylon woman again on a fairly regular basis. She goes to his place. I never observed them out anywhere."

"Ah, so Natasi is making…house calls."

Romo smiled and took off his sunglasses. "Politely said."

"How often?"

"At least once a week, sometimes more, usually on weeknights. Always after she preaches her sermons at the warehouse. Perhaps preaching invigorates her. Interesting woman…although I doubt you would call her that."

"You attended her sermons?"

"Two of them. In the name of research. I always like to know what makes someone tick."

"And what makes her tick?"

"She seems to be sincere in her beliefs. She seems to want everyone to believe in her God. Her emotion in the pulpit seems genuine."

"It's her programming," Laura said. "Surely you weren't taken in by her. She's a machine."

"I've studied the photographs taken a year ago when she had her heartbreaking little scene with Dr. Baltar outside the restaurant. She was hurting. Those were real tears."

"You've deduced all that from hearing two sermons and looking at a few photographs? Have you analyzed me, then? What makes me tick, Mr. Lampkin?" Laura asked in an amused tone of voice.

"The desire to take something that is broken and fix it. The desire to make life better for others. But underneath there is a desire to control…others and yourself. You fear losing control, Ms. Roslin."

"Hmm," Laura said. "You are an astute observer."

"A skill I learned in the courtroom. A skill I learned from watching Joseph Adama. He had a talent for reading a person quickly. It put him at a great advantage during a cross-examination."

"Thank you, Mr. Lampkin. I think I shall schedule a meeting with Dr. Baltar to discuss the nature of his relationship with the Cylon. Gaius is working on a rather time-sensitive research project that I think she could greatly aid. I want to see if he's enlisted her help."

"Ah, but I'm not finished with my report. Dr. Baltar has other lovers."

"They are of no concern to me."

"One should be. She works for you."

"Works for me?" Laura realized her voice was tinged with incredulity.

"Tory Foster."

"Oh, dear gods. Billy suspected she was seeing someone that she wanted to keep a secret. I thought he was married. I was going to ask you to find out who he is."

"And now you know. Disconcerting, isn't it?"

"More than you can imagine. Tory has access to everything in this office."

"And if she and the good doctor engage in a little pillow talk and Baltar passes it along to his Cylon, then…"

"It goes straight to Cavil," Laura finished the sentence for him. "What am I going to do? I can't fire her because of who she's dating, and I can't ask her to end the affair because he's single."

"Therein lies your dilemma. Do you trust her to keep your business confidential?"

"No," Laura finally said. "I don't know that she has any real loyalty to me. I don't trust her the way I do Billy."

"Perhaps Ms. Foster thinks Baltar is faithful to her. Perhaps she knows nothing of the others. Perhaps she would end the affair if she were to find out."

"You think I should tell her about the others?"

Lampkin pointed to the report on the table. "It's all in here if you should choose that route. That's one option of course. There is another. The flow of information could also go the other way…from the Cylon to Baltar to Ms. Foster to you. It might be worth exploring."

"You mean make her my spy? How would I convince her to do that?"

"There are ways. She wants to work for the next President of the Colonies, doesn't she? When you leave your office as Secretary of Education she will be dependent on you to find a position for her in your administration or she's out of a job. I would say that gives you some leverage."

"You're right."

He stood and put on his sunglasses. "I wish you luck in dealing with your problem. If I can be of further assistance…"

"Yes," Laura said, "thank you. I'll be in touch. You handled the situation with Elliott True very well. I saw a copy of the tabloid while we were away. Billy has told me that the link to True's web site no longer works."

"A man should practice what he preaches," Romo said, "especially one who is so fond of throwing moral stones at others. I feel no guilt about taking a man like that down a peg or two. After all, it's for the best of the Colony, wouldn't you say?"

"Yes, for the best of the Colony."

"Keep my name near the top of your list for Attorney General. Good day, Ms. Roslin."

When Lampkin was gone, Laura picked up the report on Gaius Baltar. She would take it home with her. She couldn't chance leaving it in the office. Her ivory-handled letter opener lay beneath the report. She was certain, absolutely certain that it had not been there before. She picked it up and tapped it thoughtfully against her cheek. Romo Lampkin had a secret of his own. She wondered if she should look for anything else missing on the table.

o

As Kara and the instructor sat on the runway in the Viper trainer waiting for clearance to takeoff, she mentally ran down her instrument checklist for the third time. She was now twelve points behind Pike on the classroom tests. She had to start making it up. Today was her ninth training flight and her first check ride. She didn't know exactly how students were assigned to an instructor for one of the four check rides, but it was just her luck that she had gotten Captain Tomas_ Buzz_ Jessups for her first one. He was medium height with reddish-blond hair and pale blue eyes. He was not bad-looking, but his eyes reminded her of Sergeant Ackerman.

Kara tried to ignore the feelings that evoked in her. The scuttlebutt around the base was that Jessups had been called back to active duty from the Reserves to become an instructor the previous year. Scuttlebutt also said that he wasn't happy about it and that he was harder on the nuggets because of it. Maybe that's why some of the nuggets referred to him as _Buzzard_ behind his back. _He gets you when you're circling the drain_, one of them had said to her, _and he picks your bones clean_.

Kara tried to do like Lee had told her to do with any of the tough instructors. Accept it as a personal challenge. At least Jessups wasn't a screamer. Out of the twelve instructors, she had already gotten one of those.

Her first training flight had gone fine. The instructor had handled the takeoff and landing and most of the flight. Her assignment had been to watch everything on her instruments and watch the way the control stick moved as he put the Viper through a defined series of maneuvers. The instructor had told her to ignore the Raider beside them. She had better start getting used to it now.

Her second training flight had been with what the other nuggets had dubbed a screamer, a guy who yelled his instructions over the cockpit communicator. Her takeoff had been nearly perfect, but after twenty minutes of the yelling in her ear as he had picked apart her every move, she had become rattled. The flight had gone downhill from there. Her landing had been less than stellar…way less. Then she had to stand on the hot tarmac with the sweat running down her face and have her flight critiqued. She knew everything she had done wrong. It shook her to hear it played back at a deafening crescendo. After her fourth or fifth '_Yes, sir, I understand what I did wrong, sir,'_ she was close to tears. She hadn't been close to tears during her entire time in Flight School. She had never messed up that badly in the simulator. She had never messed up that badly in her father's ship. She couldn't believe she had messed up as badly as she had done on a couple of simple maneuvers and a routine landing.

After she had showered, she had sat for a long time on the bench in the locker room. She hadn't flunked since it was only a training flight. It wasn't a check ride, but she knew exactly how Diana Seelix had felt when she had flunked the first water test. It wasn't a good feeling. At least no one had yelled at Seelix.

That afternoon she had been late exiting the base and getting to the subway entrance. Dwight Saunders and Noel Allison were waiting on the platform for the next train back into the city.

"Starbuck," Narcho said. "Why so sad looking?"

Kara shrugged. "I got a screamer today. I let him rattle me. I screwed up a couple of maneuvers including the landing."

"Hey," Saunders said, "Narch and me were just talking about going to get a beer somewhere. Want to go with us?"

Kara shrugged again. "Why not? I'm on my way to Lee's apartment. He won't be home yet. There's a place close by called Zeno's."

"Zeno's," Narcho said. "I've heard of it. That's fine with me. As long as they sell beer."

They rode into the city and walked the two blocks from the subway station to Zeno's. The mid-July heat shimmered on the sidewalks making the dim, cool interior of the bar all the more welcome. They walked to the back and got a booth.

Flat Top and Narcho sat on one side, Kara on the other. The waiter didn't card her like she had feared he would, but they were all three wearing their uniforms so he must have decided she was old enough. While they waited for the beer to arrive, she got up and went to the restroom. She called Lee's mobile phone, got his voicemail and left him a message telling him where she was and asking him to join them when he got off work.

The beer was at her place when she got back. She turned it up and drank a fourth of it before she put it down.

"So you got a screamer," Narcho said. "Which one? Wever or Adderly?"

"Wever. And it's not just the screaming. He's got this whining tone of voice, like a mosquito in your ear." She looked at Flat Top. "How's Raptor training going?"

"Okay. I had my first training flight today. No screaming, though."

Narcho grinned. "Not that he minds a little screaming. He just doesn't like it coming from an instructor."

Flat Top elbowed Narcho.

Kara finally smiled. "Did you ever make it through those pipes on the obstacle course?"

"Yeah, I finally made it through those pipes. I did fine on everything except the Spin and Puke."

"He hurled in the S&P," Narcho said. "I did, too."

"Lee and my dad had already told me what to expect," Kara said. "They both told me not to move my head too quick while the capsule was rotating. I bet that's what both of you did."

"Yeah," Flat Top said, "a couple of times."

"Lee explained it to me. It messes with your inner ear when you do that. He had about a two-page explanation, but the bottom line is that it makes you motion sick. It's what happens to you when you're pulling Gs and turning in a Viper. You've got to keep your head still and back against the headrest until you pull out of the turn."

"I guess you did okay in the deep space simulator," Flat Top said.

"Yeah. That was about the easiest thing I did. Lee almost died in it a couple of years ago. His suit had a leak and nobody knew it. He was in the hospital a few days. He missed a week of Flight School."

"And still graduated at the top of his class?" Narcho asked.

"Yeah."

"Man, that was some accomplishment," Flat Top said. "Do you ever feel like you're competing with him…with his record?"

Kara nodded. "Sometimes, yeah, sometimes I do."

Narcho said, "That must be tough on the relationship."

"No. Lee wants me to do the best I can do. He's always encouraging me. I bitch and moan and he tells me that I'm doing fine."

"So he wouldn't care if you beat his score?"

"That's not what's important to me. I just want to finish at the top of the Viper class this year." She grinned at Narcho. "No offense to you."

"Yeah," Flat Top said. "She's promised me she's going to beat Pike." He smiled at her. "We'll hose you down with champagne instead of beer if you beat Pike."

"That's a deal," Kara said.

She knew that was another long-standing tradition. On the last day of Flight School, the top-scoring Viper pilot and the top-scoring Raptor pilot got to stand together while the other nuggets shook bottles of beer and sprayed them until they were soaked. Of course if things went the way she expected them to go, Flat Top would be the Raptor pilot getting doused with beer beside of her…if she managed to beat Pike.

They were on their second beers when Lee joined them, slipping into the booth beside Kara. He greeted the other two.

"Be nice to Starbuck," Narcho said to Lee. "She got a screamer today."

Lee looked at her. "He rattled you?"

"Big time."

"It's not the end of the world. This is only your second flight. You've got six more to go before your first check ride. You're going to do fine."

"I don't think I can take six more if they're like today."

"Yeah, you can." Lee smiled. "You're tough."

Kara grinned. "See what I mean, guys? I've got my very own one-man cheering section."

o

Now she sat on the runway and did her engine check. She got clearance to take off.

"Take it up, lieutenant," Jessups said.

"Yes, sir," Kara replied.

She did well on the check ride. Her turns were tighter than the exercise called for. She always wanted to make tight turns, but the rest of it had gone well. Her takeoff was nearly perfect. Her landing was good, too, although she knew she had probably lost a few points by not setting the Viper down nearer the beginning of the runway. Still, in her estimation, she had performed well.

That's why she was shocked when Jessups gave her a score of 80.

She knew that a trainee _never_ argued with an instructor, but when they were on the ground and standing beside the Viper, she couldn't help herself.

"How could you take off twenty points for my turns and the landing, sir?" She asked in disbelief.

Jessups was obviously surprised at her challenge. "You have a problem with how I scored your check ride?"

"Yes sir, I have a big problem with it."

"And what do you suggest we do about this problem?"

Kara realized she was probably headed for trouble. No, she was probably already in trouble. Still she couldn't back down. She wouldn't back down. She should have lost eight or ten points for the turns and landing, not twenty points. She should have made at least 90 on the check ride.

"I'd like for you to reconsider, sir. I think you deducted too many points. I don't think my turns and my landing were bad enough to lose twenty points."

Jessups seemed to be trying to decide how he was going to reply to her. Finally he said, "You're just as cocky as your father. Go back and study the maneuvers in the plan and you might understand why you lost those twenty points. The score stands. I suggest you drop it now, Lieutenant Thrace. Insubordination won't keep you in Flight School." He turned and walked away, effectively dismissing her.

Kara walked around to the other side of the training Viper muttering to herself. _Son of a bitch._ She kicked the Viper's skid before she got herself under control. What was she going to do? Have a temper tantrum right there on the tarmac? Yeah, that would help her image as a cool Viper jock with the other nuggets and instructors getting out of their ships.

Carrying her helmet she slowly walked back to the locker room. Jessups' first comment finally penetrated her anger. _You're just a cocky as your father._ How did Jessups know her dad? Kara couldn't wait to get home and ask.

She found him sitting in the den with some star charts laid out on the table. Braedon was in his playpen. He crawled to the side expecting Kara to pick him up. Instead she said to her father, "Tell me about Captain Tomas Jessups."

"Buzz Jessups? He and I served together on the _Solaria_. Why?"

"He's a flight instructor now. He did my first check ride today. He deducted twenty points on my turns and landing. They weren't _that bad_," Kara said in anguish.

"Damn," her father said. "Damn. Okay, there's some history between me and him. I'll make a phone call and see if I can get another instructor to redo your check ride."

"No. No, you will _not_ make a phone call to _anyone_ about _anything_. I'm going to take care of it. I just want to know what his problem is with you."

"What do you mean you'll take care of it? You will get yourself thrown out of Flight School is what you'll do. I let you talk back to me about the simulator because you're my daughter, but that was probably a big mistake on my part. You don't _ever_ talk back to an instructor."

"Well, it's a little late for that now. I've already talked back to him."

"Lords of Kobol! Don't _ever_ do that again, Kara! Do you hear me? He can take you before a review board for insubordination and have you disqualified. And there goes your dream of flying a Viper. When an instructor evaluates you, you stand there and you keep your mouth shut and you take it. I don't care if you think it's fair or not."

"What is his problem with you?" Kara asked, her tone of voice betraying her anger although she wasn't sure if she was angry with her father now or still angry with Jessups.

Her father got up and walked to the terrace door. "What do _you_ think his problem is with me?"

"A woman?"

"A Raptor pilot on the _Solaria_."

"You snaked his girlfriend?"

"She wasn't his girlfriend. And I didn't know he had a thing for her…until he and I almost got into it one night after he'd had too much to drink. Damn. That was over twenty years ago."

Kara sat down on the couch, kicked off her shoes and said sarcastically. "The sins of the father…karmic justice and all that, huh, Dad?"

"I'm sorry, baby. Are you sure you don't want me to…"

"I'm sure. I'll handle this."

"What are you going to do?"

"I'll tell you what I'm _not_ going to do. I'm _not_ going to let Pike take that Top Gun trophy just because you couldn't…couldn't keep it in your pants twenty years ago. I'm _not_ going to settle for letting Jessups take out his personal beef with you on me, either."

"Kara, please..."

She bent over, put on her shoes and stood. "I'm going over to Lee's for a while."

"Kara…"

"No, Dad. I've got to work this one out on my own. You'd better just stay the hell out of it, too. You'll only make things worse. When are you going to realize that you can't fix everything that goes wrong in my life even if you're the one who caused it?"

They looked at each other for a moment, and she saw the pain in his eyes, those mirrors of her own, before he turned away and looked out the terrace door again.

o

Lee had just gotten home from work when Kara buzzed the door. He let her in the outside door and stood waiting in the doorway of his apartment until she got off the elevator.

"Hi, what's up?"

Kara pushed past him and closed the door. Without a word she put her arms around his neck and kissed him hard on the mouth.

"Kara, what…"

"Make love to me, Lee."

Lee sensed that something had happened that day but he didn't have any idea what.

There was anger in her lovemaking, something he had never felt from her before when they had been intimate. It was evident in the way she touched him, the almost roughness of her hands on him.

"Kara," he groaned, "Wait a minute. Slow down. We don't need to…"

"Yes, we do. Please, Lee."

He got her panties off before she pulled him back on the couch. She wanted him on top of her. He felt her hand guide him into her. Her bent knees slid up beside his hips. The hot feeling of pleasure coursed through him. He managed to hold back just long enough to feel her body arch under him and her fingers dig into the muscles of his lower back.

They lay for a long time without speaking. Finally Kara got up, picked up her pants and underwear from the floor and went into the bathroom. He heard the water running. When she came back she was dressed. Lee had put on his uniform slacks and was sitting on the couch. Kara walked into the kitchen and came back with a beer.

"Do you want one?"

Lee shook his head. "Not that I didn't enjoy what just happened with us, but can you tell me what's going on?"

Her anger seemed momentarily to have dissipated. She sat down beside him. Slowly, struggling at times with her emotions, she told him.

Lee's first reaction was one of disbelief. "You questioned the way an instructor scored your check ride?"

The anger came back. "You're damned right I did. He took off way too many points."

"You don't do that, Kara. You never question an instructor. Ever."

"Frak that. Jessups took off twenty points. Twenty frakking points. Yes, my turns were tight and yes, my landing was short, but not twenty points worth. That score probably cost me the Top Gun trophy. I'm probably going to have to sit through graduation from Flight School and watch that asshole Pike walk up and accept it. And I've got my father to thank for it."

"So what is this about, Kara? Jessups or your father or Pike?"

"All of them," Kara said sulkily. "You don't know what it's like. You don't have a father who frakked every woman who crossed his path when he was…"

"Whoa, Kara. Wait a minute. Your father admits he shared a bunk with one Raptor pilot on the _Solaria_ and suddenly he's _frakked every woman who crossed his path_? I shared a bunk a couple of times with another Viper pilot on the _Triton_ and I sure haven't frakked every woman who crossed my path."

"You did _what_?" Kara asked.

"It was after Blaire broke up with me and it didn't mean anything…not to either one of us."

"Lords of Kobol! Is this a Viper pilot thing or is it just you and my dad? Twenty years from now is _our kid_ going to get screwed over in Flight School because you frakked a Viper pilot who becomes an instructor and…."

"Kara, stop it! There's something else going on with you. I don't know what it is, but you've blown this thing way out of proportion. You don't know that Jessups deducted any more points from your check ride than he did any of the others. Pike may make the same score or lower. You're a better pilot than he is."

She was suddenly close to tears again. "I don't know what's the matter with me. I don't know what I'm going to do."

Lee reached over and pushed Kara's hair back from the side of her face. He gently took her chin and turned her toward him. "I know how tough Flight School is. I know how much pressure you're under. What you're going to do is go back out to the base tomorrow and go up in a Viper again. You're going to do your best. You're going to put today behind you. You are not going to confront Captain Jessups. And you're not going to blame your father for what happened, either. John loves you, Kara. I sometimes don't think you realize how much. So you're going to give him a break."

Kara nodded.

That night when she got back to the apartment, she went over to her father and hugged him. "I'm sorry I lost my cool. I've been under a lot of pressure, but that's no excuse. I want to be the best. I want you to be proud of me."

He drew a deep, ragged breath as he held her. "I'm already proud of you. I'll be proud of you no matter where you graduate in your class. I know how good you are. I love you, baby."

"I know you do. It's all right. I love you, too. Now I've got to go study. I've got a whole new group of training maneuvers to learn."

Laura had watched the exchange between father and daughter. Now she watched her husband go over to the cabinet and pour a drink.

He turned to her. "Do you want one?"

"I'll pass tonight. What's wrong, John?"

"Something I did over twenty years ago came back today to bite Kara. She wants to handle it on her own."

"Then you should let her."

"She's just so young."

"She'll be eighteen in a month. She's the same age you were when you started flying a Viper."

"I know."

"What did you do twenty some years ago that affected her today?"

"It involved a Raptor pilot on the _Solaria_…"

"One of the two from the shower?" Laura asked teasingly as she remembered the story Chuck Winters had told her about John.

"No," John said sheepishly, "another one."

"Dear gods, how many were there?"

"Let's not get into that, okay? I've told you before those days are long behind me. I'm not the same man I was then."

"All right. There was a _third_ Raptor pilot. Please continue."

"Another Viper pilot, Buzz Jessups, had a thing for her, but I didn't know that and she wasn't interested in him or she said she wasn't. I had a very…healthy ego back then. I also had a…certain reputation with the ladies. I didn't realize until later that she was just using me to make him jealous. This was a year or so after the fighting was over and…we were all in the officer's ward room one night and there was some drinking and he got in my face about her."

"You got into a fight?"

"No. A couple of the other pilots grabbed him and kept him from taking a swing at me, and…and now he's a flight instructor and did Kara's check ride today. He graded her down. It's my fault."

"Do you seriously think that he's harboring a grudge after all this time?"

John shrugged. "He mentioned me to Kara so he knows I'm her father."

"And you think he's so unprofessional that he would penalize your daughter for something _you did_ over twenty years ago?"

John shrugged.

"Is he going to do all of her check rides?"

"No. To ensure fairness four different instructors do the four check rides."

"Then I think you're making too much out of this. Does she have the right to challenge a score?"

"No. She took a big chance even mentioning it to him. She's lucky he didn't haul her before a review board."

"Still, she should be fine."

"She just wants that Top Gun trophy so much. She deserves it. She's a better pilot than Eammon Pike. He was good in the simulator, but not as good as Kara."

"Then you've got to trust that if she's that good, she will get the trophy. Perhaps this Jessups grades everyone severely."

"Maybe he does." She heard the sadness in his voice, the dejection.

She put the speech she was working on aside, got up and went to sit beside him on the couch.

"Do you even remember her name, the Raptor pilot that Jessups was in love with?" She asked softly.

"Sabrina Baxter. Her call sign was _Tiger_. I remember all of them, every single one I had a relationship with. I know you probably think I made a lot of conquests during those days, but…the truth is that a lot of the time, I was the one being used. Men aren't the only ones who use sex to…handle the stress of putting your life on the line."

"And yet many of them chose you? Have you never stopped to wonder why?"

He snorted softly. "I was too busy thanking the gods for my good fortune."

Laura smiled. "John, you have a _great deal_ to offer a woman when it comes to…sharing a bunk or sharing the shower. I'm very sure your level of expertise in…helping another pilot handle her _stress_ was equaled only by your skills in the cockpit."

Her remark finally brought a smile from him. He gave her a sideways glance as he turned up his drink. "Why, thank you, Laura. I never had a woman tell me I'm a good lay exactly like that."

"What happened to Sabrina Baxter?"

She transferred off the _Solaria_ not long after Jessups tried to punch my lights out. He followed her. Then I got in trouble over the two Raptor pilots and that incident in the shower. Chuck Winters made it clear he wasn't going to tolerate any more of my shenanigans. I wanted to keep flying so I slowed down."

"You slowed your love life from Mach 2 to Mach 1?" She asked teasingly.

"That was a long time ago, Laura. It's all in the past. I have another life now. I wouldn't go back to the old one for anything. It's _you_ I want. It's _you_ I love."

She pulled him down to her and kissed him, just a soft touch of their lips at first and then it deepened. No matter how many other women there had been for him, Laura knew he was telling the truth. They belonged to his past. She was the one he made love to now. She was the one he loved.

o

Late the next afternoon Kara stood outside the instructor's ready room. The door between the student's ready room and the instructor's ready room was rarely closed, but even so, there was an invisible line across the threshold that no student dared cross without a clear invitation. Even she was not bold enough to break that unwritten rule.

She had already stood at attention for nearly ten minutes. She knew the instructors inside were all aware she was standing there, but no one was in a hurry to acknowledge her. It was how things worked. She was the one who had come calling. It was like waiting for an audience with a king. She watched the clock on the wall tick off the minutes…eleven…twelve. Wever, the screamer, got up and poured a cup of coffee from the pot sitting on the table near the door. He finally glanced at her.

"Can I help you, lieutenant?"

Kara considered twelve minutes a big victory. She had heard of one student who had stood outside that door for forty-six minutes waiting to be acknowledged.

"I need to speak with Captain Jessups, sir," she said in her most respectful voice.

"Let me see if he's here."

Jessups was clearly there, sitting in a comfortable chair near the far wall, but Kara knew he could refuse to see her. Wever walked over and said something to him. Jessups glanced up at her. For a minute she thought he was going to tell Wever to send her away, but he finally got up from his chair and ambled to the door.

"Let's walk," he said.

Silently she followed him outside. He put on his sunglasses and they started down the sidewalk.

"Well, Lieutenant Thrace?"

Kara took a deep breath. "I'd like to apologize, sir, for questioning the score you gave me on the check ride."

"You think you deserved better?"

"Yes, sir."

"Why?"

"My turns were good. They were too tight, but they were good." He didn't say anything and she hurried on. "My landing was good, too. I know I didn't put it on the runway soon enough, but it was still good."

"On your landing you came in too fast and too high. If I'd asked you to make a combat landing, you'd have gotten a good score. But we aren't doing combat landings yet. I wanted to see a normal landing. I didn't get it."

"And the turns, sir?"

"If we were up there in a dogfight, your turns would have been acceptable, even commendable, but we weren't in a dogfight. You didn't follow the assigned maneuvers. You didn't follow instructions. I don't have a lot of patience with a student who can't follow the assignment or my directions."

Kara took a deep breath. "Then my score didn't have anything to do with my father?"

Jessups made a short sound that could have passed for a laugh. "You've got an attitude just like he had. That's all I meant by my remark."

Kara didn't say anything. She remembered the pain in her father's eyes when she had walked out of the apartment the day before. She had hurt him badly for _nothing_, for something that had been her own fault.

"Tell me, Lieutenant Thrace. Do you think your score was lower than anyone else's who has done a check ride with me?"

"I don't know, sir."

"No one else has gotten above 70. Most have gotten less. Learn to fly the maneuvers as they're laid out. Keep your instructors happy. Work hard, Lieutenant Thrace. You've got a lot of potential. You're going to be a good Viper pilot just like your father was. Good luck with getting that Top Gun trophy."

"Thank you, sir."

Jessups turned to go and then turned back around. He took a business card out of his pocket and scribbled something on the back before he handed it to her.

"My mobile number. I know your father is a busy man, but tell him to call me in a couple of months after you get out of Flight School. I wouldn't want anyone to think there was favoritism involved because your old man knows one of your instructors. I understand you had to deal with that misperception at the Academy."

Kara took the card and slipped it into her pocket. "Yes, sir. I did. I'll give him your card."

"Maybe your dad and I can get together and have a beer. I'd like to see him again. There's not many of us left who served on the _Solaria_ during the First War. We can drink a round to fallen comrades."

"Yes, sir. I'll tell him."

As Kara slowly walked to the subway station, she was thinking about the past, about how some people remembered the past with bitterness and held on to grudges while others chose to forgive the slights and move on the way Buzz Jessups had done, as her father and Dreilide Thrace had finally done. Some remembered the past exactly the way it had happened, the memories clear and precise and unchanged by time. Some would think of the camp and forever remember the mud and the inhumanity. And some would chose to temper their memories, to honor their pain as Kara hoped that one day she would be able to do with a fountain and brightly blooming flowers and names carved into a memorial wall.

She would go back with her father and stand at that wall and share a piece of her past with him.

TBC…


	67. Solo Flight

Chapter 67

Solo Flight

_Working on an anonymous tip that was said to have originated in Sovana, members of the President's anti-terrorism task force were able to intercept a shipment of explosives bound for Caprica City that were rumored to be slated for use in bombing multiple voting centers during the Presidential election in November. Citing security reasons, Special Agent Vladimir Darren, head of the task force would neither confirm nor deny the validity of the rumor._

_-Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War_

The corporal with the mail cart dropped several inter-office envelops onto Lee Adama's desk and kept going down the hall. A month previously Lee had volunteered to move out of the big room where Parker's eight senior interrogators sat and move into a small, one-man office nearer to _the boss_ as Lee often thought of Major Parker. During the time he had worked for Parker, Lee had come to respect his quiet intelligence and fairness. Lee had rarely seen Parker lose his cool and never seen him yell at anyone the way he knew others did. He'd never seen Parker belittle anyone even for a dumb mistake. Parker expected good work, but he also gave everyone the chance to learn and learning sometimes meant making mistakes. Lee knew that he had certainly made his share.

There was one thing, though, that Parker wouldn't tolerate in his interrogators and that was cruelty to a prisoner or the petty use of the power that the interrogators had. Parker dealt with that swiftly as Lee had seen.

Parker had brought two new interrogators into the department. One of them was a replacement for Ackerman who had been permanently assigned to Sovana, a city that had turned out to be a gold mine for information gathering. There was so much going wrong in Sovana now that even the lowliest street perps had some kind of information to trade in exchange for a reduction in the charges against them. When the police arrested a suspect who claimed to have information about the Resistance, they turned the suspect over to the military. Sooner or later most were questioned by Ackerman who had proved adept at being able to cut through what was mostly fabrication and what warranted a second look.

Lee had never liked Ackerman, especially after the incident involving Kara, but he had to admit that Ackerman seemed to be getting results in Sovana. The rough, lawless nature of the city seemed tailor made for a man like him. Lee sometimes wondered how many heads Ackerman got to slam into a table on a daily basis. Maybe Parker had known how well Ackerman would take to Sovana. And Ackerman was no longer under his command. Yeah, Parker was a smart man. He'd given his counterpart in Sovana an asset and he'd also gotten rid of a liability in his Caprica unit.

Ackerman's replacement, a seasoned MP, plus a very green junior lieutenant just out of the Academy needed to be in the room with the senior interrogators just as Lee had been when he had started to work in the unit. They needed another desk. Lee had volunteered to move. At first he missed the companionship, especially that of Captain Jill Hadrian whom Lee had come to think of as his mentor, but Lee also knew that he usually worked better alone. He wasn't doing much interrogating these days anyway. Parker had decided that Lee's most useful talent lay along the lines of data analysis. So Lee analyzed, taking data that was provided by others and looking for patterns, looking for anomalies, looking for links between events that others had missed. It was often boring, but Lee knew he had become good at it. He also knew he wasn't going to be doing it for the rest of his career. Things would change after they destroyed the Cylons. Lee was fairly certain he would get a promotion to Captain and a new assignment…if he survived.

The only time Parker called on him now to interrogate anyone was when the person was younger than eighteen or nineteen, and that hadn't happened for months. For a reason that Lee had only once tried to analyze about himself, he did well with the kids. He thought it had something to do with Zak, with all the years he had spent taking care of Zak and protecting Zak. Maybe that's why he could often establish a rapport with the younger ones, especially those who were on their own. It had happened with Neil Speigel in Sovana. Lee had gotten through to him when none of the others could, including Jill Hadrian.

For over a year Lee had officially checked Neil's blog several times a week looking for clues about the Resistance in the often-confusing stream-of-consciousness style entries that were posted under the name of Martin Spiller. But six weeks previously the entries had abruptly stopped. There had been nothing in the last journal entry that would indicate Speigel was going to quit writing so Lee had feared the worst. After two weeks of silence he had used his security access and had combed through the arrest and death records in Sovana. He had done it weekly since then.

There were a lot of deaths in Sovana these days, almost as many deaths as there were arrests. With no Cylon help at all, humans seemed to be killing each other in that city at an alarming rate. Cavil could have stopped it. Cavil could have sent an army of centurions into Sovana, but he didn't. The degeneration of one of the oldest cities on the planet into an enclave for smugglers, drug dealers, other criminals and corruption in the local government seemed to amuse him. Lee finally understood why Cavil continued to do nothing as the city edged toward lawlessness and chaos. It validated Cavil's belief in Cylon superiority. Cavil often used the example of Sovana to point out the depravity and inferiority of humans as he told of the peaceful and democratic process by which the Cylons governed themselves.

Lee was one of the few people on the planet who knew that the Cylon process of decision-making wasn't always peaceful. Cavil had ordered his centurions to kill a copy of Leoben when that copy had protested too strongly against the destruction of the Colonies. Not only had him killed, but Cavil had wiped his memory and sent him to Caprica City to sell books and learn about the nature of the humans he had wanted to spare.

Lee gritted his teeth every time he heard one of Cavil's speeches. But listening to Cavil's speeches and analyzing them was now another part of his job so he listened. There were those above even Major Parker who were convinced that Cavil would at some point reveal vital information in one of his rambling, narcissistic, long-winded verbal tomes on Cylon superiority. There were some physicians and psychiatrists who thought they saw deterioration in Cavil's thought processes. Over the last month, Lee had listened to every recorded speech he could find and had compared them to some speeches made several years earlier. He was beginning to agree with the doctors. Cavil's speeches seemed less focused, more given to strange abstract ideas and repetitive ranting. Lee had already begun to wonder if Cavil's Cylon brain might not be undergoing the same thing that sometimes happened to the aging human brain. Could Cavil be showing the beginning of a Cylon version of dementia or senility?

In six months it wouldn't matter, but for now, Lee listened to the speeches and tried to find clues to the Cylon's long-range plans for Caprica. And when he had a few free moments, Lee also looked for Neil Spiegel.

Just this morning he had once again checked for a blog entry. Finding nothing new Lee had searched arrest records under both Neil Spiegel and Martin Spiller. He had finally searched morgue records under both names and then all the UDMs or Unknown Deceased Males from approximately fifteen to thirty. He knew that Neil's fingerprints were on file, but in the overburdened Sovana coroner's office with its deteriorating computer infrastructure, a technician missing a set of fingerprints wouldn't be surprising. So Lee had searched for anything that matched Neil's description. He had found several. One by one he had pulled up the morgue photographs and breathed a sigh of relief. Neil was not among those dead young men, at least not today. It gave Lee hope. He hoped that Speigel was alive somewhere and not at the bottom of a shallow, anonymous grave, waiting to become the face in one of those grisly death photographs or worse, never found at all, a footnote to history, a grim statistic as the only resistance survivor of a prison escape. Lee hoped that Neil had done something better with his life.

He had just begun to wonder how Laura Roslin was going to handle the problem of Sovana after her election, after they were free of the Cylons, when his phone rang. It was his father's office number. Lee hadn't heard from him for over a week, not since he had dropped his father off that Saturday morning on their way back from the boneyard.

His father asked Lee to meet him for lunch at a small restaurant near the base. Bill was already there when Lee walked in.

"Hello, Dad."

"Lee. I ordered you a cup of coffee."

"Thanks. So what's up?"

"I told you I'd keep you informed of my decisions on Operation Sadie."

Lee felt his stomach lurch, but he kept his expression neutral.

"I'm going to call Major Parker after lunch and let him know you'll be working on a special project for me on Monday afternoons for the indefinite future. I want you out at the boneyard working on those computer flight simulations."

"What are you saying?"

"You're my pilot, Lee. You're going to jump Sadie to Nereid."

Lee was so stunned that for a moment he didn't move or say a thing. He wasn't even sure he had breathed.

Adama grunted. "I thought I'd get more of a reaction than that."

"I'm…I'm still trying to convince myself I just heard you say I would be flying Sadie."

"You heard me right. This is the point of no return for piloting that Raider. If you want to do it, then give me a _yes_ now. Otherwise I move down the list to my next choice."

"Which is?"

"_Yes_ or _no_, Lee?"

"Yes."

He got a tight smile from his father. "Good," Bill said.

The waiter came and took their orders for lunch.

Lee toyed with the spoon at his place setting. "When did you make your decision?"

"This morning."

"Does anyone else know?"

"Not yet. I'm going by Laura and John's place tonight on my way home. John has the surface maps of Nereid ready for me. I'm going to tell him then."

"Is he the reason you didn't pick Kara for the mission?"

"No."

"Why didn't you?"

"Put yourself in my place, Lee. Why do you think I didn't?"

"Her lack of experience?"

"That's right. She's smart and I could feel her enthusiasm out at the hangar that day. Her sim scores are outstanding. She thinks on her feet, even a bit outside of the box. But I couldn't see handing this mission to a green pilot, jeopardizing the mission and putting her life at risk. She just doesn't have the experience yet. One day she will. I have no doubt of that. She's going to be an exceptional pilot, as good as her father, maybe better. All of her scores say so."

"She's probably going to be upset. I think she really wanted this mission."

"This was a military decision. There was nothing personal in it. I hope she understands."

"So you want me to start working with Mr. Rafferty?"

"It's _Dr. Rafferty_. He has a couple of PhDs, one of them in astrophysics, the other in aeronautical engineering, but he'd rather you call him _Rick_. Actually you'll be working with his chief computer technician. I can't remember his name, but Rick will introduce you to him and explain it all to you next Monday afternoon."

"Is it all right if I tell Kara?"

"Why don't you let me do that tonight when I go by the apartment? I made the decision. It should come from me. Is she still doing well in Flight School?"

Lee thought about the meltdown Kara had the previous week after her first check ride. It hadn't been totally unexpected. He'd seen a number of such meltdowns when he had gone through Flight School. And Kara was still a month away from being eighteen. All things considered she was handling the pressure extremely well.

"She's doing fine," Lee said to his father. "She'll probably graduate at the top of her Viper class."

"I never doubted that she would," Bill said.

o

Kara sat on the terrace going over the next day's maneuvers in one of her flight manuals. Her second check ride was coming up at the end of the week. Tomorrow she was going to have to stall her Viper and recover from it. Then she was going to have to put it into a downward spiral and recover from that. The next day she would have to demonstrate her ability to do an emergency landing. On paper, the maneuvers often ran together for her, but as soon as she got into the Viper, she was usually able to clear her mind and remember everything.

She had heard some of the other nuggets use the term _brain fire_ referring to what happened to their thinking when they were trying to fly the Viper, read their instruments and listen to their instructor all at the same time. So far she had never experienced that muddle of thinking when the brain reaches overload and consumes itself in an inferno of fried synapses, but that didn't mean it couldn't or wouldn't ever happen to her.

She looked at her manual again and started down the stall sequence for the twentieth time, committing the steps to memory and then letting herself pilot her ship during an imaginary stall.

Behind her the terrace door opened. She didn't turn around, certain that it was her father coming to tell her that it was getting too dark to see her manuals. Instead she heard the admiral's voice.

"It's nice out here in the early evening."

Kara closed the emergency procedures manual and stood. She hoped he would overlook the wrinkled shorts and t-shirt. "Hello, Admiral Adama."

"Sit down, please. Have I interrupted your studying?"

Kara sat. "No, sir. It's getting too dark out here to read anyway."

He had a drink in his hand. He came over and sat in the chair beside her. "I never realized you could see the peak of the Capitol Building from here."

"Yes, sir. In a straight line it's not too far. Three miles, maybe."

He sipped his drink. "I picked Lee to fly the mission to Nereid. I wanted to be the one to tell you. It was my choice. My decision."

His news didn't surprise Kara. In a way she had been expecting it ever since Lee had ridden out to the boneyard again with his father, but the fact that the admiral had made his decision this soon did surprise her. She didn't say anything. She didn't know what to say.

Bill Adama went on. "I want you to know that the only thing that took you out of the running for this mission was your lack of experience as a pilot. And the fact that you're still in Flight School. Lee is going to start working with computer simulations of flying the Raider next week. We're going to do everything we can to insure that it's a safe mission for him."

"I understand," Kara said. "You made a good choice. Lee's a good pilot."

"I know he is. He performed well on the mission that got us the two Raiders."

"He'll do good on this one, too."

"I think so or I wouldn't have picked him. I want you to know there will be other missions in the future, missions you'll definitely be considered for. You're going to be a good pilot, too, and a valuable asset to us. I want you to know I was very impressed by your willingness and by your enthusiasm."

"Have you told my dad?"

Bill took a sip of his drink. "I wanted to tell you first. I felt like I owed you that much. I'll be glad to tell him…or you can."

"I'll do it. He'll be…happy. I know he didn't want me to…"

"No father wants to see his child's life put in harm's way. This was a very hard decision for me to make. I weighed a number of factors as I made it."

"Lee will be okay."

"I know he will." Bill stood. "Are you going inside?"

"I'm just going to sit out here for a few more minutes. Thank you, sir, for telling me."

Behind her she again heard the door open and then close. She was okay. Being inside that Raider had felt so right, though. How could she have been wrong about it? Still she understood Admiral Adama's reasons for picking Lee. He had flown a Viper for almost three years. He had flown in deep space for a year. Lee was the right pilot for the mission. She sat down and stared at the brightest stars, just now visible in the twilight sky. Somewhere among them was Nereid's sun. One day in the not too distant future the man she loved would jump a Raider there.

Her father sat down in the chair beside her. "Are you all right?"

She shrugged. "He told you?"

"He didn't have to. I knew when he asked to speak to you alone what he had come for."

"I know you're glad."

"Do you blame me? Do you not understand why I don't want you in that Raider for this mission?"

"I understand," Kara said, disappointment shortening her words for the first time.

"Bill thinks a great deal of you and your abilities or he would never have even considered you for the mission. You can bet he'll consider you for future missions. I'm sure he weighed all the factors in making his choice."

"He picked Lee."

"That doesn't surprise me. Lee will do a good job. And it means Bill doesn't have to reveal his plan to yet another person. Are you coming in?"

"If you don't mind, I'd like to be by myself for a little while."

Her father got up, leaned down and kissed the top of her head. She heard the door open and close. She looked up again at the darkening sky and the stars, those distant torches of other worlds. She wouldn't jump Sadie this time, but one day she would travel to Nereid just like the Oracle had said.

She felt some of the disappointment begin to lift. She would finish Flight School. She would go to the _Galactica_ and get some experience flying a Viper in deep space. She would help rid Caprica of the Cylons, and one day, not long after they were free, Bill Adama would take the fleet and they would journey to another world. They would destroy the Cylon homeworld on Nereid and make the galaxy safe for humans once again.

o

Laura walked into the den after putting her son to bed. John and Bill were seated side by side on the couch. John's laptop computer was open on Bill's lap. John pointed to something on the screen.

"…and if the Cylons destroyed the unstable dam, they wouldn't have to worry about the possibility of it collapsing and flooding the northern part of the city. I don't think they would have gone to the trouble to reinvent the wheel, so to speak. The infrastructure is already in place in the city, the water and sewer and the roads. Irina didn't personally see the city, but she said her husband did. He said some of the buildings were still habitable. The Cylons could tear down the others and start building again."

"They still have one stable dam to provide a source of power?"

"One dam and a hydroelectric plant. The question becomes then what they would have done with any prisoners they took…providing they took human prisoners like we think they did."

"You don't think they would house them in the city?"

"I think the city is too close to the mountains and the possibility of freedom should any of them escape. Personally I think they would have built a prison somewhere else, somewhere more remote."

"Which could be anywhere."

"Yes, but they wouldn't want to go too far from the city. A couple hundred miles to the east, the topography changes and becomes high desert. There's a large plateau that rises half a mile or more above the desert floor. It's approximately fifty miles in diameter. A large portion in the center of it is flat. I think it would be an ideal place to house prisoners. In the event some prisoners managed to escape, they would have nowhere to hide. The Cylons wouldn't want their prison or research facility or whatever to be too close to the mountains. According to one of the journal entries, those mountains are full of caves, full of good hiding places and abundant game. Prisoners escaping from the city might stand a chance if they made it to the mountains. On that plateau they wouldn't stand any chance. They'd have nowhere to hide. No chance at all."

"Would the Cylons think that way?" Laura asked. "What would they know of good hiding places and abundant game? Hunter-gatherer Cylons is something of an oxymoron to me."

Bill smiled. "Leave it to Laura to think of something like that. I still think they'd go west toward the mountains to build their Cylon city. It would be easier to defend."

"What would they think they have to defend it against?" John asked. "There's nobody on the planet who would be attacking them and anything else would come from the sky. When you're dealing with an aerial attack, it doesn't matter where your city is located as the other eleven Colonies found out."

"Good point," Bill replied.

"A nuclear device doesn't care if their city is in the mountains or on a plateau," Laura said. "Lee will fly the entire area around the ruined city from east to west. His reconnaissance will determine where the Cylons are and where Bill will direct our nukes."

"What about the prisoners?" John asked.

Laura and Bill looked at each other. Bill said, "I've made a military decision not to attempt to rescue any prisoners."

"Why not?"

"I agree with Bill," Laura said quickly. "To attempt a rescue would put too many of our personnel and our battlestars at risk. It will be my official stance if I'm elected."

"I think that decision is premature and presumptive!" John said, the anger clear in his voice. "We're talking about human beings who have survived five years of hell. They don't deserve to be nuked along with their captors."

"I agree that they certainly don't _deserve_ it," Laura said softly, "but at what point does the risk outweigh the gain? Our battlestars are needed to protect the millions of humans still living on Caprica. Can we afford to lose that protection?"

"Bill doesn't intend to take all his battlestars to Nereid," John said.

Bill said, "But the loss of even one hurts our ability to protect this planet, not to mention that in losing even one battlestar, we may be losing more humans than we'd be rescuing on Nereid."

"It's a good thing you didn't feel that way about the humans in the refugee camps outside of Antioch and Sovana and Kinsdale, isn't it?" John asked sarcastically. "It's a good thing you didn't decide to just write off all those humans as more trouble than they were worth."

Laura suddenly realized one of the reasons this had upset John so much. Kara had been in one of those camps.

"John, this is different," Laura said.

"How is it different? Human life is human life! What difference does it make what planet it's on?"

Bill finished the rest of his drink and stood. "I'll wait to make a final decision until I see what kind of information Lee brings us."

Laura looked at Bill and their eyes locked. He had already made his decision, and he knew her feelings on the matter. He didn't have to say it again and neither did she.

"I'll see myself out," Bill said.

After he was gone, John walked over to the terrace door before he turned.

"When did you plan to tell me what you and Bill had decided?"

"I thought…I thought Bill had already told you. You've discussed Nereid. You've discussed the mission. I thought you knew. I thought you agreed with him."

"We've discussed the mission. We've discussed the fact that there are probably human prisoners on the planet, but Bill failed to mention the little detail that he considers them _expendable_. I can't believe you agree with him. After you stood up to Cavil over the refugees and after the way you put your life on the line for a hundred students at the university, I can't believe you can just write off thousands of humans as necessary casualties of war, as _collateral damage_."

"You don't understand."

"What don't I understand, Laura? Explain it to me!"

"From a military point of view…"

"Forget the military point of view," John said angrily. "I got the military point of view from Bill. I want your point of view! I want to hear how a humanitarian justifies nuking prisoners."

"As President I'll be called on to make a number of very difficult decisions."

"You're not answering my question."

"We need every battlestar we've got to protect Caprica. We can't stand the loss of even one. The needs of the millions of people on Caprica outweigh the needs of a few thousand…captive humans on Nereid."

"We may lose battlestars getting rid of the Cylons here. In fact if something goes wrong with destroying that basestar and we have to fight them here, we probably will."

"Then we can't afford to lose any more trying to rescue prisoners that may or may not have lived through what the Cylons have done to them. It takes a year to build a battlestar. We have one shipyard on Caprica. It will take months to get production going again. Consider what that means."

"There's something more going on with you. Something you just won't say. What is it?"

"Our son," Laura finally said in anguish. "We've got to protect our son."

"Why do you think we're getting rid of the Cylons in the first place? We're doing that to protect _all_ the children of Caprica, not just Braedon. We're doing that so that they can _all_ grow up free. I'm sorry. I'm just not making the connection between that and nuking human prisoners."

"If the Cylons are on Nereid and we don't destroy them, they could come here again. We could face another holocaust and this time there won't be any negotiations. This time they'll kill us all."

"I still don't see why you think we can't destroy the Cylons on Nereid without killing their human prisoners."

"Then let's just say we disagree and leave it at that. I'm not going to change my mind, John. I stand with Bill on this."

"What if someone you loved were on Nereid? What if Kara or Lee or Bill or me were on that planet? Would you nuke us along with the rest of the prisoners? Does your compassion for humanity stop at the Kármán Line above Caprica? Would the needs of the many still outweigh the needs of the few?"

Laura felt something cold pierce her heart. "Oh, gods, John. Don't ask me to answer a question like that. You're not being fair to me. None of you are on that planet. You're all here on Caprica."

He drew a long breath and let it out, poured a drink and went out onto the terrace without another word.

Laura placed her hand over her heart and rubbed the cold ache that seemed to have settled there. She had not expected that kind of reaction from John. He was a military man, a former Viper pilot. She had expected him to agree with her and Bill. She had not expected his vehement objection. She still believed that she was right, though. She still believed that the need to protect Caprica outweighed the risk of trying to rescue prisoners on Nereid.

Sadly she picked up her notepad and put on her glasses. She had another speech to write.

o

Kara heard the door open. When she turned, she saw her father. He came over and sat down beside her.

"Is the admiral gone?" She asked.

"Yeah, he's gone."

Her father sounded angry. "Is something wrong?" She asked.

"Laura and I are on opposite sides of the fence on an important issue."

"What happened to compromise?" Kara asked. "You've told me a couple of times that relationships are all about compromise and talking things out."

"Sometimes you can't compromise," her father said. "Sometimes it all comes down to who you are and what you believe. I don't think there's any way she and I will be able to compromise on this issue."

"Which is?"

"I don't want to drag you into it right now. We'll talk about it later. You need to concentrate on what you'll be doing tomorrow."

"I know. I'm going to my room and study some more," she said as she stood up.

He reached over and squeezed her hand. "Don't stay up too late. You need your sleep. Goodnight, baby. I love you."

Even in her preoccupied state Kara could tell that whatever had just happened between her father and Laura had been big. But she didn't ask any more questions. She went to her room and lay across the bed. Finally she unplugged her phone from its charger on the nightstand and called Lee. He picked up on the first ring, almost like he had the phone by his side waiting for her call.

"Congratulations," she said to him and hoped her voice showed him that she meant it.

"Thanks. Are you okay with my dad's decision?"

"Yes and no. Yes because I think you were the best choice. And no because…because I don't want anything to happen to you."

"You understand why he didn't…"

"Lee, you don't have to explain anything to me or make excuses to me for why he chose you. He explained it."

"I know you're disappointed."

Kara took a deep breath. "I really thought…but it's not important now."

"Thought what, Kara? It's important to me."

"I think I just misunderstood the Oracle. That's all."

"The Oracle told you that you were going to fly the Raider?"

"No. She told me I would journey to another world. I was the one who thought that meant I would fly Sadie. Now I think it means I'll be on the _Galactica_ when we go to wipe out the Cylons there. I _will_ journey to Nereid…just not the way I first thought."

"Then you and I are okay?"

"Yeah, we're okay, Lee. I want to hear all about your training for the mission. I want to hear every single detail. Promise me."

"I will. What are you doing tomorrow in Flight School?"

"Stalls and spins."

"Both of those can be dangerous. Be careful."

Kara smiled even though Lee couldn't see her. "I'm always careful. Besides, I got Jessups as my instructor for tomorrow. He'll keep me straight."

"Your new best friend," Lee teased. "Who have you got for your next check ride?"

"I don't know yet. It'll be posted Thursday afternoon."

"After Friday you'll be half way through with your check rides. If you do good on that one, you'll get to solo next week."

"Yeah," Kara said. "I can't wait."

"Zak has asked us to go out with him on Saturday night. Do you want to do it?"

"Just Zak? Or Zak and Maggie?"

"Zak and Maggie. I think Sam and Maya are going, too."

"Okay. If Sam and Maya are going to be there, I can handle it."

"You shouldn't let this thing with you and Maggie go on forever."

"Maggs and I are okay. We speak when we see each other. She and I are never going to be friends. There's just too much history."

"So I should tell Zak _yes_?"

"Where are we going?"

"Probably Crocodiles. That seems to be his and Sam's choice of a watering hole."

"Yeah, okay. Maybe I'll mention it to Karl and Sharon, too."

"Sure," Lee said. "Why not? The more the merrier."

o

Lee raised his bottle of beer on Saturday night as they sat around a table at Crocodiles.

"To Kara Thrace who passed her second check ride with a 94 and who gets to solo next week," he said.

"Here. Here." Sam slapped the table. "To another Viper pilot in our midst."

Maya smiled. Zak smiled. Maggie didn't exactly smile, but she raised her glass.

"And to Margaret Edmondson," Zak said with his beer still raised, "who is also going to pilot a Raptor next week with just an ECO for company and no instructor. I guess that's the Raptor equivalent of a solo."

"To Maggie," Sam echoed.

"Congratulations," Kara said.

"Thanks," Maggie answered. "To you, too."

They all drank.

Lee leaned over and whispered to Kara. "What happened to Sharon and Karl tonight?"

Kara whispered back, "Sharon screwed up her second check ride. She's having trouble with her landings. The instructor didn't flunk her, but she's got to do the check ride again before they'll clear her to solo. Karl called me this afternoon and said she didn't want to come out tonight. She's being really hard on herself."

"That surprises me," Lee said. "You'd think a machine…."

"Yeah, well maybe that proves she's not so perfect after all. Maybe the Cylons made her brain too much like a human. Maybe she can download the flight manuals, but that doesn't mean she can do the maneuvers."

Zak punched Lee's shoulder lightly. "No whispering, you two. Save it for later."

Kara grinned. "Just talking shop."

Maggie looked at her but didn't say anything. She was sure Maggie knew about Sharon's check ride. Things like that got around quickly.

"Save the shop talk for later, too," Zak said. "This isn't The Shark Rider."

"What do you know about The Shark Rider?" Kara asked in surprise. "I didn't think you went slumming down on the waterfront."

"I know all about The Shark Rider where nuggets go to forget the stresses of Flight School."

"Just like Crocodiles where jocks and their PR guys go to…whatever."

Sam smiled. "You'd better quit while you're ahead," he said to Zak. "I don't want Kara giving my beautiful date the wrong impression about me."

Sam had his arm across the back of Maya's chair. Kara had never seen Maya looking as pretty as she did tonight. Her shining dark hair was down around her shoulders and she wore a red top over a black skirt that showed just enough of her legs to be hot. Kara had never realized what a good body Maya had either. She was wearing makeup, too. She never wore makeup when she was taking care of Braedon. With Maya's looks and gentle disposition, no wonder Sam Anders had a hard time keeping his eyes off her.

It wasn't long until Sam saw some of his fellow pyramid players come in and go to a table on the other side of the room. "Come on," he said to Maya and took her hand. "I want to introduce you to some friends of mine."

"Yep," Zak said as soon as they were away from the table. "He's a goner."

"You think so?" Kara asked. "You think one of Caprica's playboy princes has met his match? They've only been dating a couple of weeks."

"How long do you think it takes?" Zak asked her with a smile.

Kara thought about his question. It had taken her one night to know Lee was the man for her. They had gotten off to a bumpy start, but still, after that first night she had known.

She looked at Lee and saw the love in his eyes before she turned to Zak. "Okay. I'll give you that one. I bow to the vast experience of Caprica's other playboy prince."

"Smart," Zak said. "We all eventually meet our match."

Kara looked at Maggie. Maggie finally smiled.

Later Kara and Maya walked to the restroom together. "You look really sharp tonight," Kara told her as they were washing their hands. "Sam looks seriously love-smacked."

"You think so?"

"Yeah, I do."

Maya looked up and their eyes met in the mirror over the sink. Kara saw a sudden sadness in Maya's eyes.

"He reminds me of Peter. He's taller and handsomer, but…something about him…the way he laughs…maybe."

"Is that a problem?"

"I don't want to get my hopes up that he's like Peter in other ways and then be disappointed. Peter was kind and gentle and he loved me."

"Then just have fun with Sam."

"I'm not very good at that."

"Having fun?" Kara asked incredulously.

Maya blushed but held Kara's eyes in the mirror. "Sleeping with a man I'm not in love with. I'm not saying that will never happen, but I'm not in love with him now. He's been very good to me. He's taken me some very nice places, but...I just don't think I'm ready for anything else right now."

"I guess that's what Sam wants…I mean the _sleeping with_ part. He's good-looking and he's a big sports star. I guess he's used to…having women throw themselves at him."

"I don't want to make a mistake. I don't want to get hurt again."

"So," Kara said, "I don't know what to say. You probably shouldn't listen to me anyway. What do I know? You're the one who knows what's best for you."

"Lee loves you. I can tell by the way he looks at you. You're so lucky."

"Yeah. In a lot of ways I am lucky."

Maya attempted a perky smile, but the sadness was still in her eyes. "Well, let me go try to have some fun."

o

Later that night at Lee's apartment, Lee said to Kara, "I'm still thinking about Sharon. I'm sorry she's having trouble learning to fly a Raptor. I just never thought…I mean she's a Cylon."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. I was surprised, too. She aced most of the written tests. Before we started flying, Saunders told me he thought she would take top honors in the Raptor class. That's sure not going to happen now."

"You think he's going to get it?"

"Yeah, probably. He did great on his first check ride. I haven't talked to him about the second one yet, but I'm sure he did good on that one, too. Maybe Sharon is hardwired to fly Cylon ships. Stick her in a heavy Raider and maybe she'd know what to do."

"A Raptor isn't the easiest ship to learn to fly, but a ship is still a ship."

"She's got to get her wings. She's got to be on the _Galactica_ with me and Karl."

"Don't give up on her yet."

"I'm not. I think she'll still do it. I'm going to call Karl tomorrow and see if she's okay."

"Not everybody breezes through their check rides, Kara."

She grinned. "Oh, really? I'd never have guessed."

He hooked his arm around her neck and pulled her to him. "I have it on good authority that some nuggets have the guts to question their instructors after their check rides."

"Oh yeah? Who would be _that dumb_?"

"My girlfriend. Maybe you've heard of her. Starbuck."

"Her? Yeah, I've heard of her. So you're her boyfriend? Lucky you."

"Lucky me," Lee said and kissed her.

They hadn't been together since last weekend. Lee knew how difficult some of the maneuvers were to learn and he had respected Kara's desire to study. He knew how important this part of Flight School was. Seeing her tonight, though, and sitting beside her at Crocodiles, it had been hard to keep his mind off making love to her.

His mouth slid around to her ear. "Let's go to the bedroom."

He took her hand and pulled her after him. They made it to the doorway before they started kissing again. They kept it up as they quickly shed their clothes. He held her against him.

"Go slow, Kara. Gods, go slow or this is going to be over before we get started. I've been thinking about this all night, all week really."

She pushed him back on the bed and crawled over him, staying on her hands and knees. She bent down and kissed him, her tongue teasing him, her mouth gently pulling at his.

He cupped her breasts, sliding her nipples between his fingers and squeezing. His senses felt like they were on fire. She moaned softly against his mouth. He slid one of his hands down against her. She was already wet. She lowered her hips. He heard the soft moan again as she took him all the way in.

She tried. He knew she tried. She managed to go slow for a short while, but she was as ready as he was. The world dissolved into cascading liquid fire for him as her hands clutched his shoulders.

She lay on him, her face against his neck. His hands gently stroked her back.

"That might have been a record for both of us," he said. "I don't think we've been in here five minutes."

"Umm."

"Don't go to sleep, Kara. We can't go to sleep. I know we got spoiled while John and Laura were away."

"They had a fight about something," Kara said drowsily. "The other night when your dad was there. Things have been way cool between them the last couple of days."

"Do you know what it was about?"

"No. But it's been on my father's mind since then. I've asked him a couple of times and he told me to concentrate on Flight School, that we'd talk about it later."

"You don't think they fought about my dad, do you?"

"I don't think so. It might have had something to do with the refugee camps," she finally said.

"Why do you think that?"

"I'm not sure. My dad wants us to go back to the one where I was…after Flight School is over. I asked Karl one day at lunch last week if he wanted to go. He said he would think about it. Would you like to go with us?"

"Do you _want_ me to go with you?"

"If you don't mind spending a day flying up to Antioch and back. I'm mostly going because my dad asked me to go. He wants to…I'm not sure what he wants to do. He was just there with Laura. I don't know why he wants to go back with me."

"Maybe this is something you need to share with him and Karl."

"Then you _don't_ want to go?"

"I'll go if you want me to."

"Yeah. I do." Kara slid down off of him and lay beside him. "I've tried to put that place behind me. It doesn't look the same anyway. I'm not sure what going back would accomplish, but I'm going to do it for my dad."

"There's something in our nature," Lee said, "in our human nature to want to build monuments to our dead. We build memorials so we can remember the dead…and honor them…honor their sacrifice, honor their suffering."

"There wasn't any sacrifice in the camp. Just mud and rats and suffering and death. Ugly death. Painful death. Because of the Cylons. I'm glad I'm going to be part of destroying them."

Lee thought of the morgue photos he'd seen as he had searched for Neil Spiegle. "Yeah. I know what you mean. Death is ugly sometimes…and painful. But there _was_ sacrifice in the camps. You told me what Maya did to try to save her little girl's life. That was sacrifice. I'm sure she's not the only one who…did something like that."

"Yeah. I guess I never thought about it like that. I swear to the gods if Sam Anders hurts her, I'll…I don't know what I'll do to him. Maya deserves somebody who will treat her right. I think she wants to move on with her life, but I'm not sure Sam is the guy she should do it with. Sam isn't exactly a poster boy for sticking to one woman."

"Well, if Zak is right about Sam's feelings…"

Kara snorted. "What does _Zak_ know? He's as much of a playboy as Sam."

"He and Sam have been friends for over a year. Maybe Sam has told him how he feels about Maya."

Kara snorted again. "Guys don't tell other guys how they _feel_ about a girl. They tell other guys if they're scoring or if they've got the hots for a girl, but they don't talk about their _feelings_ to other guys."

"You're wrong."

"Oh, yeah? When was the last time you had a little heart-to-heart with another guy about your feelings for me? I'll bet you've never told Zak you love me. I'll bet you never told your dad, either."

Lee didn't say anything. She was right. He hadn't. Finally he said, "That doesn't mean…"

"It's okay. You tell _me_ you love me. That's what counts."

"You said Karl talks to _you_ about his feelings for Sharon."

"Duh, Lee. I'm not a guy."

"Oh, yeah," Lee said feeling momentarily stupid.

"Karl and I have always talked to each other about…stuff like that…except not so much lately because I mostly see him at lunch now and somebody else is always around."

"It'll be different if you're both on the _G_ together. You'll have a lot of time to catch up."

"That's the good thing. The bad thing is you won't be there."

"After we defeat the Cylons, I'm going to ask my dad to get me transferred to the _Galactica_."

"You are? I thought you said you'd never ask him for a favor or…"

"You're worth it. I can handle going back to a battlestar as long as you're on it."

"So the second time you go to Nereid we'll be together?"

"We'll be together."

o

Laura Roslin awoke and looked at the clock. Just after two a.m. She wasn't sure what had awakened her and she listened. The monitor on the bedside table was quiet. It hadn't been Braedon. She rolled over. John wasn't in bed with her. She got up and looked into the hallway. The apartment was dark and quiet.

Without bothering to put her robe over her nightgown, she walked barefoot down the hall. The den was dark, the only light coming through the terrace door from the sliver of moon barely visible in the sky and the ambient light from the streetlamps far below.

She opened the door and walked outside. John was sitting on one of the cushioned lounge chairs, a drink in his hand. She walked to the balustrade of the terrace and looked across the river at the lighted peak of the Capitol Building in the distance. Beyond the Capitol was Marble House, the official residence of the President of the Colonies. If she were elected, then in six months they would be moving from the apartment into Marble House for her five-year term of office. If she sought re-election and won, they might not be back here for ten years. Their son would be in school, a fifth grader. The thought was almost frightening to her.

Still looking across the river, she said, "You're up early or did you ever come to bed?"

"I couldn't sleep," John said softly. "I didn't want to wake you."

She turned. He was wearing a t-shirt and his pajama bottoms.

She walked over and sat down on the edge of the cushion beside him. "May I?" She asked as she took his drink.

"Help yourself."

The whiskey was straight, just the way she liked it. _A man's drink, _Chuck Winters had called it. She took a sip. It burned going down. She handed it back to him.

"What's keeping you awake?" She asked, although she was certain she already knew.

He shrugged and didn't answer her right away. "A lot of things," he finally said.

"Is it what we talked about when Bill was here this week?"

"I never dreamed the whole time I was helping him with this part of the plan that I was helping condemn thousands of innocent humans. Or that my wife would be okay with it."

"John, you can't look at it like that."

"Then how can I look at it?"

"Do you think that this decision was _easy_ for me to make?" She asked with pain in her voice.

"Apparently it wasn't all that _hard_ for you to make."

"John, please…"

"Look, Laura. I know we said we would always talk about things that were bothering us, but as far as I'm concerned there's nothing to talk about on this issue. You feel one way and I feel another. I'm not going to change your mind and you're not going to change mine. The best thing we can do is drop it. The more we talk about it, the worse it's going to get. There's nothing you can say that's going to make me feel better about my part in it, either."

"Do you feel like Bill lied to you, deceived you into helping him?"

"No. When we were talking about the possibility of prisoners on the planet, he withheld a command decision. He's an admiral. He had no obligation to tell me his thoughts."

"As your friend, though?"

"Yeah, I am having a problem with that. I thought he trusted me more than he apparently does."

"Do you feel like _I_ should have told you?"

"I don't know how I feel right now. I've got to deal with this in my own way. You're just going to have to let me."

"When the flu was going through the refugee camps that second winter, we could have gotten a few doses of antibiotics to the camps. But it was only enough to help a tiny fraction of the sick. And we knew that it would have started a…rush on the medical tents. It would have forced exhausted doctors and medical technicians to…make decisions that would have been…unfair to everyone, perhaps even caused harm to come to the medical personnel. We didn't want to save a few lives at the cost of others. If some of the refugees had rioted and tried to take the antibiotics by force, the consequences could have been terrible. The loss of a physician would have been devastating to a camp."

"There was always the choice to send a Marine escort with the medicine."

"We discussed that. Adar didn't want to do it and neither did I. If the refugees had started something, it would have put the Marines in the position of firing on them. Those poor people had suffered so much. Becoming targets for our soldiers would have been a nightmare for all involved. It would have almost certainly cost more lives than the antibiotics would have saved."

"So what did you do?"

"We sent the antibiotics to the hospitals here in Caprica City. President Adar made the final decision, but I concurred with him. I spent many sleepless nights as the death tolls climbed in the camps. Looking back I still believe we made the right choice. I've made tough decisions before and dealt with the aftermath on a personal level. I will do it again. It goes with the territory."

"That doesn't mean I'll agree with every decision you make."

She placed her hand against his chest. "Don't you want to come to bed?"

"We can't fix this by making love."

"I know we can't _fix_ it. What if I just want you to make love to me?"

He made a short sound, almost a laugh. "I never thought I'd ever say this to you, but I'm not sure I'm in the mood right now."

Laura dropped her head and closed her eyes. "Oh, gods…"

She felt his hand on the back of her neck, gently pulling her down to him. He kissed her softly, just brushing his lips against hers. He probably meant the kiss as a gentle way of telling her to go back to bed, but she slid a leg across his lap and pressed herself against him. She kissed his mouth and then his neck.

"Please," she whispered against his ear. "Please."

She kissed him again, harder this time, pushing his head back against the cushion, and the kiss finally changed. She felt the desire awaken in him. They never made it off the lounge chair on the dark terrace. Their lovemaking had an urgency and heat that she hadn't felt in a long time and an undercurrent of anger that he didn't try to hide although she didn't understand if the anger was directed at her or at himself.

When it was over, when she was panting softly from the pleasure that still suffused her, he wrapped his arms around her and enfolded her against his chest. She knew he loved her, but she felt him withdraw from her emotionally even as he grew soft inside of her, in those moments when they were usually the closest. Physically he hadn't disappointed her, but he either couldn't or wouldn't give her that part of himself that she wanted, those tender moments of sharing that meant so much to her. Tonight his embrace felt like he was just going through the motions.

She finally drew back and looked at him. Even in the faint light she could tell that his eyes were not on her right now. They were on the stars and she knew his thoughts were far away on a distant planet the Cylons possibly called home.

o

Kara sat alone in the single cockpit of a Viper Mark II. No instructor sat behind her. She brought the Viper out to the taxiway and waited for clearance to take off. She was just one in a long line of Vipers, both trainers and single cockpit models waiting for access to the runway. Above them the Raiders waited, another one peeling off from the group as each Viper launched into the air. When her turn finally came, she took her Viper up. She was proud of her takeoff. Her takeoffs were usually one of the best parts of her flights. Even Jessups had complimented her last takeoff.

It took her several minutes to adjust to the fact that today there would be no voice from a seat behind her, no voice giving instructions or criticism or yelling in her ear. She was in the air over Caprica City and she was alone in the cockpit. She banked her ship to the north, to the smaller airbase fifty-five miles away where she would practice her touch-and-go landings.

Even seeing her Cylon escort beside of her didn't bother her today. She was free of the ground, free of the rest of the world, and every nerve in her body felt the joy of it.

She radioed the runway duty officer as she approached the small airbase. He gave her permission to enter the landing pattern. She did the four required touch-and-goes. The ground officer cleared her on them and told her that she could return to the Caprica airbase.

As she was making the quick takeoffs and landings, her Raider escort had hovered over the side of the small base. It reminded her of a vulture, circling, waiting until she had completed the exercises.

Now as she climbed to her cruising altitude after her last takeoff, she nudged her Viper a little closer to it just to see what it would do. It immediately adjusted its distance. So it was very aware of her movements. Lee had told her what he had learned about the Raiders. The neuroscientist said they could learn similar to a dog. She wondered what that would mean for the coming battle. Would these Raiders that had shadowed the nuggets for every single training flight for the last five years have learned all their maneuvers? Probably they had. The Raiders now knew all the training maneuvers flown by every Viper pilot on Caprica and all of those who launched from the battlestars. Could the Raiders share memories like the skinjobs could? Did they? Would all the Raiders expect these same maneuvers in battle? Kara hoped they would because that would mean they were in for a surprise.

She thought of the combat maneuvers she had learned in the simulator. No Raider had learned the things her father and Colonel Burgher had taught her and the rest of her class in the simulator. When the time came she knew that she would be ready. They would all be ready. She felt confident today and brave as she banked the Viper in a broad turn toward the airbase.

Her first solo flight. She had done it well.

"Come on, Fido," she said to the Raider. "Let's go home."

TBC…


	68. Top Gun

Chapter 68

Top Gun

_Late in the autumn of President Adar's last year in office, the Altar of Zeus was removed from the woods near the Antioch Memorial Garden and brought to the Caprica Museum of Natural History for safekeeping where it is currently on display. The volunteer staff of the garden was unable to keep tourists and other treasure seekers from chipping pieces of the altar to keep or sell as souvenirs. _

_-Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War_

Rick Rafferty introduced Lee to his chief computer technician. The young man was gangly, his nose long and hawkish, his head covered with a thick mop of brownish-blond curly hair with small streaks of green and blue in front. He wore a longer white lab coat like his boss and both had the small goatee that seemed so popular outside the military right now.

"Kevin Abinell," Rafferty said, "meet Lee Adama."

Abinell had turned around from a stainless steel table where he was soldering something on a small chip under a magnifying glass. He held out his hand after wiping it on his jeans.

"Welcome to Sadieland."

Lee took his hand. "Sadieland. That's a good one."

Rafferty said, "Kev sometimes fights me for the cot we keep out here and the privilege of spending the night in this romantic place. I think my wife is beginning to wonder."

Kevin snickered. "Beginning to wonder? That's an understatement. If I had time for a girlfriend, I'm sure she'd wonder, too."

Lee remembered what his father had said. He had no idea how hard these dedicated engineers and scientists and technicians had worked, how many times they had labored through the night or almost all night. He knew when they defeated the Cylons, these men and women would certainly rate some kind of recognition and reward.

Rafferty said, "I'll leave Lee to you, Kevin. You'll probably want to start him on the external setup and let him get used to the controls before you turn him loose inside Sadie."

"Right," Kevin said. "Come with me."

He took Lee behind the plastic wall. There was a computer and joystick set up on a table with two rudder pedals on the floor attached to a device that was plugged into the back of the computer.

Lee sat down on the stool in front of the monitor and touched a key on the keyboard. The small screen came alive. The screen saver was a cartoonish whip-cracking ogre with Rick Rafferty's head attached.

"I see you love your boss," Lee joked.

"Rick designed that one night while we were waiting for one of the other techs to get back with our takeout. Rafferty is about as opposite of an ogre as you could find. He's brilliant and dedicated. He never asks us to do anything he wouldn't do himself. If we pull an all-nighter, so does he. He's lucky his wife understands."

Lee wondered how Major Parker's head would look on the ogre and then realized that Ackerman's head would fit it better. Instead of cracking a whip, though, he would be cracking heads. Lee smiled at the thought before he realized that it really wasn't funny.

Kevin was talking to him.

"You'll steer just like you do a Viper with a combination of the joystick and the rudder petals. You'll initiate the jump sequence by keying in the coordinates and pressing the ctrl and backspace keys simultaneously."

"So I don't need a jump key inserted in the ship like the battlestars do?"

"No. The Cylon FTL drive has everything built in. Of course there's no drive hooked up to this computer so you'll have to pretend it works for now."

Lee felt a moment of doubt as he had that day he had been here with his father. Would this thing work or was he going on a one-way ride…possibly into some unknown, uncharted part of space? No. It would work. He had to believe. Sadie would get him to Nereid and back.

"So what do you want me to do?" Lee asked

"Get familiar with the controls, especially the rudder pedals and the joystick and how they work together. The slide lever attached to the left side of the keyboard is your speed control. The little blue switch on that panel starts your cameras recording. We don't have any cameras hooked up to this setup, but when you start practicing in Sadie, the cameras will work."

"How will I see to navigate?" Lee asked.

"The small monitor. It's the best we could do. We're leaving the eye-slot alone with the red eye intact. We think that might be how the Raiders communicate with each other. That and a homing signal."

"But the red eye won't be connected to anything. It won't be functional."

"True, but it will look real. Maybe some of them are dumber than others. If there are other Raiders wherever you're going in this thing, maybe none of them will notice."

"You mean you don't know where I'm going in Sadie?"

"Need to know basis only, man. That's how we do everything out here. Even Rick doesn't know where you're taking it. We've talked. We figure it's out of this solar system, but we don't know where. It doesn't really matter to us. All we've got to do is make sure it will fly and that you can jump it. We know the military has secrets."

"I don't know all the details yet myself," Lee said. That was true. He hadn't gone over the final plan with his father or gotten any jump coordinates.

"Play around with it all you want," Kevin said. "I apologize for the graphics. We didn't have time to program anything state of the art. It probably looks like one of the first video games you ever played."

"I wasn't too much into video games as a kid. My brother was…and my girlfriend."

"Your girlfriend was into the games. Cool, man. Was she any good?"

"Her best friend says so. He says they used to go down to a video arcade and she'd take on all challengers in the aerial dogfight game when she was twelve or thirteen. She's in Flight School now learning to fly a Viper. She's good."

"Was she the one who was with you and your dad about six months ago? Blond? She climbed up in Sadie?"

"That's her," Lee answered.

"Man, she's hot. I…uh…didn't mean…don't take that the wrong way."

"Thanks, and I didn't."

"Well, I'll let you get to it. If you have any questions, come ask. That's what I'm here for."

Lee pointed to his forehead. "The blue and green streak in your hair. Does it have a special significance?"

Kevin laughed. "I'm a diehard C-Bucks fan. I have this thing about always wearing their colors. Putting them in my hair makes it easy."

"Okay. So how do I start flying Sadie?" Lee asked.

"Oh, sorry. I forgot that part, didn't I? Hit esc twice. That puts you into sim mode and takes you out. While you're in sim mode, the caps lock toggles you between atmosphere and deep space. Keying in the jump coordinates and hitting ctrl and backspace will do the same thing. Like I said, the graphics are pretty crude, but it's the best we could do given the time we had."

"Thanks."

"When you get really familiar with the controls here, maybe in a couple of weeks, then we'll let you start working inside of Sadie. Same setup. It feels different, though, so it's best to get used to flying it first. You want the control coordination to be second nature before you try to do it lying down on your stomach."

"Right."

After Kevin left to go back to his workbench and chip soldering, Lee hit esc twice to enter the sim. The graphics on the small screen didn't look all that crude to him. He realized the view was approximately what he would see if he were able to look out of the eye slot of the Raider. He was sitting on a runway.

He knew the first thing he had to do was figure you how much stick and how much rudder he needed to control the Raider…the stick to control roll and pitch, the rudders to control yaw. Get all of that coordinated with the slide-bar throttle and he would be in business.

It wasn't nearly as easy as he had thought it would be. The first few attempts he made to takeoff ended with crashes onto the runway. He saw that Kevin was not without a sense of humor. Instead of immediately going back to the screen saver, the ogre with Rafferty's head whacked a cartoon pilot a few times with a crude wooden club while the word _ouch_ was displayed in a little bubble above the pilot's head.

"Cute," Lee said to himself. At least the ogre wasn't keeping score.

An hour later Lee could consistently get the Raider off the runway and into the air. He began to form a grudging admiration for whoever had constructed the part-metal, part-organic ship and given it the equivalent of a brain. And to do it all in the twenty years between the first war and the second war was an accomplishment. Then again they'd had the old style Raiders as a starting point. It was still a monumental accomplishment. He had to give the Cylons…or whoever…credit.

The humans who had worked with the centurion models to produce the skinjobs and the Raiders had to have been geniuses. He wondered who they were and if they were still alive on Nereid. More importantly were they still making improvements on the Raiders or the skinjobs?

He turned his attention back to the sim and practiced keying in twelve numbers and hitting the ctrl and backspace keys at the same time. Kevin was right. It toggled him into deep space. He cruised around testing the Raider's speed and maneuverability. He saw a planet in the distance and headed for it. Once again he saw Kevin's sense of humor. The planet's one continent was shaped like a question mark.

At five o'clock that afternoon Lee was exhausted and ready to go home.

"I'll see you next Monday afternoon," he said to Kevin.

"I'll be here, man," Kevin replied. "Where else would I be."

o

Kara got home early from class on Monday. She didn't have a training flight that day and decided to go home and study for the next day's flight. She entered the apartment to find Braedon holding on to the side of his playpen and standing.

Maya was laughing and talking to him. She turned as Kara entered the room. "He's going to be walking soon, a few weeks maybe."

Kara picked Braedon up. He began babbling happily and Kara was sure that she heard him say, "Kawa." He already said, "Dada," often stringing it out into a long, "dadadadada." He was having a harder time with the '_m_' sound. Kara thought when he said, "yayayaya," he was talking to Maya.

"Where's my dad?" Kara asked.

"He's still at the photographer's."

"What photographer's?"

"He didn't mention it to you?" Maya asked in surprise.

"Mention what?"

"He's going to be on the cover of _The Caprican Gentleman, _the November issue that will come out late in October."

Kara laughed. "My dad is going to be on a magazine cover? _The Caprican Gentleman?_ What a hoot. No wonder he didn't tell me. I will seriously give him some grief over that."

"Please don't give him a hard time," Maya said. "He did _not_ want to do this, but Laura's PR guy talked him into it. More exposure for her campaign. He thinks because your dad is good-looking that it will get some of the female votes."

"Ugh," Kara said. "I am so glad I'm going to be on a battlestar when that magazine comes out. I'd die if I was still at the Academy. My dad, a cover boy."

"Just think about him. He'll have to deal with the fallout. D'Anna Biers is coming to interview him later this week, part of some deal Laura made with her on campaign coverage. The article Biers writes is going to run in the magazine. John decided to get it all over in one week."

Kara sat on the couch. Braedon immediately wanted down. He crawled over to the terrace door.

"See the little handprints on the glass near the bottom of the door. Jennet cleans it every day and every day Brae crawls over there and puts those handprints back. Sometimes in the afternoon when the sun is off the terrace, John takes his playpen out there. Braedon loves it."

"How did things go with Sam on Saturday night?" Kara asked.

"We went back to his place and talked for a long time. I'm sure a lot of people think he's just a dumb jock, but he's not. There's more to Sam than meets the eye."

Kara almost snickered. "Yeah, I'll bet."

"Not _that_," Maya smiled, "although the subject was discussed."

"And?"

"He understands why I'm not ready to…take the next step in the relationship right now. I told him about losing Peter in the bombing. I told him about losing Hanna in the camp. I almost told him about…what I did to try to save her, but I'm not ready to talk to him about that yet. I've told him enough for right now. I'll see where the relationship goes from here."

"That sounds like a smart thing to do. I'll bet you're the first woman Sam has dated more than twice who hasn't…you know…hopped right into bed with him."

Maya smiled. "Maybe. I'll know when the time is right…if the time is right. That's not the only big decision I have to make. Laura has asked me to move into Marble House if she's elected. She wants me to be Braedon's live-in nanny."

"What about school? What about getting your teaching degree?"

"She said I could continue to go to school at night. That won't be a problem."

"What does that do to you and Sam?"

"I'd still have time to date Sam. I _will_ get some free time. Laura is going to give me a big raise plus I won't have to rent an apartment and most of my meals will be provided."

"That sounds like a good deal."

"Too good to pass up. I'm going to tell her _yes_."

"Have you mentioned it to Sam?"

"Not yet. Laura just talked to me this morning. She told me to think about it and let her know. She's not rushing me to make a decision."

"I guess you could take the job and then if you and Sam…get serious you could always quit."

"By _get serious_ you mean…"

"He wants to marry you."

Maya laughed. "I think we can forget about that. Sam Anders is not the marrying kind."

"You might be surprised."

"I'm a couple of years older than he is."

"So?" Kara said. "Lee's four years older than me. What difference does that make? It sounds like you're looking for reasons that it's not going to work. Don't you like Sam?"

Maya smiled. "I like him."

They heard the door open. John came in, waved at them and went down the hall. When he came back, he had put on shorts and a t-shirt. He sat down in one of the chairs. Braedon crawled over to his father and John picked him up. Braedon held his hand toward the door to the terrace.

"He wants to go outside," John said. "Hold him while I take his playpen out."

Kara held her brother while her father maneuvered the playpen out the terrace door. She carried Braedon out and put him in it.

Maya walked to the door. "If you don't mind, I'll be going."

"No problem," John said.

"Big date tonight?" Kara grinned at Maya.

"We're going to dinner."

"Have fun."

Kara and her father sat down in two of the lounge chairs. "So how did it go today?"

He didn't look at her. "Maya told you?"

"Yeah. It's okay. I'll be on a battlestar when the magazine comes out. The scope of my embarrassment will be limited," she teased. "How many pilots do you think subscribe to _The Caprican Gentleman_?"

"I'll make sure I send you a copy. I hate this stuff. I hate my life being so public."

"Maya said D'Anna Biers is going to interview you later this week."

"Yeah. I'll be right back." He got up and went inside. When he came back he had a drink.

"It's a little early for that, isn't it?"

"It's after five. I deserve it today. I had to…they had six or seven different suits I had to put on and…the photographer's assistant was this woman who kept…fussing with me and my hair and…frak, I don't want to talk about it."

"Something else is bugging you, though. You've been a big grouch for the last week. You hardly speak at the dinner table."

He shrugged.

"What did you and Laura fight about?"

"I wasn't a fight. We just disagree about something."

"Is it about the refugee camp?"

"No. Bill has decided not to attempt to rescue any prisoners on Nereid. He's going to jump in and nuke any basestars in the area and then nuke the planet. Laura agrees with him."

"I can't believe that."

"They think a rescue attempt would cost more lives than it would save. It's not that I can't understand their point of view. I just don't agree with it."

"Does Lee know about this?"

"I don't know. I doubt it. Bill made a military decision. The next President of the Colonies agrees with him. My feelings, your feelings, Lee's feelings, whatever they might be…don't matter."

"You're not happy anymore, are you?"

"I'm fine, Kara. I've got you and Brae. Laura and I are okay. I'm dealing with the rest."

"Karl told me at lunch today that he wants to go with us to visit the camp."

"That's fine."

"Lee's going too."

"Anyone else?"

"No. Karl didn't ask Sharon because I told him I didn't want her going along. Karl understands. I don't think he wants her to go either. I doubt she would go anyway. So it will be the four of us."

He nodded.

"We'll pick a day during the week after I graduate from Flight School. I'll get my battlestar assignment that week. I mean I'll get the confirmation. The week after that I'll go to the _Galactica._"

"You're sure you're going to get to pick the _G_?"

"I'm in the top three in my class. I'm pretty sure of that. Narcho is trying to find out how many points Pike has accumulated on his check rides, but so far no luck."

"Somebody has a birthday coming up next week. A milestone."

"Yeah. I won't have to worry about being carded anymore."

Her father finally looked over at her but at least he smiled. "That's not exactly what I was thinking about."

She was glad to see him finally smile. "You mean after next week you can't tell me what to do anymore."

"That's not what I had in mind, either. What do you want for your birthday?"

"Nothing. Not a thing."

"The weekend before you go to the _Galactica_, do you want to go down to the island again?"

"Could we? I thought you'd be back at the Academy by then."

"Not until the next Monday. We'll leave Friday, come back Sunday afternoon."

"I guess Lee is invited."

Her father was still smiling. "Of course. If Laura can't go, I'll still take Brae."

"Yeah. That sounds great. That sounds really great."

o

Laura had put off talking to Tory about her relationship with Gaius Baltar as long as she could. She had told Billy the same day that Romo Lampkin had told her. She had asked Billy to be careful about what he said around Tory. They had to assume now that anything they said might get repeated. Billy had not acted too surprised that Tory was seeing Baltar and had agreed with Laura about the need for discretion.

She had debated for over a week about how to approach Tory and had finally decided that Lampkin's suggestion about Tory's future employment was best. She had also decided that she couldn't use Tory as a spy since that meant the continuation of her relationship with Baltar who was also seeing Natasi. The minute the press got hold of that, it might look like Laura's office had some secret relationship with the Cylons. That could seriously affect her chances in the election.

"Please come in and shut the door," Laura said to Tory.

Tory sat in one of the chairs in front of Laura's desk. "If this is about the extra long lunch I took today, I had an errand to run…"

"No. This isn't about your long lunches."

"I know I was late one day last week."

"Tory, this isn't about anything you've done at work." Laura took a deep breath and began. "While my election is not certain, it is a big possibility that I will be the next President of the Colonies."

Tory nodded. "The polls are very favorable."

"This is about your future employment with me should I be elected. I assume you want to continue working for me."

"Yes. Very much."

"As President, my staff will face much stronger scrutiny from the press and everyone else. There are a number of security checks everyone will have to pass. You're aware of that, are you not?"

"Yes," Tory answered, a little hesitantly.

"Do you not know where I'm going with this?"

"No."

"You are in a relationship with a man who is also sleeping with a Cylon."

Tory's eyes widened. Laura didn't know if Tory's shock was at the news of Baltar's relationship with Natasi or that Laura knew about Baltar and Tory's affair.

Laura continued quickly. "You can see how something like that might be perceived in one of my staff, can you not?"

"My personal life…" Tory began.

"Is my business if I'm elected and you're to continue working for me. I view it as a matter of Colonial security."

"So what are you saying?" Tory asked coldly.

"Make a choice," Laura said. "If you choose to continue your relationship with Dr. Baltar, you will not continue in my employment after the election."

"How did you find out? We've been very discreet."

"Certainly you didn't think you could keep something like that a secret, did you?"

"You mean _Gaius_ told someone? I don't believe it."

"You were observed. Dr. Baltar is something of a public figure. There are those who pay particular attention to his…personal life. How do you think his breakup with Natasi made tabloid headlines within a day of it happening?"

"That's just it," Tory said almost smugly. "He's not seeing her. They did break up. Gaius got tired of her manipulative ways."

"Yes, it appears they did break up. But at some point during the last year they resumed their relationship. He was observed attending at least one of her sermons. It would give the appearance that he may be converting or thinking of converting to the Cylon religion."

"Gaius has no religion," Tory said. "He doesn't believe in the gods, in God or in anything that can't be proven in a scientific way."

"Then that can only mean he attended her sermons as a way of trying to ingratiate himself with her…to try to lure her back into his bed."

"Gaius would never stoop to something like that," Tory said, her voice almost trembling, betraying her own emotions for the first time. "He doesn't have to. And he _does not_ care about her."

"You must think you know him very well."

"I do."

"And you truly believe he is _faithful_ to you and you alone?"

Tory finally dropped her eyes. "No."

"Nor will he ever be. Natasi is not the only woman he's seeing. A man like that simply isn't capable of being faithful to one woman. He's too impressed by his own genius, too consumed with self-love to be capable of giving himself to another. He's narcissistic and selfish. In those two ways he and Cavil are very much alike. If you don't believe me about the Cylon, ask him. Watch him either admit it or lie to you."

Laura saw a flinty hardness come into Tory's eyes as she said, "So I either give up my relationship with Gaius or I'm out of a job."

"You will never pass the prerequisite security check to work in my administration if you persist in seeing him."

"There are other possibilities," Tory said coldly. "Other offices that could use my expertise."

"You would still have to pass a security check. The relationship will be uncovered."

Tory finally smiled. "It won't matter if I go to work for Cavil or Doral."

Laura hoped her shock didn't show. She had never considered that possibility. Never considered it at all. She had banked on Tory wanting to continue working for her. Nevertheless she recovered quickly.

"I think you would be making a _very_ big mistake if you did something like that."

Tory stood. "I'll clean out my desk today. I won't have my employer telling me who I can and can't date."

Laura also stood. "Very well. I hate it had to come to this."

"No, you don't."

Tory stalked out the door. Laura took a deep breath, waited a few minutes and followed her.

Tory was angrily placing personal items from her desk into a cardboard box as Billy looked on with a surprised expression on his face.

"Tory has just resigned," Laura said to him. "Please call Security. I want to see that she gets to her car safely."

Billy understood and picked up the phone.

Laura turned to Tory. "Please give me your identity badge and your key to this office."

Tory jerked the badge from her suit lapel and slammed it onto the desk. She opened her handbag, rummaged until she found her key ring and with some difficulty extracted the office key. She slapped it down on top of her badge.

Laura retrieved them. "I really do regret…" she began.

"Save the _I'm sorry_ speeches," Tory almost snarled.

Two security guards walked into the outer office. Laura smiled pleasantly.

"Please see that Ms. Foster gets to her car safely."

"Yes ma'am," one of them said to her. They understood exactly what was going on. They waited patiently while Tory threw a few more things into the box.

"Keep anything else," Tory huffed, grabbed her purse and the box and headed for the door. The two guards followed her.

As soon as the door closed behind them, Laura said, "Call Maintenance. I want someone up here today to change the locks on all these doors. I know I got her key, but that doesn't mean she didn't have a duplicate made."

"Should I call my friend in the Data Center and have her security access and password disabled?"

"Yes. Thank you. Good thinking."

Billy already had the phone in his hand. As he waited for an answer, he asked, "What happened?"

Laura rubbed her hand across her forehead. "I'll tell you later. I need to sit down for a minute."

Slowly and sadly she walked back into her office. She would give Tory a month of severance pay. Overall she had been pleased with Tory's performance. Only lately had it slipped. Only lately had she started coming in late and taking long lunches. Laura wondered if it had anything to do with Gaius Baltar.

Now Laura had to think about a replacement for Tory. But she couldn't do that today. She would do that tomorrow. Tonight she wanted to go home and hold her son. She wanted to kiss him and smell the sweet baby freshness of his skin. And she wanted her husband's arms around her.

She and John had not mentioned Nereid again. He was dealing with it in his own way like he had said he would do. She knew it was still there, between them, but he had once again become her refuge, the place she turned to make the rest of the world go away.

Tomorrow she would call Bill Adama and tell him what had happened, tell him of Tory's threat to go to work for Cavil or Doral. Tomorrow she would call Bill and talk to him, but not today.

o

The last day of Flight School and the nuggets in Major Valinski's class were restless. There would be no lesson today, no test. The only purpose of today's class was to announce the Viper Top Gun spot and the second and third places so they could pick up the request forms for their choice of a battlestar. Today was also the day that the Viper and Raptor Top Guns got a beer bath.

Pike sat coolly at his desk, arms crossed, feet out in front of him, with a smug smile on his face. He thought he had it. He really thought he had it. Either his higher test scores had given him a lot of confidence or he had done well on his check rides. Probably both.

True to tradition, Valinski made them wait, knowing that not a single nugget would leave the class before he showed up and the announcement was made. Kara also knew the other instructors were making their classes wait, too. She could picture them sitting in their ready room enjoying the moments as they ticked by, knowing the nuggets were squirming in anticipation.

Kara tried to take her mind off the wait by thinking about her birthday celebration the week before. Her father and Laura and Lee had taken her out on Wednesday night. Her father had said that she could pick the place and she had chosen Channing's. She didn't want to get dressed up. They had a nice evening and she had drunk her first legal beer.

The evening had ended for her at Lee's apartment. She had tried to make him promise the week before not to get her anything for her birthday. She knew the promise ring had cost him a lot on a lieutenant's salary and he had finally agreed…sort of. She should have known he would do something anyway.

He had smiled as she'd opened the individually wrapped gifts, the big box of stationery for writing him letters with a set of three fine-point ink pens taped on top. Second was a boxed set of paperback books by a well-known mystery writer to help her pass the time, and last was a double deck of triad cards.

"I know it's not much," Lee had said. "But I had to get you something."

"It's perfect. Did you get two boxes of that stationery?"

He had smiled. "How did you know?"

"Who do you think will run out first?"

"I will. I write longer letters."

She had put the gifts on the floor in front of the couch and had snuggled against him. "It's not real to me, yet. Going to the _G_."

"Going to the _Triton_ wasn't real to me until I was sitting in that personnel transport and we were leaving the Caprica airbase. The first couple of weeks were rough, getting used to the artificial gravity, no sunlight, sleeping in a room with fifteen other people, the community bathrooms."

"My dad said I should request my first week of leave during the election week at the end of November. He said he was sure it would be granted then. He wants me home when Laura is elected so I can celebrate with them."

"I fly the Sadie mission sometime during the first or second week of October…the first time we have a big thunder storm on Heliops Island."

"How will I know…when you do it and that you're all right."

"I'll call you on ship-to-shore as soon as I can…or your dad will if…"

"No, don't say it. It's bad luck. Don't even think it."

Lee had pulled Kara to him and kissed her, and she had tried to put her upcoming deployment and his mission out of her mind. At that moment she hadn't wanted to think about the future. All she had wanted were his arms around her.

Kara was jarred from her reverie by Major Valinski's entrance into the classroom. All conversation stopped as the nuggets, including Pike, sat up straighter.

Valinski put a stack of papers on the desk and looked slowly around the room.

"Every session of Flight School, we three Viper instructors wonder which one will have the privilege of teaching the Top Gun. I know that you all had a dozen flight instructors who also taught you, but we in the classroom are the ones who get to claim you." He smiled.

_Come on tell us,_ Kara thought. _If you're going to say Pike, just get it over with._

"This session I'm happy to announce that I've got both the Top Gun and the second spot."

Kara glanced over at Pike. He was visibly puffing up. That probably meant she was second. Second to Pike. She started to feel sick.

"Before I make the announcement, I'd like to say that it was very close. The second and third places have no reason to be ashamed. The entire class has done well. You're all going to make good Viper pilots. I'll start with the third spot. He's not in my class but I'm sure you all know him. Lieutenant Noel Allison, call sign Narcho."

Kara smiled. Narcho didn't think he stood a chance of making the top three. Apparently he'd done very well on his check rides.

"The second spot belongs to our own Lieutenant Eammon Pike, call sign Gonzo. Congratulations, Lieutenant Pike." Kara was still trying to assimilate Valinski's words when she heard him say. " Lieutenant Kara Thrace, come up to the front, please."

Feeling dazed Kara stood and walked to the front of the room.

"You're our Top Gun," Valinski said as he shook her hand. "Congratulations, lieutenant. The trophy is being engraved. It will be presented to you at your Flight School graduation."

Kara was so stunned that she couldn't process everything spinning through her mind for a moment. _Brain fire,_ she thought as she said, "Wow. Thank you, sir."

"Speech," someone from the back of the classroom said.

"I'm at a loss for words," Kara said.

"Starbuck speechless? Nah, not possible," another nugget said and they all laughed.

"I thought you've have your speech already prepared," Pike's comment cut through the buzz of other voices.

Kara ignored him and turned to Major Valinski. "Who got the top Raptor spot?"

Valinski looked down at a sheet of paper on the top of the stack. "That would be Lieutenant. Dwight Saunders."

"Yes!" Kara said, a huge grin spreading across her face.

Valinski said, "On that note, I'll say _class dismissed_. You may join the other nuggets outside. One beer apiece. Remember it is for anointing Lieutenants Thrace and Saunders and not for drinking. I'm sure there will be plenty of beer waiting for you tonight at The Shark Rider."

There was laughter as the class stood and filed out the door.

The wetting-down ceremony took place outside the main Viper hangar. Someone had drawn a small chalk circle on the tarmac. Kara and Saunders were ceremoniously ushered inside the circle by a group of laughing nuggets and told not to leave the circle until every beer bottle was empty.

"Congratulations," Saunders said to her.

"Back at you."

"I owe you champagne," he said as the first spray of beer hit them and she remembered his promise to her if she beat Pike for the Top Gun trophy.

"Buy me a beer tonight at The Shark Rider," she laughed as the drenching continued.

"I think I'm going to be sick of beer by then," he said.

When the last bottle of beer was empty and they were both thoroughly soaked, they were allowed to leave the circle. There was more backslapping and congratulations. Kara looked around. Pike wasn't in the group, but that didn't surprise her. He had never impressed her as anything but a sore loser. She got a thumbs up from Narcho. Karl acted like he was going to hug her and then changed his mind when he saw her beer-soaked fatigues.

"I'll save it for tonight," he said as he and Sharon walked off together.

On the way to the locker room, she told Saunders, "I don't have an extra uniform out here at the base. I'm going to have to ride the subway home in sweats and my tanks."

"I have an extra t-shirt. You're welcome to it."

"Yeah, I'd appreciate it. Thanks."

"I'll meet you outside in ten."

Fifteen minutes later she was back, the beer-soaked fatigues in a plastic trash bag, her hair still damp from her shower.

Saunders was sitting on the steps waiting for her. He was also wearing sweats and a t-shirt. He handed the extra one to her.

"Thanks." She pulled it over her tanks.

They walked to the subway entrance together. "So you'll be at The Shark Rider tonight?" he asked.

"Yeah. Me and Lee."

"You get to pick your battlestar. Where are you going?"

"The _Galactica_. What about you? You get to pick, too."

"If the _Atlantia_ hadn't been destroyed by the Cylons, she would have been my first choice. It was the newest and the best. Now I think I'll pick the _Triton._"

"Lee was on the _Triton_."

"Did he like it?"

"Yeah, he said it was okay. He said it took a while to adjust to being on a battlestar after living on a planet."

"Narch is going to ask for the _Galactica._ He's trying to talk me into doing the same thing. I just don't know. The _G_ is an old ship."

"It's still a good ship. It was Admiral Adama's ship."

"So, should I go for the _G _or the _Triton_?"

"Do like Lee did. Put both names on a dartboard, put on a blindfold and throw a dart."

"Good idea," Saunders said. "Is there a dart board at The Shark Rider?"

"Nope. You'll have to go to McGee's."

"Maybe Narch and I should go there first tonight."

"Yeah, if you go there second, you won't be able to hit the board."

"Are you implying, Starbuck, that I can't hold my liquor?"

Kara grinned. "I'm not implying it, I'm saying it."

o

The chairs were lined up ten to a row on two sides of an aisle in the Viper hangar at the airbase. The first ten rows on the left-hand side had been reserved for the graduating class, all ninety-three of them. It was the biggest class ever to graduate from Flight School and the first class in history not to have a single washout. Colonel Jackson Spencer complimented the whole class during his short speech prior to the part where they received their wings. He complimented their determination. He complimented their willingness to help each other. And he complimented their courage. Kara knew they were going to need all their courage in the coming months.

As he had done with her lieutenant's bars, her father pinned on her wings. He fumbled with the backing of the pin before he got it fastened. She looked up at him and saw him blink back tears as she held her own in check. She saw the senior pilot's wings on the sash of his dress grays as she stepped back and saluted him. She saw the pride in his eyes. She was a Viper pilot now just like he had been. Father and daughter. The torch was passed to the next generation.

She was glad that accepting the Viper Top Gun trophy didn't involve making a speech. All she had to do was remain on the stage for ten minutes after the graduation ceremony while a photographer took hers and Saunders' pictures with their respective trophies. By the time the picture-taking session was over, she was tired of holding up the trophy and smiling. Her cheek muscles ached.

"Hey, I forgot to bring you back your t-shirt," Kara said to him.

"Bring it to the _Galactica_," he answered. "We didn't bother with the dartboard at McGee's. Narch convinced me. I filled out the paperwork yesterday."

"Okay, well, I guess I'll see you in a week aboard the personnel carrier."

"Yeah. I still owe you that bottle of champagne for beating Pike."

Lee walked up and shook Saunders' hand. "Congratulations."

"Thanks. Maybe I'll see you two at The Shark Rider tonight. We're celebrating again."

"Maybe," Kara answered. She had her own ideas about how she wanted to celebrate tonight, but they could probably go to The Shark Rider first. Next week her graduating class would be split up among the battlestars and the base on Caprica. She would probably never see all of them in one place again. Yeah, they could go to The Shark Rider and drink a beer and dance.

She looked at Lee. "I want you to keep my trophy for me. I want to put it on top of your bookcase beside yours."

"You don't want to keep it at Laura and John's?" Lee asked in surprise.

"It would just be something else for Jennet to have to dust."

"So now it's mine to have to dust?" Lee joked.

"Yeah, you've got less stuff to dust than Jennet. Besides, the trophies belong together just like us."

"Yeah, I can dust two trophies almost as quick as I can dust one."

"And it will help remind you of me," she quipped.

"I won't need to look at a trophy to do that."

Karl and Sharon walked over to them and she and Karl hugged tightly.

"What about these wings?" Karl asked and grinned. "On all of us."

"Yeah, what about these wings?" Kara said.

Sharon smiled shyly. "I appreciate the encouragement from you every day at lunch."

"Hey," Kara said, "What are ex-roomies for?"

She looked over at her father and Laura who were surrounded by instructors and other parents. She saw her father talking to Buzz Jessups. They were both smiling about something. Her father glanced at her. She knew what that meant. She was probably the topic of conversation.

She grinned and raised the Top Gun trophy and got a wink from him in return. She looked down at the wings on her chest. She knew that she had made her old man proud.

o

Laura sat in the Tea Room absently stirring her cup of tea although the one lump of sugar was thoroughly dissolved. The last several weeks had been difficult ones for her. She was so absorbed in her own thoughts that she wasn't aware of Bill's presence until he sat down at the table.

"Hello, Laura. You look troubled."

"Hello, Bill. Not troubled so much as deep in thought. Yesterday my son took his first steps on his own and I wasn't there to see them. He's not quite ten months old. I didn't think it would happen this soon. John said he was standing at the sofa when he walked in the door and Brae just let go and walked toward him. He made it almost halfway before he lost his balance."

"I missed that for Lee and Zak, too. Lee walked early. I don't remember exactly when. Zak, a little later according to Carolanne. But once Zak started walking there was no stopping him. He was into everything. Lee was more cautious."

"Like they still are," Laura smiled.

Bill nodded. "Lee always seemed to want to think about things before he got into something. Not Zak. He just rushed right in."

"How is Lee's…training going?"

"Fine. I understand Kara finished Flight School and got her wings…and the Top Gun trophy."

"Yes. We're very proud of her. We didn't invite anyone to her graduation ceremony. It was small. We thought it better not to call a lot of attention to the size of their graduating class."

"I understand. It's probably better. Kara is coming to my office Friday morning. I got several nuggets on board the _Galactica_ for her. I'm sure one of them is a Cylon. Kara owes me a name."

"What do you intend to do with that information?"

"I haven't decided yet. I may just have…it watched. I've talked to Saul Tigh. He's aware of the situation."

"He's a drunk, Bill. Are you sure you can trust him?"

"I'd trust Saul with my life. I have on several occasions in the past. I'm also going to stress to Kara again her responsibility in this whole thing. I'm letting a Cylon on one of my battlestars because she believes it will help us. I'm still not sure I'm doing the right thing."

"Then don't do it."

"Lee thinks it's the right thing to do, too. So for now I'm going along. One suspicious move and it will be right back here in a secret Colonial prison."

"Kara and Lee and John are going to the island Friday afternoon. They're taking Braedon."

"You're not going with them?" The surprise in Bill's voice was evident.

"I have too much going on right now. The last time I took work to the island, it caused…some problems with John and me. It's better if I stay here."

"How is John?"

"He's fine."

"And the…prisoner issue?"

"We don't talk about it. Tomorrow he and Kara are going back to the refugee camp. I think Lee is going with them and her friend Karl, too. John seems to want to do this for some reason. I think he may have been more affected by the camp than he let me know. Kara is…I sense a strong reluctance in her. I don't think she wants to go back."

"I don't get the impression that Kara has a problem making her thoughts known. If she has a problem going back to the camp, I think she would let John know about it."

"Kara wants to please her father. I think it helped my nanny Maya. She lost her six-month old daughter in another one of the camps. I think when she saw the care and attention given to the memorial garden and the names carved on that wall, I think she realized that the camps and those who died there will never be forgotten."

"No. They won't be forgotten. Nothing the Cylons did will be forgotten by those of us who saw it, and I hope not for generations to come. That kind of genocide…"

"Which we will shortly visit upon them."

"They're machines. Genocide is the wrong word to use for what we have planned for them," Bill said emphatically.

"Oh, I agree with you. Should we say that we are discontinuing something we created and have now found…harmful to us?"

"Discontinuing. I like that better."

"Every time one of Cavil's speeches is televised, John says he's looking forward to the day we _unplug that toaster._"

"_Unplug that toaster,_" Bill smiled. "I like that. Speaking of Cavil and his right-hand man, I have some news about your former employee. Ms. Foster is going to work for Doral. I just heard that news about thirty minutes ago."

"Oh, dear gods. That's what she threatened to do, go to work for him or Cavil."

"She's done it."

"I'll have to say that disappoints me a great deal in her."

"She'll be out of a job again around the time of the solstice. Her employer will be in one of our secure prisons or he will be dead."

Laura sighed. "Yes, you're right. Have you talked to Dr. Baltar lately?"

"He's slipped down on my list of priorities during the last several months."

"I understand."

"I'll try to pay him a visit next week."

"Perhaps we should both pay him a visit. Since we know he's seeing the Cylon again, perhaps he's made some progress on his research into the virus."

Bill shook his head. "I wouldn't count on it, and I think we're running out of time for him to get any help from her. As soon as we destroy that basestar, we will have lost our opportunity. She'll never help us then. She'll be in the same prison with Doral and Cavil."

"Maybe the answer lies on Nereid," Laura said.

"We'll never know, will we?"

"No," she said sadly. "I guess we won't. We've got to pin our hopes on Gaius Baltar."

"And that's not a comforting thought."

o

They met quietly on Tuesday morning at the small airport where John kept his ship, and they were in the air before seven o'clock. None of them had much to say. It was over nine hundred miles to Antioch and a three and a half hour flight. Kara sat in the pilot's seat. Her father sat beside her.

Lee and Karl sat behind them, one on either side of the aisle.

"I almost didn't do this," Karl said to Lee. "But I thought if Kara can take it, I can, too."

"I think it will mean a lot to her to have you with her today. I can't imagine what you went through," Lee said.

"Sometimes I wake up when it's still dark and I think I'm back there."

"Kara never talks about the camp…at least not with me. She wouldn't even look at the before and after pictures I found on the internet. I think she and Maya have talked, but that's only because Maya was in the camp near Kinsdale."

"Kara saved my life…when I got the flu. She kept spooning water and soup down my throat. I don't remember much but I remember her putting her blankets on my cot and sleeping with me to keep me warm. It was so damned cold. We'd run out of fuel for the heater. I dreamed it was snowing. I kept dreaming about snow."

Lee didn't know what to say to Karl.

"It was a lot better at that little house," Karl went on, "until we lost the power and lost everything in the freezer. We were starving. I never told Kara, but I was glad when the soldiers came. I was glad when they told us they were taking us to the camp. Kara didn't want to go, but I knew if we stayed there, we might not make it until spring."

Lee thought about the years Kara and Karl had spent in the house and in the camp, years that he was at home or at the Academy. Years he took warmth and food and comfort for granted. He knew there was no way he would ever really understand what they had been through.

"I'm glad you're going to be with Kara today," Lee said again to Karl.

"Yeah. I didn't sleep much last night. I'm going to try to sleep now."

Karl moved over to the window seat and put his head against the side of the ship. He closed his eyes and Lee knew he was both remembering and probably trying to forget.

Three hours and twenty minutes later Kara brought the ship into the big airport in Antioch. They had flown over the city and she saw parts that were still as they had looked when the Cylon bombs had finally stopped falling. Other parts looked new or under construction. The airport was the same way. She landed the ship on a new runway not too far from one that still held craters.

She taxied to the private section, pulled the ship into the designated spot and did her power down procedure.

Her father pulled the headset off and stood. He squeezed her shoulder. "Good job, baby, as always. It's time to stretch my legs."

"Don't you mean leg?" The words were out of her mouth before she realized she had said them, just about the time that she realized she was struggling to get her breath.

Her father stopped. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she managed to say. "Fine. I'll be out in a minute. You go ahead."

Lee and Karl were standing on the tarmac when John came down the two steps.

"Man, I really got to take a…find a bathroom," Karl said.

"You and me both," John said.

"Go ahead," Lee said. "I'll wait for Kara."

He waited almost five minutes before he climbed the two steps. Kara was still sitting in the cockpit. He slipped into the copilot's seat.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Then why are you sitting here?"

"Just…I don't know. Maybe coming up here was a mistake. Maybe you and Karl and my dad should go ahead to the camp."

"Kara, you can't sit in the ship for a couple of hours. At least get out and come into the terminal."

"It was night when we landed at Singer's little airport…the night Tom Zarek and his men…took my dad away."

Lee reached over and slipped his hand into hers. "Nobody is going to take your father today, Kara."

"Yeah, you're right. I'm being stupid. Let's go."

Lee waited for her to get out of the seat and then he followed her. Karl was waiting for them at the bottom of the steps.

"Major Gallagher is renting a car. The camp is twenty miles south of here."

They stopped for lunch at a restaurant near the airport. After they ate, Kara went to the restroom and splashed cold water on her face. She could do this.

Her father knew the way so he drove. Karl sat in the front and she and Lee sat in the back. Lee held her hand the entire way. She saw only one sign pointing to the camp. Finally her father pulled into a parking lot that was two-thirds empty.

"The lot was full the day Laura and I were here. There was overflow. People were parking in the grass and on the sides of the road."

"I can't imagine why anybody thought this would be some big tourist attraction," Kara said.

She got out and looked around. She didn't recognize anything at first and then in the distance she saw the woods where she had found the stone altar.

"Where do you want to go first?" John asked.

"You wanted to make this trip," Kara said to him. "You decide."

"Let's start at the memorial wall. It's this way."

They walked down a wide crushed-stone path that wound through an acre of small shrubs and flowers. There were several _Please Stay on the Walkway_ signs and another one asking visitors not to pick the flowers.

When they rounded the last curve in the path, the impact of the white granite wall took Kara's breath. It was set against the hillside and seemed to stretch for a mile. She could see rows upon rows of names. Thousands and thousands of them.

"Oh, gods," she said and stopped walking. She had never realized there were so many.

Karl turned and walked back to her. Lee let go of her hand and she and Karl embraced. Karl took a ragged breath and then another. Kara wasn't sure if she was the one who was shaking or if it was him.

He finally choked out, "My name would have been on that wall if it wasn't for you."

She tightened her grip on him, but the tears wouldn't come. She knew they were there, bottled up somewhere inside of her, but they wouldn't come yet.

"You'll always be my brother," she said softly to him. "I'll always love you."

He wiped his eyes under the sunglasses. He didn't have to say anything. She knew how he felt about her.

Slowly, arm in arm they walked to the wall. There were bouquets of flowers at random intervals on the ground, small ones, large ones, single flowers. Someone had left a poem wrapped in plastic. There were candles in small glass jars that had burned out. Small flags of several of the Colonies were stuck in the ground. Kara touched a name._ Jean Barolay._

"So many," she said to Karl.

"Too many," he echoed. "The Cylons will pay for each of them."

"What about Sharon?"

"She's not a Cylon," Karl said. "She's one of us now."

"Still…"

"No. She's one of us."

Lee walked up beside them. Kara took his hand again. Slowly they moved down the wall until they came to where her father was standing.

"Hugh Connelly's little boy," he said. "Ethan."

"I never knew his name," Kara said.

"I asked Stacey," her father said. "Hugh never talks about him. I don't think he can."

They found Jared's mother's name, Martha Daniels and then Maggie's mother, Cheryl Edmondson.

They walked on and found Maya's daughter's name, Hanna Laird.

Kara felt her eyes sting as she thought of Maya sitting on the ground sobbing with her hand over Hanna's name. She thought the tears would come now, but they didn't. So much grief. So much heartache carved into this wall. Karl was right. The Cylons would pay.

They walked all the way to the end of the wall, past thousands of names. Kara spotted the name before Karl did. _Carrie Warner_.

She clutched Karl's arm. "I thought Jared had deleted her name from the…death list or whatever."

"I think this was done from the death certificates," her father said, "or a combination of the death certificates and the lists."

Kara looked at Lee. He touched the name on the wall before he looked at her and she realized that the wall had finally gotten to him. She let go of Karl's arm and put her arms around Lee. He held her so tightly that it almost hurt.

"I'm glad her name wasn't left off the wall," Kara said softly. "She should be remembered like everybody else who died here and in the rest of the camps."

Lee started to speak and found he couldn't.

They followed her father as he walked toward the center of the garden and the big fountain that was ringed with stone benches. They reminded Kara of those around the quad at the Academy.

There was an elderly couple sitting on one of the benches. The man had his arm around the woman and she was crying. On another bench a middle-aged woman sat alone, a copy of Pythia open on her lap, her mouth moving silently.

They were much closer to the woods now. Kara thought she recognized the tree that had stood just beyond where the chain link fence had been cut, the place she had always gone through to make her journeys into the woods. The fence was gone, but she knew the path to the stone altar lay beyond.

Karl had never shared that experience with her. She looked at Lee.

"There's somewhere I need to go with my dad."

Lee nodded. She knew he understood.

Karl was sitting with his hands clasped between his knees and his head bowed. Lee got up, walked to the fountain and watched the water cascade over the three bowls into the bottom pool. A breeze blew the spray against his face. He touched the wetness, felt the water, the symbol of life. Today it felt like tears.

Kara and her father walked silently along the edge of a grassy field that she tried to relate to the seemingly endless rows of tents that she remembered. A breeze ruffled the long grass in the distance making it look like waves on the ocean. She felt the breeze lift her hair. The smell was sweet like new grass in the spring. All traces of the garbage and the rats were gone. High overhead a hawk soared, its wings spread on the wind.

She was surprised when she got to the woods to see a little sign stuck in the ground with an arrow pointing toward another path. _Altar of Zeus._

"It's open to the public now," her father said, "What's left of it."

"What do you mean _what's left of it_?"

"The area around the altar hadn't been touched for over a thousand years and now the only thing that's left is the altar itself. The smaller stones and everything else have been taken away, stolen or looted. That's what Connelly told me. I didn't make it down here the day Laura and I were here. We ran out of time."

"I still want to go see it," Kara said. "It was special to me when I was here."

The path that wound down to the creek had been widened and was also covered with crushed stone. They passed the spot where the two older boys had attacked her and Connelly had saved her. She had not been back to the woods since that day. She pushed the memory aside and kept going.

They didn't have to crawl through the small opening in the rock. It had been cut into a seven-foot arch. The mossy glade beyond was almost unrecognizable. The altar now sat in the middle of a roped-off enclosure.

She walked up to the rope and ducked under it. Her father followed her.

She touched the altar. Memories flooded her.

"I brought a little toy plane here for you," she said. "And a bullet from Mom's gun. I used to come here and think about you and her. I knew she had died on Picon. I thought Zarek had killed you. I thought you were together. I always wore her dog tags with the Viper pilot's ring. I used to come here and pray…that you were happy."

She ran her hand gently and lovingly along the top of the altar. She wondered what had happened to the little plane and the bullet. She closed her eyes and time momentarily shifted. She smelled damp pine needles, the smell of the woods. The years fell away and for a moment she felt the loss she had felt then, deep and aching, and then it was gone. The three men who loved her most were with her today. Each had his own reasons for coming, but she also knew they had made the journey for her.

She drew a deep breath and then another. She felt her father's hand on her shoulder. She knew he had choked up even before she turned and put her arms around him. He held her tightly and the tears finally came for her, the tears she hadn't been able to shed before.

She had finally shared the last piece of the camp with him, a piece that would always live in her heart, a place that wasn't mud or cold or names on a wall, a place where she had remembered him and her mother with love.

TBC…


	69. Galactica and Falling Stars

Chapter 69

Galactica and Falling Stars

_During the early fall of President Adar's last year in office, a prolonged meteor shower, visible mainly in the southern hemisphere, caused wide-spread panic in some of the small towns and rural villages. Word spread that the Cylons were once again attacking the planet. The roads were clogged with people in transports and on foot as they attempted to flee into the countryside. Cavil was said to be amused at the fear still exhibited by some of the Colonials. The area's Military Reserve Guard had to be called out to restore order. _

_-Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War_

The day after Kara and Karl and Lee went with her father to the memorial garden that had once been the refugee camp, Kara spent the whole day with her dad. They played their favorite video game and that afternoon they took Braedon in his stroller to the park. They talked about a lot of things, but they didn't talk about the camp. The experience was still too raw for both of them. Maybe someday they would talk about it and maybe they would never talk about it. Maybe it would become part of an experience that they didn't need to talk about. Kara knew that for right now she was okay with what they had shared at the stone altar. It had deepened her bond with her father and that was what mattered to her.

On Thursday morning she got up early and rode her motorcycle over to MediFirst to see Jack Fisk. She hadn't seen him since her winter break. She hadn't noticed it then, but it seemed like there was a lot more silver in his hair. He was happy to see her and they drank coffee and talked for over an hour. He said that business had leveled off and that they concentrated more on the clinics now than on emergency deliveries although he still had a day rider and a night rider.

When she left, he wished her luck in the next phase of her life.

"A battlestar is a whole different way of life," he told her. "It's like living with a big family. You won't get along all the time, but you have to depend on each other."

"Maybe one day I'll get to shoot some Cylons for you."

He smiled. "You do that. And if you ever get tired of flying Vipers, you come see me. I'll have a job for you."

Her next stop was Dreilide Thrace's apartment. She had tried to visit him at least once a week while she was in Flight School, but she hadn't seen him for the last two weeks. She didn't think his color was as good as it had been earlier in the summer. As she hugged him, she noticed an oxygen tank and some sort of breathing apparatus beside the couch.

"What's this?" She walked over to it and dropped her jacket on the couch.

He shrugged. "The clubs are smoky. Sometimes at night I need a couple of breaths of oxygen after I get back here and climb the stairs. It's nothing."

"What do you mean _it's nothing_? You're getting worse, aren't you?"

"That's what emphysema does, Kara. It gets worse."

"What does your doctor say?"

"What do doctors always say?"

"I don't know. You tell me."

"A year or two. Maybe a little longer."

Kara swallowed hard. "I'm going to be on a battlestar for a year. I won't get to come back here for three months."

He started to say something, but it ended in a coughing spell. He got the glass of whiskey. "I was trying to say I don't guess they'll let me come visit you," he finally said.

"No, but I'll write to you."

She got a handheld device out of her jacket pocket, her dad and Laura's birthday gift to her. It was an expensive piece of electronics, not much bigger than her mobile phone. It held dozens of games and books and had a directory for names, mailing addresses and email addresses. The email wouldn't work in space, but over the last week she had been entering everyone's address she wanted to keep in touch with. So far there were only a few since most of the nuggets who were her friends were going to be on the _G _with her.

She entered Dreilide's mailing address into the device. He went to the table and brought her a piece of paper. She wrote her military address.

"It'll get routed to the _Galactica,_" she told him. "Mail is picked up and delivered twice a week."

He took the piece of paper and put it on top of the piano before he sat on the bench. "So, I guess you're through with Flight School."

"Yeah. I finished first in my Viper class. Got a trophy and everything. I even got a beer bath on the last day of class."

"I'll bet that was fun." He lifted the glass of whiskey. "I would have liked that, too."

"Yeah. You need to quit playing at the bars so you can get away from the smoke."

He smiled. "That's a nice thought. I suppose I could move my piano to the park and sleep on a bench. Or to an alleyway and sleep in a cardboard box."

"What about your CD sales?"

He managed to laugh. "I make enough off those to buy my groceries every month. It doesn't pay the rent or utilities."

"You could do something else."

"I'm a musician," he said gently. "It's what I do, Kara. It's who I am."

"Yeah, well my dad was a Viper pilot. He's not doing that anymore. He's teaching. You could teach piano."

Dreilide smiled and shrugged. "I never was much of a teacher. I don't have the patience for it. Some people like your dad adapt better to what life throws at them. Like you've done. I'm like your mom in a way, Kara. She was a Marine. That's all she wanted to do."

"You said she wanted to be an artist."

"That was a long time ago before her father was killed. Once she joined the Marines, she never looked back."

"Why couldn't she have done both?"

"I don't know. She never did. I wish she had kept up the art, too, because that's the part of her life that I belonged to. Your dad got the Marine. He never knew the artist. I think he likes tough women."

"Laura's nothing like a Marine, but she is tough."

"I guess anybody who could run for President would have to be tough and…be able to command."

"Yeah, she's like that."

"You're tough, too, you know. Just don't ever lose the ability to appreciate art."

Kara smiled. "And music."

Dreilide smiled, too. "And music. When do you leave?"

"Monday morning."

"For three months, you say?"

"Yeah. I'll be back in November…for the election. I'll see you then.s"

"I'm going to miss you."

Kara swallowed hard. "I'll write to you. Does the Muse thing not work long distance?"

"I guess I'll find out. You want a CD to take with you? I've got a few extra ones."

"Yeah, I'll take a CD."

"I'm working on a new one. As soon as I write one more song, I'll be able to start recording. It'll have _Kara's Song_ on it."

"Save one for me, okay?"

"You betcha."

Kara stood. "I'm going to miss you, too."

He hugged her. "Just come back safe. Okay?"

"Yeah. I'll come back safe."

She zipped the CD into her jacket pocket and hugged him again.

"Don't do any of that crazy pilot stuff," he said.

"No crazy pilot stuff."

"I love you, Kara."

"I love you, too."

"Call me when you get home in November."

"I will. You take care of yourself."

He nodded.

Kara turned at the end of the hall just before she got to the stairwell. Dreilide was still standing in the doorway. She waved goodbye and felt it in the pit of her stomach.

Eight minutes later she knocked on the brown metal door at the top of the narrow staircase. Keshia opened the door.

"Ah, and who is this? A stranger?"

"I know it's been a while," Kara said. "Can I come in?"

Keshia stood back and Kara walked past her. "You have been busy?"

"In Flight School. I'm going to a battlestar on Monday. I wanted to come say goodbye. I won't be back for three months."

"Then it will be _another_ three months that you are absent. You must have tea with us before you go."

"Do you have something cold? It's warm out today."

Keshia smiled. "We have ice."

Yolanda Brenn sat at the table in the kitchen. A wind chime over the open window above the sink tinkled softly. Kara smelled the bay.

"You have mixed feelings about going to your battlestar." Brenn said.

"I'm going to miss Lee. And both my dads. And Braedon. And Laura. And everybody who's not going with me."

"That is a normal way to feel."

"I know."

Keshia put a glass of tea with ice cubes in it on the table and then sat down. Kara took a sip.

"You are troubled," Brenn said. "It is more than your next assignment."

"Lee's going to fly a mission in a month or so. I know you told me once I would feel despair. I want to know if he's going to be all right."

"My gift does not work that way."

"Will you pray for him, then, for his safety?"

"I will. And for yours, too. There is conflict coming. I have seen it. You will be a part of it."

"That's what I've been training to do."

Keshia said, "We have something for you."

Brenn nodded and Keshia went through another gauzy curtain to a room that Kara took to be their bedroom. When she returned, she placed a small piece of soft leather that had been folded around something on the table.

"Open it," Brenn said.

Kara untied the rawhide cord and unrolled the leather. Inside were two-inch cast bronze representations of two of the gods.

"Apollo and Artemis," Keshia said.

Kara smiled. "The god of the sun and the goddess of the moon."

"Ay," said Brenn, "but also the god of healing and the goddess of the hunt."

"Thank you," Kara said quietly. She was very touched by their gift.

Keshia said, "We brought these with us from Delphi, from the temple there. They belonged to a priest who was killed in the bombing. They have been passed through many generations and are very old. They have heard many prayers."

Kara rolled the small figures back into the piece of leather and tied it. "I'll take them with me to the _Galactica_. I'll think of you when I look at them and when I pray."

Brenn reached toward Kara and Kara took her hand. "Your kindness last winter saved my life, yours and your father's. You will stay in our prayers."

Kara stood. "Say a prayer for my other father, too. His emphysema is getting worse. And pray for Lee. He doesn't believe, but I still want the gods to watch over him."

Keshia nodded. "You will visit again when you can."

"You know I will," Kara said.

Outside Kara lifted the seat of the motorcycle and put the rolled leather into the compartment underneath. She had one more stop to make that morning.

When she entered Leoben's bookstore, there were six or seven people browsing. A young woman who looked like she might be a university student sat behind the register. Kara walked up to her.

"Is Leoben here?"

"Mr. Conoy is in the back. He doesn't want to be disturbed. Could I help you with something?"

"Tell him Kara is here to see him."

"He doesn't need any more help."

"I'm not here about a job. Just tell him."

The girl looked at her skeptically before she turned and went through the curtained doorway. She was gone at least a minute. When she returned, she said, "He's in his office. He said for you to come on back."

"Where is it?"

"You'll see it. The door is open."

Kara pushed through the curtain. Wide metal shelves stacked with boxes lined both sides of the hallway. She saw light coming from a doorway at the end. The office was small and windowless. Leoben was sitting behind a desk. He glanced up at her.

"Move that box of books and have a seat." He pointed to a wooden chair on the side of the office. Kara slid the box of books onto the floor and sat.

"I see you hired some help."

"I always hire temporary help at the beginning of each semester. I'm trying to get all the textbooks out now. Classes start in a week. I guess you had a busy summer."

"Flight School. I finished. I'm going to a battlestar next Monday."

"Which one?"

"The _Galactica_."

"Admiral Adama's old ship."

"Yeah."

"I don't guess I'll see you for a while, then."

"No. I won't be back on Caprica until November. I'm coming back for the election."

"Just in time to see your stepmother get elected President."

"Yeah. It looks that way."

Leoben rubbed the side of his jaw. It looked like he had missed shaving for a couple of days. "Any words of wisdom for me before you go?"

Kara shook her head. "Not yet. Do you have anything you want to tell me?"

"A couple of random memories, more like dreams." He leaned his head back and massaged his temples.

"Headache?" Kara asked, wondering if Cylons could get headaches.

"Trying to remember is painful. I can get so far and then the pain starts."

"What do you remember?"

"A place. Not a basestar. Cold running water. A room with big windows and a skylight. Clouds."

_Nereid? _But she didn't say it out loud. Instead she asked, "What else?"

"People dressed in white."

"Humans?" Kara asked incredulously.

"Maybe." He grimaced, obviously in pain.

"Where is this place?"

Leoben shook his head.

"Were there other Cylons there?"

He shook his head again. "I don't know. Maybe."

"What you just remembered is important."

"I don't even know if it's real. It could be something Cavil planted there to…test me, trip me up…who knows."

"Maybe. Maybe not."

"I've got something for you." He opened a drawer, took out a slim, leather-bound book and handed it to her. It was in good shape, but it looked old. "Kataris," he said. "I found it when I was cleaning out some boxes of books in the storage room. It's signed. I thought you might like it. I read some of it but it doesn't mean much to me. I think I'm missing the poetry-appreciation subroutine. That must have gone to Number Seven."

Kara opened the book and looked at the flyleaf. The scrawled signature was almost illegible, but she recognized the _K._

"Thank you. Yeah, thanks. I like some of his stuff."

"Consider it a late graduation gift."

Kara stood. "I guess I'd better go."

Leoben tried to smile. "Maybe in three months I can remember more."

Kara nodded. In three months they would be much closer to the solstice and the coming battle. She didn't know if she and Leoben would have played whatever part they were destined to play by then or not. She didn't know what would happen to Leoben afterward. Maybe nothing if she never told anyone who he was. But her dad knew and Lee knew. What would they do? She might be able to protect this copy of Leoben, but she would soon have to give Sharon up.

Tomorrow she had an appointment with Admiral Adama. She had promised him a name.

o

Laura's driver let her out in front of the building where Gaius Baltar's lab was located. It was a modern structure, the lobby level all glass and metal and tile. Bill Adama stood just inside the door. It opened automatically as she approached.

"Hello, Laura."

"Hello, Bill. I'm sorry that I'm late."

"I don't think Dr. Baltar is going anywhere. Shall we?"

They walked to the elevator. Bill used a key card when they were inside that allowed him to select the floor of Baltar's lab. He pressed 33.

Laura smiled. "How convenient."

"I've had this card from the beginning. I insisted on it."

The elevator door opened and they got off. Bill took her arm and steered her to the left. They went to the third door and Bill once again used the key card. "This is where I've usually found him on past trips."

The room, which appeared to be empty of people, was filled with various kinds of lab equipment on several rows of long counters.

"No one's here," Laura said.

Bill held up his hand for silence, and Laura then heard the noise, the quick scuffling and muffled voices. Gaius Baltar's head appeared above one of the counters.

"We'll be in your office," Bill said.

When they were in the hall, Laura said, "Dear gods, was he…?"

Bill had a disgusted look on his face. "He was. One of his lab assistants no doubt."

"Well, I guess that answers the question about his dedication to the project."

Bill used the card again to enter Baltar's office. Laura sat while Bill walked to the floor to ceiling window. It was obvious they were in the city. Another skyscraper loomed across the street. Laura could see into the offices.

"Hardly conducive to his amorous adventures, is it?" Bill asked.

"Not unless he's an exhibitionist."

The door opened and Dr. Baltar entered smoothing his hair. "How did you get in?"

Bill held the card between two fingers.

"I thoroughly resent this intrusion," Baltar said. "This is my _private_ office. You have no right."

"We had had appointment with you," Laura said coolly. "Fifteen minutes ago."

"I'm a busy man."

"So we noticed."

Baltar straightened his lab coat and went to sit behind his desk. "What do you want?"

"We want to know when we can expect some results from you," Laura said.

"Creating an anti-viral for an engineered virus is not an overnight task."

"You've had far longer than overnight. You've had the better part of a year."

"We don't believe you've utilized all your resources," Bill said.

"What does that mean?" Baltar asked defensively.

Laura said quickly. "We know you're seeing Natasi again."

Baltar opened his mouth like he was going to deny it and then said haughtily, "That is not your business."

"Has she offered you her help in getting the antiviral?" Bill asked.

"I told you last year that she denied their involvement in it. She said something like that was against God's will and none of them would have participated in something so heinous."

"And we showed you that isn't true," Bill said. "Simon was _very involved_. Also a copy of Natasi or Six or whatever she calls herself. We showed you the photographs of them together at CapGen Labs."

"A copy of her maybe, but not _her_. She knows nothing about it. She preaches now. That's all she does. She's trying to spread the gospel of God's love among the people of Caprica."

Laura said, "God's love? An odd sentiment coming from you. I understand that you're an atheist, Dr. Baltar."

"Who told you that? Tory?"

Laura smiled without answering him. "Have you discussed your work with my former assistant?"

Baltar looked surprised. "Why would I do that? She has nothing to do with my work here."

"Keep it that way," Bill said. "Ms. Foster is going to work for Doral. She begins next Monday"

"Doral? Cavil's assistant?" The shock in Baltar's voice was genuine.

Laura was surprised. Baltar hadn't known. But then again how could he know that Doral was a Cylon? How could Tory know? They couldn't.

Bill said, "We've kept the scope of this project from the Cylons. It would be to your advantage to keep it that way. I doubt they would let it continue. Cavil thinks you're working on a cure for the cold virus. If you tell Ms. Foster and she tells Doral then Doral will tell Cavil. He will shut this project down so fast you won't even have time to say goodbye to all you research assistants."

Baltar sniffed. "I'm not a fool. Besides, it's your fault she's going to work for Doral. Tory told me you fired her."

"She resigned," Laura said.

"Because of her relationship with me."

"As soon as you resumed seeing the Cylon, you became untrustworthy in our book. As President I couldn't have a member of my staff whispering all the doings of my office to her lover who would in turn pass them along to our enemy."

Baltar's expression showed a momentary change, almost like he was hurt, and then the arrogant mask was back. "I'm not a _traitor_."

Bill said angrily. "You helped the Cylons develop a hybrid child, something that's half-human, half-machine. If that's not treason, I don't know what is."

"I thought I could string them along until they realized the task was hopeless. I never thought we would succeed."

"Is that what you're doing to us on this project? Stringing us along? Playing us?" Laura asked.

Baltar stood and looked out the window. "This is more complicated than anything I've ever seen. But we are making progress."

"How long?" Laura asked coldly. "A month? Six months? A year?"

"Another year. At least another year."

Laura glanced at Bill. Her look told him that a year was not acceptable.

"You have until Laura takes office in January," Bill said firmly. "That's a little over four months from now. If you've not made progress, then we're bringing in someone else. You'll work for him."

"You can't do that to me. President Adar appointed me as head of this lab."

Laura stood. "Adar will no longer be President in four months. I can, and I will unappoint you."

"If this is about Tory," Baltar said, "then perhaps we could negotiate…something."

Laura hoped her disgust showed. "It's not about Tory. It's about your lack of progress on an anti-viral medication for the majority of the schoolchildren on Caprica who have been infected, who will never bear children unless we find a remedy."

"I have made some progress. I gave Admiral Adama a report months ago."

"Then make some more progress," Bill said as he opened the door. "I'll be back and I don't expect to find you lying down on the job like you were today."

Laura walked out followed by Bill. When they were in the elevator, she sighed.

"He is the most disgusting man I believe I know. I think he was actually going to offer to give up the relationship with Tory if it would keep him in charge of this lab. That just proves what I told Tory. Baltar is incapable of feeling love for another."

"No doubt," Bill said.

"Although I do wonder why he went to such lengths to get the Cylon back. You don't think he could have genuine feelings for her, do you?"

The elevator door opened and they were again in the lobby of the building. Bill told a security guard at the desk to call a transport for them.

"There's no way I'd try to read the mind of someone like Gaius Baltar," Bill said.

When they were in the back of the transport, Laura asked him, "Are you still seeing Fiona?"

"I had lunch with her several weeks ago. We're still friends. She's involved with someone."

"The man she was seeing last winter?"

"Yes."

"Would you like to come over for dinner Saturday night?"

"I thought you said your family would be on the island."

"You're right. I'd forgotten. That would not be a good idea."

"No, it wouldn't."

"I don't know what I was thinking."

"A momentary lapse, Laura. You've had too much on your mind lately."

"Yes, I have. I have trouble remembering what day it is."

She held his gaze for only a moment before she dropped her eyes. What had she been thinking?

o

Kara let herself into Lee's apartment at two o'clock that afternoon. Months ago he had given her a key because she often got through with Flight School on Friday afternoon before he got home from work.

She looked around the apartment. They had spent so much time together lately when Lee wasn't at work that he hadn't had time to clean it the way he usually did. Kara took off her boots and jeans and found an old pair of sweat pants that she had left over there. It seemed like this summer she had been leaving more and more things at the apartment.

She started in the living room with a duster. Her Viper Top Gun trophy didn't need dusting, but she dusted it anyway. His did. When she got to the CD player, she remembered the CD that Dreilide had given her. She retrieved it from her jacket pocket and put it on. She listened as she dusted everything in the apartment. She cleaned the bathroom, spending a lot of time on the shower. She doubted the shower had been that clean since Lee had moved in.

She changed the sheets and put the others in the small, stacked washer-dryer in the kitchen. She dragged his vacuum out of the hallway closet and vacuumed the carpet in the living room and his bedroom. She found a mop and bucket in the small utility closet and mopped the bathroom before she moved on to the kitchen. She cleaned and mopped it.

She had just put all the cleaning supplies away and was standing with the refrigerator door open getting a beer when she heard the apartment door open.

Lee came in and dropped his keys on the kitchen table.

"I thought that was your motorcycle in the parking garage. He walked over and kissed her lightly.

"Ugh, don't get too close. I'm all sweaty. I've been doing some cleaning. It should last for a couple of weeks at least."

Lee looked around. "Wow. What possessed you to do that?"

Kara couldn't look at him for a moment. It was already Thursday. Monday would be here before she was ready for it and she would be leaving.

She managed to smile. "Something to do to keep me busy."

"I thought you'd be at home today with John and Braedon."

"D'Anna Biers was coming over to interview Dad. She was supposed to do it last week, but she had to cancel for some reason. I didn't want to be there."

"How long have you been here?"

"A couple of hours. I went to see Jack Fisk this morning and then Dreilide. He gave me another CD. It's got a few of the same songs as the other one."

"That was nice of him."

"He's getting worse."

"I'm sorry."

Kara shrugged. "I don't know what kind of shape he'll be in when I get back here in November. He won't quit playing the clubs and bars so he's breathing all that smoke."

"He knows what it's doing to him. He's made a choice."

"I know. I went to see Yolanda Brenn. She and Keshia gave me a gift, too. Two little statues. Apollo and Artemis."

"That was nice of them."

"Then I went to see Leoben."

Lee took a deep breath. "You really made the rounds today."

"Yeah. He gave me something, too. An book of poetry by Kataris. Leoben thinks he remembers being somewhere other than a basestar. It sounds like a planet. I think it might be Nereid."

"Did he say he remembered being on a planet?"

"No, but he remembered a room with windows and a skylight and clouds. I think it might have been the place where the skinjobs were created."

"That might still have been in a basestar."

"Maybe. And then it might have been memories that Cavil planted in his brain. He said trying to remember is painful. He's going to try to remember more anyway."

"I guess I'd better mention this to my dad," Lee said.

"Why? He won't care. He's still going to nuke the planet."

"He hasn't made a final decision yet. I asked him."

"That's what caused my dad and Laura to have their argument. Laura sides with your dad. She agrees that rescuing prisoners is too costly. You agree with them."

"I didn't say that I agree completely, but I understand why my dad won't risk half the fleet fighting the Cylons over Nereid when there may not be but a handful of humans on the planet. There's no way he's going to put Caprica in jeopardy for a few prisoners. Knowing the Cylons, they'd kill them anyway before they let us rescue them."

"Yeah, you're probably right. Still, I keep thinking how I would feel if I were on that planet and had survived for five years and all I got for it was a Colonial nuke dropped on me."

"I know why you feel that way."

"Why do I feel that way?"

"Because of being in the camp."

"Is that right, Dr. Lee? Then why does my dad feel the way he does? He's never been in a refugee camp."

"I don't know why John feels like he does."

"I'm going to take a shower." She turned and walked out of the kitchen. "Finish the beer before it gets hot."

Lee waited a minute before he followed her. She had left the bathroom door open. She was standing at the sink in her underwear, the sweatpants and t-shirt on the floor. The water was running in the shower.

He turned the water off. "Okay, what's going on?"

She turned and crossed her arms. "If we hadn't been to Antioch this week, would you still have blamed my feelings on being in a camp? What if I think we should consider rescuing those prisoners because they're human beings just like us? Isn't that a good enough reason for me and my dad to have?"

Lee put his arms around her. "It's a fine reason. I told you I don't totally agree with my dad and Laura. If he asked for volunteers to go to Nereid on a rescue mission, I'd volunteer. I hate the thought of someone surviving for five years only to be killed by…us. But if I were one of those prisoners on Nereid, I wouldn't want anyone to put the fate of the human race in jeopardy just to try to rescue me and a few fellow prisoners. I'd want all our battlestars protecting Caprica."

Kara put her arms around him. "Part of me wants to stay here on Caprica with you."

"I know what you mean," Lee said softly. "Part of me wants to go to the _G_ with you. But I've got a mission here."

"And I've got to get some experience flying in deep space."

He kissed her, his tongue finding hers.

She tried to pull back. "I'm dirty and sweaty."

"I don't care."

"Let me at least take a shower."

"We can shower together…later."

Kara felt him hard against her. He kicked off his shoes while she was unbuttoning his uniform tunic. It fell to the floor. He unzipped his pants and slid trousers and shorts to the floor. She grasped him while his hand went under the waistband of her panties. He tugged downward and they slid to the floor.

He let her caress him while he unhooked her bra. She had to let go of him for it to fall completely, but she took him in her other hand. He leaned down and licked her nipples. He tasted the salt of her sweat.

Kara slid down and took him in her mouth. He'd never let her do that to him for very long because he said he couldn't stand it, that it was too good. She didn't know if that was the truth or maybe she didn't know how to do it right. He'd never let her pleasure him all the way like that even though he had done it to her a number of times. If there was one thing Lee Adama was all about when it came to their lovemaking, it was about pleasing her. He always put himself second.

Lee gripped the edge of the sink, breathed deep and shut his eyes. He could barely take the feeling, much less watching her do it. In only a few minutes he was ready, his body screaming at him to let her go on, to let her finish it that way, but he reached down and pulled her to her feet.

"How are we going to…" Kara started, but Lee turned her around facing away from him. She knew what to do. They'd done it like that in the shower before. She put one hand on the sink and used the other to guide him into her. She bent over slightly and arched her back allowing him deeper inside.

She moaned, "Oh, yes," as he thrust.

He slid his hand around the front and found the hard center of her pleasure in the wetness. It pushed her over the edge. Her knuckles were white against the sink as she said his name. "Lee, oh, Lee."

He let her hang there for a long, torturous moment before he joined her. She saw him in the mirror, saw the pleasure tighten his face while his body tensed and his arms tightened around her. He pressed into her as deep as he could and let the orgasm take him.

They both stood breathing hard. Lee leaned over and kissed her shoulder, tasted the salt of her body again.

"Shower," she finally said.

Lee turned on the water and let it get warm. They stepped in together. Kara scrubbed her body and then turned around so Lee could soap her back. They rinsed and got out of the shower. Lee wrapped a big towel around her.

"If you were on the _Galactica_…" Kara started.

"One day I will be. It won't be this private, though."

"I know. We'll still have bunks with curtains."

"That won't be so private either. You'll see when you get there."

"At least we'll be together."

"Kara, we'll make it through these next couple of months."

She put her arms around his neck. "Call in an order for a pizza. I don't want to leave for dinner."

"You'll be so busy when you get on the _G_ that three months will pass before you know it. You're going to love flying your Viper in space."

"I know you're trying to make me feel better about going."

"Maybe I'm trying to make me feel better."

Kara forced a smile. "You're right. What's three months?"

"Yeah," Lee echoed. "What's three months?"

o

Friday morning Kara looked again at the slip of paper in her hand. _Room 403. _The receptionist had given it to her at the desk along with a visitor badge. The Marine guard checked it before she got on the elevator and rode it to the fourth floor. She entered the office. Bill Adama's aide, a serious looking captain, picked up the phone and spoke to the admiral before she motioned Kara to the next door.

The office wasn't too big, but it was nice. There were dark wood bookcases and a dark wood desk similar to Laura's. There was a painting on the wall that looked like it could have come from a museum.

Bill stood. "Come in, Kara."

"Wow. This is nice, sir."

He smiled. "I'm glad you approve."

"Who did the painting?"

"Monclair. It was a gift from a former commander of mine when I made colonel. I brought it from the _Galactica_. One day it will go back along with the rug and the lamps and the desk. And me."

Kara smiled. "And the books?"

"And the books. Are you packed and ready?"

"Almost."

"You'll find Commander Cain is hard and a stickler for the rules, but she's fair. Keep your nose clean and obey orders. Watch that mouth and you should get along fine with her."

"Thank you, sir. I'll try."

He took a sheet of paper from his desk and handed it to her. "The nugget roster for Monday's deployment. Which one is the Cylon?"

Kara looked down at the names. She handed the list back to him. "Sharon Valerii. She's their number eight. The last Cylon created…that we know about. They made her brain the most human. They sent her down here to learn about human emotions and now she's more human than she is Cylon."

Bill looked skeptical. "That could be a clever ploy."

"She loves Karl. She'll do anything to stay with him. She'll help us any way she can."

"She's got to have a mission. There's got to be something in her programming. I can't believe the Cylons would give one of them that much freedom of choice."

"She's supposed to get word back to Cavil about the true morale of the fleet…the true feelings of the pilots and crew and any plans that are being made. She's going to tell him that morale is down and that the pilot training isn't going too well."

"And she's to do this how?"

"She said she would know when she got on board."

"Then your job is to find out how she's to communicate it and what she's communicating and tell the _Galactica's _XO, Colonel Saul Tigh. He'll get word to me."

"You're going to tell him about Sharon? I thought that this would be our secret, sir. That it would be between you and me."

"Saul is my eyes and ears on board ship."

"Then you're not going to tell Commander Cain?"

"I can't. Cain would kill Lieutenant Valerii…or worse. But I warn you. One false step and your Cylon will be back on Caprica and in a Colonial prison."

"When we fight, she'll fight with us."

Bill turned, walked around behind his desk and sat. "I hope you're right."

"I know I am, sir," Kara said with a lot more confidence than she felt at the moment.

What if the whole year at the Academy _had_ been just a clever ploy? What if Sharon had them all fooled? No. Cylon or not, Kara didn't believe that she could be that wrong. Not her and Karl both. They couldn't both be that wrong.

"Will that be all, sir?" Kara asked.

"Good hunting, Starbuck."

Kara smiled. "Thank you, sir. About Lee's mission…"

My son will perform his mission and come home safely."

"Yes, sir. I know he will."

"Where's your faith?" Bill asked. "The mission was your idea."

"I never thought when I said it that anyone would listen to me."

"I listened. I like outside-of-the-box. I don't think the Cylons are too good at outside-of-the-box."

"I'll keep that in mind, sir," Kara said.

"So will I. When do you leave to go to the island?"

"As soon as I leave here. Lee took today off. We're meeting my dad at the ship."

"Enjoy the weekend."

"Thank you, sir. I plan to."

o

Lee and Kara walked hand in hand down the beach. The sun was low on the horizon and John had taken Braedon up to the cottage to feed him.

Kara said, "We should go back soon. I know my dad will need some help with Braedon or getting something ready for dinner."

Lee stopped and turned to her. "John didn't say anything about me sleeping on the couch."

"I know. He's not going to, either. I mean it's really stupid. We spent a week down here by ourselves. He knows we didn't sleep in separate bedrooms."

"It'll still feel strange."

"Then sleep on the couch," Kara said irritably. "I'm not going to force you to sleep with me."

Lee grinned. "Come on, Kara, lighten up. How would you feel if we were down here with my dad? Wouldn't you feel strange sleeping with me?"

Kara shrugged. "Yeah, I guess. I gave him Sharon's name today. I've got to find out how she's supposed to communicate with Cavil and then tell Colonel Tigh."

"Saul Tigh is my dad's oldest and best friend."

"His drunkest friend, too. I've heard my dad and Laura talk about him. I know his wife sleeps around and he puts up with it. What kind of man lets his wife frak other men and doesn't do anything about it?"

"Stay out of Tigh's personal life. He's a good officer or my dad wouldn't have him on the _G _or trust him the way he does_._"

"Whatever. Let's not argue about this now. That's not why we're down here."

They got back to the cottage to find Braedon fussy and not wanting to eat.

"Let me," Kara told her father. "You and Lee fix us something for dinner. Braedon just wants his bottle, not those mashed up vegetables."

"This is the same stuff he eats at home without any problems," John said.

Kara wiped Braedon's mouth and picked him up from the high chair. She took his bottle from the table and sat down with him. Braedon began very contentedly sucking the bottle.

"We're not at home," she said to her father. "You were walking him all over the beach this afternoon."

"Yeah, he's probably just tired."

Kara looked down at her brother. His eyes were already half closed. She knew how much she was going to miss seeing him.

That night after they ate, Lee volunteered to clean up. Kara helped him. The three of them played a few hands of triad and Kara won easily. She could tell that her father's mind was not on the game.

"I'm going to bed," he said after losing the third straight hand. "It's been a long day."

"I think we're going down to the beach again for a walk," she said.

John smiled. "Yeah, the moonlight is nice tonight. It reminds me of the first time Laura and I came down here."

On the way out, Kara grabbed a beach towel.

"That's what's wrong with Dad," Kara said to Lee.

"What?"

"He's missing Laura. She should have come. This place is special to my dad. I think it's where they made Braedon."

"What makes you think that?"

"Something Laura said one time. I put two and two together and came up with baby."

They walked down the now familiar path between the rocks. The water was silver with the moonlight. Carefully they spread the towel and sat down. Lee lay back with his arm under his head. Kara propped on her elbows and looked up at the stars. The sky seemed filled with them.

Lee said, "Out here on the beach it seems like we're alone in the universe."

"Did you ever think that somewhere out there other humans might be looking at the sky and saying the same thing?"

"The odds favor it," Lee said, "There are millions of star systems."

"Forget about the odds," Kara said. "Doesn't your heart tell you that we're not alone in the universe?"

"My mind tells me the odds favor some kind of life evolving on other planets."

"Where is your poetic soul?" Kara kidded. "Have you never read Kataris?"

Lee teased her, "I didn't think you liked Kataris. You said he wrote dark, sad stuff. But I guess since Leoben gave you a book of his poetry, you're a big fan now."

"I don't like his love poetry. It is sad, but some of his other stuff is okay. He wrote a poem about a poet telling the story of the exodus of the Twelve Tribes from Kobol. It's called _The Torches of Other Worlds_. That's what he called the stars."

Lee slid his hand up her arm and pulled her down to him. He could hardly think about not being able to see her or touch her for three months. He kissed her and tried not to let his sadness show.

They were suddenly all hands, all heat and eagerness. He had a momentary remembrance of making love to her early in the summer, naked and unashamed on this same beach, and then the fire of the moment erased all thoughts from his mind except the feel of her hands and her mouth on him and then her body.

As they lay together afterward, listening to the waves rolling onto the beach, they saw the momentary flash of a meteor streak across the sky.

"A falling star," Kara said.

"It's not really a star. It's cosmic debris that got caught in Caprica's gravitational pull and burned up in the atmosphere."

Kara elbowed him lightly in the ribs. "Thank you, Mr. Science. I know it's not a star, but that's what we used to call them when I was growing up on Picon. _Falling stars_. Karl told me that every time you saw one you could make a wish and it would come true."

"Which one of us gets to make the wish?"

"We both do. We both saw it."

"You first," Lee said. "Make your wish."

"I wish for you to come home safely from Nereid. Now you, make your wish."

"I'm going to save my wish for later."

"Why?"

"I'll save it for when I really need it. They don't expire, do they, these wishes of yours on a falling star?"

"I don't think so."

"Then I'll wait."

o

Early Monday morning her father drove Kara to the airbase where the personnel transport was waiting that would take the nuggets and any other returning crew to the _Galactica_. Her footlocker had been sent ahead. She had only her duffel bag.

Her flight left at six a.m. and would take almost six hours to reach the _Galactica_ since the transports no longer had jump capability. She and her father spoke very little on the twenty-minute trip. She knew that both of them were hanging on to their emotions by very slender threads.

She and Lee had said their goodbyes the night before. It was more painful than she had imagined and she had cried despite her intention to be brave. Lee had held her so tightly that it had hurt. He had kept it together for her sake and for that she was grateful. If he had lost it, she would probably still be crying.

Lee had to be at the airbase for his usual Monday morning training flight. Kara looked at her watch as she and her father approached the gate. Lee would be eating breakfast now. He had to be at the base and suited up by seven o'clock for the pre-flight briefing.

They pulled up to the gate and her father showed his ID. The guard waved them through and he found a parking place.

Kara got out and saw the big personnel carrier on the tarmac. There were a number of people waiting to board. The person to check them onto the ship hadn't yet arrived. Her father got her duffel bag out of the trunk. Kara thought she felt the first hint of autumn in the air, a coolness and dryness that she hadn't felt before. She thought of the previous year when she had started at the Academy. The time had passed so quickly. Now school was starting again.

"I know you don't want me hanging around," John said.

"Hang around all you want." She put her arms around him. "I'll be back in three months."

"I know," he said tightly.

"You'll be busy teaching cadets and the time will pass and…"

"Every time I see that simulator, I'll think of you."

"Every time you hear somebody's big mouth you'll think about me."

He smiled. "Yeah, that, too."

"Show Braedon my picture every day. Don't let him forget me."

"I won't. Maybe he'll even be able to say your name right when you get home. We're going to practice."

"I love you, Dad."

"I love you, too, Kara."

"I'll write."

"You'd better."

The emotion was welling in her. "I don't want to cry."

He kissed her forehead. "I'm going. You take care. No crazy stunts."

"No crazy stunts," she echoed.

He turned and got into the car. She waved and he put up his hand before he backed out of the parking spot and drove away. She watched the taillights of the car disappear through the gate before she shouldered the bag and walked over to the crew milling around near the bottom of the steps leading into the transport. She had that feeling in the pit of her stomach again. Saying goodbye was hard for her. It had always been hard for her.

She saw Noel Allison and Dwight Saunders and walked over to them. Saunders was sitting on the tarmac beside his duffel bag with his head on his knees.

"Hey, guys," she said.

"Be careful how loud you talk," said. "Somebody overdid the celebration of our last night of freedom for a while."

"Shame on somebody," she joked.

"You and Lee should have been there."

"The Shark Rider?"

"Yeah. Our very own Saunders got up and played the guitar. Seelix sang."

"A man of many talents," she said to Saunders. "I didn't know you played the guitar."

"I don't," he moaned.

"Did anybody get a recording of this for our later entertainment?"

"I hope not," he moaned.

Kara snickered. "I can't wait for amateur night on board ship. I'm sure somebody has a guitar you can borrow."

Saunders didn't look up. "Funny."

Kara looked at Allison. "Have you seen Karl and Sharon?"

He pointed. "Here they come now."

Kara turned. Karl and Sharon exited the terminal building in the distance just as a jeep pulled up and a captain with a clipboard got out. She looked at her watch. Ten minutes until six.

Karl and Sharon began to run. Karl was breathing hard from running and carrying his duffel bag when they arrived at the group, but Sharon seemed like the exertion was nothing.

"Man, we overslept," Karl huffed.

Sharon looked at Kara and smiled and somehow Kara knew that it wasn't oversleeping that had caused them to almost be late. They were celebrating their last bit of privacy for three months.

Allison kicked Saunders' duffel bag. "Get up or get left here."

Saunders struggled to his feet. "Hey, watch it. You're going to break something. I hope we can sleep on these ships."

"Line up," the captain with the clipboard shouted.

As they formed a line, Kara glanced back. She saw Maggie and Diana Seelix talking. Seelix looked almost as hung over as Saunders. Maggie looked fresh and bright-eyed. Either she had skipped The Shark Rider last night or she had not overindulged. She wondered if Maggie had spent her last night on Caprica for three months with Zak.

On board the transport, Allison motioned for her to sit beside him. Saunders had gone to the back and found a window seat alone. He would probably be asleep before the ship left the ground.

Kara saw Pike get on board and also find a seat by himself.

"I never really got a chance to congratulate you on the Top Gun trophy," Allison said.

"Thanks. Congratulations on getting in the top three."

He nodded. "I also want to tell you what a good teacher your dad is in the simulator. He knows his stuff. We all owe a lot to him. When I was having a hard time in the beginning, he stayed late a couple of times with me and made sure I was doing okay."

"Yeah. I'll tell him you said so."

"Did you grow up in Caprica City?"

"Nope. On Picon. What about you?"

"I was born in Kinsdale. My dad was a contractor. We moved a lot. He and my mom divorced when I was ten. He was on Scorpia working at the shipyards when the Cylons attacked. My mom and I were in Delphi. She died two years ago and I came to Caprica City to live with her brother, my uncle. He convinced me to go to the Academy. He had served on the _Solaria _years ago."

"That's where my dad was stationed during the last year of fighting the Cylons in the first war and a couple of years afterward. Buzz Jessups was on the _Solaria_, too. Colonel Winters was the CAG then."

"No kidding. Your dad served with Winters?"

Kara rolled her eyes. "Yeah. I think my dad was one of his biggest headaches. My dad liked to have fun."

"Nothing wrong with that," Allison said. "What about your mom?"

"She was a Marine. She stayed behind with her unit and died on Picon."

"You must hate the Cylons as much as I do."

Kara thought of Cavil. "Yeah."

"Any brothers or sisters?" Allison asked.

Kara shook her head and then said. "Yeah. My dad and Laura have a little boy. He's ten months old. And Karl and I have known each other since I was eight and he was nine. He's like a brother. What about you?"

"I had an older sister. She was studying to be a priest. She was at the temple in Delphi when it was bombed. She died. My mom never got over it. She couldn't understand how the gods would let a priest be killed."

"I know a woman who was a priest in Delphi. She lives in Caprica City now. She left the priesthood. She's an Oracle. She was blinded in the bombing. One side of her face is scarred from glass or shrapnel or something."

"What's her name?"

"Yolanda Brenn. She probably knew your sister."

Allison looked like he was thinking. "I don't remember that name, but I was only fourteen when it happened. How do you know her?"

Kara thought of how Leoben had told her of the Oracle when they were talking about destiny. "A friend told me about her," she said.

"So does she tell fortunes?"

"Not like you're thinking. I mean she doesn't say stuff like, '_You'll marry a rich man and have eight kids.' _It's more like thoughts that come into her mind when she takes your hand. She doesn't even know what most of them mean. She tells you stuff, but you have to interpret it for yourself."

"Maybe when we get back to Caprica City in a couple of months, you can tell me where to find her. I'd like to talk to her and see if she remembers my sister."

"You'd probably like the place she lives. It's close to the waterfront."

Allison grinned. "Maybe in a couple of months I'll be ready to visit the waterfront again. I might even talk Saunders into going with me."

Kara felt the transport begin to move. She looked out the window of the ship. The rising sun cast golden light on the runway much as the rising sun had given Caprica City a golden glow the morning she had first seen it. Kara relaxed into her seat. She was on the way to yet another phase of her life.

o

The personnel transport docked in the big landing bay on Galactica's starboard side. They had to wait for the inner doors to close and the area to pressurize before they exited the ship. Suddenly Kara was excited. The pilots were told to go to one section of the landing bay. Their CAG, Captain Cole Taylor, welcomed them aboard and gave them their bunk assignments. Kara glanced around as they shouldered their duffel bags and began following an ensign toward the landing bay's exit. There were eight new Viper pilots and seven new Raptor pilots in the group.

Diana Seelix was the only pilot of the nuggets assigned to bunk in the same quarters as her. The rest of them were split over six different bunkrooms. Karl and Sharon were separated. She knew how much they hated that. Noel Allison and Dwight Saunders were separated, too. She thought Maggie and Allison were assigned to the same room. She thought Pike was also assigned to that room. All that mattered to her was that Pike wasn't in the same quarters with her. She didn't care who the other fourteen pilots were as long as one of them wasn't Pike.

"Feeling better?" She asked Seelix as they began putting items from their duffels into their lockers.

"I'll live," Seelix answered.

"You and Saunders have a thing?"

Seelix shrugged. "We've hooked up a couple of times. Nothing serious. He's a nice guy."

Two pilots, a male and a female, walked in wrapped only in towels. Kara glanced at them and thought they looked vaguely familiar.

"Nug-gets," the female said. "Welcome aboard."

"Thanks," Kara said. "Do I know you?"

"Maybe. Louanne Katraine. _Kat_. This is Brendan Constanza. _Hot Dog_."

"You're the girl from Zeno's," Hot Dog said. "Last year. You said you rode a motorcycle."

The memory clicked. The night of the pyramid semi-finals and Zeno's was so crowded there were no seats. They had offered to let her sit at their table. She had met them as Carrie Warner. She hoped neither one of them remembered her name.

"Yeah, Zeno's," she said. "Except it was almost two years ago and I don't ride a motorcycle anymore except for fun. I fly a Viper now."

Kat wrinkled her nose. "Time sure flies when you're having fun. We always have fun on the _Galactica_. Don't we, Hot Dog?"

"It's a laugh a minute. Commander Cain is a real comedian."

Kara could tell by the way he said it that Commander Cain was anything but a comedian.

"So what's your name?" Kat asked. "Sorry if I don't remember after _two years_."

"Kara Thrace, _Starbuck_. This is Diana Seelix, _Hardball_."

"Starbuck and Hardball. Are you like a team or something?"

"We went to the Academy together."

Hot Dog went over to his locker, turned his back, dropped his towel and pulled on his underwear. Kara quickly looked away.

Kat laughed. "You get used to seeing naked butts. Of course some of us put on our underwear _under our towels _instead of showing our naked asses to everybody. But a battlestar is not a place for the modest."

"That's what Lee told me," Kara said.

"Lee? Your boyfriend?" Kat asked.

Seelix turned from putting something in her locker. "Lee Adama, the admiral's son."

"Woo Hoo," Kat said. "Starbuck here dates an admiral's son. I guess you think that makes you hot stuff."

"You don't know the half of it," Diana said.

Kara rolled her eyes. "Thanks, Seelix."

"They would have found out sooner or later. I just did you a favor. Now it doesn't look like you're trying to hide something."

Kara resumed putting away items from her duffel bag. Seelix was probably right. She taped a picture of her and Lee to the inside of the locker door. It was a good one that her father had taken at Bonnie Patrice the night of her Academy graduation party. Lee had his arm around her and they were both smiling. He looked so good. Kara remembered how happy she was that night.

"Hey, Hot Stuff," Kat said. "Just so you don't go getting ideas. Dating an admiral's son don't mean squat when you're in a Viper. I'm Top Gun on this ship. Get used to it."

Hot Dog had on his uniform by now. He turned after he combed back his hair.

"Don't listen to Kat. She likes to run her mouth."

Kat laughed loudly. "Oh, yeah, Pretty Boy? Who flies circles around you out there?"

From behind the closed curtains of a bunk, an angry voice said, "Will you all shut the frak up? Some of us are trying to sleep."

Kara quietly closed the door of her locker as Louanne Katraine noisily opened hers. Yeah, living on a battlestar was going to take some getting used to.

o

Lee put the large envelope on Kevin Abinell's work table. Abinell looked up.

"What's this?"

"You said you're a Buccaneers fan. My brother works PR for them."

Lee watched while Kevin opened the metal clips of the envelope and pulled out the photographs. One was a publicity shot, a glossy eight by ten of Sam Anders in his uniform. Anders had autographed it. The other was a shot of the team that had been autographed by all of them.

"Thanks, man." Kevin propped both of the photographs against the wall behind the table and looked at them. "This is too cool. Anders is _the man_."

"He's a good player," Lee agreed. "The C-Bucks should have won last spring."

"They sure should have."

"Do I get to try the sim in Sadie today?"

"Why not? You want to put something on over that uniform."

"I'll brave it. Kara told me to get an air freshener."

Kevin snickered. "That's funny. Kara's your girlfriend?"

"Yeah. She left this morning for a year-long deployment on a battlestar. I won't get to see her for three months."

"That bites, man."

Lee sighed. Just talking about it gave him a hollow feeling in the pit of his stomach. He couldn't believe that Kara was now aboard the _Galactica_ and that the _G_ was six hours away at a third the speed of light.

He stepped on the small ladder and heaved himself up into Sadie. Kevin poked his head through the opening.

"Same setup. Try the cameras this time. You'll get a good view of the floor. I put a picture on the concrete so you'll know when the cameras are on…although your girlfriend might not appreciate it."

Lee turned the computer on and waited while it booted. In the last several weeks he had gotten good at getting Sadie smoothly off the ground and into flight. But Kevin was right. Doing it lying on his stomach wasn't as easy as doing it sitting in front of the computer on the table.

It took several tries to master a smooth takeoff. He flicked the switch that turned on the cameras and almost immediately he started laughing. He would have to write Kara about Kevin's sense of humor. The picture on the floor was the centerfold from some men's magazine with the head of a centurion pasted on top.

Kevin had said that he and Rick didn't know where Lee was going in Sadie, but they had obviously figured out that it had something to do with the Cylons.

Lee couldn't stop laughing. It added a whole new meaning to the term _skinjob_.

TBC…


	70. Heliops Island

Chapter 70

Heliops Island

_Just prior to the Presidential election, Cavil's assistant, Aaron Doral, gave an interview to D'Anna Biers in which he stated that drug and alcohol use, especially stimulants, was prevalent on all the Colonial battlestars. When asked for a reference, Doral refused, saying only that his source was currently serving on a battlestar and had informed the Cylons of the low morale among the pilots and the lack of seriousness with which they took their jobs. Admiral William Adama's refusal to respond to repeated queries by the reporter was taken by many as a confirmation of Doral's statement. President Adar refused comment saying only that Admiral Adama was handling the investigation. _

_-Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War_

More than once during her first week on the _Galactica_, Kara thought about Jack Fisk's observation that living on a battlestar was like living with a big family. She felt an even greater connection to Jack when she walked into the hangar the second day and saw Galen Tyrol.

"Chief," she shouted before she realized that everyone in the group of fifteen new pilots was suddenly looking at her.

Tyrol looked up from the floor where he was working under a Viper. For a moment he couldn't tell who had shouted at him, and then he suddenly saw her and waved.

Captain Hamish McCall, the senior pilot who was conducting their tour of the ship, asked sarcastically, "Would you like for us to stop so you and the Chief can chat for a while?"

"No, sir," Kara answered embarrassed.

As they proceeded through the hangar to look at the launch tubes, Karl punched her lightly on the shoulder. "Way to go, Starbuck."

"He used to work for Jack Fisk," Kara hissed. "He's the reason I got to meet Jack in the first place. He's the one I rescued, the one who had his arm cut by the druggie. If it wasn't for Chief, I'd never have gotten the job."

"What's he doing here?" Sharon asked.

"The last year I was working for Jack, Chief and his girlfriend broke up. Jack said he wanted to do something different. He joined the military. I guess he got assigned to the _G_."

"He's cute," Sharon teased and got a dirty look from Karl.

They reached the control station of one of the launch tubes. "Gather around," McCall shouted at them. He explained the procedure to them as a Viper was launched. "This is what some of you will get to do tomorrow."

Kara looked at Narcho on the other side of the group, grinned and raised her eyebrows. They were both going to get to do this.

McCall then took them to the part of the hangar where the Raptors were kept.

Kara watched Sharon. She didn't appear any more or less interested than the other Raptor pilots in what was going on. As they were on the way for McCall to show them the officer's wardroom and Sick Bay, Kara fell back until she was walking beside Sharon and Karl.

"What do you hear from your _friend_?" She asked Sharon, hoping that Sharon would understand what she meant.

"He wants me to write to him. He gave a post office box number."

"How did he tell you that?"

"A phone call before I left Caprica. All he said was the post office box number and to address the letters to Joe Valerii."

Karl snickered. "Dear _Uncle Joe_."

"That's all he told you?" Kara asked skeptically.

"That's it," Karl said. "I was there when she got the call."

They had dropped farther behind the others. Sharon turned to her. "You gave me up, didn't you?"

"No way," Karl said. "Kara would never…"

"Yeah, I did," Kara admitted. "It's the only way I could get all of us on board the _G_ together. But you're safe. I only told Admiral Adama."

That was the truth. Sharon didn't need to know that the admiral had told Saul Tigh.

"Keep up," McCall shouted at them.

"I don't frakking believe it," Karl hissed as they hurried to catch up with the group.

"Believe it," Kara said. "We'll talk later." She walked up between Narcho and Flat Top. "Hi, guys."

Flat Top leaned over and whispered, "It's called fraternization."

"What?" Kara asked.

"You and the Chief. You're an officer. He's enlisted. That's a big no-no."

She punched him on the arm. "I knew him on another job. He's just a friend."

Narcho laughed. "A likely story. Does Lee know? How much will you give us to keep quiet?"

Kara knew he was teasing her and laughed, too. "You guys are hopeless." She sped up and walked up beside Maggie and Seelix.

Maggie looked at her. "You didn't waste any time."

"Not you, too? Chief used to work for Jack Fisk. That's where I know him from. You remember when I worked for Fisk, don't you?"

"Yeah," Maggie answered. "I remember. You rode a motorcycle. I worked in a day care. Karl worked in a grocery store. Jared kept the subway software going."

Seelix snickered. "A day care? You?"

Maggie turned. "You want to make something out of it?"

Seelix raised her hands in front of her. "No. You just don't…"

"…seem like the type to take care of rugrats," Maggie finished the sentence for her. "I know. It was a job. When we got to Caprica City we all needed jobs. Not all of us got the glamorous ones wearing black leather."

"Yeah, riding a motorcycle in the winter in freezing rain and in the summer when it was ninety-eight degrees was real glamorous. The helmet did wonders for my hair, too."

"Better than getting puked on by somebody else's kids every day." Maggie said.

Suddenly they both started laughing. They had come a long way from those days.

"We slept on the floor of the apartment in sleeping bags for six months," Kara said to Seelix. "We couldn't even afford mattresses."

"Sick Bay," McCall shouted pointing to a door on the left. "Learn where it is. Some of you nuggets may need it if you don't pay any better attention in your ships than you've done today on my tour."

Kara rolled her eyes and made a motion to Maggie and Seelix like she was zipping her lips. Hadn't Admiral Adama told her to keep her mouth shut and stay out of trouble? She hadn't gotten off to a very good start, at least not with one of the senior pilots.

o

The next morning they all sat in the pilot's ready room in their flight suits. Their CAG, Captain Taylor explained how four battlestars were grouped fairly close together so they could be watched by one of the Cylon basestars. He drew a diagram on the dry erase board that stood beside the podium. The basestar was roughly in the middle of a formation that had the battlestars in the four corners.

"We signal the basestar every time a group of Vipers or Raptors launches for a training exercise. They then launch the appropriate number of Raiders. You flew with the Raiders on Caprica. You know the drill. I don't need to say to follow the procedures _exactly as they are laid out_. I don't want to have to write anybody's family a letter saying they died because they decided to pull some bonehead maneuver and a Raider blew them away."

He paused for a moment to let his words sink in and then continued. "Each of you nuggets will be assigned to an experienced pilot. As we see you're ready, you'll be turned loose on your own. Any questions?"

When there were none, he said, "Lieutenant Kara Thrace, stand up, please."

Wondering what she had done and feeling her cheeks begin to burn, Kara nevertheless stood up as cockily as she dared.

Cole said, "I want to make sure everybody knows that we on the _Galactica_ got a Viper Top Gun from the last session of Flight School. Congratulations Starbuck and welcome aboard."

"Thank you, sir." She sat down, her cheeks still burning.

There was a smattering of applause and she heard somebody in the back say, "It's about time we got some of the best and the brightest."

Kara glanced down the row and saw Kat turn around. Out of sight of the CAG, she made an obscene gesture at whoever had made the comment. It might have been Hot Dog because when Kara looked around to see who had spoken, he had a smug look on his face.

The CAG said, "Okay, settle down. More good news. We also got the second and third place Viper pilots. I'd like for Lieutenants Eammon Pike and Noel Allison to stand. Congratulations Gonzo and Narcho. Don't be shy. Stand up, gentlemen."

Narcho turned with a big grin, waved at the others and raised one fist over his head in a victory salute. Pike didn't look around and almost immediately sat back down.

"A triple…it just doesn't get any better than that," The voice in the back said and Kara definitely recognized it as Hot Dog's. "We must be living right."

"Oh, it gets better. Lieutenant Dwight Saunders, it's your turn. Stand up. We also got the Raptor top pilot. Congratulations, Flat Top."

Saunders was sitting in front of Kara and stood. He glanced back at her and she gave him a thumbs up.

"Now it's Lieutenant Edmondson's turn. She came in a close second in the Raptor group. Take a bow, Racetrack."

Maggie stood and briefly waved before she sat.

Suddenly Captain Taylor came to attention. "Commander on deck," he said. "Attention."

They all stood immediately and snapped to attention.

Commander Cain walked down the aisle of the ready room followed by a taller, balding man that Kara knew had to be Saul Tigh, the ship's XO. When they reached the front of the group, they turned. Tigh stepped two paces back and Captain Cole surrendered the podium to the commander.

"At ease. Please be seated."

Kara and the rest of the pilots sat.

"I always like to address the first briefing of my nuggets. For those of you who don't already know, I am Helena Cain, Commander of this battlestar. The man to my right is Colonel Saul Tigh, my Executive Officer. As you all know, you're here to learn to fly Vipers and Raptors in deep space and to learn the discipline that comes from living on a battlestar. We intend to see that you learn it."

The whole time Cain was talking, Kara was aware that Saul Tigh's gaze moved over the pilots but kept coming back to her. She wondered how long it would be until he asked to see her and expected some answers to relay to Admiral Adama. She already dreaded it. She knew from her father and Laura that Tigh was fond of his bottle. She had no idea if she would find him drunk or sober when their conversation took place. She would have to find a way to talk to Sharon privately soon. She had to find out the number of that post office box and when Sharon intended to send her first letter to Cavil or _Uncle Joe_. Also what Sharon was going to say.

It seemed simplistic to Kara and chancy that Cavil would have Sharon use the mail system to communicate information to him and yet the more she thought about it, the smarter it seemed. The Colonials would probably be expecting something sophisticated and electronic from the Cylons, not a letter. Maybe Cavil was smarter than Kara gave him credit for being.

Cain's gaze fell on her and then it moved on. "Last but not least, I would like for our XO to explain the pictures to you that hang on either side of the ready room exit."

Kara started to turn and look and then changed her mind. She would see the pictures on the way out.

Cain stepped aside from the podium and Tigh stepped up. "On the right side of the door is one that was transmitted to the Caprica News Bureau by an unknown photographer on Aerilon as that city was being bombed. It is a wounded soldier on his knees taken on the roof of their capitol building moments before its destruction. We've all started calling it _Lest We Forget_. I don't think I need to explain it or say anything else about it. Pilots touch it on their way out as a sign of respect for all the good men and women who gave their lives in service to the Colonies."

Kara realized that some of the pilots were turning around, craning their necks to see it, but she had already seen the picture. Laura Roslin had a copy of it on the wall of her office. She called it _Never Forget_.

Tigh continued. "The picture on the left side of the door is of a transport ship just as it took off with supplies for the refugee camps. We owe Presidential candidate Laura Roslin and Admiral William Adama for that picture. It's called _Hope._ We touch it for luck."

Kara had seen that picture many times. It also hung on the wall of Laura's office, both at work and in her small office at home. Her father kept a copy of it on his laptop. It had always been one of Kara's favorite pictures. She hadn't been in the refugee camp when that photograph had been taken, but the food and supplies on that ship and the other two that had accompanied it had saved countless lives.

Cain stepped back up to the podium. "Good hunting, everyone." She and Tigh walked back up the aisle as Captain Taylor walked over to the dry erase board and turned it over.

"Here are your assignments. Check the board. The senior pilot will orient you. Raptor nuggets will also have a senior pilot and a senior ECO to fly with them. Any questions?"

He paused for a moment. "No? In that case I'll say _dismissed_."

Kara looked at the board. She was paired with Louanne Katraine. Great. That was just great. She was hoping for Hot Dog or Chuckles.

Kat waited while the row emptied. As Kara stood, Kat said, "Ain't I lucky? I get to fly with Star-buck who's not only dating an admiral's son, she's the Viper class Top Gun."

"Back off, Katraine," Kara said. She was in no mood to be picked on about Lee _or_ her flying skills."

"You're still holding out on us Star-buck. I hear your stepmother is Laura Roslin. I hear she's going to be the next _Pres-i-dent_ of the Colonies."

Kara rolled her eyes. She wondered who she had to thank for that bit of information getting to Kat. Seelix or somebody else?

She couldn't keep the irritation out of her voice. "Look, I'm here to do a job just like everybody else. I don't expect to be treated any different than you or Hot Dog."

"That's good, nugget. Because you won't be."

"Let's go, then," Kara said.

She was more than ready to get out in a Viper. She was more than ready to show Louanne Katraine and everybody else what she could do. She thought that getting the Top Gun trophy in Flight School would have put an end to doubts about her abilities. Apparently not. Now she had to put up with a loudmouth who made her think of Eammon Pike. She wondered how long it would be until Pike made a move on Kat. She hoped he did. They deserved each other.

On the way out the door, Kara reverently touched the photograph of the soldier on top of Aerilon's capitol building. She thought of her mother. She still had a big score to settle with the Cylons. She wouldn't forget. She would never forget.

o

Lee Adama walked into Zeno's and made his way to the bar. John had saved him a seat.

"Hi," Lee said.

John turned. "Hey, Lee. How goes it?"

Lee glanced down. John had what looked like a straight whiskey. Lee signaled the bartender for a beer.

"I went for almost a month without seeing Kara when she was on restriction. It's been three days and I feel like it's been a year."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. There's something about knowing she's so far away. I miss her, too."

"I've already written her a letter," Lee said. "I didn't have much to tell her. I can't talk about the Sadie mission except in a round-about way. I call it planning a camping trip."

"I've already written her, too. I sent her a picture of Braedon. I think she took one with her, but I sent her one just in case. I show him Kara's picture at night. He's still saying _Kawa_. I told Kara we'd practice her name." John chucked. "I know you're wondering what happened to the pilot you met on the _Galactica_ five years ago, the one with all the advice about women. I sound like an idiot, don't I?"

"You sound like a father," Lee said.

"Can you talk to me about the mission?"

"There's not much to tell, yet. I got inside Sadie this past Monday. It's a lot harder to fly when you're lying on your stomach."

"I can imagine."

"I'm getting it, though."

"I never doubted you would. What's next?"

"I practice for two more weeks. Then Sadie is crated and shipped to Heliops Island. As soon as it gets there, I join her and we wait for a thunder storm."

"Do you get to practice taking it up before the actual mission?"

"I think so. I mean these guys keep telling me it will fly, but until I feel it leave the ground, I'm going to have a few doubts."

"You've been studying the maps I created?"

"Every night. I still haven't talked about the final plan with my dad."

"Does it bother you?"

"What?" Lee asked.

"That you'll be helping him decide where to put those nukes on the surface of the planet."

Lee picked up his beer. He couldn't look at John. "Yeah. It bothers me."

"You volunteered to fly a mission. You've got a job to do. I had a job to do. We can't let our personal feelings get in the way of doing it, but it doesn't mean we have to feel good about it."

"Dad told me that we're not going to be able to go to Nereid right after we defeat the Cylons here. As soon as we do that, he's going to pull all our battlestars in around Caprica to protect it. Then he'll get the nuclear weapons factory cranked back up and at the same time a few battlestars will get some major repairs. He's thinking at least four months, maybe six between the time we fight them here and when we go to destroy Nereid. If we're lucky, the Cylons on Nereid won't have a clue that we know about them. They'll think they're safe there."

"I guess a lot depends on what you find when you jump Sadie. Hell, who knows? The place might be deserted. The Cylons could have abandoned Nereid and moved on to Kobol or another planet. Hug Connelly has spent a lot of time studying the photographs he took of the Altar of Zeus. He thinks part of it may be a star map to Kobol. If the Cylons have explored Nereid, they probably found something similar."

"Yeah. They might have, but I don't think they will have completely abandoned Nereid. Maybe some of them have moved on, but I think they left at least a small group there."

John sipped his drink. "That's what you're going to find out for us."

"Are you and Laura okay now?"

John shrugged. "I know how she feels about Nereid. She knows how I feel. We don't talk about it. Otherwise we're fine."

"She does know where you are tonight, doesn't she?"

"I called her before I left the Academy and told her I was meeting you for a drink. She's at her campaign headquarters. Maya is keeping Braedon. She doesn't have a date with Anders tonight."

"Sam and the team have started pyramid practice again. The season starts soon. He won't have near as much time as he had."

"Yeah, it is that time of the year, isn't it? Where has the time gone?"

"How are things going at the Academy?"

"It's too soon to tell. Kara's class was exceptional. There were a lot of motivated kids in her class."

"Maybe because a lot of them came from the camps."

"Yeah," John said. "Like I said, motivated."

They drank in silence for a few minutes. Lee watched the news on the television above the bar. The sound was off but the closed captioning was on. Except for some transport accidents, it was another uneventful day in Caprica City. There were three more deaths in Sovana related to rival drug dealers.

"Sovana is falling apart," Lee said.

"Yeah. And Cavil loves it. He thinks it proves the Cylons are superior to humans."

"I know," Lee said. "I've had to listen to all of his speeches lately. I think he's losing it. He said something in his last speech about humans no longer being God's chosen race implying that the Cylons are. He said humans didn't deserve the souls they were given. I thought Cavil was an atheist."

"He is. Or that's what he told Laura at the university the day she almost got herself killed."

"Something is going on with him. I'm sure he's always felt the Cylons were superior to us, at least the skinjobs, but lately he's started to obsess on it in his speeches."

"That's not a comforting thought." John finished his drink. "I guess I'd better go. I want to get home before Maya puts Brae to bed."

Lee finished his beer. "Yeah, I'm going too."

He and John walked outside. "I'll call you about the weekend," John said. "I think Laura said something about inviting you and Bill for dinner. She knows this is your first weekend in a long time without seeing Kara."

"That would be nice. I'd enjoy seeing you both for dinner. I haven't seen Laura in a while."

John started down the street toward his car and Lee walked in the opposite direction toward his apartment. He was almost there when a street person approached him, a skinny kid with greasy hair almost to his shoulders. Lee started to wave him off when he thought about Kara and the camp. He pulled a five-cubit note from his pocket and put it in the young man's hand as he passed.

"Only five, Lee. You can't spare but five?"

Lee whirled. "Do I know you?"

The kid snickered. "We met in Sovana."

"Neil?" Lee said, the shock clear in his voice. "Is that you?"

The young man snorted. "Have I changed that much in two years? Maybe it's because my nose isn't swollen. Or is it because I'm not wearing prisoner orange?"

"Lords of Kobol. You're skin and bones. When was the last time you had something to eat?"

"This morning. I found a doughnut…part of a doughnut…that somebody had thrown on top of a trashcan. The flies hadn't been on it too long."

"Let's go up to my apartment. I'll fix you something to eat."

When they entered the elevator, Lee tried not to wrinkle his nose. "When was the last time you had a bath?"

Neil started laughing. "Weeks. Maybe longer. I don't remember. Conditions where they were keeping me were primitive. No hot water."

"Where who was keeping you?"

"I'd been laying low in Sovana, staying with this…friend and only going out to visit the internet cafés to post my blogs. I screwed up one day and wandered too far into the wrong part of the city. I ran into some old buddies. They insisted I go with them to a camp in the mountains outside Sovana. I guess I'm lucky they didn't kill me and dump me beside the road."

The elevator door opened and they got off. Lee unlocked the door to his apartment.

"Nice," Neil said. "I figured you'd have a nice place."

"I'll fix something to eat. First for you is a shower."

"Whatever you say," Neil said. He began stripping off his dirty clothes before Lee could close the bathroom door. Lee could see Neil's ribs.

Lee found a pair of jeans and a t-shirt for Neil and put them on the edge of the sink before he went to the kitchen. He opened another beer. Now that he had Neil here, he wasn't sure what to do after he fed him. He heated some cream of potato soup and made four ham and cheese sandwiches.

Neil came into the kitchen wearing the jeans and t-shirt. The jeans were too big in the waist and Neil was holding them up. Lee went back to his closet and found a belt.

When he got back to the kitchen, he saw that Neil hadn't bothered with the spoon. He was drinking the soup from the bowl. Lee let him eat two sandwiches before he spoke again. Neil took Lee's beer.

"How did you get to Caprica City?" Lee finally asked.

"Hitched mostly."

"How'd you find me?"

"Internet café. Your mobile phone is registered."

"What are you doing here?"

"I came to tell you about their plans."

"Whose plans? What plans?"

"The guys in the mountain camp. Everybody thinks they're just smugglers. I mean they are, but they're hard-line Resistance. They're going to blow up the big voting places here in Caprica City on Election Day. One truck full of explosives is already here. The other two are coming soon, a couple of weeks apart."

"Lord of Kobol!" Lee said. "They're taking a big chance transporting explosives a thousand miles by truck. Why here? Why not Sovana?"

Neil snorted. "Because nobody gives a rat's ass what happens in Sovana anymore. The Resistance could blow up the whole frakking city and nobody would care. That creepy Cylon would probably pin medals on them. More proof of our inferiority and depravity. I think that's the word he likes to use to describe humans, at least the ones in Sovana."

"Is this directed at Laura Roslin or one of the other candidates?"

"At all of them. Don't you understand? These guys think that _anybody_ running for office is cooperating with the Cylons."

"I need specifics," Lee said.

"Yeah, I figured you would. But you need to wait to do anything until the other two trucks get here. Otherwise they'll just change their plans. It's taken them almost two years to put together these explosives. If you get all three shipments, you'll be safe for a while."

Lee went to the living room and got a notebook from the bookcase. He brought it and a pen back to Neil. "Write down everything you remember."

"What if I tell you and you write it down? You've read my blog. My spelling isn't so hot."

"Okay. We'll do it like that."

Twenty minutes later Lee had written down everything that Neil could remember about the shipments of explosives to Caprica City and the men involved. He had a few names but he was sure they were aliases. In most cases Neil knew only first names or nicknames.

"That's all you can remember?"

"That's it," Neil said. "I couldn't take their hideout any longer. It was cold and the food sucked and I was sick of sleeping on a blanket on the ground in a cold cave. I told you. These guys are hard-line and dedicated, but they all got nice cots. I slept on the ground like one of their frakking dogs, but they fed the damned dogs a lot better than they fed me. I think they were starting to get suspicious because I was always hanging around the guys who were doing the planning. So ten days ago I hid in the back of the truck carrying the explosives."

"You rode all the way to Caprica City in the back of a truck carrying explosives?"

"No, man. I only rode about forty miles. When they slowed down to make the turn onto a secondary road, I bailed. I knew as soon as they found out I was gone, they'd call and have the guys check that truck. They would have shot me on the spot."

"Then how did you get here?"

"Cut through the country for about thirty miles to another road and then hitched."

"Damn, Neil."

He shrugged. "Thanks for the clean clothes and the shower and the food. I'll be going now."

"Wait a minute. Where are you going?"

"I lived on the street in Sovana for a while. It's not so bad. At least it's warmer here."

"You can stay at my place tonight. Tomorrow I can help you get…"

"No thanks, man. You were nice to me in Sovana. I'm returning the favor, but no way I'd trust you not to make a phone call while I'm sleeping. I'm not going to prison."

"Neil…"

"No, Lee. Maybe I'll see you around sometime."

"Wait. I've got a few cubits tucked away. Let me…"

Neil smiled for the first time. "You gave me five, but okay, you want to give me more, go get it."

Lee walked back to his bedroom and got fifty cubits from his dresser. As he closed the drawer, he looked up at _Posiden's Daughter _and thought of Kara. She would approve.

When he walked back into the kitchen, though, Neil was gone as were the other two ham and cheese sandwiches. Lee hadn't even heard the apartment door open and close. He rushed to the door, jerked it open and looked into the hall. There was no one there. He ran back in and got his keys and rode the elevator down to the street. He looked up and down. Neil was nowhere in sight.

Slowly and sadly Lee walked back into the building and rode the elevator upstairs. Once inside his apartment, he found his phone and called Major Parker at home.

Lee looked at his watch as the phone rang. It wasn't quite nine o'clock. When Parker answered, he said, "I apologize for calling you at night, sir, but I've got some information that I don't think should wait."

Parker met him in the city at Special Agent Darren's office. The worst part for Lee was explaining to them how he had let Neil Speigel get away. The best part was the amount of information he had written on the front and back of one piece of notebook paper.

As Lee and Major Parker walked out into the early morning, Lee glanced at his watch. It was twenty minutes after three.

Parker said, "Good job, Lee. I mean it."

"I let him get away, sir. I turned my back on him and he got away."

"We all make mistakes. Don't be too hard on yourself."

"It was a stupid, amateur mistake."

"Tell me something. Did you really _want_ to bring him in?"

Lee hesitated and then told the truth. "No, sir. He's had a tough life. I wanted to help him. He doesn't belong in prison. He's just a kid who was abused in the refugee camp and has been abused by almost everyone he's known since."

"Which is why he turned to you. You're probably the only one since the camp who hasn't tried to take advantage of him, who tried to help him so maybe things worked out for the best. You probably got everything he knows anyway. That information will save a lot of lives."

"Yes, sir. I hope so. What happens now?"

"Darren and his task force will take it from here. I don't expect to see you bright and early in the morning either. Take your time getting in."

Back at his apartment, Lee went to the bathroom and picked up Neil's dirty, ragged clothes from the floor. He searched the pockets, coming up empty, which didn't surprise him. He put the clothes in a garbage bag and tied it, took it into the hall and dropped it down the garbage chute.

He knew he should be sleepy but he wasn't. He got a beer from the refrigerator, put on Dreilide Thrace's CD, sat on the couch and tried to unwind. He wondered what Kara was doing now. He hoped by Friday he'd have a letter from her.

He leaned his head back against the couch and thought of Neil again. In a few days or a week, he'd check Neil's blog. He bet this time he would find a new entry. He hoped Neil Speigle aka Martin Spiller soon found a new home.

o

Kara Thrace sat in her Viper in a launch tube of the _Galactica_. Kat had just launched. Kara was ten seconds behind her.

She remembered to put her head back against the headrest before the catapult engaged. As her Viper was flung into space, the rush was like nothing she had ever felt before. She was finally in deep space. The stars around her looked set in black velvet. Their own sun was half as big as it was from the surface of Caprica.

Kat's voice broke into her feeling of awe. "Pay attention, nugget."

"I'll bet you never read Kataris," Kara said sarcastically.

"Who's that?"

"A poet," Kara said.

Kat snickered. "Is that how you got to be a Top Gun, reading poetry?"

Kara started to retort and then stopped herself. She had walked into that one. Best to let it go.

The training exercise was easy, a few simple maneuvers. She had worked harder on her first flight back on Caprica.

Their bird dog Raider left them as she started her landing procedure. It was smooth and uneventful. Back on deck she waited for Kat whose landing wasn't quite as smooth.

"Not bad for a nugget," Kat smirked when she got out of her Viper.

"Not bad? It was damned near perfect."

"Yeah, nugget? Dream on. You'll have to do a couple more flights with me before I'll say you're ready to go it alone out there. And you need to work on your landings."

"What?" Kara said in shock. "I could have flown that little exercise with my eyes closed. And my landing was a lot better than yours."

"Oh, yeah? Says who?"

"Says me," Kara said angrily. "Ask the LSO. He saw you bouncing all over the landing bay. Another foot higher and you'd have missed the trap altogether."

Kat got in her face and Kara realized for the first time that there was something a little bit off about Kat's eyes. The pupils were too dilated. She knew then what was wrong.

"You're on stims, aren't you? I used to see it at the Academy. Somebody wanted to stay up all night and study for a test. No problem. Pop a few stims."

"You don't know what the hell you're talking about," Kat said angrily.

Kara turned to walk away and Kat grabbed her arm.

"Back off, Katraine," Kara said. "I know your secret."

Several of the deck crew had stopped what they were doing and were watching them. Kat seemed finally to realize they had an audience. Without a word she turned, crossed the hangar and ascended the steps at a fast pace.

"Your post-flight check list, sir," a young crewman said to Kara.

Kara took it without a word. So the _Galactica's _Top Gun was a stim junkie. That's what it took to maintain her edge. Kara began to look forward to taking the Top Gun title from her.

She completed the post-flight list and handed the clipboard back to the crewman. Galen Tyrol was standing close behind her when she turned.

"Welcome aboard, sir."

"Hey, Chief. I never thought I'd see you a million miles from Caprica."

"I never thought I'd see you in a Viper."

"You must not have talked to Jack Fisk lately."

"No. I should have stayed in touch. Jack's a nice guy."

"Yeah, he is. I went to see him before I left. He's doing fine."

"Chief," a young female crewman called.

Tyrol turned. "Coming Cally." He turned back to Kara. "Duty calls. Good to see you again."

"Yeah. Same here."

Kara was on her way back to her quarters when she heard her name come over the ship's intercom system. _Lieutenant Kara Thrace, report to the XO's quarters_. The message repeated several times.

She had to ask twice before she found Saul Tigh's quarters.

She saluted. "Lieutenant Kara Thrace reporting as ordered, sir."

Tigh closed the door behind her. "Well, well. Starbuck."

"Yes, sir." Kara thought she smelled alcohol, but there was none in evidence anywhere. Maybe it was her imagination and maybe he had just drunk so much that his quarters had the permanent reek of it.

"I hear your father was called Starbuck, too."

"Yes, sir."

"He's one cocky son of a bitch who doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut. I don't know why Bill thinks so much of him, but he does."

Kara almost bit her tongue. "Is there a reason you called me here, sir?"

"You know damned well why I called you here. You've got information for me to pass back to Bill. I'll never understand why he didn't just put that Cylon in the brig and be done with it. I don't know why he didn't put you and your father both in the brig months ago when you wouldn't tell him who she was."

"Admiral Adama trusts me and my father. Lee does, too."

"Lee Adama is still wet behind the ears. It's not Lee's advice that Bill should be taking. Or your father's either."

Kara felt her blood pressure begin to rise and almost bit her tongue again. She knew she had to get out of there or she was going to say something that would get her in big trouble. Saul Tigh would probably love to throw her in the brig right now if for no other reason than to get back at her father.

"The Cylon has a post office box. She's supposed to write letters."

Saul Tigh snorted. "You expect me to believe that? The Cylon is going to write Cavil _letters_?"

"That's what she told me."

"You're going to have to do better than that."

"That's all I've got so far. I'll find out more in a day or two."

"You'd better."

"Will that be all, sir?"

He waved in the direction of the door. "Dismissed."

Ten minutes later as Kara stood in the shower letting the warm water beat down on her, she wished she were back on Caprica and in Lee's arms. That was about the only thing that could make her feel better right now.

In the mess hall, she took her tray and sat down at the table with Karl and Sharon.

"I need that post office box number," Kara said.

Sharon told her without hesitation and then asked, "What else do you need to know?"

"When are you sending _Uncle Joe_ your first letter?"

"In a week. I'll let you read it before I send it."

"What are you going to tell him?"

"That I've found a lot of drug and alcohol use, that nobody takes his or her job seriously and that the pilots are demoralized by how much better the Raiders are."

"That's a lie," Kara said.

Sharon smiled. "I know. But it's what Cavil wants to hear. He'll never believe I would lie to him."

"Happy now?" Karl asked Kara sarcastically.

"Don't you give me grief, too," Kara said. "I've had about all the frakking grief I can take today."

Sharon elbowed Karl. "Don't say anything to her about this. I'm here. Just remember who we owe for that. Just remember where I could be."

Karl looked at Kara. She held his gaze. They had been through too much together to let this come between them. Karl knew it. Slowly he smiled at her and nodded. Just like when they had gone back to the camp, he didn't have to say a thing. He loved her and trusted her. She could see it in his eyes.

o

The last Saturday in September Lee Adama stood in the predawn light at the airfield waiting for John to arrive. He knew he was half an hour early, but he hadn't been able to sleep but a few hours the night before. At dinner on Saturday night two weeks previously, John had volunteered to fly Lee to Heliops Island. The pretense for the trip, and what Lee had told his fellow interrogators, was that he was taking a couple of weeks to go camping on an island. They all knew his girlfriend was on a battlestar. No one questioned the vacation. Major Parker knew only that Lee was undertaking a mission for the admiral. He didn't know any of the details.

The air was cool and Lee stuck his hands in his windbreaker pockets. True to his cover story, he had a duffel bag and a large backpack. He finally saw John come striding out of the terminal building, a cup of coffee in one hand and his flight case in the other.

"Been waiting long?" John asked.

"Twenty minutes," Lee said. "I was early."

Together they stowed Lee's gear.

"It's going to be a good day for flying," John said.

The sun was almost to the horizon. The sky was beautiful hues of pink and gold.

"Yeah," Lee said. "Too bad when I take Sadie up it will be in the middle of a storm."

Inside the ship Lee settled into the copilot's seat while John stowed his flight case with his charts and maps. He slid into the pilot's seat and adjusted his headset. Lee slipped the other one on and half listened while John went through his preflight check and then got clearance to takeoff.

The flying time to Heliops was only about forty minutes longer than it was to Mykos where John had his cottage, where he had been with Kara just three weekends earlier.

When they were at their cruising altitude and John had set the ship on autopilot, Lee said, "I talked to Kara ship-to-shore last night or tried to, but the connection was terrible because of some solar flares. We could barely hear each other. We gave up after five minutes."

"I haven't tried to call her. I know she only gets one call per week and I know she'd rather talk to you."

"Call her this week, will you, since I can't?"

"Yeah, okay. I've gotten two letters from her. They were short. She said she was doing fine. She said she was adjusting. Maybe I'm trying to read something into it, but it didn't sound quite like her. I hope she's doing all right. I hope Tigh isn't giving her a hard time. He doesn't like me and I don't care for him. I know your dad trusts the colonel, but he spends too much time with his bottle and he disagrees with how Bill is handling the Sharon thing."

Lee knew what John meant. He, too, hoped he wasn't reading something between the lines, but Kara's letters weren't like the ones she had written him from the Academy when she had been on restriction. The tone wasn't nearly as light. He hoped that Kara hadn't tangled with Tigh who seemed to have concentrated his wife-related issues into a hatred of the Cylons. It was a lot easier to cultivate a bitter hatred of the Cylons that it was for Tigh to deal with his domestic issue.

"Kara will be fine," Lee finally said. "She's missing everybody, but she's fine. I wrote her earlier this week about my _camping trip._ She'll know what I'm talking about. I told her that until I get back, I won't be able to get a letter out to her. I don't think there will be any mail pickup at an abandoned hangar."

"You're right about that. The hangar is seventy-five miles from the nearest village. The road leading to it isn't even used anymore. How many crewmen are going to be there with you?"

"Kevin Abinell, Rick Rafferty's chief computer technician, and a mechanic to fuel the Raider and pull it in and out of the hangar. And me. I hope they know how to play triad or something. I brought a few paperbacks but I won't want to read all the time."

"I've been watching the weather," John said. "There's a storm front forming a thousand miles to the northeast of Heliops. Cooler air should be moving over the island before the end of the week. You may just get your chance before the weekend."

Lee sighed. "I'm ready to fly this mission and get back home. I'm ready to be done with it. I'm ready to see what we're going to have to deal with on Nereid."

"You'll let me know when you're ready to come back to Caprica City."

"Yeah," Lee said. "I've got a satellite phone since there's no mobile tower on Heliops."

"Bill thought of everything," John said.

Lee finally smiled. "He had to. You're the one who picked an abandoned hangar on the coast of an island in the middle of nowhere for us to launch this mission."

"Can you think of another place that would be completely off the Cylon's dradis?"

"Until I jump Sadie. Their dradis will pick up the jump."

John grinned. "No, their dradis will pick up a lightning strike, a number of them from the looks of the weather that's on its way."

o

Thursday morning when Lee awoke and walked outside of the hangar, he knew that this was the day. The sky was ablaze with orange and purple clouds and the breeze had changed. It was colder and coming from the north. The clash with the warmer, wet air of the island should produce a storm, a big one.

The four days since John had dropped him here on Saturday had passed quicker than he had thought they would. Kevin Abinell had come prepared. He had brought a laptop loaded with games and two controllers. And a backpack filled with batteries since there was no electricity at the hangar.

The mechanic, who introduced himself only as Lou, spent most of his time during the day reading or playing games of solitaire. At night they all played triad by the light of a single lantern.

Sunday afternoon at dusk, the mechanic had hooked the Raider up to a tow and pulled it out on the runway. He had fueled it and Lee and had put on his flight suit and had climbed inside. Kevin had closed the hatch and Lee had sealed it from the inside. He had started the oxygen flowing and had tried to ignore the responses his body was sending him. In his Viper he was at least able to see everything outside the canopy. In Sadie with the hatch closed, he had felt like he was closed into a tin can, a very small tin can.

He had swallowed hard and taken a few deep breaths and looked at his little screen. He had adjusted the small headset. He had seen the empty runway ahead of him in the waning light. Carefully and slowly he had engaged the ship's vertical thrusters. He had hovered. He had actually hovered ten and then twenty feet above the runway. He had moved the joystick forward like he had done back at the boneyard many times. Sadie had flown, just like Kevin and Rick had promised she would.

He had repeated the exercise every day at dusk since then, growing bolder and flying farther each time until he now felt confident that he had mastered flying the Raider instead of a sim. He had the jump coordinates written on a piece of paper that was stuck to the floor beside him. There were three, the first jump into the outer quadrant of the Prolmar Sector where he would take long-range sensor readings. He would execute the second jump only if the surface of Nereid was clear. The third set of coordinates was eight thousand feet above Heliops Island. When he keyed in that set of coordinates, he would be on his way home.

Kevin Abinell walked up beside him in the dawn light. "You're thinking it will be today."

"Yeah," Lee said.

"I think you're right. A storm's on the way. I just saw it on the weather channel. It's a big one."

They heard the first distant rumble of thunder just after four that afternoon. Lee was already pacing the hangar in his flight suit.

"Don't start the homing beacon until you've jumped," Abinell said. "You don't want the Cylons here on Caprica to pick it up. Leave the communicator off, too, until you get back."

"Right," Lee said.

The mechanic was standing in the doorway of the hangar wearing a hooded rain slicker. Sadie was hooked to the tow.

"Rain's starting," Lou said. "I can see the lightning now."

Kevin held out his hand. "Good luck, Lee."

Lee shook hands with him. "Thanks."

He climbed up in the Raider and Kevin closed the hatch. Lee sealed it and started the oxygen flowing. That morning they had put new tanks into the Raider. He had two hours of oxygen. Lee felt Sadie begin to move as the mechanic towed it out onto the runway, already slick now with rain. Lee felt the tow disengage. He gave the mechanic five minutes to get back into the hangar before he lifted Sadie from the runway and banked northeast over the rocky cliffs and into the storm.

The first jump coordinates were already keyed into the computer. When he saw the first jagged flash of lightning on his monitor, he jumped.

Lee had never been aboard a ship that had jumped through space before. John had tried to describe the feeling to him. He had told Lee that not everybody felt the same way, that some people hated the feeling, that it made some feel momentarily dizzy and disoriented, even a little nauseous. He had told Lee to breathe through it and not to think too much about it.

John knew Lee's tendency to over-think, to want to understand exactly what was happening as the FTL drive bent space and created a passage that some called a wormhole. Now Lee tried to take John's advice, to breathe and not to think.

The sensation was one that he would later have a hard time describing, the feeling of hovering on the edge of a chasm and then falling horizontally as time seemed to momentarily stop and space folded in on itself. One second he was flying into a raging thunderstorm and the next he was gliding through deep space.

He took a few moments to orient himself. He was definitely in an unpopulated sector of space. His long-range sensors showed nothing except a planet hundreds of thousands of miles in the distance and far beyond that, the system's sun, brighter than a star, but still too faint to sustain life this far out. The planet nearest to him was a gas giant, the asteroid vacuum as Kevin had called it. Lee keyed in the second set of coordinates and hoped Felix Gaeta hadn't made a mistake.

A moment later he materialized over Nereid. He immediately looked at his sensors. There was something on the other side of the planet, several somethings. The signal was Cylon. Basestars. Two of them. He switched on the Raider's homing beacon and dove for the surface. All he wanted to do was complete his mission and jump home.

Sadie entered the atmosphere with the ease of a knife. There was still no indication that the basestars were aware of his presence. He was over ice, a vast field of ice as far as he could see in the small monitor. Irina Hoshi's journal had indicated that the north and south poles of the planet were permanently frozen. He turned on the cameras just in case there was something below him that was important. He turned north toward the equator and flew as fast as Sadie would go. For almost forty minutes he saw nothing but ice and then a vast ocean. He was beginning to wonder if he would have anything to show for his mission when he saw the outline of mountains on the monitors.

He slowed down minimally. The peaks flashed under the Raider and then he was over a forest that stretched as far as he could see. The forest ended and he was over a plain. He picked up something electrical on his sensors, saw a river and continued. He looked at his time. He had thirty minutes of oxygen left before he went into his reserve.

He followed the river northwest and finally saw the ruins of the ancient city. He flew the grid that he and his father had talked about. Beyond the city was another forest, then more mountains and more snow. He turned around and followed the river back to the high plateau. This time he saw what he had missed before, buildings, low and sand colored, several dozen of them and then he was past them. He looked at his time. Fifteen minutes of oxygen left before he would be into his half-hour reserve. He turned and made one more pass back to the ruined city.

Six minutes. He keyed in the coordinates for Caprica. Just as he reached the mountains, he turned off the homing beacon and jumped. Two minutes. Space bent. He thought he saw a meteor, a falling star. He made his wish.

This time he was dizzy. His vision blurred and he shook his head, his eyesight finally clearing. Traveling thirty light years in seconds was bound to do something to the human body.

The monitor was dark gray for ten seconds before he realized that he had jumped back into the middle of the storm. Then there was a brilliant white flash that nearly blinded him at the same instant that a percussive wave slammed into the ship. The screens all flickered and went dark. The silence was so sudden that he thought for a moment he was deaf. The blackness inside of the ship was so total that he thought he had been blinded as well. And then he realized what had happened. He had lost his computers.

He struggled to get his breath. Gods, to make it back to Caprica only to die like this. He thought of Kara and wondered who would tell her. Would it be John or his father or Commander Cain? He heard a faint hum. His hearing was coming back. There was a tiny flicker of green as the computers began coming back on line. Relief flooded him. If he made it down alive, he would have to thank Kevin for the redundancy he and Rick had built into Sadie's systems.

The camera monitors came back up. The cameras were still recording but all Lee saw was gray. He had dropped several thousand feet in altitude, but he didn't know whether he was over the island or the ocean. He continued his descent to four thousand feet. No better. He could feel the wind buffeting the Raider despite the aerodynamic shape. Three thousand feet. He dropped lower, two thousand feet and then fifteen hundred.

He was now ten minutes into his last half hour of oxygen, his reserve. He chided himself. He should never have taken that last pass over the ruined city. Then he realized that now was not the time to think about it. He had to get Sadie on the ground fast.

At a hundred feet he finally dropped out of the raincloud. He was over the ocean. He guessed that he was east of the island. He turned Sadie due west and flew as fast as he dared. He was four minutes past his last reserve of oxygen when the dark mass of land suddenly loomed on the monitor. He didn't see the airport, but thirty seconds later he saw a small clearing. He was dizzy and his landing wasn't graceful, but he managed to get the ship down using mostly his vertical thrusters. He spun the crank, unsealed the hatch and pushed.

Damp, ozone-scented air had never smelled so good to him in his life. He lay with his face against the opening and took breath after breath until his heart stopped pounding, thinking only about the fact that he had made it back and that he was alive. It wasn't until he tried to contact Kevin that he realized the one thing that hadn't come back up after the lightning strike was his communicator. Lee tried everything he could think of to establish communications without any luck. His headset was dead, the small electronics fried. He had no way to contact Kevin to let him know that he was safe. Lee shut down the computer system to conserve power and fuel. There was nothing to do now but to wait out the storm. He wasn't sure where he was on the island, but he was definitely going to be there until the next day.

o

The call came at nine o'clock Thursday evening. Laura saw John pick up his mobile phone, could tell immediately that something was wrong.

She heard him say, "What do you mean you _think_ he made it back?" He listened for another thirty seconds and then said, "I'll be by to get you. Fifteen minutes. We can be there in less than three hours."

"What?" She asked.

"That was Bill. Lee flew the mission today. They think he made it back to Caprica. Their dradis picked up what was probably his jump back into the atmosphere. They couldn't pinpoint it exactly because there was so much lightning in the storm. That was a little after six this evening. Lee never made it back to the airstrip."

"Oh, gods," Laura said. "What does Bill think happened?"

"He doesn't know or he won't say. I'm flying him down there tonight. He'll make a decision about search and rescue after he gets there."

"He asked you to…"

"I volunteered. Bill can't take a Raptor because the Cylons will be all over him. A commercial charter will take hours to arrange. Bill and I can be in the air in less than an hour. I'll call Conrad on the way to the airfield and ask him to cover my sim sessions tomorrow."

John was as upset as Laura had ever seen him. She followed him to their bedroom where he took off his sweatpants and put on a pair of khakis. He began buttoning a shirt over his t-shirt. He pulled a windbreaker out of the closet.

"What can I do?" She asked him.

He picked up his keys from the dresser. "Pray, Laura. Just pray that Lee is okay."

She looked up at him, tears in her eyes. "Bill will never get over it if…"

"No, he won't. I won't either. I'm the one who told Bill about Kara's idea to jump the Raider to Nereid. It was my idea to do it in the middle of a storm."

"But you said that was the only way to mask an FTL jump from the Cylons. You said…"

"That doesn't make me feel any better right now."

She walked with him to the door and put her arms around him. He held her tightly for a moment before he kissed her forehead, and then he was gone.

She didn't realize that she was shaking until she walked back into the den. She started to get a drink and then changed her mind. She walked to the nursery and looked at her son asleep in his crib. She touched his silky brown hair as she had done hundreds of times before.

No, you would never get over losing a child.

o

The storm blew itself out close to midnight. Using his small penlight, Lee checked the time when the rain finally stopped falling. He had only a small canteen of water and one cereal bar, but it was better than nothing. He lay in the velvety dark in the belly of the Raider and thought of Kara. He wondered what she was doing on the _Galactica_. He wondered what his father was doing. He wondered what Kevin and Lou were doing. He was sure they had notified the admiral by now that he hadn't returned, but there was no way that Lee could take off in the darkness. He would have to wait for daylight and fly low, following the coastline until he found the hangar.

Finally Lee rolled over on his back and shut his eyes. He didn't think he would be able to sleep on the hard floor of the Raider, but he did. The tension and adrenalin of the day had finally leached from his system. He was drained, and exhaustion claimed him. He was thinking of Kara when he fell asleep.

He was awakened a few hours later by the raucous cry of a sea bird. There was gray light coming around the partially open hatch. He was thirsty and hungry but he forced himself to wait for half an hour before he booted the ship's computers. It wouldn't fly with the hatch open so he reluctantly closed it. He calculated that he would have about ten minutes before he would have to set down and open the hatch to replenish the oxygen in the interior.

He had to put Sadie down once before he found the hangar. John's ship was sitting on the tarmac beside it. Carefully Lee brought Sadie down on the runway. He opened the hatch and almost tumbled through it, his muscles stiff and sore with fatigue and not being able to move much for over twelve hours.

The last thing he expected to see was his father or to get the kind of reception he got. Bill Adama put his arms around Lee and didn't seem to want to let go.

"I'm okay," Lee finally said. "I'm fine."

"Thank the gods," Bill said as he wiped his eyes.

Lee looked at his father. It was obvious that he hadn't slept. John was standing in the hangar doorway with Kevin and Lou. Lee realized that none of them had slept. Lee walked over to John and the two friends embraced.

John tried to speak once, couldn't, and tried again. "So, you must have found some nice romantic place to spend the night with Sadie."

Lee glanced toward the ship. "We were down the coast about fifty miles. It was…close last night, but I'm fine. I made it back."

John managed to grin. "Just think of the story you'll be able to tell yours and Kara's kids one day."

Bill had been on the satellite phone and now walked over to them. "We've got coffee in the hangar."

"How about something to eat?"

"We got that, too."

Lou had already driven the tow out and hooked Sadie to it. He pulled it back into the hangar as Lee was drinking a cup of coffee and eating a peanut butter sandwich.

"I'm glad you brought my girlfriend back," Kevin Abinell joked to Lee when Sadie was safely inside.

Lee swallowed the last of the sandwich. "I think Sadie took a direct lightning hit. The communicator got fried, but your backup systems saved my life." He shook Kevin's hand again.

Kevin nodded modestly.

Bill was on the satellite phone a second time.

"He's calling off search and rescue," John said.

"If I'd gone down in Sadie, there wouldn't have been any rescue involved."

"I guess you're ready to go home," John said.

"As soon as I get a shower," Lee smiled.

His father walked over and put his hand on Lee's shoulder. "Good job, son. I'm proud of you."

Lee nodded.

On their way back to Caprica City, Lee sat behind his father who was in the copilot's seat and leaned his head against the window. He wanted the sunlight on his face. He'd come close to death for a second time and had cheated it once more.

He would sleep in his own bed tonight. He would call Kara and tell her, tell her that he had finally used his wish and her falling star had gotten him safely home.

TBC…


	71. Letters and Videos

Chapter 71

Letters and Videos

_In the second of a series of interviews by reporter D'Anna Biers with Aaron Doral, he claimed that pilots who were training on the battlestars spent as much time watching videos as they did actually flying. Admiral William Adama finally responded to Doral's claims by stating that pilots were being adequately trained and that he accepted full responsibility for their level of preparedness. _

_-Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War_

Kara Thrace lay in her bunk on the _Galactica_ with three letters that had arrived that afternoon on the mail transport, one from Maya, one from her father and one from Lee. She opened her father's letter first. A picture of John holding Braedon was tucked inside. Braedon had the big happy smile on his face that Kara loved. Her father was smiling, too. She realized seeing them side by side like that how much Brae looked like him.

The inside of her locker door was beginning to look like a photograph album. She began reading.

_Kara,_

_Maya took this picture and insisted I send it to you. Now that Sam is practicing for the new pyramid season, she has way too much time on her hands even though she's taking a class. That's really a joke because she's taking care of Braedon much more now that Laura's campaign is in its final six weeks and I'm back at the Academy. Maya said to tell you that she's going to write to you again soon and that she's looking forward to seeing you when you get your first leave although she understands it will be during election week. I've given up on getting Brae to say 'Kara' so you may always be 'Kawa' to him. He says it now as soon as I show him your picture. I don't even have to ask him who you are. _

_Laura sends her love. She's at her campaign headquarters every day after work when she isn't making a speech somewhere. I'm with her a lot of evenings and almost everywhere she goes on the weekends. I don't have to tell you how glad I'll be when the election is over although that will be the start of a whole new phase of our lives._

_We met Lee and Bill for dinner on Friday night at Channing's. Lee told us a bit about his camping trip. It sounds like it was a real adventure. I'm sure he'll go into much more detail when he sees you again. He's coming over one night this week to show me some of the pictures he took._

_I can't tell you how much I miss you, but I know you're doing well. A battlestar is an experience that all Viper pilots should have. Be careful, work hard, and have fun with your friends, too._

_I love you. Dad_

_PS. Watch that smart mouth._

Kara read the letter again and looked at the photograph. She missed her father and Braedon so much. She opened Maya's letter next.

_Hi Kara,_

_I hope you like the picture I took of your dad and Brae. He is so cute now that he is walking. (Brae, not your dad.) John has put the picture of you holding your Top Gun Trophy on one of the bookshelves in the den and when I walk by with Brae, he points at it and says, _Kawa_. John is trying to get him to say Top Gun, but that is still too much for him. He is such a sweet, happy child. Of course since he started walking, he gets into everything that is not tied down so we have to really watch him now. We almost had a disaster with John's laptop when he got up for five minutes and left it on the ottoman in the den. Who would ever have guessed that Brae would immediately find the delete key? Luckily John had a backup of everything Brae got rid of out at the Academy. Brae is a very curious little boy and I often wonder what is going on behind those beautiful green eyes. Sometimes they look so wise and knowing. Taking care of Brae and watching your dad with him is a big joy in my life. Your father loves him so much. It makes me think of Peter and our own little Hanna and the way he loved her._

_I know you've probably wondered about me and Sam. We don't see as much of each other now that I'm back in school two nights a week and he's practicing. The Buccaneers play their first game of the season next week and have an exhibition game on Saturday night against the Dominos. John and Laura have a big function they have to go to on Saturday, so Sam and I are going to the park on Sunday for a picnic. In answer to your other big question about where the relationship has gone—yes. I'll tell you more when I see you, but I finally took the plunge. I hope I haven't made a mistake._

_I talked to Lee for about thirty minutes one afternoon when he dropped by to see your dad and John wasn't home from the Academy yet. I let him chase Brae around for a few minutes and he said he wouldn't need a workout that night. We had a good laugh over that and I think he has a new respect for what's involved in taking care of an active little boy. Lee is such a nice guy and he loves you so much. I'm sure you'll have children of your own some day and I know Lee will be as good a father as John is._

_Take care on your battlestar and I look forward to seeing you in November when Laura is elected our next President. Maya_

Smiling at how upbeat and happy Maya's letter seemed Kara read it again. So Maya had taken the big step with Sam. Yeah, Sam Anders had better treat Maya right. Maya was probably the sweetest and gentlest person Kara knew. She deserved a man who would treat her right.

Having saved the best for last, she finally took out Lee's letter.

_Dear Kara,_

_Five weeks down, seven to go. We're over a third of the way there. Every morning I cross off a day on my calendar and know I'm another day closer to seeing you. _

_As you know I returned safely from my camping trip. Kevin and Sadie are home, too. I took Kev to dinner one night this week at L'Escargot since you don't have to dress up to eat there like you do at Bonnie Patrice, but the food is just as good. I told him fewer people at L'Escargot would probably frown at the green and blue streaks in his hair, too. He got a good laugh about that since this always-visible support of the C-Bucks is a source of pride for him. I joked with him that he was more worried about Sadie than he was about me, but he has her back in Caprica City now so he's happy. I owe him a lot. One day I'll tell you how much. _

_My dad and I looked at the pictures I took on my camping trip. He thinks I got some good ones. I found an old settlement while I was exploring that has some inhabitants now, but John was right about a new settlement many miles from the old one. That's an interesting development that my dad didn't think would turn out to be true. I think he wants to study the photographs some more. We can talk when I see you since they speak volumes about a place no one has visited in a lot of years. I'm sure we'll go there together some day. It's changed a lot since Irina Hoshi went camping there over sixty years ago. _

_I haven't heard from my friend from Sovana since he left that night, but this week I checked his blog and he is writing again. He called this latest entry _A Day in the Life of a Cave Dog's Friend. _It is sad and yet there's a glimmer of humor in it. I wonder how a kid like him has stayed even partially sane with everything he's been through since Sovana was bombed. He was twelve when he was taken to that refugee camp outside the city. I wish he would let me help him, but at the moment he chooses to live his own life without asking anyone for anything. Maybe one day…_

_I have stayed busy at work since my return. I guess because of the election and all the speeches that Laura and the other candidates are making, Cavil has decided not to be outdone, which means I've had a lot to listen to and analyze since I got back to Caprica City from the island. Cavil keeps reminding everyone that the skinjobs are now citizens of Caprica with all the same rights and privileges we have and that they will be voting in the election. I'm not sure how he thinks the votes of a couple of skinjobs can affect the outcome unless there are a lot more of them than we realize. Even with multiple copies of some of the models on the battlestars, they can't possibly have that much influence on the election. We were talking at dinner Friday night and my dad, Laura and John all believe that Cavil's rhetoric is more for show and psychological impact. He wants to keep reminding us that the election is being held only because the Cylons, namely him, are allowing it. Laura is almost certainly going to win so I'm sure Cavil thinks he will be making her life hell on a daily basis starting in January._

_Enough about politics and Cylons. I'm keeping busy. I've been working out a lot just like I did while you were on restriction. Maya said she was going to write to you about my lame attempts to keep up with Braedon last week one afternoon while I was waiting to see John. I'm still trying to figure out how such little legs can move so fast. That was my workout for the day. Maya tried to get him to say my name but it sounded more like Yee. He is a cute and happy little boy._

_A battlestar is an easy place to stay in shape. The gym should have some good equipment even if it is old and the lower hallways are good for running or jogging. I know you said in your last letter that the Viper Top Gun is a stim junkie and is giving you grief, but I know you can handle it. You're tough. Just bide your time and don't let her rattle you. You'll have her title and her mug one day. I know you will._

_I miss you and I love you and I can't wait to see you again. Lee_

Kara reread the 2-page letter several times. Yeah, Lee was going to run out of stationery first. He wrote longer letters.

She knew something had happened on the mission to Nereid although he had referred to it as his camping trip. She and Lee had talked ship-to-shore once since his return and she could tell more by what he had not said to her than by what he had said. Something had gone wrong during part of the mission, of that much she was certain, but he had made it home. He was safe now and that's what mattered to her. She understood why he couldn't tell her the details over a ship-to-shore call.

Kat entered their quarters.

"Oh, look. Starbuck got another love letter. Three of them. What's your boyfriend find to say in all those letters?"

"One is from a friend and the other one is from my father," Kara said and almost immediately wished she had kept her mouth shut.

"Would that be the _Caprican Gentleman_?" Kat asked sarcastically.

Two days ago someone had put a copy of the magazine on her bunk. She wondered who had done it, but no one in their quarters would own up to it.

Kara had to admit that her father looked good on the cover. He was wearing a dark gray suit, pin-stripe shirt and blue-green tie. She saw what he had meant about the photographer's assistant messing with his hair. It had a tendency to stick up a little bit anyway, but she had messed it up even more. He looked…dare she even admit it about her own father lest she seem like she was bragging, but he looked _really_ handsome. Seelix had seen the magazine before Kara had put it up. She had expressed it differently. She had told Kara that her dad looked _hot_. It had been more than Kara could take. She had made a face and said, "Puleeeze," which had elicited a snicker from Seelix. Diana was right, though. Her father made that suit look good, not the other way around.

Immediately after that, the magazine had gone on the top shelf of her locker. She planned to read the interview when no one else was around, but she hadn't gotten the opportunity yet.

"Hey, Hot Stuff," Kat said, "You going to be on the cover of some fashion magazine next month? Those tanks and fatigues are so in style. So are the boots."

"You're just bent out of shape because nobody writes you letters," Kara retorted. "Hey, Hot Dog. I'll give you five cubits if you'll write Kat a letter. Make it real mushy. Sign it _Your Secret Admirer_."

Hot Dog started laughing. "Deal. Give me the five cubits and Kat will get a letter."

"Frak you both." Kat said as she grabbed her towel and soap and headed for the shower.

Kara folded Lee's letter and put the three letters in a box she kept in the big drawer under her bunk. She looked at the gold promise ring. She could still vividly remember Lee sliding it onto her finger. It had not been off her hand since that day. She wondered if there was a temple on Nereid that looked like the ancient temple on the island where Lee had given her the ring. It was a shame to think it would be destroyed along with the rest of the planet.

She grabbed a hooded sweatshirt out of her locker and pulled it over her tanks.

"I'm going down to the wardroom," she said to Hot Dog.

"Okay."

She was almost to the door when she turned around and walked over to his bunk. He glanced up from the magazine he was looking at.

"Don't you ever look at anything but those sports magazines?"

He grinned. "Yeah, I've got a few others I look at. You want to borrow them?"

Kara realized she didn't want to go there. "So what's Kat's problem with me?"

"You've got everything she doesn't…starting with a hot boyfriend who isn't a scumbag. Her boyfriend is in prison on Caprica. So's her father."

"What for?"

Hot Dog snickered. "What else? Dealing drugs."

Hot Dog was probably right about Kat's jealousy and insecurity. Kara said, "Yeah, I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. One of these days I'm going to have her Top Gun mug, too."

He lowered the magazine. "I think that's part of her problem with you. We all know it, too."

Kara left Hot Dog to his magazine and walked down to the officer's wardroom. A lively game of triad was under way. She walked up behind Alex Quartararo and Dwight Saunders and put her hands on the top of their shoulders.

"Hi guys."

"Starbuck," Flat Top said. "Pull up a chair. We'll make room."

"I'm just going to watch for a few minutes. Maybe I'll join the game later."

"No coaching them," Narcho said. "I'm winning right now."

She smiled. "And give away my secrets? No way."

Kara got a beer from the bar and went to sit with Karl who was sitting at a table by himself.

"Where's Sharon?"

"Writing a letter."

"To Uncle Joe?"

"Yeah, she's going to show it to you before she mails it."

"How's it working out for you two being on a battlestar?"

Karl shrugged and grinned. "We're managing."

Kara rolled her eyes. "You are so lucky."

"It's not all _that_ easy, especially since we're not in the same quarters. Just wait until you and Lee are on a battlestar together. You'll see."

"I guess nothing beats the privacy of your own apartment, huh?"

"I don't want to start thinking about it."

Kat walked in and went behind the bar. She took a beer and poured it into the Top Gun mug.

Kara said to Karl. "One of these days that mug is going to be mine."

"Is she still using stims?"

"Yeah. I tried to talk to her a couple of days ago. She won't even admit she's using, much less that she has a problem."

"Maybe she only takes them before she flies."

"What difference does that make? She shouldn't be taking them at all. It's not like we're under any real pressure here. Our training exercises are so easy Braedon could fly them."

Kat came over, sat at their table and put her feet on a vacant chair. She made a point of drinking from the mug. "This isn't a private conversation is it, Starbuck?"

"Not anymore," Kara said.

"Where's Athena?"

"She's writing a letter to her uncle," Karl said.

"Writing a letter?" Kat snickered. "This is the most letter-writing and letter-getting bunch of nuggets I ever seen."

Kara looked at Karl. "I think it's about time for me to join the triad game. The guys are waiting for me to take their cubits."

"Don't stay up too late playing cards," Kat said sarcastically. "We get to play war games again tomorrow while the Cylons watch."

"War games," Kara snorted. "Karl and I played harder stuff at the video arcade when we were kids."

"Kids," Kat said. "You two have known each other…"

"A long time," Karl said.

"Helo is like my brother."

"Well, ain't we just one big happy family?"

"I'm out of here," Kara said. She got up and joined the guys at the triad table. Flat Top slid his chair over and pulled one up for her.

"Deal me in, boys. I hope you're ready to give me your cubits because I feel lucky tonight."

Narcho smiled. "We might as well quit now. When Starbuck feels lucky, everybody else will go home broke."

"I don't know about that," Pike said. "I'm up for the challenge."

Kara reached for the hand that Quartararo had just dealt her. "Don't say you weren't warned."

"Ouch," Flat Top said. "My luck has changed already."

"Told you," Narcho said.

o

The next morning Kara stayed behind after they had their briefing in the ready room. Her luck had been good at the triad table the night before. She hoped it held for what she was getting ready to do. When everyone else had left, she approached the CAG.

"What's up, Starbuck?" He asked.

"Um, I was wondering, sir, if we couldn't ramp up the training exercises."

Cole Taylor looked amused. "Ramp them up? How?"

"Most of us can fly the stuff we're doing with our eyes shut. I mean could we make the training exercises harder?"

"What we're flying has been approved by the Cylons."

"We did harder stuff in Flight School. The Cylons approved those."

"Tell me what you have in mind?"

"Tougher patterns. Not just flying straight out and around a circle and then straight back in. Maybe two Vipers could practice squaring off with each other."

"We can't do is anything that looks like combat. The Cylons would never allow it. What they'll allow for Flight School nuggets on Caprica and what they'll allow off a battlestar are two different things."

Kara took a deep breath. "What do you know about my father, sir?"

"I know he's the Viper sim instructor at the Academy."

"He also flew a Viper off the _Solaria_ in the First War. He taught us a lot of combat maneuvers in the simulator. The only ones who got the benefit of it were the Viper nuggets in my class. There's only eight of us on board. The rest of the Viper pilots on the _G_ have never seen that stuff."

"We don't have a simulator on the _Galactica._"

"I know that, sir."

"Then what are you suggesting, Starbuck?"

"If I could get him to send me the combat sims, then we could show them in here like videos. I know it wouldn't be like flying them, but at least the rest of the pilots could see them and see some of the moves those Raiders make in combat. My dad put those sims together from hours of film footage taken from Viper gun cameras in both wars."

"That's a good suggestion. I like it."

"If you want an idea of what some of them are like, ask Narcho. He flew all of them."

Cole Taylor smiled. "I'll take your word for it, Starbuck. Let me run this by Colonel Tigh and Commander Cain. How long do you think it would take to get the sim videos here?"

"Maybe two weeks. I'll have to write my dad and he'll have to get them together on some discs."

"All right. In the meantime, don't mention this to any of the other pilots in case Cain won't go for it."

"Sir," Kara hesitated. "One thing you need to be aware of. Colonel Tigh doesn't like my father…or me either, so he might…not be too much in favor of my idea."

"The commander will make the final decision. Tigh will have to go along. Pilot training is my responsibility."

Kara smiled. "Yes, sir. Thank you for listening to my idea, sir."

Kara turned to go and Taylor said, "Is there a reason you think we should know advanced combat maneuvers?"

She realized that she was on thin ice. She couldn't mention anything that might give away the coming battle.

"I thought it might help keep everybody awake out there when we're practicing if they could…visualize something other than simple training exercises. They're good as far as they go, but honestly, sir, they're boring. They're beyond boring."

He looked at her for a moment and Kara knew that he saw through her flimsy explanation.

"I understand you date Admiral Adama's son."

"Yes, sir."

She thought he was going to push her for another explanation, but all he said was, "I'll get back to you."

That afternoon as she was jogging through one of the lower corridors of the ship, she again heard her name come over the ship's intercom. This time she was told to report to Commander Cain's quarters. She wanted to shower, but she knew better than to keep the commander waiting. She didn't have to ask this time. She knew exactly where the commander's quarters were. Everyone did.

"Come in Lieutenant Thrace," Helena Cain said.

Kara stepped through the door and came to attention.

"At ease," Cain said. "Please close the door."

Kara complied and glanced down at her sweats. "I was jogging, sir."

"I understand you think our pilots need some more training."

Kara was surprised. The CAG hadn't wasted any time. "Some _combat_ training, sir."

"I take it that due to…family connections, you are aware of something that is coming at some point in the future?"

Kara knew that all of Admiral Adama's battlestar commanders were aware a battle was coming. They just didn't know exactly when. Lee had told her that all of them knew they had to keep their battlestars ready. They were all hiding the munitions that were slowly and carefully being sent to the ships in the food supplies.

"Yes, sir," she said to Cain. "I'm aware that the situation we're in won't stay the same forever."

She smiled at the diplomacy of her answer. Laura would be proud of her. Admiral Adama would be, too.

"And you don't think my pilots are ready?" Cain asked.

"I think we could always be _more_ ready, sir," Kara said.

Cain went to the wall and picked up the phone. "Get me Admiral Adama's office." While they waited, she said, "Out here we're six hours ahead of Caprica City. The admiral should be in his office. You know what you want, but be careful how you word your request. The Cylons are always listening to our transmission and calls."

They waited.

"Admiral Adama, Cain here." The admiral must have asked because after a few moments she said, "Everything is fine on the _Galactica_, sir. I have someone with me who wants to make a request of you. It concerns a project she's working on with our CAG. I'm handing the phone to Lieutenant Kara Thrace."

"Hello, Admiral Adama."

"Hello, Kara. What can I do for you and the commander today?"

"I'd like for my dad to make a copy of some of his sims and send them to…Commander Cain."

"Any sims in particular?"

"Some of the more difficult ones from second semester. Tell him anything he's got that's similar to our favorite video game. He'll know which ones I want."

"I'm making a note. I'll talk to him today. How is everything going for you?"

"Good, sir. How is Lee?"

"Lee is just fine since he got back from…" Adama hesitated.

"His camping trip?"

The admiral chuckled. "Yes, his camping trip."

"I guess I'd better give the phone back to Commander Cain. Tell Lee I said…hello."

"I will, and that you miss him, too. Right?"

Kara smiled. "Yes, sir."

She handed the phone back to the commander. Cain put her hand over the receiver. "That will be all, lieutenant."

Kara left, shutting the door behind her. Cain obviously had something else to say to Admiral Adama.

She jogged back to her quarters, got her towel and went to the shower. Overall she felt good about the day and she was smiling. They were going to get some combat sims to look at. They might not be able to fly them, but they could all look at some of the Cylons' basic combat maneuvers and get familiar with them.

When she opened the bathroom door, she saw Flat Top with a towel wrapped around his hips. He was standing at one of the sinks brushing his teeth. She carefully kept her eyes well above the towel and thought again that he had a nice body. Not as nice as Lee's, but good nevertheless.

"How many times a day do you do that?" Kara joked as she walked by him.

"What?" He mumbled around the toothbrush.

She made the motion of brushing her teeth.

"A couple. Good oral hygiene is important."

"Maybe because you're going to be locking lips with Seelix?" Kara teased him.

He rinsed his mouth. "What? No."

"I thought you two…had a thing."

He shrugged. "We went out a couple of times at the Academy."

"Sang a few duets at The Shark Rider?"

"You're never going to let me forget that, are you?" He asked and grinned.

"No, and I wasn't even there."

He put his toothbrush back in the case and picked up his soap holder. "I'll see you later, Kara. Unless you want me to hang around and give you a hard time about brushing _your_ teeth."

She was still smiling as she went into the shower and pulled off her sweats. She turned on the water and thought of Lee, of what they could do if he were with her right now. No, not of what they could do, of what they _would_ do. She sighed. Five weeks down. Seven weeks to go.

o

Lee plugged the small USB drive into the side of John's laptop.

He said, "There were two cameras mounted in the missile well on Sadie. One was taking a broad picture. The other was high resolution close-up. This is an edited version of the images starting with the broad picture. Over half of both videos were snow and ice. Mr. Gaeta's jump coordinates brought me in over the planet's south pole. I didn't think you wanted to look at forty minutes of nothing but a white background with a lot of penguins and polar bears."

The video picked up near the part of Nereid where the vast forest gave way to a cleared area, the western-most part of the plain and then the beginnings of the ancient city. They looked at the ruins.

"That's some new construction," John said and paused the video for a moment.

"Yeah. A cluster of new buildings near the center part of the city. There's demolition work going on, too. There's more to see on the second video that was taken with the high res, close-up camera."

"I want to get the overall picture first," John said. "How close were the maps I drew based on Irina Hoshi's journals?"

"Very close," Lee answered, "even down to the distance and location of things."

"That lends a lot of credibility to everything else in her journals."

They looked at the river as Lee had followed it to the dam and then had turned Sadie around and had followed it back to the city. Lee had then flown a grid pattern over the city.

"The Cylons destroyed the second dam but they routed the river around the lower part of the city," Lee said.

"What about the temple complex that Irina Hoshi mentioned?"

"It's on much higher ground, in the other direction. See it?"

"Barely."

"There's more on the second video. Look at what's coming up next on that high plateau.

"Buildings," John said.

"I missed them on the first pass. I was too far south."

John paused the video. "Seven of them. They really blend into the landscape. No wonder you missed them the first time."

"Nothing over two stories tall. You can see them better on the close-up."

"I wonder if what we're seeing is all there is," John said. "They could have put the majority of the construction underground."

"That's an interesting idea. Too bad Kevin and Rick didn't equip Sadie with ground penetrating dradis. They thought of everything else."

"Maybe they ran out of room. From what I hear Sadie was packed with equipment."

"Yeah," Lee said. "I couldn't even roll completely over. I had to turn over in the same spot. I was on the verge of claustrophobia most of the time."

John let the video continue. Lee's last pass over the city continued into the forest beyond. They watched until Lee jumped Sadie and the video went gray and ended.

"What happened after you jumped?" John asked.

Lee scratched the side of his cheek. "Sadie got hit by lightning. I lost the computers. I thought I was dead. I would have been if Kevin and Rick hadn't built redundancy into everything. When the primary systems went off-line, the backup ones detected it and came on."

"You still had to bring Sadie down through that storm. That was a fancy piece of flying, Lee."

Lee shrugged and then smiled. "It would have been easier if I hadn't been nearly out of oxygen. I shouldn't have made that last pass over the city. I cut it too close."

"Yeah. Yeah you did. You cut it too close."

"I can't explain why, but I just felt like I needed to go back over the city one more time. Let's look at the close-up video now. I think you'll be impressed."

John grinned. "With your flying or the video?"

"My flying, of course."

The video started at approximately the same place as the other one, near the city only the camera range was much narrower and the focus closer up. When he got over the city, the inhabitants were visible.

"Centurions," John said. "Hundreds of them. Were there any skinjobs?"

"Simon. You'll see him in a few seconds. There."

John paused the video. "Yeah, that's him. Anybody else?"

"Slow it down and keep going."

"Lords of Kobol!"

"Laura had her nailed as a Cylon a couple of years ago."

"Damn. D'Anna Biers. Darker blond hair, but it's definitely her. I guess that's all the proof we need."

"My dad has already added her to the list of Cylons that will be…dealt with whenever he puts his plan into place."

"Dealt with?"

"Put in prison or whatever."

"Has he ever named his plan?"

"He first thought that he was going to call it Operation Solstice, but he changed his mind because that gave too much away in terms of the time frame. He's calling it Operation Nemesis."

"After the goddess of divine retribution. That's good. I like it. Any more surprises on the video?"

"Keep going. I think you're right about the buildings on the plateau. I'm almost sure one of them is a prison because there's a big metal fence around it. You can see a piece of it. As for the other buildings, I don't know what they are."

" Probably labs. They'd want their labs close to their lab rats," John said. "I see more centurions."

"Lots more. That's another reason we think it's a prison."

"Any humans?"

"No. If they're there, they're either not allowed outside or there weren't any outside when I flew over."

They watched the video as it showed Lee's trip back to the city and over the forest beyond. As he approached the mountains, the video ended.

"Wait a minute," John said. "What was that?"

"What was what?" Lee asked.

John backed the video up and played it again in slow motion. Just before it ran out, he paused it. "That." He pointed to a small white line on the video.

"I don't know. What do you think it is?"

"I think it's smoke."

"Smoke? As in smoke from a chimney? A little fairy-tale cottage in the woods?"

John gave him a look. "From a campfire."

Lee laughed. "You think the Cylons went camping in the woods three hundred miles from the city?"

"Not the Cylons. I think there are humans down there?"

"Humans?" Lee said incredulously. "You're basing that assumption on a tiny white line on a few frames of video."

"Look at it. That's smoke. What else could it be?"

"A reflection? A defect in the digital process?"

John put the laptop on Lee's lap and stood. "Okay. Suppose it's not one of those. We've got a couple of possibilities. They were there all along and Irina Hoshi's expedition missed them or they escaped from the Cylons. Look how close it is to the mountains. Irina's journal said the mountains were full of caves. Maybe this is a hunting party. They go out. They kill game. They carry it back to their cave. Primitive, I know, but they could survive just the way our ancestors once did on Kobol or Earth or wherever they came from. Hell, Lee, we have a lot of people on this planet who don't live two blocks from a supermarket. Heliops Island is a good example. It's rural. Most of the people who live there raise their own crops and herd sheep. A lot of them live without electricity."

"I think you're grasping at straws," Lee said although the more he looked at the white line, the more it did look like smoke. It started much lighter and well-defined at the treetops and then seemed to dissipate the way smoke would do.

"Don't you think if there were humans living on Nereid that Irina Hoshi's expedition would have found them sixty-two years ago?" Lee asked.

"Yeah, probably. The expedition was on Nereid for a year. The _Hyperion_ was in orbit over the planet, always watching. So that means this campfire was built by escaped prisoners. Is there any way you can enhance those frames?"

"I can't," Lee said, "but maybe somebody like Kevin could. I'll see if my dad will clear it for me to show him just these frames and see what he can do with them. But even if it is smoke, what do you think we can do about it? John, suppose there are humans living in the woods or in the mountains who escaped from the Cylons. What difference does it make?"

"The difference is that they had the guts and determination and maybe the luck to escape from the Cylons."

"Why do you think the Cylons haven't gone after them?"

"Who knows? Maybe hunting them down is more trouble than it's worth. Maybe it's only a few humans and the Cylons have plenty in that prison. I can't really say. I'm not a Cylon."

Lee grinned. "I don't know. You called it right about the prison and lab complex. They built on the plateau, not in the city near the forest."

"That was just common sense."

"Maybe it's that Cylon leg you've got," Lee joked. "It gives you insight into the Cylon brain."

John grinned. "Just because my leg looks real doesn't mean I'm part Cylon."

They heard the door open. Laura walked in.

Lee thought that she looked tired. John walked over to her and took her briefcase. He put his arm around her and kissed her forehead. "Drink?"

"Please," she said and put her head wearily against his shoulder for a moment before she walked over to sit in her chair. She kicked off her shoes and put her feet on the ottoman. "Hello, Lee. What brings you over tonight?"

"I wanted to show John some pictures of my camping trip."

"Anything interesting?"

John poured a straight whiskey and handed it to her before he took the laptop and knelt on one knee beside the chair.

"Give us your opinion. What does that look like?"

She studied the screen. "Treetops?"

"What about this?"

"A grayish-white line that fades to nothing."

John tried again. "If you were flying over a forest and saw something like that, what would you think it was?"

"A column of smoke," Laura said.

Lee conceded. "Okay. I give up. It's two against one. I got a few frames of somebody's campfire smoke."

In the silence that followed his statement, he saw Laura processing the information.

"Someone built a fire in the woods on Nereid?" She asked them. "Cylons?"

"John doesn't think so," Lee said. "He thinks they're escaped prisoners."

Laura looked up from the laptop and her eyes met Lee's. "What does your father think?"

"We didn't notice this little white line before. He doesn't know about it yet."

John said. "Bill has asked me to take this information and add it to my existing maps of the planet's surface. I'm going to have to redraw a few maps, show the destroyed dam and the re-routed river. He won't want to waste a nuke on something that's already been destroyed, and I'm sure he'll want to put one right on top of that prison-lab complex."

"What prison-lab complex?" Laura asked.

John backed the video up. "This one."

Lee saw Laura studying the laptop. She looked up at him. "You're sure it's a prison and a lab?"

"We're sure it's a prison," Lee said. "There's a better picture on the other video. You can see the fence. And the place is crawling with centurions. We're not sure it's also a lab, but that makes sense. There are two buildings. If they're experimenting on prisoners, they'd build close to their…source."

John stood up and went to sit on the couch beside Lee. "We saw a copy of D'Anna Biers with another Simon. You were right about her."

Laura sipped her drink and shut her eyes. "This is one of those times I'd love to be wrong. I actually like D'Anna. She helped us when we were trying to get supplies to the refugee camps. She's been fair to me during the campaign. Even John has admitted her interview with him wasn't that bad."

John glanced at Lee and winked. "She's mellowed a lot since she interviewed us the first time. It could have been worse. It could have been as bad as the kidding I've taken from some of the faculty members at the Academy since that magazine came out. D'Anna's interview was the best part of the whole experience. Still, she's a Cylon and we already know that not all copies of the same model are alike. Look at Sharon. One copy is Kara's friend and loves Karl Agathon. Another copy of her destroyed the mining colony on Troy and killed an instructor at the Academy."

Laura sighed wearily. "Then how will we ever know if we can trust any of them? I don't want to see our copy of D'Anna killed, but Cavil and Doral are a different matter entirely."

"Agreed, but back to the subject we were talking about. We know Bill's goal is to destroy the Cylons on Nereid," John said.

Laura nodded. "_Our_ goal is to destroy the Cylons…both here and on Nereid."

"Lee, your sensors picked up two basestars, right?"

"Only two?" Laura asked in surprise.

"Only two," Lee answered. "That's not to say today or tomorrow two more might not show up or five more. Two are all that were above the planet when I was there."

"I wonder if Bill would consider destroying those basestars and then letting us mount a rescue mission to save those prisoners before he nukes the planet. I think we could do that without risking a single battlestar."

Laura took another sip of the drink. "Why do you persist in saying _we_ and _us_?"

"It's a figure of speech. Just like you said '_our_ goal is to destroy the Cylons'. What do you think of a rescue mission?"

"Are you asking me or Lee?" Laura said.

"Both of you."

"I'm in favor of it," Lee said.

"I can't answer for Bill," Laura said. "I'd suggest the two of you talk about it."

"You don't have an opinion?"

Laura said slowly and diplomatically. "_If_ we're not putting our battlestars _and_ Caprica at risk, then I won't object to whatever Bill decides. That's a military decision, not a civilian one. My job as President will be to insure that nothing puts this planet at risk. My job is to insure the survival of the human race. Bill knows that."

John said. "Okay, I'll talk to Bill."

"I'd like to volunteer if there's a rescue mission involved," Lee said.

He saw the approval in John's eyes.

"So would I," John said and then quickly added. "But the husband of the President doesn't go on missions to other planets so I'll have to pass this time."

Laura smiled. "What do you hear from Kara?"

"My dad talked to her today," Lee said.

"Bill talked to Kara?" Laura asked in surprise.

John said, "Kara wants my combat sims from the Academy to help train the pilots aboard the _G_. Bill called me after lunch today and said Kara had another one of her outside-of-the-box ideas. I'll have the sims copied to disk and ready to put on Monday's transport. Conrad and I talked. We're going to replace the Raiders with something less obviously Cylon since they sometimes monitor the ready room from that basestar."

Lee said, "Kara made enough of an impression on her CAG that he said something to Commander Cain."

John smiled. "I should have known if the thought comes into Kara's head, sooner or later it will come out of her mouth."

"I think it's a great idea," Lee said.

"I'm not arguing with you."

Laura finished her drink and stood. "I'm going to check on my son and then I'm going to bed. Goodnight, Lee."

"I need to be going," Lee said. He also stood. "Goodnight, Laura."

John indicated the small hard drive still plugged into his laptop and asked, "Do you want the video back?"

"It's a copy. Keep it. You'll need it to update your maps. Just keep it somewhere safe."

John nodded and walked with Lee to the door. "I had a short letter from Kara today. You'll probably have one, too, a lot longer one."

"What did she say?"

"The usual. She's fine. She misses us, especially Brae. She said to tell Maya hello and that she would write. She gave me some grief about the magazine cover."

Lee grinned. "It was good cover. A far cry from the beat-up pilot I met five years ago."

"Don't you start too. It's bad enough taking it from Kara and everybody else."

"You'd better get used to being on covers. In November Laura will be elected President."

John finally smiled. "Yeah, it's a long way from being the son of a humble fisherman on Virgon to sleeping with the President, isn't it?"

o

Lee met his father for lunch the next day. In the two weeks since the Sadie mission, Bill had called him more often for lunch or dinner.

"Hi, Dad," he said.

"Lee. How are you?"

"I'm fine. I gave John the video last night so he could start working on the new maps. We watched it. He noticed something we had both missed."

Bill sipped his cup of coffee. "What did we miss?"

"It was on the last couple of seconds of the close-up video taken over the forest right before I jumped. A column of smoke."

"Smoke?" Bill sounded amused. "What kind of smoke?"

"John thinks a campfire," Lee rushed on. "Humans that have escaped the prison. They're near enough the mountains that it could be a hunting party."

"John disagrees with what we're going to do to Nereid. I'm not surprised he saw something he calls smoke. Don't tell me he's won you over?"

"Laura agrees about the smoke, too."

"And she's changed her mind about how we handle the Cylons on the planet?"

"She said she would leave the decision up to you since it's a military one, but if you can rescue the prisoners without putting Caprica at risk she has no objection to it."

"I'm not sure we can do that without risking some of our battlestars. I won't do that."

"There's got to be a way, Dad. There're only two basestars over Nereid."

"There were only two when you were there. There could have been four or five more that were away from the planet."

"My long-range sensors didn't pick them up."

"That doesn't mean much. They could be out exploring other solar systems."

"Then you won't reconsider."

"I told all of you that I would delay making a decision until closer to the time. I'm not going to get pushed into saying anything yet."

"But you don't want me or John banking on you making a decision to rescue prisoners?"

"No, Lee, I don't. We've got to protect everyone on Caprica. The humans on this planet are my priority. We're all that's left of humanity!"

"Maybe not."

"What does that mean?"

"What if there are clues on Nereid that point to Kobol. What if Kobol is the birthplace of humanity? What if there are humans still on Kobol, descendents of our common ancestors?"

Bill sat for a few moments without speaking. Finally he said, "Lee, while I appreciate what you're trying to do, I think you need to be aware that the humans on Caprica are my primary concern and always will be. We have no proof that Kobol is anything other than a myth. The humans on Caprica are real. We're all that's left of the Twelve Colonies."

"If you decide to let us try to rescue the prisoners, I want to volunteer."

"I'll keep that in mind."

The waiter came to take their lunch order. When he left, Lee said, "I guess we should change the subject."

"That would be a good idea."

"John said Kara asked for his Viper sims."

"I know. Commander Cain call me."

"What did she say?"

"Kara is adjusting to life on a battlestar like the rest of the nuggets. There are a couple of rumors about another Viper pilot giving Kara a lot of grief. Verbal grief."

"The Viper Top Gun."

"According to Cain, Kara's handling it well."

Lee nodded. "John is getting the sims ready to send to her, to Commander Cain."

"Everything we can do to help train our pilots without alerting the Cylons is good."

"Maybe we should send those sims to the other battlestars as well."

"Good idea, Lee."

"The solstice isn't that far away, a little over two months."

"The excitement from the election will have died down by then, everyone will be getting ready to celebrate the solstice and then to watch a new President sworn in. Cavil thinks we're creatures of habit. He won't be expecting anything. The element of surprise will be complete."

"I guess that special Raptor will be ready to fly, the one that will take the Raider full of explosives to the basestar?"

"It's flying now. I have a pilot training in it using another Raptor that's been configured exactly like the Raider. It's right under the Cylon's noses and they don't know what we're doing. They think it's one Raptor pilot training another Raptor pilot. There's a pilot in that second ship, but he's not doing any of the flying. Everything is being controlled completely by the pilot in the first Raptor."

"Do I know the pilot?"

"I doubt it. He would have been on the _Atlantia _five years ago, but he was back here on Caprica attending his mother's funeral when the Cylons attacked. He's a good Raptor pilot with a real hatred for the Cylons."

"Does he know what kind of mission he'll be performing?"

"I told him it will be extremely dangerous. He volunteered anyway. He lost a brother and most of his friends when the _Atlantia_ was destroyed.

"What's the rest of the plan, after the basestar over Caprica is destroyed?"

"On the morning of the solstice, I'll make a call to each of our battlestar commanders telling them that I'm sorry they'll miss our solstice party. It's the signal to get everything ready. The minute that basestar above us explodes, we send the second signal. All battlestars will launch half the missiles they've got on board at the basestar nearest them. If the basestars manage to get any Raiders in the air before they're destroyed, our pilots will engage and take them out."

"I'd like to be on the _Galactica _when that happens."

"I need you here, son. I need some good Viper pilots here on Caprica in case that basestar manages to launch any Raiders before we destroy it. As soon as each basestar is destroyed, the battlestars will bring all Vipers on board and jump here. Before the night is done, they'll all be above Caprica except the three that aren't structurally sound enough to jump. They should be here within a day."

"Then what?"

Bill Adama smiled. "Then I hope we can truly celebrate the solstice and our freedom."

What are you going to do with Cavil and the others?"

"They'll be picked up early that evening before the fireworks start. They're going to a secure prison deep under the city. Their fate will be decided by a tribunal."

"A military tribunal?"

"I'll need to discuss that with the President. She will probably want some say in their fate."

"You're not going to stay on Caprica afterward, are you?"

"For a while. Laura has asked me to stay as her senior military adviser, but I want to go back to a battlestar. The commander of the _Pegasus_ has wanted to retire for several years now. The _Peggy_ is a newer and better equipped ship. I'm going to give her to Commander Cain and go back to the _Galactica_ eventually."

"When you go to the _Galactica_, I'd like to go with you."

"I can arrange that if that's what you want. I owe you a lot more than that for risking your life getting the information about Nereid."

"I'll do anything that will rid us of Cylon control. Anything."

Bill smiled again. "I don't think you're alone in feeling that way."

o

There was a letter from Kara in Lee's mailbox when he got back to his apartment that evening. It had taken nearly a week to reach him. He opened it in the elevator and had read half of it before he settled on his couch.

_Dear Lee,_

_Another semi-boring day on the G. I won a couple hundred cubits in a triad game last night so I'll probably wait a few days before I take their hard-earned pay again. It's safer that way since it really pisses Pike off to lose to me at anything and nearly a hundred of those cubits were his. I managed not to gloat too much. _

_I had an idea a couple of days ago while I was sitting in the ready room listening to the CAG and trying to stay awake. Our training exercises are so first-grade that it's a wonder I haven't fallen asleep in my Viper. I've been thinking about asking the CAG if I could get my dad to send us some of his sims so we can study them, but I haven't gotten up my courage yet. Maybe soon._

_I'm envious of Karl and Sharon. I never thought I'd say that, but they're together so I'm saying it. Karl said their training exercises are boring, too, but I always thought the whole Raptor thing was boring. I know they're necessary, but it's not for me. Give me my Viper even if it means taking grief from the so-called Top Gun. I think the reason she got the title is that everybody was too bored to challenge her or else they didn't want to listen to the trash she talks. She knows I'm on to her now about the stims and I've been dogging her each time we go out. Sooner or later she'll lose her cool and I'll have her. Karl told me to ease up on her, but you know that's not me. If she wants to be the Top Gun, she should earn it, not get it because everybody else is too bored to challenge her._

_I miss you so much. All I think about each night when I'm in my bunk is that I'm one day closer to seeing you again. All my love forever. Kara_

Lee read the letter a second time before he leaned back on the couch and closed his eyes. He missed Kara and wanted her there with him. He wanted to wrap his arms around her and breathe the scent of her skin and hair. He opened his eyes and forced his thoughts away from the painful reality that he was still almost seven weeks away from being able to touch her. Nothing could be gained by torturing himself with memories of what her body felt like against his or thoughts of what they would do the next time they were together.

There were other things to think about tonight, things he had avoided thinking about for weeks, things that the Sadie mission had kept pushed out of his thoughts. The events of the last couple of days swirled in his mind. Even though he understood his father's and Laura's position on Nereid, Lee found himself agreeing with John. The humans on that planet who had survived five years of captivity and the gods only knew what kind of monstrous experiments by the Cylons didn't deserve to have a Colonial nuke dropped on them.

Maybe they _could _destroy those basestars and then rescue the prisoners. Maybe they wouldn't even have to destroy the planet. Maybe they could just destroy the Cylons on it and leave Nereid for further exploration. Maybe the map to Kobol was there. Maybe Kobol was the birthplace of humanity, and maybe Kobol held further clues to another place, a place of myth, a place that was mentioned in Pythia as the birthplace of the gods. A place called Earth.

If they destroyed Nereid, they might be destroying the only clue that would point them backward to their origins and perhaps forward to their future. Lee didn't believe in the gods, but he knew that humanity had not originated on Caprica or any of the other twelve Colonies. He knew they had come from somewhere out there, somewhere beyond their own sun, from a past that was now shrouded in mystery and confused by legends and stories pulled together in a book of Pythian scriptures.

In that regard, Lee thought, the Cylons were almost lucky. Despite Cavil's denial of their humble origins as mankind's helpers, the Cylons knew who had created them and where they had come from. Despite their myths and legends, humanity really had no idea where the spark of their lives had begun. Lee was beginning to believe that the first answers to understanding the mystery of their own origins lay on a planet thirty light years away in another solar system and warmed by another sun, a green and beautiful planet that he had seen and now couldn't get out of his mind.

TBC…


	72. Election Day

Chapter 72

Election Day

_Laura Roslin was elected to the Presidency by the largest margin recorded to date in the history of the Colonies. Her opponent, Quorum of Twelve member Jacob Cantrell conceded before ten o'clock on the evening of the election. His short speech said he wanted unity among the people of Caprica. He pledged his full support to the new President-elect. _

_-Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War_

Kara Thrace was dreaming again, dreaming of snow, the third time in as many nights. She had dreamed first of a blizzard, of standing knee deep in white as wind and snow howled around her obliterating sky and horizon, yet she wasn't cold, just lost. The second dream was much the same only something lurked near her in the storm, hazy metallic shapes came and went and she was afraid to move lest they see her, fearful that something would materialize out of the snow. She had awakened from that dream breathing fast with the blood pounding in her ears. It had taken her a few moments to realize where she was, that she was in her bunk on the _Galactica_ and that she was safe, that there were no monsters with gleaming metal hands waiting to grab her.

The third dream was different. There was a snow-covered landscape again as far as she could see, but the sun was shining. There were mounds under the snow. She stooped and broke the crusted surface, brushed the snow away from one. It was a body, gray and frozen, dead a long time, no one she knew. When she stood, she saw other mounds that led to a much larger mound, the height of a three-story building, oblong, irregularly shaped and covered with a thick blanket of snow. The wind plumed the snow off the top, the sunlight turning the plume into a million dazzling diamonds in the air.

She opened her eyes. The dim nightlight of the bunkroom came through the small opening in her curtains. Carefully she slid them back and got out of her bunk. She quietly pulled open the drawer underneath and found the box where she kept the letters she had received. Her father's most recent letter was on the top. She got it out and just as quietly shut the drawer before she crawled back into her bunk and closed the curtains, making sure they were completely together this time.

Taking the penlight off the shelf behind her head, she found the paragraph she was looking for and read it.

_On one of Lee's photographs taken during his camping trip, we saw what could only be campfire smoke leading me to believe that someone is living outside the settlements, both old and new. Lee scoffed at first, but has now admitted that perhaps a group of hardy souls has made their way to the mountains and are living free of the other inhabitants. At first I suggested that this group of people may have been there when Irina Hoshi was on her camping trip, but that seems unlikely since Hoshi's group was there for a year and saw no evidence to support such a theory. Lee and I are now in agreement that the second scenario is the case and that these people have broken away from the others and are living survivalist-style in mountain caves with hunting expeditions to the forest. We'll talk more when I see you in November._

Kara turned off the penlight and lay back on her pillow. There was a third possibility, one that neither her father nor Lee had apparently thought of, the possibility that had haunted her dreams for the last three nights, ever since she had received her father's letter, and which had just now made its way to her conscious thoughts. Irina Hoshi had told them that the _second_ expedition to Nereid had disappeared five years after her return from the planet. Due to the cost, no rescue mission had ever been mounted, and the _Hyperion _and her crew of scientists and explorers had been listed as lost. There had been over eight hundred people on that research ship.

Kara's heart began to beat faster. What if they hadn't been lost in transit during the half dozen jumps it had taken to reach the planet as everyone had assumed? What if they had made it to Nereid and something had happened after they had arrived? Irina Hoshi had said that they had older-model robots on the first expedition. Her father and Admiral Adama had decided that at the end of the First War, twenty-five years earlier, the Cylon centurions had taken a group of scientists and doctors and had gone to Nereid because of information communicated by the old robots. There they had somehow created the skinjobs who had gained control of all the centurions and had returned to try to destroy humanity.

Kara could hardly get her breath. She thought of what her dream had been trying to tell her, the huge oblong mound in the snow and the snow-covered bodies. That was the thought that had been trying to make its way into her conscious mind. Did the remains of the scientific ship lay somewhere on the planet? Maybe all expedition members hadn't died. Kara was certain now that she was right. Somewhere on Nereid were the _Hyperion's _survivors…and their descendents.

She was wide-awake. Quietly she got out of her bunk again and pulled on a pair of sweatpants and a hooded sweatshirt. She sat on the floor and put on her sneakers. She hoped when she opened the door of the bunkroom that she didn't awaken anyone, but if she did, they would probably think she was going to the head, not down to the Communication Room.

The corridors were quiet, but there were still crewmen around. A battlestar was in operation twenty-four hours a day and in space, there was technically no day and night. Their lives and work shifts revolved solely around the clock.

In the seven weeks she had been on the _G, _she had finally learned her way around the battlestar. She went up two decks and followed a corridor toward the center of the ship and the rooms that housed all of the _Galactica's_ communication equipment. She entered the door of the Comm Room. As she had suspected, there was no one at the bank of eight phones. At the window, a bored-looking ensign glanced up from his paperback book and pushed a form across the counter. She took it to a table along the wall and filled it out.

When she took it back, he glanced at it and put something into the computer.

"You made a call five days ago. You only get one per week."

"Come on," Kara said and tried to keep her voice polite. "I need to talk to my boyfriend."

"I don't know…"

"There isn't anybody waiting on a phone right now. What do I have to do? Promise you my firstborn?"

He smiled and Kara knew she had walked into his next remark.

"I don't want your firstborn, but you if you're making promises…"

She wanted to reach across the short distance, grab the front of his uniform and get in his face. Instead she said coldly, "Take another look at my boyfriend's last name…and yes, he's exactly who you think he is."

The ensign glanced down and said, "Go to phone number one."

Kara had never done anything like that before and she hated having to resort to it now, but this was important. She walked to the phone and waited. The partitions between the phones kept anyone from looking directly at the person beside him, but did little to stop any sound. She was glad she was alone. The phone buzzed, two short sounds indicating that her call had been put through.

It was eight-thirty in the evening on Caprica. She knew Lee wouldn't be at work. She hoped he wouldn't be out running or jogging or working out. She hoped he would answer his phone. She felt a rush of relief when she heard his voice.

"Kara?" He asked in surprise.

"Yeah, it's me."

"What are you doing up at 2:30 in the morning _Galactica_ time?"

"I couldn't sleep. I wanted to talk to you."

_Five minutes_, the automated and computerized voice said in their ears.

"Frak," Kara said. "You'd think they would give us longer than that if nobody was waiting to use the phone."

"It's the computer," Lee said.

"I miss you so much."

"We're over halfway there. Five more weeks."

"I know. I've had a couple of dreams…"

"So have I," Lee said softly. "More than a couple."

Kara snickered. "Not _those_ kind of dreams…not the last couple of nights anyway, not since I got a letter from my dad about where you went on your camping trip."

The warm thoughts momentarily evaporated for Lee. "Nightmares?"

"Not exactly. Just something I think you and him should consider."

"I'm listening."

Kara knew that the Cylons monitored all their ship-to-shore phone traffic. She was going to have to be very careful telling him what she was thinking.

"You know how both of you read a journal by this woman who had…gone camping in the same place before you did?"

"Yes," Lee said hesitantly.

"You remember that she told us after she got back, that some others had gone camping in the same place five years later and that they had…gotten lost?"

"I remember. The theory was that they had gotten lost…on the way and had never made it."

"What if they didn't get lost on the way? What if they made it to the…campsite? What if they never made it back because something happened to their…transportation?"

For a moment Lee didn't follow her and then it clicked. "Oh."

"You and my dad never considered that possibility, did you?"

"It never crossed my mind. I'm sure he never thought about it either or he would have mentioned it. We both accepted the prevailing theory about their transportation getting lost."

"Tell him what I said and see what he thinks."

"What did you dream that made you come up with this theory?"

"I dreamed about snow, about a big mound of snow with smaller mounds…bodies. I think their transportation is still at the campsite…maybe under the snow."

"You think they all died or do you think that some of them made it out alive?"

"I think there were survivors."

"And that they're still there?"

"Yes. Maybe _that's_ whose campfire you saw."

"If those people are still around from that second camping trip, they'd be…old," Lee said. "Some of them would be long dead."

"Yeah. Their kids would be getting older, too. Maybe even their grandkids."

"I'm sure your dad and I can have a lively discussion about that."

"I know. He's convinced that some…people from the newer settlement are living in the woods."

"That's what we both think."

"Okay. I've told you my theory. We've only got a couple of minutes left."

"How is the training going?"

"Better. We watched a…a movie on Monday during our briefing. You could have heard a pin hit the floor when it was over. Even bigmouth Kat didn't have anything to say. Most of them had never seen the sky so full of…fireflies before. There were our fireflies and some _other_ fireflies. They were buzzing around getting into it. Hot Dog asked the CAG to show the video again and he did. Not a single person got up and left. I'll write you more about it. How are things on Caprica?"

"Zak and I went to the first pyramid game of the season on Saturday night. The C-Bucks won. Sam Anders just gets better every year."

"Was Maya there?"

"I didn't see her. I think she was taking care of Braedon. John and Laura had some black-tie fundraiser to go to. I think my dad was going, too. I think John said they had something every weekend until the election."

"How many dates did Zak bring to the game?"

Lee laughed. "Only one. Me."

"Please don't try to get me to believe that it's been seven weeks and he's still being faithful to Maggs."

"I don't know. I didn't ask him any questions and he didn't volunteer. We went to Crocodiles afterward and he talked to dozens of girls, but he left to go home alone."

"I guess you went home alone, too," she joked.

"I love you, Kara."

Kara closed her eyes and turned her back to the comm window. "I miss you so much," she said softly. "Tell me about your dreams."

"I'm not sure I should do that. I'll get myself all…worked up."

"Do you want to touch me?"

Lee took a deep breath. "Yes."

"Kiss me?"

"All over."

Kara almost moaned. "Will you?"

"As much as you want me to."

"How about if I want you to do it for a couple of days."

_One minute. _The computerized voice intruded.

Lee shut his eyes and swallowed. He took a deep breath and exhaled.

"Okay. I'll quit talking about letting you kiss me all over."

"Five weeks. That's just a week longer than you were on restriction. We'll make it."

"I'm keeping as busy as I can."

"Playing triad with the other pilots and taking their cubits?"

"A few times."

"You need to go back to bed and get some sleep."

"I know. We're going to see another movie today. CAG will want to talk about it afterward. Me and Narch usually try to answer any questions that the others have since we've seen the movie before."

Lee chuckled. "How is that going over with the Top Gun?"

Kara smiled. "How do you think?"

"Maybe she'll see the light and just hand that mug to you."

"I wouldn't bet a lot of cubits on it. I think she's got some personal issues with me, too."

Lee thought of what had happened at the Academy with Maggie. "Just don't let her push you into doing something stupid. You don't walk off demerits on a battlestar. You go to the brig."

"I won't get in trouble. I learned my lesson the hard way. The way I learn best."

"We're about out of time. I love you, Kara."

"I love you, too. Talk to my dad."

"I will. Go get some sleep."

"I'll call you next week."

"Don't get up at 2:30 in the morning to do it."

"Bye." Kara hung up the phone and left the Comm room. Slowly she walked back to her quarters and got into her bunk. She ached for Lee, for his body and his touch. She rolled over and sighed. Four weeks and six days.

o

Laura Roslin lay contented and satisfied in her husband's arms. He was nearly asleep. She could tell by his breathing. Tonight had been the last big fund raiser before the election in two weeks. She was proud of John, of the change she had seen in him since the night she had introduced him to President Adar nearly two years earlier. She had seen and felt how ill at ease he had been that night. Tonight he had stood chatting with Adar and Bill Adama and several of the Quorum members like they had known each other for years.

Even Billy had noticed the change and remarked on it. Billy had brought a pretty young woman that he introduced to her as Dee. Laura knew that name should mean something to her, but at the time she had not been able to think why. Dee had seemed quite taken with Billy and Laura hoped he was finally getting over Blaire. When she and Billy next got a chance to talk privately, she would ask him why the name _Dee_ sounded so familiar to her.

Laura leaned over and kissed John lightly on the cheek. "You were wonderful tonight. I am _so_ proud of you. And you really were born to wear a tuxedo."

"The Caprican Gentleman," he murmured sleepily, but she could tell he meant it in a humorous way.

She snuggled back against him and put her arm across his chest. He squeezed her shoulder gently.

"I love you, Laura. I'll always do my best to keep you happy."

"I know you will. I couldn't have done this without you, without your support."

"Yes, you could have. You're strong. You're tough. I might have made it easier, but you could have done it without me."

"I'm keeping you awake."

She heard the sleepy smile in his voice. "If you want to talk, I'll always listen, especially if you're saying nice things about me."

"They will save until tomorrow. Go to sleep. I love you."

In only minutes she heard his breathing even out. His hand relaxed on her shoulder. She envied him at the moment. Her mind was still racing, planning, looking to the future.

In two weeks she was almost certainly going to be elected President of the Twelve Colonies. Despite the complete destruction of ten of the Colonies and the near-destruction of Tauron, the title had not been changed. In one way she was surprised that Cavil had allowed it and in another she was not so surprised. Perhaps he liked the hollowness of it now. Perhaps he saw the title as a mockery of what had once been and would never be again, at least not in this solar system for many millennia. The nuked planets would be uninhabitable for many thousands of years. She didn't know if humans would ever be able to settle there again and Caprica's resources were limited. Ultimately mankind would have to turn to the stars if they wanted to continue surviving.

Except for some hardy Taurons, they were all on one Colony now. Yet if what John and Bill and Lee believed to be true, there were Colonials being held captive on Nereid. Now John had told her another theory, one that Kara had thought of, that survivors of the second _Hyperion_ mission and their descendents were also there. Perhaps some escaped prisoners had even joined them. He and Lee had speculated about that possibility for over an hour one night several weeks earlier.

Laura thought of what Bill Adama had told them tonight. After careful consideration he had decided that before he took their battlestars to Nereid, another mission in Sadie would be flown over the planet, concentrating on the area where smoke had been photographed and also on the mountains to the north of it. Only this time Lee wouldn't have to jump the Raider in the middle of a thunderstorm. He would be able to do it from the sky over the airbase because the Cylons on Caprica and the basestar over Caprica would have been destroyed.

Laura tried to force her mind to slow down. She thought of her son, of her bright, happy little boy. She pictured the swearing-in ceremony on the platform in front of the Capitol Building with her husband by her side holding their child and Kara with them as well. She knew it would be cold on that January day. She saw her son bundled in his winter coat and hat and mittens. She said a silent prayer that the gods would watch over him and protect him always, that they would protect all of them in the coming fight.

She prayed that no dark force would try to harm him as the Oracle had said. She prayed that he would grow up free even if it meant that one day he would leave Caprica to map the stars. Perhaps her son's role in their future was to help insure the survival of mankind.

o

"Hey, Kat, get it together," Kara barked over her cockpit wireless. "You're drifting toward me."

"I am not frakking drifting toward you!" Kat snarled. "You're the one who's drifting."

Kara heard Hot Dog's voice. He was flying behind them. "You're drifting, Kat."

She finally moved over.

"Okay, let's do our math," Kara said.

She was referring to the simple maneuver that the three of them were going to fly, a looping figure eight designed to orient them with where they were in relation to each other while flying a tight formation. They would fly the formation five times, moving steadily to the starboard as they flew it so that none of them would chance colliding at the mid-point of the figure eight.

Their Cylon escort hovered, waiting for them to begin.

"Who made you the leader?" Kat asked angrily.

"Somebody's got to do it," Kara answered.

"Ease up, you two," Hot Dog said. "Start the exercise, Kat. We're behind you."

Kat began to fly the formation. The speed and loop distances were designed so that the Vipers passed each other closely in the center of the eight.

They did fine until the third pass when the hair on the back of Kara's neck prickled and she instinctively eased back on the throttle. Kat wasn't over far enough and Kara narrowly avoided colliding with her.

"Damn it, Kat!" she shouted. "You're in my pattern!"

"I am not!" Kat shouted back angrily. "Learn to fly and you might be able to do these exercises."

"It's not me that needs to learn to fly," Kara snarled, just as angry now. The near-miss had started her adrenalin flowing. "Get your head on straight or get back to the ship."

"Watch your mouth, nugget!"

"Quit calling me nugget. You're more a nugget than I was before I ever got in my first trainer. You're still flying like you got snakes in the cockpit."

Kara heard Hot Dog's snicker come over the wireless. _Snakes in the cockpit _was an insult to a pilot who had graduated from Flight School. It referred to the way a rookie usually stomped the rudder pedals and jerked the stick like he was trying to kill snakes instead of the smooth coordinated moves that made flying look good.

"And don't get me started on your landings," Kara fumed.

"My landings are fine, nugget."

Kara could tell Kat was getting more upset yet she couldn't resist goading her.

"It won't be long before you have to hand that Top Gun mug over to me."

"That'll never happen, nugget."

"Don't bet your next paycheck on it."

"Finish the pattern," Hot Dog said. "We've got to get back to the ship. Our escort out there is starting to look twitchy."

Kara snickered at Hot Dog's description. How did a Cylon Raider look _twitchy_? But she made the last loop of the figure eight and headed back to the _Galactica _with Hot Dog and Kat following her.

The LSO had to wave Kat off once before he let her land. Kara had already filled out her post-flight checklist and was climbing down the ladder when Kat's Viper was raised onto the hangar deck. Kara hurried to avoid her. She knew Kat would be spoiling for a confrontation and Kara was afraid that she couldn't keep her cool.

As she and Hot Dog walked back to their quarters, Kara said, "She's dangerous."

"She's a good pilot," Hot Dog said. "She was the Top Gun in our Flight School class."

"Was that before or after she started taking stims?"

He shrugged and didn't answer her for a while. Finally he said, "That's where it started. She wanted to stay on top."

"Well, she's a stim junkie now," Kara snapped. "I'll bet she starts sweating at the thought of going out there without her little helpers."

"She gets the job done. It's not like what we're doing out there is important. Doing our first-grade exercises while their Raiders babysit us is yawn inducing. I'm surprised one of us hasn't fallen asleep in the cockpit."

"I'll pretend you didn't say that," Kara said angrily. "It's always important. Every time we go out is important."

"Come on, Starbuck. You'll feel different after you've done this for a year or two so lighten up on me. Lighten up on Kat, too."

"She was flying in _my pattern_ and nearly killed me!"

"She would have pulled up. She wouldn't have hit you. She was probably just testing you, trying to see if you were on your toes."

"Why are you protecting her? You give her grief all the time."

"We went through the Academy and Flight School together. I know I give her a lot of grief, but she's okay. Kat's had a hard life."

"Yeah, my heart bleeds for her. Some of the rest of us had it hard, too."

He shrugged again. Kara knew he didn't believe her and she wasn't in the mood to talk about her childhood or the years she and Karl had spent in the camp. Kara guessed that to a lot of the other pilots, she looked like the spoiled and pampered stepdaughter of the woman who was going to be President as well as the girlfriend of an admiral's son.

She didn't know what was worse, having it tough or having it easy, but she knew one thing for certain. One day Kat would hand that Top Gun mug to her. Kara wanted it to happen that way. She didn't want to inherit it by default because Kat had killed herself or someone else on a simple training mission.

In the shower later she put her hands against the wall and let the warm water beat down on her tense neck and shoulders. One more week and she could leave Kat and training exercises behind for nine whole days. One week and she would be on her way back to Caprica and the man she loved.

o

Lee Adama paced the small waiting room at the airbase. It was almost 8:30 in the evening and the personnel transport from the _Galactica_ was now thirty minutes late. Lee knew better than to go up to the desk again and ask the sergeant. The man had already told him the transport had left late. It was on its way.

His mobile phone rang and he looked at the caller ID. It was John.

"Hi," Lee said. "The transport ship isn't here yet."

"Is anything wrong?"

"Not according to the guy on desk duty. He said they left the _G_ late. Half an hour ago he said another twenty minutes."

"I'm sure everything's fine. I just wanted to tell you that Laura and I are at the Parthenon Hotel at a Commerce League banquet. She's the guest of honor and she's making a speech. We'll be here another two hours."

"I'll have Kara home by midnight."

"No rush," John said. "If, uh, she doesn't make it home until tomorrow morning, I'll understand."

Lee was silent for a few moments. "You're okay with that?"

"I want to see her, but I know what _she_ wants and that's to be with you."

"Thanks, John."

"I've got to get back to the banquet. I'll see Kara in the morning. Tell her I love her."

"Okay."

Lee closed his phone. The sergeant looked at him. "The transport's on final approach. You need to stay inside until it's at the terminal and docked."

Lee stood at the wall of windows and watched the big ship land and then taxi toward the terminal. He saw the ground crew directing the pilots as they docked. The minute the ship stopped, Lee was out the door. He had to wait nearly ten minutes in the cold wind before the steps were rolled up and the hatch was opened.

Kara was one of the first ones off the ship. She saw him and began to run. A few feet away, she dropped her duffel bag and threw her arms around him. He lifted her off her feet. For a moment they couldn't speak.

"I've missed you so much," she finally said.

He buried his face against her neck and breathed. Having her in his arms again was like all his dreams come true.

She drew back and smiled at him. They kissed long and hard.

Karl and Sharon walked by them. Karl said, "You'd better go to Lee's apartment before you get any deeper into that kiss."

Kara and Lee broke apart and grinned. He picked up her duffel bag and they began walking arm in arm back through the terminal building and then out to his car.

"Do you guys want a ride?" Lee asked Karl. "I'll be glad to drop you off at your apartment."

"Thanks," Karl said, "but we're going to get something to eat first." He snickered. "I guess we were flying economy. There wasn't any meal service on board our flight."

"There never is," Lee said. "Zeno's is two blocks from my apartment."

"Okay," Sharon said. "You talked us into a ride."

They got to Lee's car.

"We were late leaving the _G_," Kara said.

"I know."

"Have you been waiting long?"

"I came straight from work."

"So you've been here how long?"

"Almost three hours."

"Gods, Lee. Have _you_ eaten anything?"

"I got a pack of crackers from the vending machine. I thought we'd order a pizza when we get back to the apartment."

Kara smiled. How many times had they done that when they wanted to spend the evening mostly in bed? They were definitely on the same wavelength.

Lee pulled up to the curb outside of Zeno's and Karl and Sharon got out.

"Thanks for the ride. Enjoy the evening," Karl said.

"No worries about that," Lee answered.

He drove the two blocks and pulled into the parking garage. Kara reached for him and they kissed again. He finally pulled back.

"We'd better go upstairs."

"Yeah. We've only got a couple of hours until curfew."

Lee smiled. "We've got all night. I talked to John not long before you landed. He gave his blessing."

"No kidding. My father said he didn't care if I spent the night with you?"

"He didn't put it exactly like that, but he did say he was okay with it. You're eighteen now. Technically he can't…tell you what to do anymore."

"I know, but he's still my dad."

Kara slid over and got out of the car. Lee got her duffel bag from the trunk. They kissed again in the elevator. Lee managed to get his key out of his pocket and open the apartment door. He dropped the duffel bag and reached for her, sliding his hand under the back of her hair and pulling her to him. They kissed long and hard again.

Her hands found the buttons of his tunic. How many times in the last three months had she dreamed of this moment? She pressed herself against him. His hands slid down and cupped her buttocks, pulled her even closer as he walked her backward into the living room. She pushed the tunic off his shoulders and he finished pulling it down his arms. He tossed it in the direction of the chair before he started on the buttons of her jacket. She helped him.

Lee stopped and took a deep breath. "Let's slow down. We've waited too long to rush this."

Kara was breathing hard. She put her arms around his neck. "You're asking a lot."

He lifted her arms and pulled off her tank top before he bent and kissed her neck, the desire giving him even more determination to make this first time in three months last longer than a few minutes. But when they were naked and she pushed him back on the couch and straddled him, he didn't try to stop her.

She looked into his eyes and saw the love. He pulled her to him and kissed her slowly, almost gently, his tongue finding hers.

She sucked in her breath at the feel of him inside of her. It was better, so much better than any dream she had ever had about them. Slowly she began to move, savoring the sensation as it grew, trying to make it last. Making love to him would never get old to her. She knew she would never stop wanting him like this, never stop loving him.

Her cry was soft and sharp and a few moments she later felt him also give in to the feeling. She collapsed against him, her face against his neck. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly.

"Better than your dreams?" Kara finally murmured.

"Oh yeah," he answered, still breathing hard. "Much better."

"Did I tell you I missed you?" Kara asked softly.

Lee smiled. "I think you mentioned it."

They never got around to ordering a pizza. Instead they put on sweats, opened two beers, made sandwiches and ate them at the kitchen table.

"Tell me about the mission," Kara said.

"It went okay."

"Except for when it didn't. Something happened that wasn't supposed to happen."

Choosing his words carefully, Lee told her about the jump back into the atmosphere and getting struck by lightning.

She stared at him for a long time, emotion playing over her face. "You could have died."

"I could have, but I didn't. Kevin and Rick had built redundant systems into Sadie. As soon as the primaries failed, the backups took over. That's why I owe Kevin."

Kara sat quietly for a moment struggling with the thought of losing Lee.

Finally Lee said, "I'm okay. I'm going to get another shot at it."

"What?" Kara asked in surprise. "What do you mean?"

"After we defeat the Cylons here, my dad wants me to go back to Nereid on another recon mission. He wants a closer look at the area around were I photographed that campfire. He wants a look at the mountains."

"Why? He's just going to nuke the planet. Why does he care?"

"Maybe he's not going to nuke it. Maybe not right away. Maybe we'll get a chance to rescue some prisoners. Maybe he won't nuke it at all."

"What changed his mind?"

"He hasn't made a decision yet. It depends on how many basestars I find on my next mission. If there's still only two and he can destroy those without too much risk, there may not be a need to nuke the planet. What he really wants to know is how much of a force the Cylons have there."

"So you get to go back to Heliops Island."

"No. The jump won't be so bad this time. The Cylons will be gone. I'll get to jump somewhere closer to home, probably over the boneyard. No having to crate Sadie and ship her to an island in the middle of nowhere and jump her during a thunderstorm. I'll leave during the day and come back during the day."

She didn't say anything.

"Come on, Kara. Don't be like that."

"So you're going to risk your life again and I'm supposed to jump up and down with joy?"

"We're all going to risk our lives on the solstice. That's going to be much more dangerous than getting back in Sadie and jumping to Nereid again."

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

"You don't think I'll be worried about you up there on the _G_? What if that basestar manages to launch its Raiders? You'll be in a Viper taking them on."

"And you'll be down here taking on any Raiders that Caprica's basestar manages to launch."

"My dad doesn't think the basestar above Caprica will get to launch any Raiders. He thinks it will be destroyed before the Cylons realize what's happening. He thinks all the basestars will be destroyed before they can go on the defensive."

"I hope you're right," Kara said.

"Cavil will think we're all out drunk and partying like most of Caprica does on the solstice. He won't be expecting it. None of them will."

Kara sipped her beer. She was tired of talking about the coming battle. "What do you think I should do about Kat being on stims?"

"Is it so bad she's dangerous?"

"Maybe. A couple of weeks ago we were flying a training exercise and she drifted into my pattern. Hot Dog says she wouldn't have hit me, that she was just testing me, but I don't know. I haven't said anything about the stims to anybody except Karl and Hot Dog. Hot Dog already knew anyway. They went to Flight School together. That's where Kat started using. He gives her grief all the time, but I think he likes her."

"As in they're having a relationship?"

"I've never seen them together. Nobody's ever mentioned them either so probably not."

"I'm sure other people know what she's doing with the stims. That's not something you can hide forever."

"You think the CAG knows?"

"Probably."

"Then why doesn't he do something?"

"It's probably not bad enough. Stims are how some pilots get by, how they keep their edge. I saw half a dozen when I was on the _Triton _who popped a stim before they went out on training exercises. They didn't see anything wrong with it. They're the same ones who would pop one to pull all-nighters studying at the Academy or in Flight School."

Kara's eyes were getting heavy. "I wonder what Kat will do if we have to fight on the solstice."

"She'll fight. She'll either make it or she won't."

"Just my luck she'll be flying my wing or I'll be flying hers."

Lee got up and put their empty plates in the sink. He reached for her hand and pulled her to her feet. They took their beers into the living room and sat on the couch. Kara put her head against his shoulder and yawned.

"I think the six-hour time difference is catching up with me."

Lee teased her. "You mean you're not normally bright-eyed at four a.m. _Galactica_ time?"

"Only if I've had a weird dream."

Lee put his cheek against the top of her head and breathed the clean scent of her hair. They had nine days before she would have to go back. He put the thought out of his mind. The only thing that mattered right now was that she was with him.

"I love you, Kara," he said softly.

"Um," she said sleepily. "You know how good it sounds to hear you say that in person?"

Lee stood, took her hand and pulled her to her feet. "Time for bed."

Kara smiled and put her arms around her neck. "Is that a hint?"

"After three months apart, I hope so. But you might want to go to sleep instead."

She kissed him. "I can sleep when I get back to the _G_."

o

Despite not going to sleep until nearly midnight, Kara awoke at five in the morning, wide awake, her body telling her that it was eleven o'clock like it was on the _Galactica_. Lee was still sleeping soundly when she slipped out of bed, went to the living room and got her duffel bag. She took a quick shower. He was awake when she walked into the bedroom ten minutes later.

"Go back to sleep," she said. "I'm going to call a transport and go to the apartment. My dad will be up with Braedon by the time I get there."

"I can take you."

Kara walked over and sat down on the bed. "You can go back to sleep and come over later. It's Saturday."

Lee realized that she wanted to spend some time alone with her father and her brother. "Okay."

She leaned over and kissed him. "I love you. Come over later and we'll all go to the park."

The apartment was quiet when she let herself in. She put her duffel bag in her room, went to the kitchen and started a pot of coffee.

"I thought I heard somebody prowling around," her father said from the doorway.

Kara turned. They met in the middle of the kitchen and hugged. She felt tears well in her eyes.

"I've missed you," she said.

He put his hands on her shoulders and stepped back. "Just let me look at you." After a few moments, he said, "Your hair is longer."

She smiled. "I never got around to getting it cut on the _G._"

"I didn't expect you home until late in the morning."

"It's the six hour time difference. My body told me to get up."

"Yeah. I forgot about that. Help me listen for Brae. I want Laura to sleep as long as she can. As soon as she gets up she'll want to go to her campaign headquarters. I told her I'd go with her today. I'm taking next week off so I can spend the time with her doing whatever she needs me to do."

"The election is Tuesday, right?"

"That's the big day."

"She's going to be elected, isn't she?"

"By a big margin if you believe the polls."

"It still doesn't seem real to me."

"In some ways it doesn't to me, either, and I've been on Caprica and in the middle of it for the last three months. How's Lee?"

"He's fine. He's coming over later. I told him we'd take Brae and go to the park."

"Laura and I didn't want to ask you to take care of Braedon all day on your first day back, so Maya is coming over. She'll be here about eight."

"Good. I'm looking forward to seeing her."

"Sam's been very understanding about how much we've needed her to take care of Brae lately."

"I guess she told you they…maybe I shouldn't say anything."

John smiled. "No, she didn't tell me she was sleeping with him, but she'll mention his name sometimes and blush. It doesn't take a genius to figure out why."

"Do you think it will work out for them?"

"I don't know, Kara. A young, good-looking sports star like Sam has got women throwing themselves at him all the time. Only time will tell if he can stick with one woman. I'm sure she'll talk to you about it after we leave today."

"How's Laura?"

"I don't see how's she's done it lately, but she has. She's put in some grueling days and she's not sleeping well at night. I'd asked her earlier about going down to the island this weekend, but she said only if she loses. Since there's not much chance of that, I don't guess we'll go."

Kara heard a sound.

"That's Brae," her father said. "He's talking to himself. He does that now when he wakes up. He stands up in his crib and jabbers."

"Let me go get him," Kara said.

"Change him first."

She grinned. "I remember what to do."

Kara walked down the hall to the nursery and went up to the crib. "Hey, little star mapper. Do you remember me?"

Braedon held up his arms. "Kawa."

She picked him up. She turned. Her father was standing in the doorway.

"He's gotten bigger," Kara said.

"You think so?"

Braedon was trying to get down. "A dry diaper first," she said.

He stiffened and began to fret when she put him back in the crib.

Her father smiled. "You should have changed him before you picked him up."

"Now you tell me."

"I thought I did."

By the time Maya arrived, Kara had dressed Braedon and he was running around the den. John was ready for the day ahead. Kara and her father were drinking a second cup of coffee. They had all eaten breakfast earlier and Laura had chatted with Kara, but Kara could tell she was very distracted.

Laura walked into the den. She was dressed. John stood.

"Time to go," he said and looked at Kara. "I charged your phone. I'll call you later today."

Laura picked up her son and hugged him. John took him and did the same before he handed him to Maya.

Braedon wanted to go with them and Maya had to hold him. Braedon reached for his father. "Dadadada."

"He'll be back," Maya said soothingly. It took her several minutes to distract Braedon, but he was soon running around again.

"Coffee?" Kara asked Maya.

"That would be good. I'll go get it. I don't dare leave Brae in here by himself even though John has put child-proof latches on all the cabinet doors."

When Maya returned, she sat down on the other end of the couch. Braedon was content for the moment with the dozens of toys and soft books that were scattered on the floor.

Maya chuckled. "Brae's mess drives Jennet crazy. She comes in here a couple of times a day and puts everything back in his toy box and he drags everything out again."

Kara tried to imagine a day taking care of a child instead of flying a Viper. Maybe one day she would be ready to take on the challenge. Maybe one day when there weren't any Cylons left in the universe she would want to bring a child into the world.

Kara smiled. "I appreciate the letters. It's the highlight of my day to get letters."

"I enjoy writing."

"So tell me about you and Sam."

"What do you want to know?"

"Everything," Kara kidded her.

"He's a nice guy," Maya said coyly.

"I think we've already covered that. Are you and him…exclusive?"

"I am. But I've always been a one-guy woman. After Peter and I…became a couple, I never even thought about other men. I haven't asked Sam if he's seeing other women. I'm okay with the way things are now."

"Really?"

"It's too soon to…think about a future with Sam. Aren't you the one who told me to just go with it and enjoy being together?"

"Yeah, I guess I was."

Maya smiled. "So I'm enjoying it. Sam's a nice guy. He's not pushy. He's not demanding. He understands evenings when Laura and John ask me to take care of Brae. He understands when I have to work on my school assignments. Of course that might be because he's always got the option to go to Crocodiles and pick up a hot woman."

"You think he does that?" Kara asked in surprise.

"I don't know."

"You want me to ask Zak? Of course he might lie for Sam, but maybe not."

Maya thought for a minute. "No. I decided months ago to let the relationship go where it would. If Sam and I are meant to be, it will happen. If not, it won't."

"I don't see how you can be so…cool about it."

"Because of the Cylons I lost my child and the man I loved. In that camp I faced the worst kind of humans there are, as bad as the Cylons in some ways, maybe worse. I saw what I was capable of letting them turn me into while I was trying to save Hanna. In some ways my life now is like a dream."

"I didn't mean to remind you of a bad time," Kara said as she thought of going back to the camp and the kind of memories it had stirred in her.

"The memories are always with me, but I don't dwell on them like I used to."

"Does Sam know what you went through?"

"He knows I lost my child and her father. He knows I loved Peter. I'm not ready to tell him the rest. Maybe one day. In most ways his life has been easy. He wasn't really touched by the war."

"You don't think he'll understand?"

"I don't know, Kara."

"Maybe you should talk to him about the camp."

"Maybe I will one day." Braedon brought one of his books over to Maya. She picked him up and smiled. "But right now this little guy is the most important man in my life."

o

Laura Roslin paced the large room that had been her campaign headquarters for the last eight months. The returns were beginning to come in now. She had a solid lead. John and Kara and Lee had been with her all day. Her Vice-Presidential running mate Scott Michelson and his family were there also as well as Billy and the dozens of volunteers who had helped her. Billy's new girlfriend had just walked in.

Laura had finally gotten the opportunity to ask Billy about her. With a sheepish smile he had admitted that Dee and Blaire had once been roommates. He had also told her that Dee had once had a crush on Lee Adama. Laura had tried to get everything straight. Lee and Blaire, then Billy and Blaire and now Billy and Dee. Laura had shaken her head and smiled. "And I thought running for President was complicated."

Now she glanced over at Billy as he talked to Dee and then over at Kara. Laura wondered how much she knew. Lee was talking to her. She wondered what he was saying.

John walked over to her and interrupted her thoughts. "Won't you sit down for a few minutes? I think you're wearing a path in the carpet."

"There's an interesting little drama unfolding near the door that has nothing to do with the election."

"You mean Billy's new girlfriend?"

Laura sighed. "Is there anything you don't know?"

"You told me last week who she was. I mentioned it to Lee."

"And Lee has told Kara?"

"I think he's telling her now."

"Kara doesn't look too worried."

John smiled. "She knows she doesn't have any reason to be. Just like you don't have any reason to worry about the election…Madame President."

o

Kara glanced over at Dee and Billy. "Yeah, I thought she looked familiar," she said to Lee. "So that's the chick who was trying to pick you up at Zeno's."

"That was nearly two years ago."

"I guess we should go speak to them or do you want to try to avoid them all night."

"Speaking would be the polite thing to do."

"After you," Kara said.

Together they walked over to Billy and Dee.

"Hi, Dee," Lee said.

"Lee, it's been a long time." Her tone was even, not cool but not exactly friendly either.

"How are you?" Lee asked.

"Good."

Lee put his arm around Kara's shoulders. "This is Kara Thrace, John's daughter. Kara, Anastasia Dualla…Dee."

"Hi," Kara said. "So you share an apartment with Blaire?"

"Not any more," Dee answered. "Blaire got her own place a few months ago. Another girl from the base moved in with me."

There was an awkward silence. Finally Lee said, "I guess you dropped by to hear Laura's acceptance speech."

"And to see Billy."

Billy blushed. He still had a shyness that made him seem younger than his twenty-six years. Kara thought of the contrast between Billy and Zak. Zak was five years younger than Billy and Zak had an assurance around women that made him seem much older.

"It was nice to see you again," Lee said.

"Yeah, nice to meet you," Kara said.

She and Lee walked back to one of the television sets and watched the returns for a few minutes. Laura was still leading.

"That wasn't too awkward," Kara said.

"Yeah, it was. The last time I saw her I acted like a jerk. I was drunk and mad at Blaire and I took it out on her."

"She seems nice."

"She is. I used to talk to her when Blaire and I were dating."

"You never had any…other kind of feelings for her?"

"No. Nothing…romantic, if that's what you mean."

"But she obviously felt that way about you."

"I wasn't sure until that night at Zeno's. Like I said, I was drunk. I was pretty rough on her. I guess everybody has things they've done that they'd like to do over if they had the chance. I would have been nicer to her. I was just drunk and in an ugly mood because Dee was the one who showed up instead of Blaire."

"I know what you mean. I sometimes wish things had ended better between me and Jared."

"That night at Zeno's was the first time I ever saw you. I was trying to figure out a way to meet you when you got up and left. When you showed up that day at the base, I couldn't believe it." He touched the side of her face. "Meeting you was a dream come true."

Kara smiled. "Even the way it happened?"

"If you hadn't been half-conscious, you might not have looked at me twice."

"Probably not," she teased. "I guess you could say I was a _captive_ audience."

Scott Michelson got up on the small stage at one end of the room. "Could I have everyone's attention, please?"

The excited voices began to quiet down.

"Laura, John, get up here." Kara saw them step up on the platform. "We've just received a call from our opponent's campaign manager. He's conceding the election. I give you our next President, Laura Roslin."

The room erupted in wild and loud applause and shouting.

Scott motioned to his wife and family and to Kara.

"Get up there," Lee said.

"You come, too."

"I'm not part of the family yet. Go."

John was beckoning to her. The news cameras began to roll. Kara stepped up on the platform. Laura and Scott were waving and smiling. The cheering and clapping continued and got louder.

John put his arm around Kara.

"Aren't you glad it's over," she said to him.

"I wouldn't exactly say it's over. I think we should say it's just beginning."

Laura walked over and put her arms around both of them. She leaned up and murmured something to John, something that Kara couldn't hear. She saw her father smile. He leaned over and whispered something back to her.

Kara thought of the way she had seen Laura two years ago in the hospital, the morning Kara had seen her father for the first time in three years. They had all come such a long way since then, but there were still many tasks ahead for all of them.

Laura stepped forward and held up her hands. The room finally quieted as she began her speech thanking everyone for their efforts on her behalf and accepting the enormous responsibility that came with being the President-elect of the Twelve Colonies. Kara heard the pride in Laura's voice, pride that was a testament to the enduring ability of humanity to survive and overcome tremendous odds. She heard the fierce determination also that had characterized Laura since the day they had met.

Her father's hand was tight on her shoulder. He was right. It was only the beginning. Laura finished her brief speech and stood back. The roar of those assembled in the room was overwhelming.

A line from a poem by Kataris kept running through Kara's mind as the sound poured over and around them.

_The winds of change blew in one night and swept my old life away from me._

TBC…


	73. The Winds of Change

Chapter 73

The Winds of Change

_In a study of persons reported missing in both Delphi and Caprica City during the final year of Adar's Presidency, sociologists puzzled over the fact that a larger than normal number of the missing listed their primary occupation as 'psychic'. Another anomaly in the findings was that the psychics' disappearances were all reported during the first eight and a half months of the year and stopped abruptly in mid-September. Kidnapping conspiracy theories proliferated with the ultimate theory being that whoever had taken the psychics had found who he was looking for._

_- Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War_

Dreilide Thrace looked better than he had three months earlier. Kara thought his color wasn't nearly as chalky or gray. She told him so as soon as she saw him.

He smiled. "I'm not playing the bars as much. Maybe one night a week now. I'm working at a recording studio."

"When did that happen?" Kara asked. "You didn't mention it in any of your letters."

"I wanted to make sure it was going to work out. A man came up to me one night about a month ago at The Forum. That's a bar down on Acropolis Street. I've played there for years. This guy works for a big recording studio. They were looking for someone to play background piano for one of their rising stars, a new female vocalist. It's decent money. No tips, though."

"I'm glad you're out of the smoke. You sound better. Your voice…is stronger."

He smiled. "That's probably your imagination, but it might tack a couple of months onto my life. Maybe a year. You've had a big week."

"So far. We were up most of Tuesday night. I slept a lot yesterday. I don't see how Laura keeps going. She had interviews and meetings most of the day. She's doing interviews at her office this morning."

"How's John holding up?"

"He's tired. I got up from a nap yesterday afternoon and he and Braedon were both asleep on the couch. Brae was snuggled into him like a puppy."

"What about Lee?"

"He's fine. He took off Tuesday and yesterday. He's working today."

"When do you go back to your battlestar?"

"Early next Monday morning."

"For how long? Three more months?"

Kara thought about the solstice coming up in less than two months. After they destroyed the basestar close to the _Galactica_, they would be back over Caprica protecting it. She hoped she would get shore leave on the planet more often, but she couldn't mention that to Dreilide.

"Laura wants me here when she's sworn in as President in January, so I'll get to come back then. I won't be gone quite three months."

"Are you enjoying being on the battlestar?"

"Mostly. I miss Lee. If he was on the _G_, it would be a lot more fun."

"Any chance he'll get posted there?"

"Maybe."

"What about you being posted here on Caprica?"

"Maybe after I've served my year on the battlestar."

She thought about what Lee had told her, that when the commander of the _Pegasus_ retired sometime during the coming year, that Admiral Adama was going to turn command of the _Peggy_ over to Commander Cain and go back to the _Galactica_. When that happened, Lee would go with him. She and Lee would be together again. They would be together when the admiral took some of his battlestars to Nereid. After that she had no idea what would happen, especially if they discovered that some Cylons had left Nereid and had gone to Kobol or anywhere else in the galaxy. She didn't think Admiral Adama would want to assume Caprica was safe. He would probably want to pursue the Cylons. She thought about how long that mission might take. Dreilide Thrace would probably die while she was somewhere out among the stars.

She pushed the thought from her mind and smiled. "The Muse thing, does it work long distance?"

He smiled. "I start recording a new CD in a couple of weeks. I finished the last song."

"What did you call it?"

"_Autumn Heart._"

"Will you play it for me?"

He turned to the piano. The song reminded her of _Diaspora_ only not written in a minor key. She saw the beauty of the autumn in the lilting and haunting melody, the color of the trees and the smell of burning leaves. She'd missed the turning color this year on Caprica because she'd been on the _G_.

When he stopped playing, she said, "You remember how you used to rake leaves in the backyard of that big old house we lived in on Picon?"

"I'll never forget those creaking floorboards. The colder it got the worse they creaked."

"I'd always want to jump in the pile of leaves and scatter them and you'd let me. Then you'd have to rake them up again."

"You were such a little thing then. You didn't do much damage."

"That's what your song makes me think about."

"Were those good memories for you?"

Kara smiled. "Some of the best ones I have from that big old house."

"If I had it to do over…"

"You'd still follow your dream."

He took a sip from the ever-present glass of whiskey on top of the piano and looked out the window.

"It's okay," Kara said softly. "I understand a lot more now than I used to. I don't blame you. I don't blame my dad. I don't blame my mom. I've seen how…things happen. A lot of times you make decisions you'd like to change later."

"You still got hurt by what we did."

"We all got hurt. We survived…except Mom and she made a choice. Maybe she regretted it, maybe she didn't. I try not to think about that anymore. I've got my dad and you back in my life now."

Very slowly he nodded and turned to face her. "You forgive me for leaving you and your mom?"

"I wouldn't be here if I hadn't. I'll try to come back before I go. Will you be here Saturday morning?"

"I should be."

She hugged him. "I'll call you before I drop by."

The early November day was cool and sunny. Kara got a parking place right outside the shoe repair shop and climbed the narrow stairs. There was a commercial _For Rent_ sign taped to the door with a phone number written in black marker. She stood and stared at it for a moment before she knocked. There was no answer. She knocked again and again before she tried the door. It was locked.

She took out her mobile phone and punched in the number listed on the sign.

A pleasant female voice said, "Lycium Realty."

"I'm calling about an apartment that you've got listed for rent."

"Address?" The woman asked.

"It's on Fifty-Third Street near the pier. Above a shoe shop."

"Just a moment."

Kara waited. Finally a man came on the line. "Rent's five hundred cubits a month with a four hundred cubit security deposit. I'll need references."

"How long have the last…tenants been gone?"

"Six weeks maybe two months."

"Do you know where they went?"

The man sounded impatient. "Do you want to rent the place or not?"

"The two women who lived there are friends of mine. Did they leave a forwarding address?"

"No, and they lost their security deposit. They skipped out, left the place a mess. Left food in the refrigerator, plates on the table. I had to hire a cleaning crew to come in and clean it out. You find your friends, you tell them they won't get a good reference from me."

Kara could hardly speak because of the sick feeling that washed over her. "Did they leave their clothes, too?"

"I didn't ask the cleaning crew. When they go into a place they either throw away the personal stuff or they keep it. That's our deal."

The sick feeling was replaced by ice in the pit of her stomach. "How did you find out they were gone?"

"The Gemenese woman always came in on the first of the month and paid. Like clockwork. When she didn't show, I sent somebody to collect. He found the place a mess. The women were gone."

"Did the cleaning crew find…was there any reason to think they came to some sort of harm?"

"Not that I heard. They were just gone."

"Did you report them as missing?"

The man snorted impatiently. "If I did that every time tenants skipped out on me, I'd never get anything else done." He ended the call.

Kara walked downstairs. She got on her motorcycle and sat for a few minutes. Something was very wrong. Neither Keshia nor Yolanda Brenn would have left suddenly like that, leaving behind their possessions and food on the table.

Kara took out her phone and called Lee.

"Hey," he said, "What are you up to?"

"I need a favor."

"All you have to do is ask."

"Something has happened to Yolanda Brenn and her friend Keshia. I need you to see if you can find them. I know you have access to…a lot of information. I don't want you to get in trouble, but…"

"Why do you think something has happened to them?"

Quickly Kara explained what she had found when she had gone to their apartment and what their landlord had told her.

"What's Keshia's last name?"

"I don't know."

"That's going to make it harder."

"I know. Maybe I can find out. I'll call you back."

Kara called the rental agency again and found out that the apartment had been in Yolanda Brenn's name. The realtor knew Keshia only as the Gemenese woman and said she always paid in cubits, never with a check or a card.

Kara called Lee again. "No go on Keshia's last name. Please, just do what you can. I've got a really bad feeling about this."

"Okay, Kara."

She ended the call and put on her helmet. Her next stop was a given. There were no customers in the bookstore when she went inside. Leoben was sitting on the high stool behind the counter. There was no evidence of his helper.

"I didn't know if I'd see you this week or not," he said as she approached.

"Where's your help?"

"She's temporary. She only works for me at the beginning of each semester."

"It looks quiet today. How's business?"

"It's slowed down a lot since classes started, but I get by."

"How'd you get this place, anyway?"

"I bought it from an old man who was retiring."

"Bought it with what? Where did you get the cubits to buy a bookstore?"

Leoben appeared thoughtful. "That's a good question."

"Implanted memories?"

"Maybe. Or maybe Cavil sent me down here with a fat bank account and implanted orders as to what I should do with it. I don't guess I'll ever know. All the memories I have before I opened the bookstore are suspect now."

"Did you ever go see the Oracle?"

"No."

"She's missing."

"What do you mean _she's missing_?"

"I just went by to see her. She and her friend are gone. Left food in the fridge and clothes in the closet and no forwarding address. I think something has happened to them."

Leoben dropped his eyes for a moment.

"Do you know something about it?"

He quickly shook his head.

"You have a theory though?"

"In the Cylon religion, Oracles are generally regarded as prophets of the false gods. Their _wisdom_ is scorned."

Again he couldn't hold her gaze.

"What are you not saying?" Kara asked tentatively.

"I've been to the warehouse. I've heard Natasi preach. She thinks that there is a prophet among the people of Caprica whose voice is true, who speaks without regard to her beliefs in one God or many."

"Would Natasi have done something to her?"

"No. She would revere her for her connection to the Divine."

Kara leaned across the counter. "Then what are you saying? I don't understand."

"Some of…_us_…may not revere her."

"Like you?"

"Cavil."

Kara snorted. "Laura and my dad say he's an atheist. Why would he care about Yolanda Brenn?"

"He is an atheist, but he might want to stop her from making her…prophecies."

"She's harmless," Kara said with anguish in her voice. "She's kind and gentle. Her friend is, too."

"Something she prophesied may have reached Cavil. He may have taken her or had her taken. He's gotten…weirder lately."

Kara thought about what Lee had told her. "Define weirder."

Leoben shook his head. "His silica brain pathways may be deteriorating. Maybe all of us down here on this planet are deteriorating. Cavil may have gotten some strange ideas about…ways to accomplish his plans."

"What plans?"

"That's just it, Kara. Cavil has changed his plans enough times that I don't know what he's thinking now. At one time his only plan was the destruction of the human race. Now I don't know. Don't forget I've been out of that loop for a while."

"What would he do with the Oracle? Would he kill her?"

"I don't think so. He may want to keep her where he could…ask her questions. He may be testing her…abilities. Maybe she's just a source of amusement for him."

"That's not how her gift works. She doesn't even know what her words mean. She tells you something and then you have to figure it out."

"That would suit him. She makes her prophecies and he decides what her words mean. Maybe he thinks it will lend credibility to his warped thinking if he can say an Oracle has prophesied his decisions. He wouldn't be the first leader in history to do it."

"And if she tells him something that he doesn't like?"

"I don't know. I doubt he'd harm her, but I don't know."

"A lot of humans have disappeared in the last five years. My dad told me…"

"Stay out of getting involved in that."

"What can I do about Yolanda Brenn?"

"Nothing, Kara. There's nothing any of us can do about it. We don't even know if Cavil has got her. Something else could have happened to her."

"What? Who else could have taken her?"

Leoben shook his head. "Maybe I should go see Cavil. Maybe I should ask him what his plans are. Maybe I should just kill him. I think that's what my fate is. I think I'm supposed to kill him just like he had his centurions kill me."

"Not yet," Kara said. "Soon, though. Soon it might be time."

Leoben looked at her shrewdly. "What do you know?"

"Nothing. If Cavil gets any worse then it might be time to kill him. I know Laura doesn't want to deal with a Cylon lunatic."

"We both know he'd just download."

"Maybe he'd download into a body where the brain hadn't started turning to mush."

"Maybe."

The bell over the door made its soft tinkling sound. Kara turned. Several students had walked in.

"I'd better go."

"I hope your friends turn up," Leoben said.

"Yeah, so do I." Outside Kara sat on the bike and called Lee again. "Any luck?"

"Brenn doesn't have utilities in her name. There's no arrest record for her. She's not in the tax database. She's not receiving any kind of government assistance. There's no one that matches her name or description in the morgue."

"You're sure."

"She's blind and one side of her face had a lot of small scars. That would definitely be in the description."

"So you haven't had any luck," Kara said almost impatiently.

"I'm running a phone search now."

"They didn't have a phone."

"So much for that. I've looked at everything else I can access without filling out a form. To look at hospital records or something like that, I'm going to have to explain it to Major Parker and get his approval. Look, I'll call Kings Bay Medical Center and University Hospital, but that's as far as I can go without an order from Parker."

"Leoben thinks Cavil may have taken her."

"Why?"

"Because he's losing it, going nuts, whatever. Leoben said Cavil's silica brain pathways may have started to degrade. You said his speeches were rambling and repetitive now."

"It's a long way from rambling speeches to kidnapping a woman that a few people believe can see the future. For the gods sakes, Kara, Yolanda Brenn lives over a shoe shop. She doesn't make her prophecies from a temple. She doesn't advertise on late-night television or the internet. How many people could even know about her?"

"I'll ask Laura to help me."

"Laura is too busy to get involved in something like this. Believe me, if you're right, you don't _want_ Laura involved. She's going to have a tough enough time with Cavil between now and…then."

"Yeah, you're right," Kara said gloomily. "I'll let you go. I'll come over tonight about six and we can go to Zeno's."

"What are you going to do now?"

"Go home and get some lunch and spend some time with Brae and my dad. Maya has the day off. I think she and Sam were going to spend it together."

"That's really heated up, hasn't it?"

"Maya told me she's taking it one day at a time and enjoying it."

"I'd better go. I'll see you tonight. Don't worry about Yolanda Brenn. I'm sure she'll turn up somewhere."

Kara ended the call and sat on her motorcycle for several minutes before she put on her helmet and pulled into the street. She wondered if Yolanda and Keshia were together and if Cavil knew how fragile Yolanda's health had been since the Cylon bombs had destroyed the temple in Delphi. Without Keshia's love and care, Kara didn't know if Brenn would survive in Cylon captivity for very long.

o

Despite what Lee had said to her, Yolanda and Keshia were still on Kara's mind as she let herself into the apartment. She heard voices coming from the den. She walked to the doorway. D'Anna Biers minus her cameraman sat in the chair they all thought of as Laura's chair. John was sitting on the couch. He hadn't mentioned an interview when Kara had left that morning. She wondered if he had forgotten or if this was unplanned. She started to tiptoe down the hall when her father called her name. Reluctantly she pasted a smile on her face and walked into the den.

"Hi, Dad. Where's Brae?"

"He's napping. I think D'Anna and I are about through, aren't we?"

D'Anna Biers smiled. "Come in, Kara. I understand you've been on a battlestar."

"For the last three months," she said.

"And you're back on Caprica to stay?"

"No, just for election week."

"Kara goes back to the _Galactica_ on Monday," her father said, "but she'll be back here in a couple of months for the inauguration."

"How do you feel about Laura being elected?"

"I think it's great," Kara answered all the while thinking it was a dumb question. What had D'Anna expected her to say? _It sucks_?

"How is Lee?"

Kara smiled. "He's fine."

She knew it was a personal question, but most of Caprica had seen her on television with Lee on Election Day as they had waited for the results to come in. D'Anna had been at Laura's campaign headquarters. It wasn't like her relationship with Lee was any big secret.

John stood. D'Anna finally took the hint and also stood.

"One of these days I'll get to do a real interview with you, Kara."

Kara doubted it. Her father had told her that in Lee's video record of part of the ruined city on Nereid, they had seen a copy of Simon and a copy of D'Anna Biers. She was a Cylon. Before the attack started on the solstice, Biers would be locked up with Cavil and Simon and Natasi and the rest. Kara wondered what D'Anna's ultimate fate would be. Laura didn't want her killed. Would she be able to sway a Tribunal?

"How do you feel about Oracles?" Kara suddenly asked Biers.

"Oracles, as in prophets?"

"Is there any other kind?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Is that a rule, that you're the only one who can ask the questions?"

"I'd like to hear your answer to Kara's question," John said.

"I believe that…under the right circumstances anyone can have visions. God does not restrict access of His knowledge just to priests."

"So do you believe in them or not?" Kara asked.

"There might be a little bit of the prophet in all of us…if we have sufficient faith. I'll be going now. I've taken enough of your time."

"You're a monotheist, aren't you?" John asked Biers.

She smiled. "Does that mean you won't grant me another interview?"

John walked D'Anna to the door. When he came back, Kara said, "You forgot to mention _she_ was going to be here. I'd have stayed away longer if I'd known. She's a Cylon."

"I didn't know it before you left this morning. D'Anna is following up on her election coverage. Laura called and asked me to do one final interview. What could I say? Hanging around some Cylons doesn't bother you. What about Sharon and Leoben?"

Kara shrugged. "They're different."

"How was your morning? How's Dreilide?"

Kara told her father about Dreilide's new job.

"Laura's going to ask him to play at the inaugural dance."

Kara smiled. "Wow. That should help his career."

"How are Yolanda and her friend?"

Kara's face clouded as she told him about Yolanda and Keshia being gone.

"I called Lee. He's looking for them, but nothing yet."

"I looked for you for months after Laura told me you were alive. I even had Romo Lampkin looking. Don't assume something has happened to them because Lee can't find any record of them. I couldn't find any record of you, either."

"But they wouldn't have run out and left their clothes in the closet and food on the table."

"No, you're right. It doesn't sound like them."

"Leoben thinks Cavil may have had them taken."

"Why?"

"He's going crazy. His brain is degrading."

"That's not a comforting thought," her father said slowly.

"No," Kara said. "Finger on the trigger and all that stuff."

"True. Their basestar has the power to destroy the planet."

"I didn't think they had nukes."

"We don't know what they've got. Those basestars are shielded against any kind of electronic snooping, but they've got enough firepower, enough conventional weapons and Raiders to kill most of us even without nukes. That's why it's so important for us to get rid of the basestars first."

"Yeah, I know. If Cavil did take Yolanda and Keshia, where do you think he would be keeping them?"

"You mean if he didn't…kill them?"

Kara took a deep breath. "Yeah."

"I'm sure they've got any number of places. If he took her to have access to her prophecies, he'd want her somewhere closeby."

Kara got up and walked to the terrace door and looked out. She doubted that Yolanda would survive long even with Keshia caring for her if Cavil had stashed them in a Cylon prison. But if she were on the basestar, she would die when it was destroyed on the solstice.

Her father came up behind her and put his hands on her shoulders. "I know they're your friends, but you've got to let this go for now. Wait until after the solstice. Then we can look for them."

She turned and put her arms around him. He smoothed back the hair that had escaped from her ponytail. He was right. She knew he was right.

"Is that a promise, Dad?"

"That's a promise, baby. I know how much they mean to you."

o

Lee canceled the search of phone records for Yolanda Brenn since Kara said they didn't have a phone. Then he hurried to meet his father for lunch at the small café near the base.

As usual, Bill had gotten there first. He was sipping from a mug of coffee.

"Sorry I'm late," Lee said. "I had a search going."

Bill gave him a nod. "Who are you looking for?"

"Two women who disappeared between six weeks and two months ago."

"What's the interest in them?"

"One of them is an Oracle. They're Kara's friends."

Bill gave him a skeptical look.

"Kara thinks Cavil may have taken them or had them taken."

He got another skeptical look from his father. "For what reason?"

"The Brenn woman predicts the future."

Bill made a short sound, half snort, half laugh. "I think you're way off base on this one. Does Parker know what you're doing?"

Lee shook his head. "Don't worry. I'm not going to get in trouble over this."

"I hope not."

"Any updates on the plans?"

"Everything is on schedule. We've got almost all the munitions on the battlestars now. My commanders know it will be soon."

"How long after the solstice will I be going back to Nereid?"

"A couple of weeks."

"Do you think the Cylons here are in contact with the Cylons there?"

"According to the laws of physics fast communication between two solar systems that are thirty light years apart isn't possible. That's over a hundred thirty _trillion_ miles."

"They could be jumping Raiders back and forth."

"We can monitor everything out beyond the ice planet. You already know jumps have a specific signature, similar to a lightning strike. We haven't recorded any jumps out of our solar system in the last two years."

"Unless they went beyond the ice planet before they jumped."

"True, but Raiders aren't designed for long-range flights. They don't need to be. Their jump technology is too good. Besides, why would the Cylons care to keep something like that secret?"

"What about the basestars?"

"The basestars haven't gone anywhere either. We don't have any reason to believe the Cylons left our solar system during the last two years."

"But they've got to know about Nereid if that's where they're from."

"I agree. It just doesn't look like they're in touch with each other right now."

"How will we know? Isn't it important to know that sort of thing?"

"It's important, but I've accepted the risks involved in not knowing everything about them. If they're on some kind of regular communication schedule and the ones on Nereid don't hear from the ones on Caprica when expected, we may get a visit."

"Then we've got to stay ready," Lee said.

"Why do you think I'm bringing all our battlestars to Caprica afterward? We'll be ready. John's coming over late this afternoon. He's finished redrawing the Nereid maps. I'll look at them. We'll have a drink and talk."

"Have you talked to Laura lately?"

"I called her Wednesday morning to congratulate her. We talked a few minutes. She wants to schedule a meeting next week to talk about my role in her administration."

"I didn't think you were going to play much of a role."

"I'll stay on as senior military advisor until I go back to the _Galactica_."

"When will that be?"

"I can't answer that yet, son."

"I'd like to go to the _G_ when Kara goes back in January after the inauguration."

"Are you sure that's what you want to do? Your career with Major Parker is going well. He's had nothing but praise for you. On the _Galactica_ you'll be just another Viper pilot."

"I'm bored a lot of the time here. I was never bored on the _Triton_. I want to fly a Viper. There will be plenty of time to sit behind a desk when I'm…later in my career."

Bill smiled slightly. "When you're an old man like me? That's what you started to say."

"You're not an old man."

"Not yet, but I feel like it."

"Yeah, I might feel like it, too, if I'd done what you've done in the last five years."

"Come the solstice, we'll see if I did enough."

o

Laura sat in her chair in the den with her feet on the ottoman. Except for her son's occasional chatter, the quiet was both very welcome and sleep inducing. Braedon was carefully taking his toy Raptors and Vipers from the couch and putting them beside her feet on the ottoman.

Kara walked into the den wearing a bathrobe and towel-drying her hair.

"Tired?" She asked Laura.

"Beyond tired. Far beyond. Where are you and Lee going tonight?"

"Zeno's. We're meeting Zak and Maggie and Karl and Sharon. I guess you and Dad are staying in."

"Yes. When he leaves Bill's apartment, he's going by Channing's and get us something to eat. Then I'm going to take a long soak in the tub while John gets Braedon to bed."

Laura smiled and stopped. There was no reason to continue talking about what her plans for the rest of the evening involved. She was sure Kara's plans with Lee were very similar. It had been almost a week since Laura had ended an evening in John's arms. They had run into each other earlier as she was getting off the elevator and he was getting on.

He had his briefcase. "I'm going to Bill's for a couple of hours. I want to turn the redrawn maps over to him and talk. I think he's changed his mind about what we'll do on Nereid. I want to press my case for prisoner rescue."

"What did Jennet fix for dinner?"

"I told her not to bother cooking anything for tonight. I'll go by Channing's and pick up something on the way home."

She had kissed him quickly on the mouth while holding him tightly with one arm. They had shared a look that was a promise of the evening to come.

"Don't be too late," she had said with a smile.

They had shared another kiss, longer this time. The elevator doors had started to close. John had pulled away.

"If we keep this up, I won't go at all. The quicker I go, the sooner I'll be back."

She had walked into the apartment, the feeling of anticipation warm in her.

"Dada," Braedon now said and picked up the Raptor he had placed on the ottoman.

Kara went over and knelt beside him. She picked up a Viper. "This is what I fly. Can you say Viper?"

She smiled as Braedon silently tested the word before he showed her the Raptor and said again, "Dada."

"Your dada doesn't fly a Raptor," Kara said. "He knows how to, but he flew a Viper like me."

Laura said, "I think Maya has been showing him the ships."

Braedon picked up the Viper and said, "Kawa."

"He's smart," Kara said.

"Of course he is," Laura said with a smile. "Look who his parents are."

Kara sat on the couch. Braedon had a Raptor in one hand and a Raider in the other. He banged them together and smiled at her.

"Ouch," Kara laughed. "It's a good thing those toys are tough."

"I wonder if Cavil understands anything about children since he was created as an adult," Laura mused. "I doubt his creators bothered with giving him memories of childhood, and since the Cylons can't procreate, I'm sure he's never been around children."

"All of them were created as adults," Kara said. "I wonder if Cavil has ever seen the hybrid babies that were created in Baltar's lab."

"That's an interesting question."

"Lissa told my dad a long time ago that the hybrids were being raised by foster parents. I wonder if they know their kids are half-breeds. I guess Simon is still making them. I wonder how many there are now."

"Another interesting question," Laura said. "Maybe I'll ask Cavil once I take office. He will be in a prison cell then. Perhaps he'll be willing to trade some information for his life. With the resurrection ship near the ice planet destroyed, I would think he would be much more…amenable to answering questions. All of them should be."

"Lee told me that Admiral Adama hoped he got to put Cavil out an airlock on a battlestar one day."

"That might be very gratifying for Bill and me, but I don't know what it would gain us in the way of information."

"I saw the guys in dark suits and little ear pieces in the lobby."

"My guards," Laura said. "I didn't see any reason for them have to stand outside the apartment door for eight-hour shifts when the only way up is the elevator and there are security cameras everywhere."

"You don't seriously think somebody would…try something, do you?"

Laura leaned her head back on the chair and said wearily, "I'd like to think not, but I didn't win every vote on Caprica. There are always people like that Humphrey Browning who either don't agree with me politically or don't think a woman can or should lead the Colonies."

"I'm still glad you won," Kara said. "Even if it means we have to leave the apartment and live under a microscope for a few years."

"I know you and I have had our differences. I know a lot of them involved John. I've tried very hard to include him in all aspects of my life since we returned from the island last winter."

Kara nodded. "He's seemed a lot happier lately."

Laura took a deep breath. "Obviously he and I have had our problems, too. Our lives growing up were so very different…our backgrounds, so dissimilar. He's done a remarkable job of adapting to my world. I hope one day to be able to make it up to him."

"Spend some time on the island with him," Kara said. "He loves it down there, but he likes it better when you're with him."

"I think we can work that out." She chuckled. "My guards can pitch a tent."

"I guess I'd better finish getting ready or I'll be late," Kara said.

Laura leaned back and watched her son. Braedon had pulled off his shoes and now put a Viper in one of them. He was babbling to himself like he often did…the secret language of babies as she had come to think of it. Down the hall she heard Kara's hair dryer and then all sound faded temporarily as she slipped into a light sleep.

The doorbell awakened her. Braedon was no longer playing with his ships and shoes. He was standing with his hands on the terrace door looking out at the waning day. The bell chimed again and he turned and said, "Yaya." Maya.

Maya had a key, but she usually rang the doorbell before she entered. Laura got up in her stocking feet, picked up her son and carried him to the door with her. She looked out the peephole. Cavil stood outside and behind him two centurions. They looked huge.

Fear washed over her. She pressed the intercom. "What do you want?"

"To be invited in, Madame President."

"I'm not the President yet."

Cavil looked toward the ceiling for a moment. "Semantics. I'm thinking of our future."

Laura's mouth was suddenly so dry that she could hardly speak. "Can this not wait until tomorrow? We'll meet in my office."

"No, it can't wait. I'd advise you to let me in or my friends will break down the door."

Laura opened the door. "I won't have centurions in my apartment. They will have to wait outside."

Cavil looked at his two metal escorts and said, "Wait here. Don't let anyone in or out unless you know them."

Braedon was quiet in her arms and she wondered if he could sense the danger. With her heart pounding, Laura stood back and allowed Cavil to enter. Oh, gods. What would happen when John got off that elevator? He wouldn't be suspecting anything. She tried to imagine his reaction at seeing Cylon centurions outside their door. What would he do? What would the centurions do? How could she warn her husband?

Cavil strolled through the foyer and Laura quickly shut the door.

"Did you harm anyone downstairs?" She immediately asked.

"They were _persuaded_ to let us come up the elevator."

"Meaning?"

Cavil simply repeated his answer.

Oh, gods. Laura was certain that meant her guards had come to harm. And Doug, her faithful night doorman for as long as she had lived there, what had happened to him?

"I need to make a call."

"No calls, Madame President." Laura heard the humorous sarcasm as he used the title that was not hers yet.

Trying hard to control her trembling, she used her steeliest voice and repeated her question. "What do you want?"

"Where's your husband?"

"Out."

"And your stepdaughter?"

"I'm alone in here with my son."

Cavil walked into the den. He looked around. "Nice. My feelings are hurt that you've never invited me to one of your dinner parties."

"It would have been very difficult to find a dinner partner for you," Laura said with a sarcasm that matched his own. "I understand Natasi is back with her former lover and most human women find treason repugnant although I could possibly have _paid_ someone to do it. There are some women who will do anything for cubits...even sit across the table from someone like you."

Cavil laughed. He either didn't understand Laura's insult or it made no difference to him.

"Why are you and your centurions here?" Laura repeated the question a third time, saying it louder and enunciating each word, hoping Kara would hear her and stay in her room.

"Sit," Cavil said. It was not a request. It was an order.

Laura sat in her chair while Cavil wandered around the room. Braedon, who had gone easily to Lee and Billy and Scott Michelson clung to her. She kissed the top of his head and smoothed his hair.

Cavil was watching her reflection in the glass of the terrace door. "Your maternal instinct is very touching," he said continuing in the sarcastic tone. "But I should have known that day at the University when you _mothered_ those students into obedience that you had a knack for it."

"You didn't come here to discuss my maternal instincts. What do you want?"

"Tell me about Yolanda Brenn?"

"Who?"

Cavil didn't speak any louder but the sarcasm was gone, replaced by a tone of deadly seriousness. "Don't play dumb with me. I know you went to see her once."

"You mean the Oracle?" Laura asked. "Why are you asking _me_? I know nothing about her."

"What did she tell you?"

"That I should run for President. No. That's not accurate. She didn't say that. She told me that I would be called upon to serve and that I must heed the call. _I_ interpreted it to mean that I should run for President. It was _my_ decision."

Cavil processed her answer. "Your husband's daughter goes to see her frequently. What do they talk about?"

"That's Kara's business. She and I don't discuss it. Why are you asking me questions about an Oracle? You're an atheist. You said so that day at the University."

"The…prophecy of an Oracle isn't necessarily tied to a particular religion…or to any religion for that matter. The future is the future. Religion has nothing to do with the ability to see beyond the present."

Laura was emboldened by the barely noticeable hesitancy in Cavil's voice. "I went to see her once. I know nothing about her personally other than that she's blind."

"You haven't been honest with me," Cavil said and the look in his eyes took her breath. It was cold, perhaps evil, but there was certainly some madness there.

"I have. I've told you everything I know about the Oracle."

"You haven't told me about your son."

The fear that clutched Laura was so great that for a few long moments she couldn't speak.

Cavil prompted. "The Oracle told you something about your son."

Laura shook her head. "I don't remember her telling me anything about my son."

"You shouldn't lie to me, Madame President. How can you expect the citizens of Caprica to believe you if even I can see through your lies?"

Laura clutched Braedon and shook her head. She was trembling violently now. "No. The Oracle's words mean nothing. He's just a baby."

"You asked me why I'm here. I've come for your son," Cavil said softly. "I've come for the one who knows the way to Earth."

o

Kara heard the doorbell ring twice and then heard Laura's voice. She didn't pay much attention until she heard a man's voice that she couldn't identify. Not Lee. Not her father or Bill Adama. Not Billy. Not Scott Michelson. Something didn't feel right.

She took off her shoes, crept quietly down the hall and listened. She heard the sarcasm in the man's voice as he said, _They were persuaded to let us come up the elevator. _She didn't wait to hear anything else. She knew the voice now. She had heard it the previous day on television commenting about the election. Cavil. He was in their apartment. Laura would never have invited him over. Something was very, very wrong.

Kara tiptoed back to her room and pushed the door almost shut. Opening the closet door, she got the box with her mother's Mossinger pistol from the top shelf and sat on the floor on the other side of the bed. With trembling fingers she loaded bullets into the clip, inserted it and chambered a round.

Her heart was pounding and her mouth was dry. She couldn't go charging into the den with a loaded weapon. Laura and Braedon were in there. What if Cavil was armed? She tried to imagine the horror of her brother and stepmother caught in a deadly crossfire. Frak, oh frak. What to do? She could still hear the faint murmur of voices from the den.

She stood on her toes, felt along the top closet shelf and got her slingshot. Again she sat down beside the bed. She hadn't used the slingshot in almost three years. The rubber had degraded some, but she pulled it back. It held. It didn't break. She remembered how she had once hit rats in the head at over twenty feet. Was her aim still good enough? And what to use instead of the round stones that had been her arsenal back in the camp?

Bullets? No. She had never shot a bullet from a slingshot and didn't have any idea how it would behave aerodynamically or if it was even heavy enough to hurt. Coins? No. She needed something round, solid and heavy like a pebble.

She looked at her closet. Nothing came to mind. She began to hyperventilate and had to force herself to take deep breaths. She thought of the frigid night she had lain hyperventilating on the ground above the Cylon lab. Maybe the pistol was the best choice.

_Think, Kara, think._

Her eyes traveled around the room and stopped on the clear vase of silk flowers on her dresser. In the bottom were a dozen large round glass marbles that held the flowers in place. How many times had she secretly scoffed at Laura's attempt to decorate and feminize her bedroom? Now Kara silently thanked her.

She removed the flowers. Her hand was too large to fit through the neck of the vase. She put it on the floor and carefully tipped it over. The sound of the marbles seemed abnormally loud as they shifted. She quickly turned it upside down and poured the marbles onto the carpet. They were heavier than she had thought, heavier than some of the pebbles she had used to kill rats. She put three in the pocket of her jeans and palmed one.

Still in her bare feet, she walked back down the hall and listened. She listened until she heard Cavil say, "_I've come for your son. I've come for the one who knows the way to Earth_."

Kara stepped through the doorway. "I don't think so, motherfrakker."

She was still walking forward as she put the glass marble in the slingshot, pulled it back, aimed and let it go. Cavil's face barely had time to register her sudden appearance.

Laura turned abruptly at the sound of Kara's voice. By the time she looked back at Cavil, he had dropped to his knees with a surprised look. As Laura watched, he fell forward silently onto the carpet.

Kara was across the room and past Laura in running strides. She knelt beside Cavil and put her hand against his throat.

"Oh, dear gods," Laura said. "Is he…dead?"

"No, I can feel a pulse. I didn't want to kill him. He'd just download and then we'd all be in trouble. Big trouble. Go get something to tie him up. Gag him, too."

Laura stood. "There are two centurions outside our door. We've got to stop John from coming back up here."

"Lords of Kobol," Kara said. "Give me your phone."

"It's on the table. What can we tie him with?"

"Go get stockings or pantyhose and a washcloth."

Cavil moaned and twitched slightly. Kara put her knee in the small of his back.

"Hurry," Kara said harshly to Laura. "I don't want to have to hit him again."

Kara was beginning to tremble from the adrenalin. She looked at Cavil's head. There was a dark red mark in the center of his forehead. His skin was broken, but there was hardly any blood. The marble had bounced off but she didn't see it anywhere.

Kara took a breath and thought of that night at the lab again, of the neat round holes in the center of Simon's and Leoben's foreheads.

Clutching her son to her, Laura hurried to her bedroom. She grabbed several pairs of stockings from a dresser drawer and a washcloth from the bathroom. Back in the den, Kara quickly tied Cavil's hands behind his back and gagged him. She then tied a stocking around each ankle. She tested the bonds at his hand. Pulling on them only tightened them.

Laura grabbed her phone from the table. With a shaking hand she managed to get it open and scroll down to John's number. _I know you're talking to Bill, but please answer it._

He obviously recognized her number. "I'm getting ready to leave now."

"No. We've got a…situation…a problem."

He picked up the stress in her voice immediately. "What's wrong?"

"First. I'm okay. Kara's okay. Braedon's okay. But there are two centurions outside the apartment. Cavil…Cavil's…" Laura had to stop and take several deep breaths to keep from breaking down.

"I'm on my way," John said.

"You've got to be careful. I don't know what the situation is downstairs. I don't know what the two centurions will do if someone gets off that elevator. We're fine in here right now."

"You can't stay in there forever. Bill can have a platoon of Marines there in half an hour."

"It's too risky. The minute those Marines show up, the centurions could break down the door and kill us."

Kara said, "Give me the phone."

Laura looked up at her.

"I know what we need to do," Kara said. It had all suddenly fallen into place for her.

Laura handed the phone to her.

"Dad," she had to work hard to keep the tremor from her voice.

"Kara, are you all right?"

"Yeah." She took a deep breath. "I'm fine. Go get Leoben."

"What?" Kara heard the incredulous tone of his voice.

"He's one of them. If he can't get past those centurions and get us out, we'll go with the Marines."

"I can't go get Leoben because he _is_ one of them."

"Dad, listen to me. This is what the Oracle saw. This is how his destiny is tied to mine and mine is tied to Braedon's."

"No, Kara. No!"

"Please. Do it. Please. If it doesn't work, we'll do it however you and Admiral Adama want to do it. And call Lee. He's expecting me. I'm already late."

"Stay by the phone. Call me right away if something changes."

The call ended.

Kara sat back against the side of the chair. Cavil had begun to regain consciousness. He moaned.

"Shut up," Kara said, "or I'll shoot you again."

Braedon began to fret.

"He wants his bottle," Laura said.

"Go fix one for him. I'll watch this piece of crap."

Laura got up and carried her son to the kitchen. Only when she was at the refrigerator did she realize how much her legs were shaking. Braedon was crying harder now.

"Shhhh," she whispered and rocked him back and forth as the bottle warmed. "You're safe. Your big sister saved you. She saved us."

Laura walked back into the den. "Any word from John?"

"It's only been five minutes," Kara said. She heard a faint noise. "My phone. I'll be right back." She sprinted down the hall, grabbed the phone from her dresser and looked at the caller ID. Lee.

"I'm okay," she said.

"What's going on?" Lee asked, the concern evident in his voice.

"I'm enjoying some quality time with Laura and Braedon," she said lightly. "And Cavil…although he's not talking too much right now. It's probably the washcloth stuffed in his mouth."

"Lords of Kobol, Kara."

"He came to get Braedon. That's what he told Laura. He thinks Braedon knows the way to Earth, but don't tell that to my dad yet. Where are you?"

"On my way over there."

"You can't come upstairs. Laura said there were two centurions outside the door. Cavil told them not to let anybody in or out unless they knew them."

"Okay. Okay. I'm going to call John back. I'll go wherever he and my dad are. Please, be careful. I love you."

"I love you, too. Don't let my dad do anything stupid. Please. He's going to take this really personally."

"Don't worry. We'll get you out of there."

"I know you will. I told my dad to get Leoben. Make sure he does it."

"Leoben?" Lee said skeptically.

"Get him, please. He's the key to getting us out of here. This is where his destiny and mine cross. I believe this, Lee. I really believe this. Yolanda Brenn saw it."

"Keep your phone with you and call me if something changes," Lee said.

The call ended.

Kara walked back into the den with her phone in her hand.

Laura was still holding Braedon. The bottle was nearly empty and his eyes were almost closed.

"That was Lee," Kara said quietly. "He's going to join my dad and Bill. They'll get Leoben and he'll get us out of here."

"Do you really believe Leoben will help us?"

"Yes," Kara said and prayed that she was right.

o

Lee called John's number. "Where are you?" He asked as soon as John answered.

"We're in the lobby of my apartment building. There's no one here. Not Doug, not Laura's guards. Nobody."

"That's not good," Lee said.

"No. Where are you?"

"In my car on the way over there. Are you going to get Leoben?"

John hesitated. "I know that's what Kara wants me to do, but he's a frakking Cylon. Do you really think he'll help us or do you think he'll march in there with the centurions, let Cavil go and then hold my wife and my daughter and my son hostage?"

"Kara has faith in him."

"Well I don't. Neither does your father. Don't tell me you do."

"I have faith in Kara. I trust her."

"Kara got hung up on something Yolanda Brenn told her and she made it into a prophecy concerning hers and Leoben's fates or destinies being tied together."

"So you're going to dismiss your daughter's feelings completely and you and my dad are going to go charging up there and maybe get _everybody_ killed."

"We're not going to do anything that stupid. He's got Marines on the way now."

"I'm going to get Leoben," Lee said. "I should be there in thirty minutes. Sit tight until then. And tell my dad to sit tight. Kara will call us if something changes."

"Lee…" Lee ended the call before John could say anything else. His phone rang almost immediately. He glanced at the caller ID. John. He ignored it and let it go to voice mail. Just before he pulled up in front of the bookstore, he listened to the message.

"_Gods damn it, Lee. Call me right now._"

Lee had never heard John that angry. It gave him a moment of pause before his resolve hardened. He got out of his car.

Kara had told him once that Leoben lived above the bookstore. Lee began knocking on the front door and rattling it. He used his car keys and tapped on the glass. He kept it up for two full minutes before he saw a light come on in the back of the shop. Slowly and cautiously Leoben made his way to the front door.

"Are you crazy?" Leoben shouted through the glass at Lee. "I'm closed. Come back in the morning or I'm going to call the cops." He turned to go.

"Kara sent me," Lee shouted. Leoben stopped and turned around but didn't come back to the door. "I'm Lee Adama. I'm her boyfriend." Lee took his military ID out of his billfold and pressed it against the door.

Leoben finally walked to the door. He studied the card through the glass before he unlocked the door and opened it about a foot. He didn't invite Lee in.

"Talk," Leoben said.

"Cavil came for Kara's brother tonight. I know this sounds crazy, but…" Leoben held up his hand.

"Is Kara all right?"

"She's fine."

"Cavil? Did she kill him?"

"No. She knocked him out. There are two centurions outside the apartment door. Cavil told them not to let anyone in or out unless they knew him."

"What do you think I can do?"

"Kara thinks this is how your fate and hers are linked. She wants me to bring you to the apartment."

Leoben studied Lee. "I repeat. What do you think I can do?"

"You're one of them," Lee said.

Leoben gave him the closest thing to a smile that he had seen so far. "By one of _them _you mean I'm a Cylon?"

"Yes."

"And if I go with you and help you, what's to stop you from putting me in a little cell and leaving me there?"

Lee wanted to reach through the small space and grab the front of Leoben's shirt. Instead he controlled himself. "Kara's fate is not to die at the hands of two centurions. Her brother's fate is not to lead Cavil to Earth."

"No," Leoben finally said.

"Look, I can't promise you what will happen afterward, but if you help me get Kara and Laura and her brother out of that apartment safely, I'll do everything I can to see that you get a fair deal."

"A fair deal," Leoben mused. "How does Kara's father feel about me helping?"

"Why do you think I'm the one who's here?"

Leoben snorted softly and took some keys out of his pocket. He exited and locked the door. "That's your car? A little pricey for a lieutenant, isn't it?"

"It belonged to my mother," Lee said as he got in and started the engine. He had told John thirty minutes. He sped back across town, keeping his eye partially on the rearview mirror, waiting to see flashing lights behind him and trying to imagine explaining to a cop why he had run three red lights.

Lee pulled into the road that circled in front of John and Laura's apartment building. Military vehicles were parked all around the curb and twoEmergency Medical Vehicles sat in front of the door, lights flashing.

"Wait here," Lee said to Leoben before he got out. He rushed toward the building and was promptly stopped by a Marine. He pulled out the military ID again. "I'm Lee Adama. My father is inside." The Marine let him pass.

John and Bill stood off to one side of the lobby.

"What's going on?" Lee asked.

"We found Laura's guards."

"Dead?"

Bill nodded.

"The EMTs are trying to stabilize Doug enough to transport him," John said. "It doesn't look good." There was a catch in John's voice. "He's a nice harmless guy."

"What kind of plans have you made?"

Bill said, "I'm going to put an assault team in the fire escape stairwell while another one drops down from the terrace above in case the centurions try to enter the apartment."

"Isn't that kind of risky?" Lee asked.

"Come up with something better," John said.

"I've got him out in my car," Lee said.

John turned on him. "No."

Lee finally lost his temper. "You think your way is any less dangerous? It would take those Cylons seconds to break down that door. Not to mention the rest of them would probably know what was happening."

"You really think those centurions are in communication with someone?" Bill asked.

"Are you willing to bet all of our lives that they're not? Right now they're standing outside the door waiting on Cavil. What are you going to do if you start shooting and a transport carrier shows up with fifty centurions? How many of us do you think they'll leave alive?"

Lee saw John and Bill look at each other. "Bring him here," Bill said.

Lee went back to the car and motioned to Leoben. He got out. Together they walked back through the line of Marines.

Inside the lobby the EMTs were pushing a gurney. The sheet was blood-stained in places, but one of the techs was still squeezing a breathing bag. John walked over to them. Lee didn't think he had ever seen Doug without his cap. He didn't know the kind and respectful doorman was bald on top.

He took Leoben over to his father. "Dad, this is Leoben Conoy. Leoben, this is my father."

The men did not exchange handshakes or even greetings. His father eyed Leoben warily.

"How can you help us do this without bloodshed?"

"Is that why I'm here? To avoid bloodshed?"

Lee took out his phone and called Kara's mobile number. She answered before the first ring was through. "Lee?"

"I've got somebody for you to talk to." He handed the phone to Leoben. "Kara."

Leoben put the phone to his ear. He sounded almost amused. "So this is where our destinies meet? I hadn't expected anything quite this…dramatic."

"The centurions will recognize you," Kara said. "You can get in and then get us out with you. My little brother is here." Her voice caught. "He's just a baby. Please."

"Cavil?"

"He's here, too. I knocked him out, but he's conscious now. I've got him gagged or I'd have had to knock him out again to shut him up."

"Will you give me a few minutes to talk to him?"

"If you get past those centurions, you can say anything you want to him. You just can't kill him…yet."

"Deal." Leoben turned to Lee. "I'll give it a shot if I get some time alone with Cavil."

Lee looked at his father. Bill said, "One of us goes up to the apartment with him."

John walked back over to them. He shook his head. "Fifty-fifty for Doug." He looked at Leoben.

"Major Gallagher, we meet again. I liked it better when you came to my bookstore."

Bill said, "We're going to let Leoben try to get them out. I'm going with him."

"The hell you are," John said. "I'm going. That's my wife and daughter and son in our apartment."

"Dad," Lee said and gave him a meaningful look, "we can't risk _you_ going up there. We can't risk John, either. I'll do it. Otherwise you two will spend the next hour fighting over who gets to go." He looked at Leoben. "Elevator or stairs?"

Leoben seemed almost amused. "How many floors?"

"Five," John answered.

"We'll take the elevator," Leoben said to Lee. "For your sake."

Lee gave John a slight eye roll.

Bill motioned to one of the Marines who brought over an earpiece and battery pack. He pointed to Lee. The Marine clipped it on the back of Lee's belt and fed the wire under the back of his t-shirt. Lee adjusted the piece in his ear.

"We'll be listening," Bill said. "If anything goes wrong, you say _X-Ray_ and you hit the floor." He glanced at Leoben. "Both of you."

Lee looked at John and saw the anguish in his eyes. "We'll get them out. I promise."

"That's my life in there. If even one of them gets so much as a scratch, I will take Cavil apart with my bare hands."

Lee put his hand on John's arm and lifted his eyes to his friend's face. "You'll have to fight me for the chance." Without another word, they understood each other completely.

"Give me your keys," Lee said. John took them out of his pocket and handed them over after showing Lee the correct key.

"I'd better call Kara and tell her you're on the way up. She's got her mother's pistol. I wouldn't want her to shoot you by mistake."

Lee and Leoben walked to the elevator and Lee pressed the button for up. "Getting on the elevator," he said.

The doors closed. Lee pressed five and the elevator began to rise.

"Let me get off first," Leoben said. "Which way is the apartment."

"To the right."

The elevator stopped. The doors opened. Leoben stepped out, turned right and Lee followed. The centurions seemed enormous. Lee tried to imagine what kind of firepower it would take to bring them down.

"Just so you'll know," Leoben said, "I'm winging this. I have no memory of interacting with these…machines."

"You're doing fine. They haven't started shooting yet."

Leoben stopped in front of the first centurion. "Cavil sent for us," he said.

The red eye scanned him, back and forth. Avoiding eye contact Lee stepped up to the apartment door and used the key. The centurion made no attempt to stop him.

They went inside, shutting the door behind them. Lee breathed a sigh of relief. "We're inside," he said for his father's sake. "No problem so far."

He walked to the door of the den. Laura sat in her chair with her sleeping son in her arms. Kara put her mother's pistol on the cabinet before she threw herself into Lee's arms. They didn't speak and for a few moments simply clung to one another. Then Lee was business again.

Leoben had walked over to Cavil, who was tied to a straight-back chair that Lee recognized as coming from the kitchen. There was a washcloth stuffed in his mouth that had been wrapped several times around with what looked like a silk stocking. His legs were tied to the chair legs.

"How is John?" Laura asked softly.

"Bouncing off the walls down in the lobby, but he'll be fine as soon as he sees you and Kara and Braedon."

Leoben walked around Cavil looking at him.

"You didn't think I'd remember, did you?"

Cavil made a series of furious sounds behind the gag.

"It hurt getting shot before I bled out on the floor. Who cleaned it up? Was it one of your slave centurions, or did you make one of us do it? Did you bring in another Two and make him do it? Make him clean up my blood? Or did you get your Pet Eight to do it?"

Cavil was jerking the chair, trying to throw himself at Leoben.

Leoben walked behind the chair, grabbed Cavil by his hair and jerked his head back. "I think the word you've been trying to say is _traitor_. Well you made me what I am today. You thought you'd taken away all the memories, didn't you? You thought I'd run my bookstore and study humans and learn about their greed and their depravity. You didn't know I'd come to see you as a cold-blooded murderer of your own kind, did you?"

Still holding Cavil's head back, Leoben spat in his face.

"We need to go," Kara said.

Leoben looked at her. "I guess I've said all I want to say."

He went back to the door of the apartment and opened it. Lee heard him tell the centurions to go back to Cavil's residence. He waited a few moments and came back into the den. "They must be programmed to obey only Cavil on an order like that. They're not budging."

"How do they recognize Cavil?" Kara asked. "His voice? What?"

"His eyes. Their red eye reads his. It's a retinal scan."

"That's how they recognized you?"

"Yes. They might use voice scans, too."

Lee said, "Leoben, I want you to walk Laura and Kara out of here. I'll stay with Cavil. Then you can come back and we'll take him out with us. We'll need something to cover his head. We don't want those centurions seeing his eyes."

Kara went to her bedroom and came back with a pillowcase. She handed it to Lee. "I'm staying with you."

"No, you're not. You're leaving with Laura and your brother."

She shook her head.

"Frak, Kara. Now is not the time to be stubborn."

She smiled. "Yes, it is."

Leoben walked to the door with Laura. He opened it. "Cavil told me to take her downstairs."S

The centurions made no move to stop them. Laura struggled with her impulse to run toward the elevator. The wait for the doors to open seemed like minutes when it was only ten seconds. They stepped inside. The doors closed.

Her knees almost buckled. She felt Leoben's arm under her elbow supporting her. "He was going to take my son," she said as the tears stung her eyes. She looked at Leoben. "Thank you."

He nodded.

The elevator doors opened. She fell into John's arms. Bill motioned for the Marines to stand down.

"I'm going back for Kara and Lee," Leoben said. "And Cavil."

Upstairs, Lee put his arms around Kara again and held her. "You were right," he said softly. "Leoben helped us."

"No, it wasn't me who was right. It was Yolanda Brenn. She saw it all. The dark force that tried to take Braedon and failed. The Cylon who didn't know what he was who would help me. She saw it all, and now that frakking skinjob has taken her, and the gods only know what he's done with her."

"Leoben is coming back. We're going to try to take Cavil out of here. Maybe you'll get a chance to ask him where she is."

"Whatever your father does to Cavil, he can't kill him. The minute he downloads on the resurrection ship, they'll communicate it to the basestar. I can't even guess what they'll do then."

"We can't hold Cavil somewhere for very long before Doral or Simon or one of the other Cylons will start asking questions. For all we know, he might have some kind of homing device on him. They may be able to find him no matter where we take him."

The doorbell rang and Kara jumped.

"I've still got the keys," Lee said. He let Leoben into the apartment.

Kara slid the pillowcase over Cavil's head. She snickered. "That's a real improvement," she said to him.

Lee got on one side of Cavil and grasped his arm while Leoben got on the other. Kara cut the stockings that tied his ankles to the legs of the chair.

"You go first," Lee said to her. "We're right behind you."

Kara grabbed the big diaper bag that Laura had packed for Braedon and then left behind. Together they exited the apartment. Cavil struggled furiously, but Lee and Leoben held him. They made it to the elevator and rode down to the lobby.

As soon as the doors opened, several burly Marines grabbed Cavil and hustled him toward a waiting transport. Six heavily armed Marines got on the elevator as soon as they got off.

Her father caught Kara in a numbingly-tight hug. "Remind me one of these days to listen to your crazy ideas."

"Yeah," she said. "Remind me one of these days to say _I told you so._ Where are they taking Cavil?"

"Somewhere he can be questioned."

"You don't think he's going to give anything up, do you?"

"Probably not."

"What's going on with the Marines going up the elevator?"

"We may need to have some repairs made to the apartment door…and the wall…and maybe the carpet, too."

"Those Marines have gone up to take out the centurions?"

Her father nodded.

"With rubber bullets?"

"No. They brought their real guns tonight."

Lee walked over to them.

Kara saw another group of Marines taking Leoben away.

"What's going to happen to him?"

"I don't know."

"He helped us. He saved a lot of lives tonight, ours included."

"I'm sure Bill will take that into consideration. In the meantime he's going to be the government's guest."

"Where're Laura and Brae?"

"Sitting in the security room with a dozen Marines guarding them. She could barely stand up. Bill's already talked to Adar. They're getting a room ready for her and Brae at Marble House."

"Is that where we're going, too?"

When John didn't answer right away, Kara looked at Lee.

"I just talked to my dad. He thinks with everything that has happened tonight, we've passed a point of no return. We're to head out to the airbase."

"Meaning?"

"Bill moved up the timeline," John said. "He's already got phase one of his plan in motion. The battlestars are taking care of their centurions and arming their weapons. Operation Nemesis started almost an hour ago."

TBC…


	74. Operation Nemesis

Chapter 74

Operation Nemesis

_The incident which was responsible for starting the hostilities that eventually resulted in the freeing of Caprica from Cylon rule was never fully explained to the media or the public. Rumors abounded that it involved the attempted kidnapping of Laura Roslin's son by a group of Cylons was never confirmed. _

_- Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War_

Laura Roslin sat in the small security room of her apartment building with her son in her arms, rocking him gently back and forth, humming a wordless tune to him. He had been startled awake by the shouts and noise in the lobby as they had exited the elevator and had begun to cry and cling to her, but he was finally sleeping again, his little hand still clutching the front of her blouse, the pacifier moving rhytmically as he sought its comfort even in his dreams.

One of the Marines had turned off the bright overhead fluorescent light and the room was illuminated now only by the dozen small monitors for the apartment's security cameras. Laura watched several of them as they changed every few seconds like a kaleidoscope, moving floor by floor showing the hallways. Marines were everywhere except the fifth floor where the two centurions still kept their vigil per Cavil's instructions.

One camera was focused exclusively on the lobby and the elevator. Laura saw Kara exit the apartment followed by Lee and Leoben with Cavil held tightly between them. He looked absurd with a pink flowered pillowcase over his head and pieces of her stockings trailing from his ankles. It was the closest she had come to smiling since the whole ordeal began. The elevator door closed. Laura scanned the rows of monitors.

She saw Kara get off the elevator in the lobby followed by Lee and Leoben holding a still-struggling Cavil between them. She saw a group of Marines take Cavil and another group take Leoben. She turned to the Marine seated beside her.

"Make sure that _no harm_ comes to the man with my stepdaughter. Make sure that no harm comes to _either_ of them. I know they're Cylons, but they will _not_ be shot trying to escape or roughed up for resisting arrest. Do I make myself clear? The President and I will deal with them. That's an order. Make sure _everyone_ understands it."

"Yes, ma'am." He got up and left the room and another Marine took his place in the chair beside her.

Laura watched the lobby monitor as John stood with his arms wrapped around his daughter. The security system had no sound, but she saw Kara look up at him, say something and smile.

Kara's presence of mind tonight had been astonishing, beginning with the moment she had walked through the doorway and shot Cavil with her slingshot and a large glass marble that Laura had later found on the carpet as she helped Kara drag the semi-conscious Cylon upright and tie him to a chair. Laura doubted she would have thought to gag Cavil to keep him from calling out for his centurions, but Kara had realized the importance of keeping him quiet. She had even thought calmly enough to tell her father and Lee to get Leoben. And Leoben had saved their lives.

Laura knew they would have to hold Leoben with the other Cylons for a while, but she intended to see that after the basestars were destroyed and Caprica was purged of its centurions, he was set free to return to his bookstore. The fate of the others would not be so benign, although Laura had not yet decided what she wanted their fate to be. Cavil and Simon and Doral would spend the rest of their lives in prison or face a firing squad. She wasn't sure what to do with Natasi and D'Anna. Only a handful of people even knew Biers was a Cylon and so far she didn't know what, if any, D'Anna's crimes against humanity had been other than what she was.

Maybe D'Anna was like Leoben and Sharon, Cylon copies sent to Caprica by Cavil to learn about humans. Since the day Biers had shown up at the airbase and helped her and Bill get three large transports of food and medical supplies to the camps, Laura had developed a cordial relationship with the reporter. She had always viewed her warily, but so far D'Anna had done nothing to make Laura think her purpose on Caprica was cause for alarm. Leoben and Sharon had betrayed their own kind, each for different reasons, but did that mean D'Anna would as well?

Did D'Anna even know what she was? Leoben hadn't known for a long time. If not for Kara, he might never have known. But John, like Bill, had never trusted any of them, including the quiet Cylon who ran a bookstore. John and Bill had always believed that they were infiltrators or sleepers, put among them for some nefarious Cylon purpose.

Laura, however, had heard the quiet hatred in Leoben's voice as he'd spoken to Cavil. Was that an act? He had spit in his leader's face. Laura knew of no greater insult that could be paid to a person, but she was too confused and tired right now to try to decide if Leoben had been sincere in his hatred or not. There would be time to question the humanoid Cylons later.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Bill came to the doorway of the room. The Marine stood and came to attention.

"Wait outside," Bill said.

When they were alone he sat down in the chair beside her and gently squeezed the lower part of her arm. "How are you holding up?"

Since Monday she had gotten very little sleep, but she still smiled faintly. "I'm managing."

"We've evacuated the building. President Adar is sending his special armored vehicle for you and your son. As soon as you're away from here, we're going to take out the centurions."

Laura glanced at the bank of monitors. The Marines were obviously ready and awaiting the signal to attack.

"The guards who were working tonight, how are they? And Doug?"

"Both guards are dead. John said the EMTs told him that Doug has a fifty-fifty chance."

"Oh, gods," Laura said as tears filled her eyes. "Those fine young men. They're dead because of me. And Doug is gravely wounded. He always treated _everyone_ with such respect."

"Those young men knew the risk of guarding a President-elect," Bill said gently. "It goes with the job."

Something hardened inside of her. "The Cylons will pay."

"Yes, they will. I've already spoken with Adar. I've put my plan into effect. We can't wait for the solstice. We're going tonight."

"Tonight?" Laura wasn't sure she had heard him correctly. "Are we ready?"

"I would have liked another month to work on the details, but technically we're ready."

"And you think we can do it on such short notice?"

"How long do you think it will be before the Cylons realize that something has happened to their leader? How long do you think we can hide Cavil before they start looking for him? The minute they realize he's missing, they'll be on alert status. We'll have lost the element of surprise. We don't have a choice. When Cavil tried to take your son in some insane plan of his to find Earth, he crossed a line. It was a point of no return. Without even knowing it, he forced my hand. It's got to be tonight."

Laura closed her eyes. She was so tired right now that she could barely think. She was going to have to trust that Bill had made the right decision. She opened her eyes and looked at him. Even through her crushing fatigue she recognized his feelings for her still glowing in his dark blue eyes, the love and concern as she had faced death once again and had come away alive. He dropped his gaze.

"Let's get you outside," he said softly. "I want you out of here and in a safe place. I've advised Adar to take you and his family and staff and go to the bunker. We're going to take out that basestar before sunrise. My battlestars will do the same with the other basestars. They're ready and waiting my orders."

John came to the door. "Adar's car is here for Laura and Braedon."

Bill helped Laura to her feet. In a daze she walked to the door where John put his arm around her. They walked through the lobby filled with Marines and out into the cold night.

Laura said. "I need a blanket for Braedon."

"Kara's got it."

Lee and Kara stood outside the apartment's front entrance. Kara had the diaper bag slung over her shoulder.

"We need a blanket," John said.

Kara opened the bag and got the blanket out. Carefully she wrapped it around her brother. He stirred but didn't open his eyes. The pacifier moved rhythmically.

Laura looked at her stepdaughter. "You saved us tonight. You saved my son. I will never be able to thank you enough."

John turned to Kara. "Could you hold your brother for a minute? I need to talk to Laura…alone."

Without saying a word, Kara took Braedon. John took Laura's hand and led her twenty paces down the sidewalk.

Laura looked up at him. His face was backlit by the streetlamp and it was hard to see his eyes.

"I'm sorry our date didn't work out tonight," he said lightly. "I can't tell you how much I was looking forward to it."

"You're not coming with me, are you?"

"You and Brae will be safe with President Adar. I'm going to ride out to the airbase with Kara and Lee and Bill. My little girl's going up in a Viper tonight. So is my best friend. That's where I need to be."

Again a terrible fear clutched her. She began to tremble. "But you're not going to…do anything…please…"

He took her face in his hands. "This is my fight, too, Laura. I love you. Just remember that." She put her arms around him and he crushed her to him. "By morning this will all be over one way or another. By morning we'll either be free of the Cylons or we'll be dead."

"Please don't leave me. Promise me…"

She heard his voice warm against her ear, the light, teasing tone he had used so often as they had gotten to know each other. "Don't worry. You're not going to get rid of me that easy."

"I love you so much," she said to him.

He pulled back slightly and looked at her. She still couldn't see his eyes and then he kissed her gently. Their first kiss had been on this same sidewalk on that magical snowy evening she had realized she was falling in love with him. His arms tightened around her and the kiss deepened with the passion they shared.

Kara rocked Braedon gently back and forth and looked at her father kiss Laura. Suddenly she was back on Picon, standing in a stolen ship, watching her mother kiss her father, not even knowing yet who he was. Kara sucked in her breath. No. No. Nothing like that was going to happen tonight. Unable to watch she looked down at her brother. Lee had turned toward her and was also looking at the sleeping child. He tucked the blanket tighter around Braedon's shoulder.

Kara didn't look up until she was aware that her father and Laura had ended the kiss and moved off down the sidewalk.

With John's arm still tight around her, Laura followed the sidewalk until they came to the heavy, dark SUV with tinted windows. An ensign was standing beside the vehicle. He snapped to attention and saluted before he opened the back door. John helped her get seated and then beckoned to Kara. She carried Braedon to the SUV and placed him in Laura's arms.

John leaned over and kissed his sleeping son. "I love you, Brae," he said softly.

Laura looked at her husband just before he shut the door. He smiled at her and then the door closed. The SUV began to move. Her son stirred in her arms. She tucked the blanket around him and began humming softly again. After a few moments tears spilled from her eyes and she choked, unable to sing even a few words of the age-old lullaby.

_Bye, baby Bunting,_ _Daddy's gone a-hunting…_

o

Kara, Lee, John and Bill sat in the back of a personnel carrier as it sped toward the airbase. Bill had been on his mobile phone almost constantly for the last twenty minutes.

When he finally closed the phone for a moment, John asked him. "How many pilots?"

"More than I thought," Bill said. "Almost a hundred so far. I've still got people making calls. We may do better than that."

"There are some pilots home on leave from the _Galactica_," Kara said. "Are you including them?"

"My staff has got the shore-leave rosters for all the battlestars. They're calling them in as fast as they can."

"Do we have enough Vipers?" Lee asked.

"We've got fifty-two at the airbase. We've got another two hundred thirty Mark IIs at the boneyard that the Cylons think are junk. I seriously doubt we can get that many pilots on this short notice, but all those Vipers will fly."

"There's no runway at the boneyard," Lee said.

"Yes, there is," Bill replied. "We keep enough equipment on it that it doesn't look like a runway. By the time we're ready to launch our Vipers, it will be cleared. It's not a long runway, but it's long enough to get them in the air."

Kara looked at her father. "_You're_ not going up in a Viper." It was a statement, not a question.

He smiled. "No, baby. I'm not going up in a Viper."

Bill said, "Colonel Tigh's been at the airbase for the last half hour. Once we've got fifty pilots there, he's got transports ready to take the rest of the pilots to the boneyard."

"I thought Colonel Tigh was on the _G_," Lee said.

"He's home on leave," Kara said. "He was on the transport ship last Friday."

Kara glanced at her father. For a moment he had that, _oh great_ look on his face and then he managed to look impassive once again. She knew what he was probably thinking. He was probably wondering if Saul Tigh was sober enough to handle the admiral's orders.

The transport was waved through the gates and sped along until it pulled up outside the main hangar. They all got out.

"There are extra flight suits in the locker rooms," Bill said. "I know yours is on the _Galactica_, but I'm sure you can find one, Kara."

Kara remembered the last time she had been out here at the hangar, the day of her graduation from Flight School. The folding chairs were gone. The hangar was full of Vipers. Other Vipers were lined up outside. Pilots in flight suits were milling around.

"Admiral on deck," Tigh bellowed as Bill walked through the door.

Kara saw every pilot and crewman come to attention. Bill motioned to Tigh and Tigh shouted, "As you were."

Tigh had a clipboard and Bill walked over to him.

"I'm going with Lee to the locker room," her father said softly to Kara. "I'd like to avoid the meet and greet with Tigh for as long as I can. We'll see you outside in a few minutes."

"Yeah," Kara answered. "It might take more than a few minutes if I have to hunt for a flight suit."

Lee and John walked into the men's locker room. There were several other pilots in there changing.

"You haven't told her, have you?" Lee asked John.

John shook his head. "Do you blame me? I was always the backup pilot. If this had gone down on the solstice, there would have been no need. Besides, they might still find Bill's Raptor pilot."

"He's not at home and he's not answering his mobile phone," Lee said.

John smiled. "He's a top-notch pilot, but he likes the ladies. I can guess why he's not answering his phone."

"Sort of like somebody else I know."

Before John walked down the row of lockers, he said, "That's all in my past and you know it. Besides, I got a brand new flight suit for my _consulting work_." He stopped in front of a locker that said, _Gallagher, J_ and punched in a code.

Lee punched in the code to his own locker. He sat on the bench and removed his shoes. He stripped off his jeans and button-up shirt. He pulled off the t-shirt. He thought briefly of what he had planned to be doing tonight when he took off his clothes…or Kara took them off for him. He wondered when they would next get the chance to be together like that and then he put the thought out of his mind. There were more important things to think about right now.

"How many times have you taken that Raptor up?" He asked John.

"Not nearly as many times as I wish I had now. Maybe half a dozen. I never thought I'd be doing this. I was always just the backup. Bill never thought I'd be doing it either. He's probably sorry now that he said _yes _when I suggested it. Hell, I just wanted to make sure it would work and that Bill wasn't sending a good pilot to his death."

"What's your verdict?"

"If everything goes according to the plan, it should work."

Lee stepped into the flight suit and pulled it halfway up before he sat down on the bench again and put on his boots.

"There's a lot riding on what we do tonight," Lee said.

"That's an understatement. What you really mean is there's a lot riding on what _I_ do tonight."

"We're all in this together, John."

"If I do my job right, that basestar won't get the chance to launch a single Raider."

Lee didn't say anything. There were so many things that could go wrong starting with those Cylon homing beacons, or what the scientists thought were homing beacons. They might not work or might not work right. They might not even be homing beacons at all. There had been no real way to test them. If the Cylons had visual monitoring of everything that approached the basestar, it might not matter. John could fly a perfect mission and it still might not matter. Lee knew that a basestar housed almost eight hundred Raiders. What were the chances that not a single Raider would be launched? What were the chances that they wouldn't have to fight?

Noel Allison and Dwight Saunders rushed into the locker room. "Lee," Narcho said. "We just got called to report to the airbase right away for some kind of drill. What's going on?"

"Hey, Narcho, hey Flat Top" Lee said. "Get suited up. My dad will tell everybody in a few minutes."

John zipped the flight suit up to his neck and turned. "Good evening, gentlemen. We appreciate you giving up some of your shore leave to help us out."

Lee heard the surprise in Saunders' voice. "Major Gallagher?"

John took the helmet and gloves off the top shelf of his locker before he closed the door. He walked back over to Lee. "I need to talk to Kara. She's not going to take this too well."

"I know," Lee said.

"I'm not going to mention that you knew anything about it. It will be easier. That way she can be mad at me and not at both of us."

The two men looked at each other for a minute. Lee felt a lump forming in his throat. "The next time we go to Zeno's, the drinks are on me."

John grinned. "That'll be a first." He squeezed Lee's shoulder. "Take care of my daughter. She loves you."

Lee nodded. He couldn't speak as John walked out of the locker room.

"We're going to war, aren't we?" Narcho asked. "This isn't any drill. This is the real thing, isn't it?"

Lee finally found his voice. "Yeah, Narch, we're going to war."

o

Kara was lucky. The third suit she tried fit her well enough that it would work. And it was new. She found new tanks, gloves and shoes. She found an empty locker and threw her jeans and sweater inside. She quickly got into the flight suit and sat on the bench to put on the boots. She made sure the seal around the legs of her suit was tight. She checked the metal loops that would attach to the ejection mechanism in the Viper, the part that would jerk her feet back against the seat if she had to eject. It was part of the split second chain of events that happened when a pilot pulled that yellow-and-black-striped handle. It kept her legs from being cut off by the front of the cockpit as she and her seat were fired straight up.

She knew the sequence by heart. She had written it on tests and quoted it to her flight instructors enough. The pilot's feet were jerked backward at the same time explosive bolts fired and blew the canopy away. Then explosives under the seat fired, and the pilot was subjected to a force of sixteen Gs as he was propelled up and out of the cockpit. The entire sequence took less than a second. That's why when they saw it in training films, it was always slowed down and shown frame by frame.

Kara took a deep breath. Ejecting from a ship was a brutal experience under any circumstances and one to be avoided if at all possible. That's why it was covered so extensively in Flight School. It was a last resort to save a pilot's life, but it didn't come risk or pain free. She checked the metal rings again.

Kara glanced up just as Seelix walked in. She was wearing makeup.

"Hot date?" Kara asked.

"What the hell is going on?" Seelix asked. "And what the hell is your father doing standing outside the locker room wearing a flight suit? How lame is it calling a drill during our shore leave?"

Hot and then cold washed over Kara. She grabbed her helmet and gloves. "He…so…lied to me," she said angrily as she slammed the door of the locker, stormed out and almost ran into her father.

"Just what the hell do you think you're doing? You told me you weren't going to take a Viper up and you lied…"

"Whoa, Kara. Slow down. I didn't lie. I'm not taking a Viper up."

"Then what's this?" She grabbed the sleeve of his flight suit. "You decided to dress up for us? This is not some frakking costume party."

"Kara. Just stop talking for a minute and listen to me because I've got to go. Bill can't find his Raptor pilot. I'm taking the Raptor and the Raider loaded with explosives up to the basestar."

Kara was still furious. "When did you decide to do this? Thirty minutes ago?"

"I was always the backup pilot," John said gently. "You don't plan an operation like this without having a backup for everything. Bill never thought I'd be the one in that Raptor. I didn't either, but guess what?"

"No, you can't," she said stubbornly. "You don't fly a Raptor."

"Yes, I do."

Suddenly her anger evaporated as the reality of what he was going to do sank in. She was the little girl back at Singer's airport again. Her lip began to tremble. "No, please…"

"Kara, don't cry. Don't. Come on, suck it up. Be tough." He struggled to smile. "You've got to be tough so I can be tough. I'll be back as soon as I make a special delivery to that basestar. You've got to be ready in case they manage to launch any of their Raiders. This is what you trained to do. You're going to be fine."

They looked at each other for a long time, each acknowledging the danger of what the other had to do.

He put his arms around her. "I've loved you since the minute I first saw you." He kissed her forehead.

She was struggling not to cry, struggling harder than she had that night at Singer's little airport. She nodded.

"Don't worry, baby. I've got more lives than a cat. Now I've got to go. The longer we wait, the greater the chance that the Cylons are going to figure out what we're doing."

With her father's arm around her shoulders, they walked down the corridor and out into the hangar. Bill Adama was addressing the pilots, explaining to them what was happening. Lee stood just inside the door. John nodded to him.

For a moment she was still the thirteen-year-old girl at Singer's airport. "I love you, Daddy," Kara managed to whisper.

John kissed her again and then without looking back, he walked through the hangar and out the huge doors. There was a jeep waiting for him and he got in.

"The Raptor and the Raider have already been towed out to the runway," Lee said. "They're driving him out there."

"How long have you known?" She asked him.

"Not long," Lee answered. "He was the backup. He was really more of a test pilot. It was never supposed to be him flying the mission."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"It wasn't my place to tell you. It was his."

She knew Lee was right and still she felt pain and fear burning in her.

"Does Laura know?"

"I doubt it."

Bill Adama was still speaking.

"Colonel Tigh has the list of pilots who will fly out of the airbase. The rest of you will be taken by transport to the military salvage yard north of the city. Your Vipers are waiting for you out there. Raptor pilots will all stay here. You will man your ships while we wait for phase two of the plan to be completed. If we have to fight, your primary objective is to stop any Raiders from reaching Caprica. Take out each of them that you can, and stop them from reaching Caprica. Good hunting, everyone."

Bill Adama stepped down from the crate he has stood on while addressing the pilots. Colonel Tigh began bellowing names. Kara's and Lee's were among the first names called. They would stay at the airbase and launch from there.

"What do we do?" Kara asked. "Just pick a ship?"

"Yeah, just pick a ship and let the crewman know your name and military ID number so he can make a record of it."

_So they will know who doesn't make it back._

Bill walked up to them. He hugged his son and patted his back. "Good hunting, Apollo." Then he turned to Kara. "Good hunting, Starbuck." He put his hand briefly on her shoulder and patted also. Their eyes met for only a moment before he looked away.

She wanted to ask the admiral why he had let her father do it, but she didn't trust herself to speak. Later, maybe she and Lee and her father and the admiral would sit down and have a drink and talk about it, but not now.

"Thank you, sir," was all she said.

Bill moved on to another group of pilots offering words of encouragement.

Kara looked around. "I wonder where Karl and Sharon are. They should have been here by now."

"They've been…detained," Lee said softly.

"Detained! What the frak for?"

"My dad doesn't trust Sharon. Or Karl because of their relationship. If everything goes well tonight, he'll let them go."

"Damn it," Kara said angrily. "Sharon did everything your father asked her to do. Karl would die before he would betray us."

"I know, Kara. I know. But she's still a Cylon. You've got to understand why my father couldn't trust her with what we're about to do. They're being detained over at base headquarters. They're sitting in a conference room. Nobody is going to touch them."

"How many Marines are guarding them?"

Lee shook his head. "I don't know. When this is over, I'm sure they'll be released."

"They're being treated like the frakking enemy."

Lee heard the tension and exasperation in his own voice. "Sharon _is_ the enemy. I don't care how much you like her or trust her, she's one of _them_. My dad couldn't take the chance. That's why Leoben is sitting in a prison cell right now next to Cavil. I'm on my father's side in this. Your dad is, too. Sharon is a Cylon. Leoben is a Cylon. You can't forget that."

"What about Karl? He's no Cylon."

"Karl and Sharon are a team. He should understand. Now let this go, Kara. You've got a job to do. We can talk about it later."

Suddenly Kara felt like everything was falling apart for her…her father going up in a Raptor, Karl and Sharon sitting out the fight in a conference room because the admiral didn't trust them. Lee agreeing with his father when he knew how loyal Karl was, when he knew what Karl had gone through in the camp with her. Chaos and confusion were all around them and their lives hung in the balance. For just a moment Kara felt her grip on reality slip and then she was back. Lee was right. They would talk about it later when the battle was over.

"We need to get in our ships," Lee said in a gentler tone of voice. "John can't launch until we're ready."

As crewman and pilots continued hurrying around them, Lee pulled her to him and kissed her.

"Whatever happens, I love you."

Once again Kara thought of the kiss her father and mother had shared on the fateful night they had left Picon. Feeling dazed, she climbed the steps to a Viper that was sitting beside the one Lee had just climbed into. She wrote her name, rank and military ID number on the form that the crewman handed her. She signed it. He wrote the tail number of her ship on it before he added it to the others on his clipboard. She was Viper seven-two-nine.

Lee closed his canopy and Kara watched as his ship was attached to a magnetic tow and was pulled out of the hangar to await launch. Tows were pulling other ships out in a steady stream and she lost sight of Lee's ship. She closed her canopy. Her Viper jerked once as a tow attached and began pulling her forward. Soon the bright lights of the hangar were left behind and they were swallowed by the darkness. The tow dropped her at her place in the takeoff queue and sped back to the hangar for another Viper.

Everything was being done in stealth and darkness. They couldn't even start their engines yet. Kara leaned her head back as far as she could in the helmet and looked up. The night was crisp and clear and cold. The sky was full of stars, the torches of other worlds. Even though she couldn't see it, she knew that the basestar was up there, too, like a giant malevolent starfish. At the point where each of the metal arms joined the central hub, the Raiders nestled row upon row, like coins dropped in shallow slots, their organic brains sleeping, waiting for a signal that would awaken them and tell them to carry out their programming, to launch and destroy their enemy.

Lee had told her that Rick and Kevin had a theory about the Raiders. They thought that in case of an actual combat situation, many of them were preprogrammed by the Cylons to head for specific targets on Caprica such as Marble House and the Capitol Building and the hydroelectric plant and transportation hubs while the rest of them would fight an aerial battle with whatever the Colonials sent to take them on. Were Rick and Kevin right?

Kara thought about Laura and Brae. If the basestar managed to launch any of its Raiders, they had to stop them from getting through. They hadn't saved Braedon from Cavil only to have him die from a Raider's missile.

Her father had told her that a good human pilot would take out a Raider every single time. He had gone up against them over and over and survived, but other good pilots had not. What had made the difference? Did the gods keep some of them safe while they let others die?

She kept her eyes on the night sky and waited.

Lee adjusted his wireless to the base communication frequency and listened. Right now there was nothing but static. Soon they should hear something from John. He would be ready by now to take his Raptor up with the explosive-laden Raider slaved to it. The basestar was in a low orbit over Caprica City. It should only take John about fifteen minutes to reach it…if all went well. As soon as he received the signal that the Vipers were in place and ready to launch, he would go. Even though Lee didn't believe in the gods, he still found himself silently repeating, _Keep him safe._

Kara thought of the small statues of Apollo and Artemis that Yolanda and Keshia had given her, statues that she had left on the _Galactica _with the rest of her things. The gods had protected Lee through two dangerous missions. They would keep him safe once more. And her father. Fate had taken him from her five years earlier and she had found him. Kara knew the gods wouldn't do something that cruel to her again. Nevertheless she found herself repeating quietly, _Lords of Kobol, hear my prayer. Watch over my father and bring him safely back to me._

o

The dark SUV drove up to one of the back entrances of Marble House. Laura saw more Marines. Richard Adar himself was the one who opened the vehicle's door.

She wiped her eyes and spoke softly so as not to wake her sleeping son. "Hello, Richard," she said.

"Laura, what a horrible experience for you to have to go through." He helped her from the SUV and took the diaper bag, handing it to an aide.

"I guess Bill has filled you in on what's happening."

"Yes. Because of it there's been a change of plans. We're moving to the bunker just in case. You'll be riding with me and my family. My wife is packing a few things right now."

"I'm traveling very light. My son and one diaper bag."

"We can get anything you need…for yourself and your son. We'll be leaving in about twenty minutes. Please come inside."

They walked a short distance to a small parlor and she sat down. Braedon rubbed his eyes and fretted in his sleep. She lay him on the sofa beside her and put the pacifier back in his mouth before she pulled the blanket up to his shoulders. He was heavy and her arms ached from holding him for so long.

Laura's thoughts were on what was happening at the airbase. Somehow she knew that John's part was more than he had told her. She knew there was more involved than just going out there to be with Kara and Lee.

Men with earpieces and holstered guns were in the hall.

"It looks like you're preparing for an invasion," she said absently to Adar.

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that. The centurions upstairs are still quiet. We've done nothing to alert them."

"You've spoken with Bill?"

"Five minutes ago. They've reached the airbase."

"What's been done with Cavil and…the other one, Leoben, the one who helped us?"

"They've been taken to a prison under the bunker."

"Please see that Leoben is treated kindly. Without his help we might have been killed." She amended her statement. "_I _would have been killed. My son would have been taken."

"Bill explained the situation to me."

"And the other Cylons here on Caprica…the humanoids? What is their status?"

"They're being rounded up as we speak. They'll be taken to the same place."

"Who do we have so far?"

"Doral and Simon. The women, Natasi and D'Anna Biers have proven more elusive. Neither was at home when our agents called on them."

"Have you checked Dr. Baltar's apartment for Natasi?"

"It's on our list of places to look," Adar replied. "As is the warehouse where she preaches. Will John be joining us later?"

"Yes. He's with Bill out at the airbase now. Kara and Lee will be in Vipers tonight."

"I understand. Now what can I get you? I know you must want something to drink or eat."

"Some hot tea," Laura murmured. "I would really like some hot tea."

Adar stepped into the hall. When he came back he said, "I've sent someone to the kitchen."

"Thank you," she said wearily.

Ten minutes later, one of the guards appeared carrying a tray. There was a pot of tea, several cups and some small sandwiches.

Adar poured a cup of tea and handed it to her. "I'll be back shortly and we'll all leave."

Laura sipped the tea and closed her eyes. She thought of John and Kara and Lee and Bill. _Mighty Zeus, please keep them safe. Please keep all of them safe._

o

There was a burst of static and the comm channel crackled to life. Lee heard John's voice.

"This is Papa Bear. I am away. Baby Bear is tagging along, but he's being ornery."

John had launched his Raptor and the slaved Raider was with him, but it sounded like something wasn't going exactly as expected. No one had been able to take the Raptor up with the Raider along. Now Lee realized the enormity of what John had to do. What had worked fine in test flights with a slaved Raptor might not work so well with a slaved Raider. Mixing Colonial and Cylon technology might not have been as easy as it had seemed in the lab.

Lee knew the plan. With both Cylon homing beacons transmitting, John would fly the Raptor toward the mouth of the basestar's main landing bay. On dradis it should look to the Cylons like two Raiders approaching. Just as they were almost to the entrance, John would turn off the device that kept the two ships flying in tandem. In theory the Raider's momentum would carry it into the landing bay as John executed a steep, over-the-top turn. As soon as the connection was broken, the thirty-second countdown on the Raider's explosives would begin. Flying at the Raptor's top speed, John should be well clear when the explosives detonated.

It sounded simple. Lee knew it was anything but. So many things could go wrong.

They had been told to maintain wireless silence except for John. The open channel crackled with static. Lee looked at the chronometer in the cuff of his flight suit. Eight minutes had passed since John's first message. He should be halfway there by now. So far so good. He knew the basestar was being monitored closely. Nothing unusual was happening or they would have been told to launch their Vipers. The homing beacons must be working.

Lee thought of Kara sitting on the runway somewhere in the long line of Vipers behind him. How was she doing?

Kara sat numbly in her cockpit. She had wanted more than anything to say something to her father when she'd heard his voice but they had to maintain wireless silence. He was away in the Raptor. She almost smiled. _Papa Bear and Baby Bear._ She wondered who had thought of those names. The minutes ticked by as she looked at the black velvet sky full of stars. Her mouth moved silently in prayer. _Protect him. Protect Papa Bear. _

The static crackled and she heard her father's voice again, fainter because he was much farther away.

"Papa Bear and Baby Bear are approaching the den. Baby Bear is away." Ten seconds of silence. Kara knew her father was executing the difficult over-the-top-turn, so easy in a Viper, not quite as easy in a Raptor. Thirty seconds ticked by.

"We got…(a garbled word and a long burst of static)… no signal…(more static)… timer did not engage…(static and several garbled words)…we got no joy on detonation…I repeat no joy on detonation…(more garbled words and static)…basestar is launching Raiders…repeat launching Raiders… I am returning to basestar…repeat returning to basestar."

"No," Kara whispered. There could be only one reason he would return to that basestar. "No. Don't go back. Don't go back."

"Launch all Vipers." The command from the airbase communication center was loud in her headset compared to her father's voice. "Engage and destroy."

The lead Viper immediately fired its engines and took off. Kara saw the blue flame as it reached launch velocity and climbed skyward. The rest of them moved up toward the runway. They were launching Vipers as fast as they could on two parallel runways, faster than was probably safe. How long did it take a basestar to launch almost eight hundred Raiders? Thirty seconds? A minute? Could they all launch at once?

Lee was out there somewhere ahead of her. The static in her ear crackled again. She was next in line on the runway. The Viper in front of her launched. She waited until she heard the command. "Launch next Viper."

"Viper seven-two-nine launching," she confirmed. The moment she reached launch velocity and cleared the runway, she said, "Viper seven-two-nine is away."

She lifted off, streaking upward at a steep angle. Admiral Adama had said it. Their primary goal was to stop any Raiders from reaching Caprica. Those Raiders would have only one goal in their programming…to wreak as much destruction on the planet as they could. Every one of them carried four missiles and KEWs in both wings.

There was static on the wireless and again her father's voice but his words were too faint and garbled for her to understand. Her Viper had barely begun to climb when there was a brilliant white blossom in the night sky and a speeding radiance rolling outward that was like the biggest fireworks she had ever seen.

The basestar.

"Nooooo!" Kara screamed, and then a complete calm overtook her. There was no reason for her to worry. Her father had gotten out. He was okay. She knew he was. He wasn't on that basestar when it had exploded. She would get back to the airbase and find him waiting for her. Right now she had Raiders to stop before they got into Caprica's atmosphere. Right now she had a job to do just like her father had done his. He would be waiting for her, waiting to welcome her back. He would put his arms around her and smile at her and say, _Good job, baby,_ just like he always did_._

Streaking upward ahead of Kara, Lee saw the basestar disintegrate from the center in a ball of white. The spiked, metallic arms broke away, burning. The rolling wave of the explosion engulfed the last Raiders that had launched, but there were hundreds still streaking toward Caprica. In the static of the open wireless channel Lee had heard only a few garbled sounds but he knew what they had meant. John had flown his Raptor into the central landing bay and done something to trigger the explosive-laden Raider that he had just delivered to the basestar.

For a moment Lee couldn't get his breath. Kara and Braedon's father. Laura's husband. His best friend. Gone. In an explosion as white and hot as a star going nova, John was gone.

Lee saw flashes from tracer fire ahead of him. The first Vipers to launch had already begun to fight. They had their instructions. Stop the Raiders from getting to Caprica. Engage and destroy. With a cold anger and resolve and a desire to kill that he hadn't known he possessed, Lee Adama streaked into the fight.

o

Laura's suite in the bunker was bigger and nicer than she had been given five years earlier during the negotiations. One of President Adar's staff had brought a portable crib and set it up. She directed him to put the crib in a bedroom. Laura looked at her watch. Twenty minutes after midnight. An hour since they had arrived at the bunker. She wondered how long it would be until there was news from the airbase.

There was a knock on the door.

"Come in," Laura called.

One of Adar's guards opened the door. Maya rushed in. Her beautiful dark eyes were wide and frightened.

"What's happening?"

"Please come in," Laura said with far more calm than she felt. She chalked it up to her utter exhaustion. "Thank you for coming on such short notice."

Maya put a small suitcase on the floor, walked over to her and the two women shared a spontaneous and awkward hug.

"Where's Braedon?" Maya asked.

"He's asleep in one of the bedrooms." Laura gestured to the couch. "Please. Sit. I hope I didn't interrupt a date."

"I was studying. Where's John?"

"He's at the airbase with Lee and Kara…and Bill Adama. Tonight…" Laura took a deep breath. "Tonight we're engaging the Cylons."

Maya looked at her, not comprehending.

"We've gone to war," Laura said.

"War? We're fighting?" Maya asked in disbelief.

"Yes. That's why I'm here in the bunker. I'd like for you to stay with me to take care of Braedon."

"Of course." Maya looked dazed.

"His bottles are in the refrigerator. His diaper bag is in the bedroom with him. If he wakes up he'll need to be changed. I'm sure he's very wet by now."

"Did the Cylons attack us?"

As quickly as she could, Laura told Maya what had happened that night. She saw Maya's eyes widen in shock.

As if to assure herself that Braedon was actually there and all right, Maya got up and walked to the door of the bedroom. She stood for a moment before she came back.

Laura continued. "President Adar and I have determined that for the next two months, until I take office, we will govern Caprica together. We will make all decisions as a team. That's why I need you now more than ever. John and I will be moving into Marble House with Braedon. I'd like for you to move with us now instead of waiting until January."

"Whatever it takes," Maya said. "Whatever I need to do."

Laura put her hand against her forehead. She had the beginnings of a headache and her medicine was back at the apartment. Damn Cavil. If it weren't for him, she would have gone to sleep tonight happy and content and curled in her husband's arms.

"Headache?" Maya asked.

Laura nodded.

"Why don't you lie down? I can listen for Brae. I…took a nap this afternoon. I'm not sleepy."

Laura noticed that Maya's cheeks colored slightly. She managed to smile. Maya's nap had probably not been alone.

"I hope Sam is understanding about this change in plans," Laura said.

"He knows where my priorities are. He's a very understanding man. Besides, I don't know that I'm…the only woman in his life."

"Get me immediately when the President sends someone. Don't hesitate to wake me up. I'm afraid our mobile phones don't work in this bunker. Alex promised to let me know the minute anything happens."

An expression of concern, almost fear passed over Maya's face. "Kara?"

"She'll do what she's trained to do," Laura said. "Say a prayer for her, for all of them."

Maya nodded and Laura saw her eyes flood with tears. "She's so young."

Laura sighed wearily as she walked into one of the suite's bedrooms. "Yes," she murmured. "They're all so young."

o

"A pilot who is superior in a dogfight isn't made," Colonel Burgher had once told them in class. "He is born." He had smiled in Kara's direction. "Or _she_ is born. Quick, aggressive, always thinking of the next move, always in attack mode. But there is another quality that is hard to pinpoint, a natural ability that is not given to all pilots. It separates the good from the great. It can be the difference between being the hunter or the hunted. The one who dies or the one who survives to fight another day."

His words had been dramatic and over the top, but they had meant something to her. Kara Thrace was a good dogfighter in the video arcade and in the simulator, but she had never had a chance to prove herself in actual combat.

Now she had the chance and she knew she might not survive it, might not survive to fight another day no matter how good she was. The dark sky was full of Cylon Raiders. They filled her vision like fireflies on Picon when she and Karl had run through the big field behind the base on summer nights as laughing children playing hide and seek. The Colonials had been able to put just over a hundred Vipers in the air…a hundred against how many Raiders…four hundred? Five hundred?

She heard Narcho's voice. "I'm on your wing, Starbuck."

Three Raiders were coming straight at them. "Don't let them separate us. That's what they'll try to do."

Even at a distance Kara could see the red eyes scanning them, identifying them as Colonial, as the enemy. She didn't wait for them to fire but pulled the trigger and followed the arc of the tracer rounds pouring from her KEWs. They were high. Her weapons weren't calibrated perfectly. It was no wonder considering that live ammunition hadn't been fired from them in five years.

The Cylons flashed past them and Kara realized that they didn't want to engage, that they were headed for the atmosphere and Caprica City. Their programmed targets were far below them on the planet's surface. Kara pulled her Viper into a tight turn. "Follow them," she yelled to Narcho. "Don't let them get through."

She didn't wait to see if he followed her or not. She got the first Raider seconds later and stayed in pursuit. The second one exploded in front of her. Narcho got the third one. She pulled another tight turn, felt the force of four Gs slam her body against the seat. Her senses had never felt so sharp.

"Stay with me, Narch."

"Lords of Kobol, there must be three or four hundred of them."

"Yeah, well that's three or four hundred less than it could have been," she said and tried to believe the bravado of her words. The first wave of Raiders had been headed for Caprica. How many more would try to pass them instead of engaging? How many more before they met ones programmed to fight them instead of destroy the planet?

She didn't have to wait long for her answer. A Viper ahead of them exploded. _Gods, don't let it be Lee. _She took out the Cylon that had killed one of her comrades and barely managed to avoid the debris. There were so many of them, so damned many of them. Two more Raiders streaked past her headed for the surface of the planet.

"I'm on them," Narcho said and she saw him turn. "Stay in the fight. I'll be back."

Kara continued firing at every Raider she encountered. How much longer would her ammunition hold out? How long until one of them got a lucky shot?

_And where was Lee? Where the hell was Lee?_

o

Lee turned like a bear cornered by a pack of wolves. He and three other Vipers were in the center of a group of Raiders. Some had engaged immediately, others had seemed only to want to get past the Vipers without expending any ammunition on their way to destroy something on the planet's surface.

"No way," Lee said to them even though he knew they couldn't hear him. "No damn way you're going to Caprica."

He pulled the Viper into a sharp diving turn and felt the force of gravity on his body increase. Three…four Gs slammed him back against the seat. He pulled out of the turn and fired. Another Raider exploded. He pursued the other one down and destroyed it as well.

"Good shot," he heard in his wireless but didn't know which one of the Viper pilots had said it.

He turned back. He had never seen so many Raiders. Nothing he had done in his training missions had prepared him for this. Viper tracer rounds arced over the front of his ship.

"Gods damn it," he shouted into his wireless. "Shoot at the Cylons, not at me."

Frak, that's all he needed, to be taken out by friendly fire from a Viper pilot with an itchy trigger finger. He climbed toward another group of Raiders. Lee knew the range of their kinetic energy weapons was just over a thousand feet. Many of the Vipers were wasting their ammunition, firing at the Cylons from too far away.

"Close in," he called. "You can't hit them from this distance." Even as he rallied and encouraged the small group of Viper pilots around him, he knew that without reinforcements, they would probably not be able to destroy all of these Raiders. There were just too many of them. Some of them would get through. Some of them would reach Caprica.

Two Raiders broke away from the pack and bore down on him guns blazing. Lee dove and was aware that the rounds had hit something behind him. Another Viper. The shock wave of the explosion slammed the back of his ship knocking him sideways. He fought for control and regained it. Damn, he knew there had to be some damage, but no alarms were blaring in the cockpit. He flew forward and rejoined the fight.

o

Kara didn't know how much longer they could keep it up. It was getting more and more difficult to catch the Raiders that were bound for Caprica. She knew that some of them had slipped through because there were occasional bright flashes on the surface of the planet. So far she hadn't detected any nukes on the Raiders, but that didn't mean that some didn't have them. They were spread out over such a large area that she couldn't scan them all.

Seelix had been with her and Narcho for a few minutes and then had gone after a Raider. She had not come back. Kara didn't know if that meant Seelix had gone on to another group of Raiders or had been killed.

"Hey, Starbuck," Narcho said. "If I don't make it, I just want you to know it was an honor flying your wing."

"Shut up, Narch," Kara replied. "We're both going to make it."

"We haven't made a dent in them."

"We've made a little one."

The wireless crackled and they heard the voice of base command. "_Galactica _is inbound. Repeat, _Galactica_ is inbound_."_

Several miles above them there was a spark like a flash of lightning in a dark summer sky. Space distorted and the _Galactica_ appeared. Kara felt a wave of relief wash over her. She knew that the _G _would be launching her Vipers within a minute. Help was on the way.

Three Raiders streaked past her with a Viper close behind. She caught a glimpse of the pilot. Lee. Lee was alive. She turned her Viper and began pursuit. As she neared Lee's Viper, she saw that a piece of cowling was missing from his starboard engine. The area around it was blackened. He'd been hit.

Kara raced ahead to get a better look at the damage. It could have been worse. It looked mostly superficial.

"You look a little scorched, Apollo," Kara called, the joy at seeing him alive clear in her voice.

Lee felt relief wash over him at the sound of Kara's voice. The Raiders were pulling away from them. They entered the atmosphere. Lee could see the glow from their shielded exteriors.

"Get back into the fight," Lee called back to her. "These boys are mine."

"No," she shouted. "You've lost your engine cowling. You'll overheat in the atmosphere." Even as she spoke, Lee's starboard engine began to glow. "Shut down your starboard engine. Shut it down now."

An alarm was already blaring in Lee's cockpit. The engine's fire suppressant system indicated that it had released, but nothing happened. Frak, what had Kara said? The engine cowling was gone. The fire suppressant was in the cowling. He shut down the starboard engine. He was caught in Caprica's gravitational pull. The three Raiders were almost out of sight. He felt a jolt and then a wobble. He tried to stabilize the ship.

Kara saw part of Lee's starboard engine break away. He could still make it down on one engine. If the starboard side of the ship held together, he would even be able to land the Viper.

"I'm staying with you," she called to him.

"I'm fine, Starbuck. Get back up there and keep fighting. I'll land this thing and get another Viper and be right back."

The Raider came out of nowhere or Kara thought it did. Later she would acknowledge that her focus on Lee had taken her attention, but at the time it seemed like the Cylon had simply materialized on her port side, closing fast. A high-pitched alarm in her cockpit blared. She glanced at her control panel. Frak, it had a lock on her.

Instinct took over and she pulled a tight, diving turn that barely took her out of the line of bullets that came pouring at her. She was in a fight for her own life and could no longer watch Lee. She pulled her Viper out of the dive into a steep climb straight toward two more Raiders that were on their way to the surface. She opened fire on one of them and again barely avoided the debris from the explosion. The alarm in her cockpit stopped blaring. She turned tightly again. A chunk of debris must have struck the Cylon behind her because it was cartwheeling out of control down toward the surface.

She had lost sight of Lee completely by now. She had to trust that he would be all right. He would land his damaged Viper, get another one and return to the fight. They had more Vipers than pilots. Something was happening much farther above her now and she realized that the _Galactica's_ Vipers had joined the fight. With more determination than ever, she flew toward the fray.

o

Lee knew he was in trouble when his right rudder pedal would no longer respond. He was well below the Kármán line now, hurtling downward, fighting to keep the Viper from going into a flat spin or starting to tumble. Either scenario was bad. He wondered if pieces of the ship were tearing loose as it was buffeted by the atmosphere. Sixteen miles above the surface of the planet, his console displays faded, came back on briefly and then faded completely. He had lost all power and control of his ship. He began the dreaded tumbling.

He activated his distress signal, issued the mayday alert, called in his last known position, and told the airbase he was going down. He didn't know if they heard him or not because with no wireless, he couldn't hear an acknowledgement.

He didn't know exactly where he was, over land or the ocean. Everything was black around him. There were no lights anywhere. At least he wasn't over Caprica City. At least his Viper wasn't going to crash into buildings and kill hundreds or thousands of civilians. He hoped he was over the vast heartland of Caprica instead of the ocean. At least he would stand a chance of rescue over land.

He could no longer trust his senses, of what was up or down. He tried to calculate how far his ship had fallen in the wild tumble, how near the surface he was, but he was now too dizzy and nauseous to think.

He was afraid to wait any longer, afraid he would pass out. He got his hand on the black-and-yellow-striped handle and pulled. He heard, or thought he heard, the explosion of his canopy being ripped away. It was the last thing he remembered until he regained consciousness with the wind whistling outside his helmet. He groped until his hands found the lines of his parachute. He was still falling toward the surface of the planet but not in his Viper. Above him yards and yards of billowing nylon slowed his descent.

He blinked his eyes until his vision began to clear. He felt like a giant had taken a sledgehammer and pounded the top of his head. The pain ran all the way down his spine. He struggled to keep the nausea under control, aware of what a mess it would be to throw up inside his helmet. He looked down, desperate to find anything that would tell him where he was. Far below was a thin, wavy line of silver. He looked at the horizon and saw a half of Caprica's smallest moon, Elara. He was over the ocean. One of his worst nightmares was coming true. He had not only had to ditch his Viper, he had done it over water and at night.

He watched helplessly as the wavy silver line grew larger and nearer. Caprica's ocean was vast. The chances of him being found before he drowned or died of hypothermia or thirst were slim to none. He didn't want to think about the other possibility, of becoming some sea creature's dinner. He thought of Kara. She was going to lose her father and him both on the same night.

Lee didn't believe in the gods or an afterlife. John did. He wondered which one of them was right. John had died a hero. He had given his life for his wife and his children and his friends and for everyone on Caprica. He had saved the lives of millions of people. John was now wherever heroes went when they died. Lee didn't know if he was worthy of something like that or not.

He thought of Kara as the ocean rushed toward him. _I love you. Always remember how much I love you._

And then he hit the water.

TBC…


	75. The Day After

Chapter 75

The Day After

_The air battle that ensued over Caprica after the destruction of the Cylon basestar began just after midnight and continued until early the next morning. A large number of Cylon Raiders were destroyed before they unleashed their deadly payloads, but some made it through the Colonial defenses, wreaking destruction across all sectors of the city. Government buildings seemed to be the main targets. Marble House was untouched, but six government buildings including the Capitol Building and the Colonial Library suffered damage. Fires started by crashing ships soon overwhelmed the firefighting forces in the city. The loss in lives eventually numbered over fifteen thousand with nearly twice that many injured._

_- Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War_

Kara Thrace streaked into the _Galactica's_ port landing bay. It wasn't exactly a combat landing. Although she easily made the trap, she still knew that if she had come in like that under normal circumstances, the LSO and the CAG would have chewed her out. But these weren't normal circumstances. She was out of ammunition and anxious to get back into the fight.

She waited impatiently while her Viper was lifted toward the hangar bay.

As soon as the elevator reached the top and locked into place, she slid her canopy back. A crewman rushed a ladder over to her and helped her off with her helmet.

"I'm not staying," she said to him. "I need bullets and missiles."

Galen Tyrol came running over. "Starbuck?"

"I need bullets, Chief. ASAP."

"It'll take fifteen minutes, sir."

"Frak. Why so long?"

"Some of these crewman have never loaded live ammo on a Viper before tonight. They're slow and cautious."

"Nothing wrong with cautious but could you speed it up?"

"We want to do it right. The last thing we need is an accident on the hangar deck." He shouted to a crewman. "Fuel this Viper and load it with ammo."

Kara climbed out of the cockpit and tried to stretch her cramped muscles. She knew how sweat-soaked her hair was. She knew she probably smelled. She was also probably seriously dehydrated, but the feeling of thirst hadn't caught up with her yet.

"What happened up there?" She asked Tyrol. "Did you take out your basestar?"

"Yes, sir. It launched a lot of Raiders before we destroyed it. The other three battlestars stayed to engage them. Admiral Adama ordered us back here to help out over Caprica."

"Did you hear anything about the other basestars and the resurrection ship?"

"Destroyed, but all of them got Raiders out before it happened so the battlestars had to stay to take them on. We heard that the _Valkerie _and the _Atlas _took bad hits. They lost a lot of crew. I'm sure there were other ones that had damage. We were lucky."

"Cain is a good commander."

"She is. I heard what your father did to the basestar over Caprica," Chief said hesitantly. "I'm…sorry about what happened to him, sir."

Kara turned on him. "My father's fine. He'll be waiting for me when I land on Caprica."

She saw the surprise in his eyes but he didn't challenge her. "You need something to drink, sir?"

"Yeah, I probably need something to drink."

"Cally," Chief shouted, "bring Starbuck something to drink."

The young woman brought an energy drink to her. Kara twisted it open and turned it up. She drained half of it before she stopped.

"What's it like out there, sir?" Cally asked.

Kara thought it was a stupid question, but she bit back a sarcastic reply. Cally was probably no older than she was. How could she know what kind of combat conditions they were facing? It wasn't like the crew of the _G_ could stand at a window and watch what was happening. Before tonight Kara only had some video games, a handful of sims and her father's stories to guide her imagination about real combat. Cally hadn't even had that much.

"We're outnumbered," Kara said. "That's why I need to get back out there."

She finished the drink and handed the empty bottle to Cally before she climbed the steps back up to her Viper. She had some more Cylons to kill.

"Another Viper coming in," she heard someone shout.

"Get ready," Chief called. "Come on. Move it. Move it. Get this one to the launch area."

Kara put her helmet back on and for a few minutes, as she sat waiting for her Viper to be readied for launch, exhaustion overwhelmed her. Then it was gone. She was ready to go back out and rejoin the fight. She was ready to kill more Cylons and get back to Caprica and see her father and Lee.

Kara saw the outer door to the launch tube open. She automatically pushed her head back against the headrest in anticipation of the G-force that would slam her body. Captain Kelly, the LSO, pressed the button that accelerated the electromagnetic catapult with her Viper attached down the triangular launch tube and out into space. She had done this so many times in the last three months, and she'd done it with Cylon Raiders waiting on her, but only to watch her go through training exercises, not waiting to kill her.

Kara heard Narcho make wireless contact that he was also headed into the _G_ for more ammunition. She couldn't wait for him. The Raiders that were left were all engaging the Vipers. There were no more trying to make it through the atmosphere to Caprica. The ones that had made it through had done their damage by now. Up here they were still outnumbered, but the odds were better. With renewed determination, she rejoined the fight.

o

His thirst wasn't overwhelming…yet. The pain in Lee's right leg was stronger than his desire for something to drink. It was a throbbing ache, like a bad toothache, a _really bad_ toothache. He knew it was broken. He had felt it crack as he'd hit the water hard and at an angle. Later he was sure he could remember hearing the sound of the snap, but he knew that couldn't have been possible. It was just one more way his mind had begun to play tricks on him.

He was so pumped up with adrenalin that on impact the leg hadn't hurt…not until he had tried to kick his way to the surface after his deep plunge under the dark water. At least he'd remembered to release his parachute before he'd gone too deep. That hadn't stopped the feeling of panic, though, as he'd found himself far underwater in a blackness so total that it had instantly spun him into his worst childhood nightmares…of something lurking in the darkness, waiting to grab his leg and drag him into the depths, like the hand in the horror film that comes out from underneath the bed and catches your ankle. He sucked oxygen in great gulps and for the first time that night, he panicked. He began to struggle, trying to claw his way to the surface.

It was when he kicked wildly that he felt the pain, sickening and knife-sharp in his lower leg and knew what had happened when he'd impacted the water. There were two bones in the lower leg, a larger one and a smaller one. He couldn't think of their names. He wondered which one of them had broken.

He reached the surface gasping and wondered how much oxygen was left in the tank attached to his back…a lot less than there probably had been before he'd hit the water.

He was aware of the nausea again and the rivulets of sweat running down his face. At least he hoped it was sweat. His didn't know if his helmet was compromised by hitting the water or not. Even a small crack would eventually let in water. What had Kara called it? Drowning inside a fish bowl? At some point, though, his oxygen would run out and he'd have to open the helmet in order to breathe.

At least he hadn't fallen into a raging sea. The waves were small and rolling gently. His buoyant flight suit held his head above the water as he bobbed across the crests and dipped in the troughs. He couldn't feel any cold yet. Maybe he was still too pumped up on adrenalin or maybe he was closer to the equator and in warmer water. He struggled and pulled off a glove. The water wasn't like a bathtub, but it was about the same temperature as he and Kara had swam in on the island. Hypothermia wasn't an immediate concern. Maybe he could forget about dying from his body temperature dipping too low to sustain life and worry about drowning or dying of dehydration or getting eaten by something. He wasn't sure now that hypothermia wouldn't be the easiest way to go. It sure as hell beat dying of thirst, but even _that_ beat getting eaten by something.

He tried to keep himself still and let the flight suit hold him up. He'd always heard that thrashing in the water was a sure way to attract ocean predators, and he was sure the ocean had its share of predators that could see much better in the dark than he could.

There was a transponder in his flight suit that had activated when he'd ejected, but its range was limited. It wasn't designed to aid in locating a downed pilot from a thousand miles away. Its signal was strong over only a very short range. It was designed for quickly locating a downed pilot at minimal distances. How many rescue ships were already in the middle of the ocean with the proper equipment to pick up his transponder signal? How many were cruising around just waiting to find Viper pilots who fell from the sky? Even if they had waited until the solstice, how many rescue ships would his father have been able to launch?

His leg throbbed as he looked toward the horizon and he was acutely aware for the first time of his thirst. What was that story he had read in high school about a sailor who had been set adrift at sea in a rowboat with no rations? He'd been surrounded by water and not a drop of it had been drinkable. The ultimate irony had to be death of dehydration in the middle of trillions of gallons of water.

He tried to put the thirst out of his mind. Was it his imagination or was the sky lighter? A new day was dawning, their first day free of Cylon control in five years and he'd played a part in making it happen. He thought of Kara again, of his love for her and hoped that she had made it through the fight.

He closed his eyes for what he thought was only a moment, but when he opened them, the sky had lightened to soft shades of pearl gray with a few wispy pink clouds. There was a faint line of gold at the horizon. He hoped that golden glow was from the sun and didn't mean that their world was on fire.

For a long time he listened, but he heard nothing except the soft slap of the water against his helmet and his own breathing. There were no ships in the sky overhead looking for him. No rescue ships steaming over the horizon. He was alone in the ocean. He thought of Kara again, of Posiden's daughter. He closed his eyes. It was too bad he didn't believe in the gods. He could use a little of Posiden's help right now.

o

Laura's sleep was that of complete physical and emotional exhaustion, deep and dreamless. She would probably have slept on into the day had it not been for a hand gently shaking her.

John. She wondered why he was waking her when the room was still so dark, when it was still night. She wondered why he was shaking her instead of kissing her shoulder and her neck like he usually did. "Mmm," she said.

"Laura?" A woman's voice. Maya's voice. "Laura, there's someone here to see you."

She came up through the final layer of sleep in a rush. She knew where she was. The room was dark because she was deep underground. Laura opened her eyes. Light from the suite's living room came through the open bedroom door. She heard her son's voice calling. "Yaya. Yaya."

Laura sat up. Sometime after she had gone to sleep, Maya had covered her with a blanket.

"What?" Laura said. "Braedon? Is something wrong?"

"Braedon's fine. You told me to wake you if someone came. Admiral Adama is here."

"Okay," Laura said groggily and put her feet on the floor. "I'll be out in a minute."

Maya turned on the bedside lamp and went out, shutting the door behind her. Laura got up and went to the bathroom. Maya, or someone, had put out some personal supplies beside the sink…towels and washcloths, soap, a new toothbrush and toothpaste. Quickly she washed her face and brushed her teeth. She ran her fingers through her tangled hair and pushed it from her face.

Bill was standing when she entered the living room. He walked toward her and took her hands in his. "I've asked your nanny to take Braedon down the hall."

Laura tried to read his eyes, red-rimmed and swollen from lack of sleep and the terrible stress of the night.

"What's wrong? Where's John?" And then she knew why Bill was there. She knew why he had asked Maya to leave with Braedon. "Oh no. Oh, gods, no. No. Please. No."

Her knees began to buckle and Bill caught her, got her to the couch. He went to the sideboard and poured a glass of whiskey. He held it to her lips until she had taken a long, burning swallow.

"How?" She whispered.

With halting words Bill explained to her how and why John had taken the Raptor and Raider to the basestar.

She began shaking her head in disbelief and whispering, _No_.

"Something went wrong, Laura. The delayed timer on the explosives didn't function. John went back. He saved millions of lives."

Laura was still shaking her head. "No. He can't be gone," she said irrationally. "He promised me. He promised he'd come back. He would never break a promise to me."

Bill took her hand in both of his. "His Raptor had jump capability. The engineers who worked on that ship programmed a set of coordinates into it…not far, just beyond the orbit of Thyone, far enough to be out of range of the basestar. We thought there might have been a slim chance that John…made it out, but I've had Raptors scouring every bit of space between here and there and a long way beyond those coordinates. They've been looking all night. They haven't found any trace. We're going to keep looking, but I don't want to give you false hope. It's our belief now that he was still on that basestar when…it exploded."

Her lips began to tremble as tears flooded her eyes. The shock and pain rose in her voice. "How could you have let him take that ship up?"

Bill dropped his eyes and bowed his head at the accusation in her voice.

"Kara?" Laura choked. "Please don't tell me I've lost my daughter, too."

"She's still alive. She refueled on the _Galactica _and has joined their pilots. They're mopping up the last of the Raiders."

"And Lee?"

Bill shook his head. "My son is missing. His Viper went down over the ocean. The last contact we had from him was high in the atmosphere. He could be anywhere in thousands of square miles. We're not even sure he got out of the Viper. I've got search and rescue ships out, but…there's so much territory to cover. Even if he made it to the surface in one piece, his chances of survival…aren't good. It's been nearly four hours now. Every hour that goes by…" his voice broke and he couldn't continue.

Tears ran down Laura's cheeks. Cavil was in a prison cell. They had destroyed the basestar. They were winning their freedom, but the cost they had already paid was high. Was it too high?

"Oh, gods, Bill," she choked. "What have we done?"

His jaw was clenched in pain. "I've sent a good man, a good friend to his death, and I've probably killed my son."

Bill Adama put his face in his hands, and for the first time in all the years that Laura Roslin had known him, he broke down and wept.

o

"You know being dead isn't the worst thing in the world," John said.

The sun was just above the horizon and shining in his eyes when Lee opened them. The water sparkled around him, diamond chips of white and gold and turquoise. He was bobbing in the deep end of a swimming pool. John sat on the edge of the pool, his legs in the water and a drink in his hand…a big drink…full of ice. He took a sip. He was wearing the same bathing suit Lee had seen him wear on the island.

"I've already met a lot of people I know," John continued. "A lot of people. I saw Carolanne. You'll be glad to know she's laying off the booze unlike yours truly. But the newly dead are entitled to one good drink. Maybe two."

Lee closed his eyes. He knew that John and the pool were a hallucination, the result of dehydration and the way the ejection had slammed his head. The pain from his broken leg probably helped, too.

If you knew you were hallucinating, were you still hallucinating? Like the tree falling in the forest when no one was there to hear it? Lee kept his eyes closed. There was always the chance he was dead and he wasn't sure he was ready to accept that yet.

"I know you're not real," Lee finally said.

"Now that's a metaphysical statement if I ever heard one. Define _real_?"

"I'm in the ocean," Lee said. "I'm _not_ in a swimming pool."

"Of course you're not. But you knew I'd need somewhere to sit. It's hard to hold a drink and tread water. It's easier to sit on the edge of a pool."

"Funny," Lee said.

"Hey, it's your hallucination. You put me on the side of this pool. I'd offer you some of my drink, but I don't think that would work, either. Sorry. It's the _real_ versus _not real_ thing."

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm your friend. I'm keeping you company and waiting."

"Waiting? For what?"

"To see if you're going to get out of this one…or join me. You made it through two dangerous missions. Maybe your luck has run out like mine finally did."

"What happened to _more lives than a cat_?"

"Yeah, I am fond of saying that. If you say something often enough, you usually start believing it. It's one of the ways we kid ourselves, Lee, when we know we're facing death. We make promises we can't keep. We say silly things so we sound brave, so nobody will know we're afraid of dying."

"I told Kara I was going to get another Viper and come back to the fight."

"See there. You knew better, didn't you? What were the odds of landing a bird as badly wounded as yours?"

"Not good."

"I had to punch out once during the First War. It's nothing to be ashamed of. Did I ever tell you about that?"

"Yeah, John. You told me."

Lee could hear the amusement in John's voice. "There _is_ something about your ship being on fire that will make you pull that little striped handle."

"You were lucky. You were close enough to the _Solaria _that you got picked up by a Raptor."

"I guess I used one of my lives right there. I used a lot of them on the _Solaria._"

"There's something about tumbling end over end with your ship falling apart that will make you pull that handle, too. Since I don't have a Raptor nearby, do you have any suggestions on what I should do next?"

"Keep floating and keep breathing."

"Great. Thanks. I really appreciate the words of wisdom," Lee said grumpily. "Any advice besides the obvious."

"You're the smart one," John said. "I'm counting on you to come up with something."

"Come on. I need a little more help. I'm floating in the middle of the ocean."

"Yeah, there is that small detail, although technically you're not in the middle of it. In case you decide to start swimming, I'd recommend heading west. You'll reach land quicker…maybe three or four weeks as opposed to five or six if you head east. I don't want to sound discouraging, Lee, but I'd say you're going to have to wait to be rescued. And quit thinking about how thirsty you are. Maybe it'll rain."

"That would be great. Caught in a storm at sea trying to catch raindrops on my tongue and keep from drowning in the waves."

"Lee, I don't think there's much you can do right now except keep your head above the water and pray."

Lee started to ignore the prayer comment. John knew how he felt about the gods and praying, but since John had tried to sneak it by him, Lee couldn't let it pass.

"Prayer didn't do you a hell of a lot of good, did it?"

John laughed so hard he nearly choked on his drink. "There you go again making assumptions. How do you know it didn't do me any good? I could be somewhere a _whole_ lot worse than this right now. Instead I'm sitting on the edge of a beautiful pool talking to my best friend."

"You don't see any islands nearby, do you?"

"Not from my perspective. Of course I can't see much from here. Caprica City is way over the horizon."

"Thanks. I'd already figured out that Carpica City was a least a thousand miles west of here."

"Then why did you ask…never mind. It's your hallucination."

"Why did you do it, John? Why did you go back to that basestar?"

"Why do _you_ think I went back?"

"Your family."

"And my friends. Can you think of a better reason for a man to die than to save the ones he loves?"

"Any more words of wisdom for me?"

"Kara's looking for you. But you know that, don't you? That's one thing I can say about my little girl. She's not a quitter. She won't give up. She'll find you. You just hang in there, Lee. Don't you even think about giving up because she won't. Don't disappoint her by dying. Do you hear me? As much as I'd like your company right now, I can wait."

"You're not even really here."

"Of course I'm not."

Lee slowly opened his eyes. He hadn't been hallucinating. He'd been asleep and dreaming.

The sun was halfway up the sky and he was alone in the ocean.

o

Kara and several of the other Viper pilots flew the distance between the _Galactica_ and the airbase on Caprica. There were no Raiders left to fight. The battle for their freedom was over at least right now on this planet. She would think about Nereid later, about what they might have to take on there.

She wondered if Marines were still fighting the centurions on the surface of Caprica. She wondered if any of the skinjobs besides Cavil and Leoben were in custody. She hoped that nobody had hurt Leoben.

Before she entered the atmosphere, the destruction that Kara saw was incredible. Pieces of Raiders and Vipers floated in space. She knew that what she saw wasn't everything. Anything that had been in Caprica's gravitational field had fallen to the planet's surface or burned up in the atmosphere.

All she wanted to do now was get back to the base on Caprica and see her father and Lee. She wanted to hug them both and then she wanted to go to the locker, strip off her rank flight suit and stand in a hot shower before she thought about anything that would follow.

But Kara knew one thing without a doubt. She wanted to end tonight in bed with Lee. She had come close to death today. Lee had, too. She wanted to feel alive with him. She wanted to taste him and smell him and feel him and make love to him.

As she approached the airbase from the west, she saw smoke on the horizon coming from multiple locations. She felt sick. They hadn't stopped all the Vipers from getting through.

"Viper seven-two-nine requests permission to enter the pattern," Kara said letting the duty officer know she wanted to land at the airbase.

"Permission granted, Viper seven-two-nine. Pattern is open. Clear to land."

She landed and taxied her Viper to the hangar. The ladder was pushed up to her ship. She made it to the bottom step before she had to sit down. There were dozens of pilots seated on the floor, leaning back against walls, most of them drinking bottled drinks.

She saw Narcho and managed to make it over to him before she slid down the wall and sat beside him. Without a word he handed her an energy drink. She turned it up and sat in a near-stupor waiting for it to kick in.

"Told you we'd make it," she finally said as she handed the drink back to him.

"Keep it. I got two more," he gestured to the bottles sitting on the floor beside him. "In another minute I'll have the strength to open another one. Five minutes after that, I might be able to stand up again."

She shut her eyes and drew a couple of ragged breaths, letting the realization that she was still alive wash over her. Narcho put his arm around her and she wearily put her head on his shoulder. Since they had been on the _G _she had gotten close to him, closer than she had to Flat Top and that surprised her. Nobody would ever be as close to her as Karl, but Narcho had become a real friend.

"I'm sorry about your dad," he said softly.

Kara lifted her head and turned on him. "Why is everybody talking like something happened to my dad? He's around here somewhere. He's probably in the locker room or he would have been out here to meet me."

Narcho looked at her much the same way Chief had looked at her. "You mean nobody told you? His Raptor…didn't…it's not here. He didn't come back."

"Then he's out there somewhere. He'll be back. He wasn't in that basestar when it exploded. He made it out. My dad is a good pilot."

"Lee's missing, too."

Kara shook her head. "Lee's ship was damaged. He brought it down and got another one. He's okay."

"That's not what they say?"

"Who's they?"

Narcho gestured toward the crewmen moving around the hangar. "They hear everything. They said he went missing hours ago. Kara, he never made it back, either. He ejected and is missing. "

"Where's the admiral?"

"Probably over in the comm center."

Kara pushed herself up. "Then that's where I'm headed."

"I'll go with you."

"No. You stay here and get some rest." For just a moment she felt the beginning of tears and then it passed. Lee was still alive. She knew it. So was her father.

"We did good today." Narcho said. "Next time we kill Cylons, I want to be on your wing."

She managed a faint smile. "Back at you."

A crewman walked up to them. "Lieutenant Kara Thrace?"

She turned. "That's me."

"I have orders from Admiral Adama to drive you over to the command center, sir."

"Great," Kara said. "I was headed over there anyway. It will keep me from _borrowing_ one of your jeeps."

The command center was in the main building of the base over a mile away. She didn't speak on the way, but she did reach over and turn off the jeep's heater. The early morning was cold, but she was sweaty enough as it was.

The ensign on duty at the front desk told her to go up to the second floor as soon as she gave him her name.

The admiral was waiting for her.

"Let's go somewhere that we can talk."

Silently they walked down the hall. He came to an empty office and went inside.

"Sit," he said.

"No, thank you, sir. I'd rather stand. I've been sitting for hours." She looked steadily at him, waiting for him to give her the bad news.

"Lee is missing."

"I heard. I want to join the search."

"We've got every available ship in the air right now."

"Then put me in the air, too, sir."

"You're exhausted."

"I'm fine."

"It's not that simple. Colonel Tigh is coordinating the rescue effort. We don't want to cover the same territory twice."

"Then I'll work with the colonel. I can do that, sir. Please."

"I think you should be with Laura."

"Why? You're not going to tell me that my father is missing, too, are you…sir?"

"Kara," Bill said gently, "John didn't make it back. I've had Raptors searching every inch of space in all directions from that basestar as far out as a Raptor is capable of jumping…even beyond."

"He's out there."

"There's no sign of him. We've had no distress signal. We'll keep looking, but…" he sighed heavily.

"You've told Laura?"

He nodded. "I told her personally. It was my responsibility."

"Give me Karl and Sharon and a Raptor, sir. And point me in the right direction. We'll find Lee. And then if you still haven't found my father, I'll find him, too."

"I don't think I should release Lieutenant Valerii yet."

Kara's voice rose. "What can Sharon do to hurt us now? What can she possibly do?"

"She's going to be questioned with the rest of them."

Suddenly Kara lost all her fear of the man who stood in front of her. He was still an admiral, but he was Lee's father.

"That can wait. We need her in a Raptor. And I'll make sure she gets back. You have my word." Her voice rose again. "We _will_ find Lee and we _will_ bring him back…alive."

Her gaze defiantly held his. She refused to look away.

"What makes you think Sharon will help you?"

"She'll help me. She owes me." Kara felt tears sting the back of her eyes, but she got them under control. "I asked you once before to trust me, to trust my gut feeling. I'm asking you again. Please give me Karl and Sharon and a Raptor. We'll find Lee."

"Come with me," Bill finally said.

He exited the office and she followed him down the long hallway. They stopped outside a door where two Marines in full battle gear stood guard on either side. Bill nodded and one of them opened the door while the other one trained his assault rifle on it.

Karl was seated at a table, his head down on his arms. As soon as he saw the admiral, he stood up and came to attention. Sharon was sitting on the floor, leaning back against the wall. Her knees were drawn up with her arms across them. Her head was on her arms. She looked up when Kara and the admiral entered, but she didn't stand.

Kara's eyes met Karl's. The pain there made her want to cry.

"Lee is missing," Bill said without any emotion in his voice. "Kara has asked for a Raptor and your help to search for him. It's your choice. Yes or no?"

"Yes," Karl said immediately.

"What happens to me afterward?" Sharon asked.

"That's still open at this point," the admiral said. "I won't make any promises."

Sharon stood. Her eyes met Kara's. "Let's go."

Out in the hall, Bill motioned to the Marines. "Follow us."

They walked to the elevator and all crowded inside. The admiral pushed the button for the third floor. The elevator rose. When it stopped, they got off and followed him down the hall. He opened a door and told the Marines to wait.

Colonel Tigh and several officers were inside. There were maps spread over a large table.

"Tell us what's been done so far," Bill said.

Colonel Tigh looked up. Kara couldn't read his expression when he saw her, but it changed when he saw Karl and Sharon.

"What the hell are _they_ doing here?"

"They're going to help with the search," Adama said.

"You're making a _big _mistake."

Kara bit her tongue. She knew the admiral would handle it.

Adama rubbed his eyes. "I asked for a status report, colonel."

"We think Lee punched out somewhere between fifty-eight thousand and sixty thousand feet in altitude right here." Tigh pointed to a map. "These are the coordinates he gave over his wireless . Other than the distress call, it's the only transmission we had from him."

Kara walked over to the table and looked down. Someone had drawn a small red circle where Tigh's finger had just been. A much larger circle was drawn around it.

"The search area," Tigh said as he drew his finger around the large area. "It's based on our best estimates of where he could have come down using prevailing wind directions and speeds. Understand that we're guessing. Nobody was out there this morning measuring anything."

"How many square miles, sir?"

"Over thirty-five thousand," Bill said quickly.

"Give or take a few thousand," Tigh said. "We've started at several places and we're flying concentric circles outward and inward trying to pick up his transponder signal."

"We'll need jump coordinates for our Raptor, sir," Karl said. "Put us where we can help the most."

"Is she going, too?" Tigh asked looked at Sharon.

"She's flying the Raptor, sir," Kara answered.

Tigh looked at Bill and asked incredulously. "Are you out of your mind? She's a damned Cylon."

"They're looking for my son. Another ship in the air can only help." He turned to Kara. "Get back over to the hangar. I'll make the necessary calls."

Kara looked at the admiral. His face mirrored his stress and exhaustion…and fear. "We'll find him, sir."

Bill nodded wearily before he turned away.

"Let's go," Kara said to Karl and Sharon. "We're wasting time."

As Kara walked past the admiral, he put his hand on her arm. For a long moment they looked at each other. His eyes were tired and sad and maybe asking her forgiveness.

"Lee's alive," Kara said. "And so is my father."

Once more Bill dropped his eyes. "Then gods speed."

o

"What's the death toll?" Laura asked President Adar.

"We don't have a count, yet. I spoke with Bill Adama about an hour ago. Approximately twenty Raiders got through the Colonial defenses."

"What is the estimate?" Laura asked, trying to keep her voice even. "How many dead?"

"Thousands. More than that are wounded. There was a lot of property damage. Several large apartment complexes were destroyed. Several office buildings. Part of the Capitol Building. The East Bay Bridge. The list goes on."

Laura knew that the bunker had its own generator and air and water systems. "Utilities?"

"The hydroelectric plant was untouched. No Raiders got through to it or to the big water desalination plant, but we had structural damage to one of the main utility tunnels. We've already got work going on to shore it up."

"The other cities?"

"One of the Cylon ships got through to Delphi and got off some missiles before it was taken out by a Viper. Several thousand lives were lost there. Just like Caprica City, we don't have an accurate count, yet. When I spoke with Bill he said it looks like the Cylons' main target was Caprica City with Delphi being a secondary target. The northern cities were spared."

"Did they use any nukes?"

"No."

Laura sighed. "Thank the gods." She would think about the loss of life and damage later. "The centurions?"

"The Marines are still fighting them in multiple places, but without reinforcements from the basestar, we will eventually win."

Laura rubbed her hand over her forehead. "How long before we have reports on everything?"

"You don't need to be doing this right now, Laura," Adar said.

"Yes, I do. I want to talk to the…prisoners. Did we ever find Natasi and D'Anna Biers?"

"We got both of them. Natasi was with Dr. Baltar at his place. Darren's agents brought him in, too, just to be on the safe side."

"And Biers?"

"We don't know where she was. She was arrested when she got back to her apartment late last night."

"How much do they know?"

"Nothing definite, but none of them are stupid. The prison cells are all under audio and visual surveillance. Cavil has told them what happened to him."

"I want to go talk to them now."

"Laura are you sure you're up…"

Grief burned deep inside her, fueling her anger. She lifted her eyes to his. "I'm up to it. I've got to do something. I can't just sit and do nothing."

Together they got on the elevator. Adar inserted a key and pushed the button for the lowest level of the bunker. When the doors opened again, the air smelled like damp concrete and something else much more disgusting.

Laura made a face. "What is that terrible smell?"

"We've had a problem with water leakage. This level is well below the water table."

"It smells like…"

"Sewage," Adar finished for her. "Toilets tend to overflow down here. Are you sure you still want to question them?"

"Yes."

They walked a short distance down a hallway. "This level is not as large as the others," Adar said. "It was only meant to house the utilities. After the last war we decided to add some cells. Agent Darren's men have used them on occasion when they wanted...complete privacy with a prisoner."

"They tortured people down here?" Laura asked in surprise.

"I didn't ask."

A group of Marines stood outside a door. Laura could hear someone shouting on the other side. She and Adar stopped.

"Dr. Baltar," she said. "I recognize his voice."

"He's been shouting like that since we brought him in, ma'am," one of the Marines said.

"Thank you, Sergeant," Adar said. "We'd like to go in now."

The Marine opened the door.

"What am I doing here?" Dr. Baltar shouted at her. "I am _not_ a Cylon."

Laura walked up to his cell. She knew he wasn't a Cylon, but she also realized that she was enjoying his predicament.

"It's too bad you never created a Cylon detector for us, Dr. Baltar. Then we would have proof."

"You don't need proof. I was born on Aerilon. I went to the University here on Caprica. I've lived here all my adult life. I've worked for the government. I've worked for you. I don't belong here. Tell them to let me go."

Laura walked to Leoben's cell. "How long have you lived here, Mr. Conoy?"

"I don't know."

"How long do you _think_ you've lived here?"

She saw the sadness. "All my life."

Laura walked back to Baltar's cell. "You heard Mr. Conoy. Are you sure you're not a Cylon? I understand that their ability to implant memories is quite good."

Baltar grasped the bars of his cell. "I demand to be let out of here at once. I have important work to do, work that you and Admiral Adama have asked me to do."

Laura passed him and walked to Cavil's cell. He sat on the bunk with his head down. The mark on his forehead had darkened and turned an ugly, bruised color. He refused to look up at her.

"Your basestars have been destroyed."

Cavil finally looked up. Sitting in the cell he looked smaller and much less intimidating to her than when he had tried to take her son.

"You lie," he said to her.

"We can get you pictures," she said coldly and then her voice caught. She didn't know if she would ever be able to look at the destruction of the basestar over Caprica City. Her husband had died in that explosion.

She passed him and went to stand in front of Natasi's cell.

Natasi's eyes were wide. She, at least, believed Laura.

"We spared you. We spared humanity and you have _murdered us_."

"You can't murder a machine," Laura said.

"Then how about this?" D'Anna said from the cell next to Natasi's. "You murdered the hybrid babies. Children like your own, Laura. They were on the basestar."

Laura looked her in the eyes. "Now who's lying? Those hybrid children are being raised by foster parents here on Caprica."

"Really? Where did you hear that? Did you tell her that, Simon?"

"I've never told her anything. I don't plan to tell her anything either."

"Gaius told her," Natasi said.

"I told her nothing about the hybrid children," Baltar shouted. "Nothing, I swear to you. Nothing."

There was a sick feeling in the pit of Laura's stomach. "Are you telling me that you took the infants to your basestar?"

Natasi said, "Did you really think that we would trust the raising of those important children to humans? God had a hand in their creation."

Laura's knees felt weak again. "How many?" When none of them answered her, she shouted, "How many?"

"Over a hundred," Doral finally said.

"And you thought that raising them on a basestar in the dark of space was preferable to raising them on Caprica where they would be able to play in the sunshine and laugh with other children and…"

"Grow up like your son?" D'Anna asked.

Adar said, "I think that's enough for today, Laura. These Cylons aren't going anywhere. We can come back. You can question them later."

"No." She walked to D'Anna's cell. "What do you know about how my son is growing up?"

"Your husband is a very good father. Your nanny, Maya, is a very good mother. We had begun to model our parenting of the hybrid children on them since some of the babies weren't…thriving…despite our best efforts. Despite Natasi's incessant prayers for them."

Laura was so stunned that she couldn't speak for a moment. "You…modeled…"

D'Anna smiled. "You're husband almost caught me planting the listening device when I went for our first interview."

Laura tried to think. When had that been? When had D'Anna first interviewed John? After they went on the campaign tour? Oh, gods.

"She's lying to you," Natasi said. "We don't need human help to know how to raise our children. God's hand was clear in their creation. D'Anna is lying. The children were thriving. I don't understand what we did wrong that He allowed them to be destroyed?"

"Perhaps it was the killing of billions of innocent humans that your God objected to. Maybe _that_ wasn't in His plan," Laura said sarcastically. "Or perhaps it was the unnatural way they were created. Perhaps the gods have granted the ability to procreate to humans alone and they saw what you did as the abomination that it is."

Cavil spoke again. "Enough of _God's plan_. _God_ had nothing to do with it and neither did the hybrid children. Number Three planted the device so I could listen to you."

"When?" Laura asked.

"After the election."

Adar took Laura's arm and walked to the door with her. "It's obvious that some or all of them are lying to you. You need to go back upstairs and rest. We'll talk to them again. They're not going anywhere."

Laura suddenly remembered something. She walked back to Cavil's cell. "What have you done with Yolanda Brenn and her friend? Were they on the basestar with the hybrid children?"

Cavil looked up at her. The sarcasm in his voice was clear. "You're not even President yet and you need the services of an _oracle_?"

"Damn you," Laura said, her control finally snapping. "Where are they?"

"Tell her," Leoben said. "You're the one who ruined it for the rest of us with your insane ideas about finding Earth. You're the one who tried to kidnap the President-elect's child."

"Earth is real! And her son knows where it is."

"My son just turned one year old," Laura said with anguish in her voice. "He doesn't have the slightest concept of what Earth even is, much less anything about where or how to find it."

"You think I would tell you about your oracle because a traitor tells me to?" Cavil asked her. "Why would I care? You're going to kill all of us anyway. Soon, I hope."

"Do you want to die quickly because you think you'll download on your resurrection ship near the ice planet?"

For the first time she saw something close to fear in Cavil's eyes.

Laura continued. "I forgot to mention that the resurrection ship was also destroyed. There will be no downloading for any of you so I wouldn't hope for a quick death if I were you. It will be final."

"You'll pay for this," Cavil said. "You'll pay."

Laura thought of her husband as she walked to the door. She had already paid a terrible price, but John had paid a higher one.

"Please release Mr. Conoy," she said to the President. "He helped me willingly without regard for what would happen to him afterward. I owe my life and the lives of my son and daughter to him."

"You're sure about this?"

"He knows nothing that would be of further use to us. What harm can he do, now?"

Adar motioned to the Marine sergeant. "Unlock that cell and release the prisoner."

As they exited the room, Baltar started shouting again. "What about me? You can't leave me here. I'm not a Cylon."

The three of them rode the elevator up together.

"What about Dr. Baltar?" Adar asked.

"You decide what to do with him. I don't care, but I think another night with his Cylon friends should make a sufficient impression on him."

"We can talk to them again tomorrow."

"I don't know that I'll need to go back down there. Not for a long time."

At the surface floor of the bunker, Adar held the elevator for her and Laura walked with Leoben to the entrance.

"We will probably not see each other again, Mr. Conoy. I thank you for what you did for us."

He nodded. "Is there any word on Kara?"

"She was still alive this morning."

"I'll say a prayer for her."

"To your one God?"

She saw the sad smile. "To any of them that will listen to me."

"Then your prayers will join mine."

o

"Come on. We're wasting time. You put in the coordinates and you press the jump button," Kara said. "How hard can it be? It's not like we're going very far. Just seven hundred miles."

"How many times have you jumped a Raptor?" Sharon asked. "I don't want to make any mistakes."

Kara sat in the copilot's seat. Karl was behind them in the ECO's seat. None of them had ever jumped a ship or been in one that had jumped. Lee had done it in Sadie with no side effects. Her father had done it, too, but he had told her that it made some people dizzy, even nauseous.

"Here goes," Sharon said.

There was a moment when Kara felt like she was being pulled forward, when everything around her bent at crazy angles. They were in the air five thousand feet above the airbase on Caprica and then they were a thousand feet over the ocean.

Kara shook her head. "Wow."

"I'm picking up something," Karl said. "A signal. It's strong. Talk about beginner's luck."

"What direction?" Sharon asked.

"North-west. Fifteen miles."

"Get lower," Kara said.

"We're almost on top of the signal," Karl said a few minutes later.

"There," Sharon said. "Off the port side." She swung the Raptor around.

"Oh, gods," Kara said. "No."

The pilot was floating face down in the water.

"Open the door," Kara cried. "Open the gods damned door."

"You can't jump out of a Raptor a hundred feet over the ocean," Sharon said. "You'll kill yourself."

"Watch me. Now open that door."

"I've sent a wireless request for a rescue helicopter," Karl said. "They're twenty minutes away."

Kara was already out of her seat and going for the manual door override. Karl grabbed her and held her.

"Stop it, Kara. Stop it. He's not moving. He's dead."

"No, no, he's not." She began to fight Karl. "He's not dead. Lee is not dead."

One minute she was struggling against him and the next minute she was on the floor of the Raptor. Karl was on his knees beside her, holding her.

Karl rocked Kara back and forth while she made inarticulate sounds. She was beyond tears. She didn't know how much time had passed as they hovered.

"The chopper's here," she heard Sharon say, and a few minutes later, "The divers are in the water. They're turning him over. They're…it's not Lee. Kara, it's not Lee. I don't know who it is, but it's not Lee."

Karl let go of her briefly while he looked out the front of the ship. "Sharon is right. It's not Lee."

Everything began to fade for Kara, sound and light merged into a swirl of color as she slumped against the side of the Raptor. She couldn't get her breath.

Karl was back, beside her, holding her once again. "We'll find him, Kara. He's out there. We'll find him."

"Let me sleep," she said. "For a few minutes. Just let me sleep." She leaned back against the bulkhead. "Just let me sleep."

"Sleep," Karl said. "We'll keep flying the search pattern. We'll keep looking."

"Five minutes," she mumbled. "That's all." It was the last thing she remembered.

o

Lee finally took off his helmet. He had run out of oxygen an hour earlier and had to pull out the lower part of the helmet in order to breathe. By the time the sun was directly overhead, though, he felt like his skull was being cooked inside a roasting pot. He was starting to sweat again and he knew he didn't need to lose any more water from his already seriously dehydrated body. He released the locking band at his neck and twisted.

The breeze across his face felt wonderful. He scooped a handful of seawater on his hair and felt the cool envelop him. He touched his tongue to the salty drops running down his face and fought the temptation to drink a handful of the water. Instead he wet his face again and let the drops run over his lips and tongue.

Shading his eyes, he looked skyward. No ships. Not even any birds, just a few high white and puffy clouds. He thought of being on the beach with Kara, of the way they had made love. He wondered if they would ever find him...alive or dead.

He thought of his dream. Of what John had told him. Kara was looking for him. She was alive. He knew she was or she would have been with her father on the edge of the pool. She was alive and looking for him. He couldn't disappoint her by dying.

The sun reflected off the water and he closed his eyes. His face was going to be really sunburned. Kara would probably laugh.

o

"I've got another signal. Twenty miles due east." The excitement in Karl's raised voice woke her.

Kara opened her eyes. "How long have I been out?"

He looked at the cuff of his flight suit. "Almost two hours."

"That long? Where are we?"

"In the third search pattern. We're halfway through the grid."

Kara pushed herself up and felt her stiff muscles protest. She almost groaned aloud.

"Got him," Sharon said.

Kara felt the Raptor begin to descend.

"Calling the rescue chopper," Karl said.

"This one's alive," Sharon called happily. "He's raising his arm. I think…I think it's Lee."

Kara clambered into the front of the Raptor. "Get closer to him."

"I can't. I don't want to drown him with the Raptor's downdraft."

Kara stepped to the back of the Raptor and kicked off her boots. She unzipped the flight suit and peeled it off.

Karl turned from the console display. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Take it down Sharon. Now." Kara activated the manual door override and it started up.

They were still fifty feet off the water. Karl grabbed for her and got her arm.

"Let go of me, damn it, let go. That's Lee down there." Their eyes met. Karl let go. Kara turned and stepped off into the air.

Lee looked up. The Raptor was a hundred yards away and descending fast when he saw the door begin to open. _Oh no, she wouldn't be that crazy._

"No," he shouted. "Don't do it."

He knew they never heard him over the roar of the Raptor's engines. The ship was still forty feet up when he saw the pale, slender form plummet downward and hit the water feet first.

"You're insane," he shouted at her, knowing none of them could hear him. "You're beyond insane."

He started swimming toward where she had hit the water, his right leg dragging, the pain getting worse with every stroke. He saw her head bob to the surface and saw her start swimming. Karl hurled something from the Raptor. It landed between them. A life preserver vest. He hurled another one.

Kara got to both of them before he did, and kept swimming toward him, side-stroking now, pulling the two life preservers with her.

They met.

"What are you trying to do?" He yelled at her. "Kill yourself?"

"Good to see you, too."

"Put that damned life vest on."

She pushed one of them toward him. Getting into her own was harder than she had thought it would be. She finally managed to get one of the hooks fastened.

"Boy, is your face sunburned."

Lee reached out and touched her. She was real. She wasn't a hallucination or a dream like John had been. He tried to speak, but couldn't for a few moments.

"I knew you would find me," he finally said.

"It was Karl and Sharon."

The wake generated by the Raptor's downdraft washed them and she saw Lee wince. "What's wrong?"

"My leg is broken."

"Punching out?"

"Hitting the water."

"The chopper is on the way."

"You think they'll have a beer on board?"

"Probably something a lot better than that."

Lee took her hand and pulled her to him. He didn't care about the leg. They managed to get their faces close enough to kiss. When he pulled back her eyes were shining and wet.

"Salt water," she said.

He laced his fingers through hers. "I guess we won."

She nodded.

They bobbed together in the water.

"Not exactly like the island," she said. "When your leg is better, we'll go back. Me and you and my dad and Laura and Brae. We'll go back."

Lee knew his look was as confused as he felt. John was gone. He'd seen the basestar explode.

"Your dad?" He said.

"He's not back yet, but he's out there somewhere. We'll find him."

Lee dropped his eyes.

"I thought he was dead once," Kara said. "I was wrong. I'm not going to make that mistake again. I'll find him."

Above the gentle slapping of the waves, Lee heard the distant and unmistakable thumping of a helicopter's rotors.

"Chopper's coming," he said.

Ten minutes later the divers were in the water with them. Ten minutes after that Kara watched as Lee was lifted skyward. She was next. She saw the diver below looking up as she ascended on the harness and cable. She knew he had a good view since she was wearing only her tank tops and underwear, but she didn't care.

Karl and Sharon followed the chopper back to the rescue ship and then Kara saw their Raptor become smaller in the distance before there was the bright wink and it disappeared. They had jumped back to Caprica and the airbase.

Someone had put a blanket around her and she sat on the floor of the helicopter holding Lee's hand. She could tell he was in a lot of pain.

"Sorry there's no beer on board," she said to him.

"Water's good," was all he managed to answer.

Medical corpsmen met the helicopter with a stretcher as soon as they landed. Lee was placed on a gurney. Barefoot and still clutching her blanket around her, she followed them to the infirmary.

A doctor was waiting. "We'll take care of him, now," he told her.

"His leg is broken," Kara said.

She saw the activity around Lee as a team rushed him into a cubicle. They were already cutting the flight suit away when someone pulled the curtain.

A nurse gently took her arm. "How long were you in the water?"

"Not long. Half an hour."

"And Lieutenant Adama?"

"Since before sunup."

"Are you injured?"

Kara shook her head. "I'm thirsty and I'd like to take a shower and I need some clean clothes."

The nurse eyed her hand and the braided gold ring. "Is he your…"

"Yeah," Kara answered.

"Come with me," the nurse said. "He'll get the best of care."

Kara followed her.

Lee lay on the gurney as the medical team quickly and efficiently worked on him. He felt the stick of an IV needle in his arm.

"The leg," he croaked.

He heard a deep, male voice. "We'll fix your leg. We're going to give you something for the pain."

Lee thought of the last time he was in the hospital, after his accident in the deep space simulator. The drug began to work. He felt warm and then he started to drift.

"Let's get an x-ray," he heard the doctor say and then everything around him faded to soft muted sounds and gray light. He could stop fighting the pain now. The buzzing in his ears faded and he surrendered to the drug.

When he opened his eyes again, he was in a bed with raised side rails. The curtains were drawn around the bed, the light dim. The IV was still in his arm. His lower right leg was propped on a pillow and immobilized in a cast. His face felt cool and greasy. He touched it.

"Hey, hands off," Kara said softly. "It's for the sunburn."

He looked toward her voice. She was sitting in a chair at the head of his bed and was dressed in sweatpants and a t-shirt that said _CMS Posiden._

"What time is it?" He asked her.

"I don't know. Night."

"How bad? My leg? How bad?"

"Broken."

"I knew that already. One bone or both of them?"

"Your doctor didn't show me the x-ray. They set it."

"A lot of help you are," he said groggily.

"I talked to your father. He's sending a transport tomorrow to take us back to Caprica."

"I guess he wants to chew me out for losing one of his Vipers," Lee said lightly.

"Yeah, I'm sure that's what he wants to do. That was my mission. Hunt you down in the middle of the ocean so Admiral Adama could chew you out for losing one of his precious Vipers."

"Go find a bed somewhere and get some sleep."

"I'm fine."

"Kara, you can't sit in a chair by my bed all night."

She grinned. "Watch me."

He struggled and slid his hips over on the mattress. He patted the space beside him.

"You're crazy," she said.

"Humor me. I'm on drugs. I'm feeling no pain."

Kara lowered the rail and sat on the edge of the bed. Gingerly she lay down beside him. Their shoulders were touching.

"I finally got a shower."

"I can tell. You smell good. Get under the sheet with me."

She laughed. "No way. Next thing I know you'll want to…you know."

"Hold my hand at least?"

She reached for him. Their fingers locked.

"I love you, Kara."

She turned her face against his shoulder. "Yeah, well think about that next time you decide to…to do something stupid like…like punch out of a Viper ten miles above Caprica."

"It was closer to eleven miles and I didn't have a choice."

"Like a mile makes a big difference." She rolled on her side and put her arm over his chest.

"I thought you didn't want to…you know."

"Oh, shut up. I'm sure the doctor is going to kick me out of here soon."

"Until he does, just stay right where you are."

"I've got no plans to go anywhere."

"Does that mean you love me?"

"Probably. Now go to sleep so I can."

He caressed her hair and smiled. John would be proud of him. He hadn't disappointed her by dying.

TBC…


	76. Day Two of Freedom

Chapter 76

Day Two of Freedom

_To the surprise of many in the government, there was a popular backlash to the battle that freed Caprica from Cylon control. Many who had never felt the direct influence of Cavil's actions began email and letter writing campaigns blasting the President and military for the actions that left so many civilians dead and wounded. Until the day he left office, President Adar's public appearances were attended and sometimes marred by hecklers and protesters._

_- Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War_

On the second morning after the battle above Caprica, Laura Roslin stood at the street entrance of the bunker looking out over the city. The old hotel near the Capitol Building that housed the entrance sat on one of the city's hills, and she had as good a view as she could have had gotten anywhere.

The smoke from the many fires that had consumed commercial buildings and homes alike hung wraith-like over them giving the early morning sun a gray and dirty color.

Laura took a deep breath. The smell was of smoke and fire and water. She looked at the President.

"Dear gods. This is much worse than I imagined. Much worse. The Cylons did all this with twenty Raiders?"

"Not all of it. We think that more than half of the damage came from fires that spread. Our fire services were overwhelmed. I'm not sure we'll ever know how much was Cylon-caused damage and how much came from the spreading fires."

"How is this being reported in the press?"

"There's a lot of confusion, naturally. I haven't granted any interviews, yet, even though everyone is clamoring for news. Nothing official has been released since yesterday when my office issued the statement that we had destroyed the basestars and reclaimed air space over the planet. I've scheduled a press conference for this evening to speak to the people of Caprica."

"I very much appreciate your allowing Billy to work with your staff. He has accepted the position of my Press Secretary. This will be an invaluable learning experience for him, terrible as it is in all ways."

"I'll do anything I can to help you through this trying time, Laura."

"When do we have our first meeting with the Quorum and Cabinet to discuss everything that has happened?"

"This afternoon at three o'clock. I've asked Admiral Adama to attend and update us on the military situation."

"Kara found Bill's son late yesterday afternoon after he was in the water for almost twelve hours. Lee was dehydrated and his face is badly sunburned. His worst injury is a broken leg. Other than that, he's fine."

"Have you spoken with John's…your daughter?"

"Very briefly last night. I took advantage of your kind offer of the communication room in the bunker and had them put through a call to the rescue ship. Kara was in the Raptor that found Lee. She's with him now. She's fine. She…still thinks her father's ship is…out there somewhere. She told me…not to give up hope."

"Poor girl. I'm so sorry, Laura. I can't tell you enough times how sorry I am."

"I would like to go home and get some clothes. Then I would like to go to the hospital and see my doorman. He was shot by centurions…two nights ago…when Cavil tried to take my son." she took a deep breath. "I called this morning. He's still alive, but of course the hospital won't give me any information on his condition."

"I'd prefer that you not try to go out into the city right now. There's been some sporadic looting in areas adjacent to the fire damage. I can't talk you out of this, can I?"

"Was there any damage in the historic district?"

"No."

"Then I'd like to go. I won't be gone long."

"You'll have my special car and several of my best guards plus some Marines in front and behind the car."

"Thank you. Did any of our hospitals suffer damage?"

"Not from the Cylons. They're just overwhelmed right now. I understand that the King's Bay Medical Center is still triaging patients on the sidewalk outside the ER. Every hospital in a two hundred mile radius has implemented their disaster plans. The least injured victims are being transported to the outlying facilities. Every available person has been called in to work. For the most part the people of Caprica are rallying to the disaster."

"Perhaps this would _not_ be a good time to go visit a hospital."

"I think you should wait. The area around the medical centers and hospitals will be chaotic. After the injured are taken care of, then we'll visit them together to show our appreciation and support."

"How much longer will we be in the bunker?"

"We'll move back to Marble House tomorrow. My security detail thinks it will be safe. Do you still want three rooms?"

"Yes. One for me and another for my nanny and my son. And Kara, although she may not want to move. She may want to stay at the apartment. She and I have made our peace, but we've never been close. You know she's eighteen now. Technically I can't force her to move."

"We'll designate a room for her anyway. I'll make sure it's near yours and your son's rooms."

"Thank you."

"Laura, if there's anything I can do, anything, please, let me know."

"In several weeks when things have settled down, I'd like to plan a…memorial service for John…not a state occasion…something private and yet…befitting his sacrifice…" she began to tear up and couldn't continue.

"Of course." Adar put his arm gently around her shoulder. "You should take some time, Laura. I know you need some time to…"

Laura took a deep breath and got herself together. "I need to keep busy. That's the only thing keeping me sane right now."

She knew that if she stopped, she would fall apart completely. She had to keep going. There was so much to do. The people of Caprica needed strength and unity in their leaders. She would not wear her grief for everyone to see. There were many others on Caprica that would be sharing a similar grief, the loss of a husband or wife or child or siblings or friends. She would keep her pain for the private moments, for her family and the others closest to her. She would see Kara soon. She would see her daughter and they would grieve together.

o

"I don't need a damned wheelchair," Lee said angrily to Kara. "I can walk."

"You can't walk. You heard the doctor. No weight on the leg yet. I don't care if it is in a cast. How far do you think you can get hopping on one leg?"

"I've got the crutches."

"Lee, it's a long way to the vehicle. Sit down in the wheelchair."

Kara glanced at the medical corpsman who had met the transport ship that had picked them up on the rescue vessel three hours ago. He stood beside the wheelchair, his face impassive, waiting to see which one of them won the argument.

"Oh, great," Lee said in exasperation. "Here comes Major Parker."

Kara looked up to see a slender, silver-haired man striding swiftly across the tarmac. "Your father must have sent him to meet us."

"I knew he would be too busy to come himself."

Major Parker reached them. "Hello, sir," she said.

"You must be Kara." He extended his hand. "Brandon Parker. It's a pleasure to finally meet you. Hello, Lee. Your father asked me to stand in for him and ride with you to the hospital to see if I can expedite things. It's still chaos at all the hospitals. The admiral is meeting with the President and the Quorum this afternoon."

"Sir," Kara said and pointed to the wheelchair, "Maybe _you_ can convince Lee to ride."

Parker smiled at Lee. "If you don't, I will."

Lee knew when he was outnumbered. Without another word he handed the crutches to Kara and sat in the wheelchair. The corpsman adjusted the leg support so that his right leg was held straight.

"I'm not going to the hospital," Lee said. "I'm going to my apartment."

"Lee…" Kara started.

"No. I'm fine. The doctor on the _Posiden_ told me to follow up with a doctor on base. He did _not_ me I needed to be hospitalized. He told me to get plenty of liquids and rest and see a base doctor on Monday."

"And stay off the leg."

"And stay off the leg," Lee echoed. "That's what I'm going to do."

"Let's go then," Kara said.

She walked beside the wheelchair on one side. Major Parker walked on the other.

"Have things calmed down in the city?" Lee asked.

"There are a few fires still burning," Parker answered, "but most are under control. The Marines are still engaging the centurions in some places, in mostly the north-west area of the city, but it's less chaotic than it was this morning. We should have everything locked down by tomorrow. The last of the centurions will be destroyed."

"What about the skinjobs?" Lee asked.

"In prison at a secret location."

"We saw the smoke as we were coming in to land," Kara said. It looks like some parts of the city were hit hard."

"Between the Raiders that got through and the fires, there was a lot of damage. A lot of lives lost. A lot of civilians injured."

"There were too many Raiders," Kara said. "We couldn't stop them all."

"We're just grateful that you stopped the ones you did."

"How is my father?" Lee asked.

"Running on coffee and adrenalin and sheer guts," Parker said. "I don't think he's slept but a couple of hours since it started. He said to tell you he'd call you after the meeting is over. He wants to see you."

Lee had refused to take any painkillers on the flight back to Caprica City because he didn't like the way they made him feel, like he was only half aware of his surroundings. Now he was beginning to regret his bravado. With the jostling getting off the ship and the bumpy wheelchair ride, his leg was hurting much worse that it had an hour ago.

They reached the transport vehicle. Lee balanced himself and carefully got out of the wheelchair. Kara handed the crutches to Parker and started to help him.

"I can do it myself," Lee said. The pain sharpened and shorted his words.

Kara sighed in frustration and stood back. The driver had the back door open. Lee leveraged himself inside and turned sideways so that his encased lower leg was propped on the seat.

"I'll sit up front," Kara said.

Parker put the crutches on the floor of the back seat. "Take it from someone who has had more than one broken bone, you'll be okay. Six to eight weeks and the cast will come off. Three months, a little physical therapy and you should be back in the cockpit, good as new."

_Three months._ Lee couldn't believe that he would be unable to fly for three months. He was supposed to take Sadie back to Nereid in a month. His dad might wait two months, but Lee knew he would never wait three. He glanced at Kara and for the first time he realized who would probably be in that Raider when it went back to Nereid. Kara had the experience flying now. She had proven herself in combat, too.

Before Parker shut the door, he said, "Take care of yourself, Lee. Don't try to do too much right away. It's important for you to heal. I don't expect to see you back at work on Monday, either. Not until the doctor releases you. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir. Thank you for meeting us." Lee said. "You can tell my dad I've gone home."

"You'll probably talk to him before I do. I don't think my number will be the first one he calls when he gets out of that meeting." Parker shut the door for him.

Before Kara got into the front seat, she turned to the major. "Has there been any word about my father, sir?"

She got the strange look again. "Not that I'm aware of."

"Okay. Thank you." She got into the front seat.

"We've got to go over to the big Viper hangar," Lee told the driver. "I need to get my billfold and keys and my phone. They're in my locker."

When they got there, Kara opened the door and got out. "I'll get them," she told him. "You stay here."

"Keep your eyes shut in there," Lee tried to joke, but his words fell flat and humorless.

"If I'm not back in fifteen minutes, don't come looking for me." She also tried to joke, but again, the words held no humor for them.

She went to the women's locker room first and got her mobile phone from the locker she had commandeered. She left the jeans and sweatshirt in the bottom. She would get them later.

When Kara got to the men's locker room, she stood at the door for a few minutes waiting. She didn't hear much going on inside. None of the talking and laughing and joking that usually accompanied pilots changing in or out of their gear. Finally a pilot she didn't know trudged wearily out the door dressed in civilian clothes.

"Is everybody decent? I need to get something out of a locker."

"Women's locker room is down the hall."

"I know. It's not my locker."

"Go ahead," he said.

Kara walked inside and glanced tentatively around. She saw one pilot, a barefoot guy clad only in jeans who was lying on his back on one of the benches. One arm was crooked over his eyes and she couldn't see his face. Possibly he was asleep. Quietly she went to Lee's locker. She knew the code. He had told her once that he had changed it during the last year to her birthday. She punched it in and opened the door. His keys and billfold were on the top shelf along with his mobile phone. She got them. A picture of the two of them dancing at Laura and John's wedding was taped inside the locker. Kara sucked in her breath at the wave of pain that washed her as she thought of her father still being out there somewhere.

She quietly closed the locker door and turned. The pilot lying on the bench was now sitting. Dwight Saunders.

"Hey, Kara," he said softly. He looked as tired and strung-out as she had the day before. "I heard you found Lee."

"Yeah. Karl and Sharon found him. I was just along for the ride."

"Is it true she's a Cylon?"

"Yeah, but she's not like the rest of them."

He looked at her skeptically. "She was your roommate. How long have you known?"

Kara shrugged. "That's not important now."

"What's going to happen to her?"

"I don't know. What are you doing here?"

"I've been out…looking for your father."

"For how long?"

"Twenty-six hours."

Kara closed her eyes as the pain washed her again. With every hour that went by her father's chances of being found alive decreased.

"Quartararo and I shared pilot duties in a Raptor. We took turns catching naps. We…didn't have any luck. I'm sorry. None of us did."

"Has the admiral called off the search? Is that why you're back?"

"Not yet. I think Racetrack's out there now with Skulls. Maybe half a dozen others. Colonel Tigh called me and Crash back in and told us to sleep for a couple of hours. We're going back out."

"You need to sleep somewhere other than that bench."

"Yeah. We're going next door to the pilot's on-call room. There's bunks in there."

Quartararo walked out of the shower rubbing his head with a towel. Kara immediately averted her eyes. It didn't seem to bother him.

"Hey, Starbuck," he said as he walked to his locker.

She kept her eyes on Flat Tops' face. "I'd better go. Lee's out in a car waiting for me. He broke his leg when he hit the water."

Flat Top stood up. "We heard. I'll walk out with you." Outside the locker room, he put his hand on her shoulder and turned her so that he was looking at her.

"Pike didn't make it. Neither did Seelix. I thought you'd want to know."

His words hit her like a blow. "Pike and Seelix," she said in shock. "Both of them?"

"And Chuckles and Nora Farmer from the _Galactica_. There were others. Those are just the ones we know about."

"Pike _and_ Seelix?" Kara said again. "I just saw her night before last in the locker room. She was with me and Narch out there for a while. Are you sure?"

"Her Viper didn't come back. Neither did Pike's. The base didn't get a distress call from either one of them like they did from Lee. They're not on the _G _either. Some computer techs are taking all the Viper gun camera footage and putting it together for analysis. Somebody's camera probably recorded…whatever happened to them. Crash and I heard that when things settle down, all the pilots will be debriefed."

Kara tried to absorb the news. Pike and Seelix, two of her classmates. People she knew well. Duck's girlfriend Nora. Hot Dog and Kat's friend Chuckles. She had flown with all of them. She shook her head as if that would somehow make it not true.

"I…I didn't like Pike but that doesn't mean…" she swallowed hard.

Saunders pulled her to him and put his arms around her. Her face was against his bare shoulder. He smelled of soap. The news, coming on top of that about her father was too much at the moment. She accepted the comfort his arms offered her and leaned into him. She couldn't cry. If she started now she felt like she would never stop. Then she realized that it wasn't just him comforting her. He and Seelix had once had a thing. He needed this as much as she did, the touch of another human that confirms you're both alive. She put her arms around him.

"I'm sorry," she said softly. "She was wearing makeup when I saw her in the locker room. Were you two out on a date?"

"Yeah," he whispered.

"We're friends. It's okay to cry, you know."

"When all this is over."

She wrapped her arms around him. "I am so sorry."

She didn't even hear the clumping of Lee's crutches until she heard his voice.

"What's going on?"

His tone wasn't ugly. He didn't even sound angry, but Kara realized how it must have looked to him. Flat Top dropped his arms and turned to Lee.

"I wasn't moving in on your girlfriend."

"I didn't say you were."

Kara looked at him, and Lee realized from her face that something was wrong.

"We lost some Academy classmates," Saunders said.

"Who?"

"Seelix and Pike…that we know about," Kara answered him. "And Duck's girlfriend, Nora." Sadly she walked over to Lee and held out his billfold and keys. "I got your mobile phone, too."

Lee was too stunned to speak for a moment. He'd seen Seelix and Pike both in the hangar two nights earlier. He knew that pilots had died out there, and yet it didn't seem possible. And Nora. Duck was going to be crushed. He and Nora had planned to get married in a year or two.

Kara turned to Flat Top. "Thanks…for everything."

"We'll find your father if he's out there."

"I know you will. Get some sleep. I'll see you later."

He had already turned to go back into the locker room and gave her a small backward wave.

Silently she and Lee walked to the car and Lee once again worked until he got himself into the back seat. He knew there were no words that would make a difference now. Kara hadn't cared much for Pike…and Seelix hadn't been a close friend, but they were still her classmates. They had sat in classrooms together and struggled through exams together. They had bickered and argued and competed for a trophy, but they were still part of her memories of the Academy and Flight School. He wondered how many of his own classmates had been lost.

Lee gave the driver his address. It was time to go home.

o

"Four battlestars suffered serious damage," Bill Adama told the assembled Cabinet and Quorum. "Seven others had minor damage. I'm still waiting on the final figures, but we lost over eight hundred crew on the four ships."

"How many pilots?" Tom Zarek asked.

"Four Raptor pilots who were unlucky enough to be out on training maneuvers when the fighting started. The Cylons destroyed them immediately. They never stood a chance. Between the pilots who launched from the airbase and those on the battlestars, we lost fifty-six Viper pilots."

"Those are big losses," Zarek said.

"They could have been a lot worse," Bill answered. "The basestars were destroyed before they could launch all their Raiders, but we were still outnumbered in the beginning almost five to one. Our Vipers prevailed against almost impossible odds."

"Why weren't we notified before you and the military decided to take on the Cylons?" Sarah Porter asked.

"The necessity for keeping this a secret was more important. If we had been able to implement the attack on the date we had originally planned, you would have been notified ahead of time. As it is, after Cavil tried to kidnap the President-elect's son, we took him prisoner. His actions didn't leave us any choice."

Most of the group looked at Laura. "Your son is all right, isn't he?" Porter asked.

"He's fine," Laura answered her. "Unfortunately I lost my husband in the attack."

There was a stunned silence in the room.

Laura very carefully picked up her notepad from the table. She couldn't do this. Not right now. She looked at the President. "I'll let you fill me in later."

With all the dignity she could muster, she stood and walked from the room. She went back to the suite, poured a drink and sat on the couch. The door to the second bedroom was closed. Maya and Braedon must still be napping.

The events of the last two nights and days had finally caught up with her. Laura sat in a near stupor, struggling to grasp everything that had happened to her since election night.

The smell of the room made her think of the days and nights she had spent in this bunker five years ago before they had given control of their lives to the Cylons…when she still loved Bill Adama, long before she met John and conceived a child with him, long before she came to love him the way she now did.

In some ways those days in the bunker seemed far longer than five years ago and in some ways much shorter. She closed her eyes. Maybe it was all just a dream. Maybe she would open her eyes and find they were still negotiating with the Cylons.

There was a knock on the door. Bill stood outside.

He looked better today than he had the morning before. His eyes were still tired, his face still drawn, but something of his spirit was back. The crushed and broken man she had witnessed fall apart a day earlier was gone. His son had been returned to him from the dead. He had reason to look relieved.

"The meeting is over?" She asked him.

"My part is. I left. I had no desire to sit there and listen to Adar justify our actions to the Quorum."

He walked to the sideboard and also poured a drink before he began pacing in an agitated way.

"They raised objections to us winning our freedom from the Cylons?" Laura asked in surprise.

"If we'd been able to do it without any civilian casualties, they'd have been singing our praises. What the Quorum is upset about is the heat they'll take from the citizens of Caprica for the loss of life and destruction of property. The fact that they're free for the first time in five years hasn't made much of an impression."

Laura lowered her head.

Bill sat down on the couch beside her. "I'm sorry. I was too blunt."

"No. You're honest. That's you."

"I'm going to have to call off the search for John soon. We're running out of places to look. I wanted to tell you first."

"I understand."

He sat for a long time sipping his drink. Finally he said, "You're a believer in the scriptures of Pythia."

"Yes."

"You know I'm not. You know I don't believe in the gods."

"I know."

"In Pythia there is the story of a general, Gordian, who…"

"I know the story," Laura said quickly.

Bill turned up the glass of whiskey. He couldn't look at her. She knew why.

Gordian was a great general who had fought until he unified the twelve tribes on Kobol long before their fall from grace with the gods and their exodus. But like many great men, Gordian had a weakness. He was in love with the wife of one of his captains, a man the general sent into battle knowing he would be killed.

Bill said, "I need to know if you blame me for John's death, if you think I sent him up there knowing the odds were against him making it back."

"Did you send him up in that ship or did he volunteer?"

"I could have stopped him."

"John volunteered, didn't he?"

"Several months ago he wanted to test the ship to make sure our idea would work. He was never meant to be the pilot for the mission."

"You're not answering my question. Two nights ago, he volunteered, didn't he?"

"When we couldn't find the pilot who had been training for the mission, yes, John volunteered."

"Then I don't blame you. Months ago I knew he was doing something. He never mentioned exactly what it was, but I knew it involved flying. I could always tell when he'd been up in a ship. He'd come into the apartment and his eyes had a special…glow. He told me that he had been out to the base and taken a ship up, that he was keeping his skills sharp. He loved flying. It was very important to him."

"Not as important as you and his children. John loved you very much."

"I know he did."

Bill stood. "I'm going to see Lee. He and Kara are back."

"In the morning I'm going to the apartment to get some things before we all move to Marble House. I plan to call Kara. I would like to see her."

"Laura, you should understand that she doesn't believe John is gone. She believes he made it out of that basestar and is still _out there_ somewhere. Be prepared for her to challenge you."

Laura nodded sadly. She walked to the door with Bill. He reached inside the jacket of his uniform tunic and took a letter from the inside pocket. He handed it to her. Laura looked down. She recognized John's handwriting on the front. One word. Her name. _Laura_

He took her other hand and she saw the pain in his eyes. "If I can do anything…"

She squeezed his hand and then let it go. "I'll let you know," she said politely.

o

The driver of Lee and Kara's car had to detour six blocks from Lee's apartment. Police were wearily motioning everyone around several buildings that had suffered extensive damage. Fire crews were still on the scene. After circling blocks out of the way, the driver still couldn't get them any closer than the subway entrance.

They got out of the vehicle. The sidewalk was dark with soot and ash that had drifted from the fires.

"We can walk from here," Lee said.

They made it as far as Zeno's before he had to stop and rest. The cast on his leg was heavy and he felt clumsy and unsteady on the crutches. He was sweating even in the cold. The pain in his leg made him feel nauseous.

"Zeno's is open," He panted. "You want to get something to eat?"

"You're sweating and you look white even with that sunburn," Kara told him. "You should be in a hospital bed."

"You can forget that. Something to eat at Zeno's or sandwiches at the apartment? Those are our choices. There's no way our pizza place can deliver tonight."

"Zeno's," Kara said.

She held the door for him as he maneuvered inside. His mobile phone chirped. He stopped and reached into the pocket of the sweatpants he'd been given on board the _Posiden. _

The conversation was mostly monosyllables and Kara couldn't tell who it was. When Lee ended the call, he hobbled carefully until they were nearer the back of the pub. They sat at a table so Lee could prop his leg on a chair. He blotted his forehead with his sweatshirt sleeve.

"Okay, give me the painkiller and no smart remarks."

Kara took the bottle out of her pocket. It contained eight pills, enough to get Lee through the weekend, until he saw the base doctor on Monday. She took one out and handed it to him before she went to the bar. She got a beer and a glass of water. When she brought them back to the table, he had swallowed the pill dry. He took her beer and turned it up.

"Hey, you don't mix alcohol and drugs." She grabbed the beer and pushed the glass of water toward him. "Drink. You're supposed to hydrate. Who was that on the phone?"

"My dad. He'll be here in twenty minutes, maybe less."

"He's still trying to find my father. Flat Top told me. He and Crash were going to grab a few hours of sleep and then they're going back out."

Lee sipped the water even though he really wanted a beer. On his empty stomach, the painkiller was already beginning to work. The waiter showed up to take their order and Lee told him they would wait, that they were expecting someone else. He ordered his father a straight whiskey.

He looked at Kara. They hadn't talked about John since the night before. He knew that Kara believed John was still alive.

"What?" She finally asked.

Lee dropped his eyes and shook his head. "Nothing."

"You think my dad is dead, don't you?"

"I just know that I saw the basestar explode seconds after I heard him try to transmit something."

"He could have still made it out. He could have jumped…"

"Where, Kara? Where could he have jumped that our ships can't find him? A Raptor has limited FTL capability. At the most he might have made it as far as the ice planet. They've searched for him far beyond that planet and everywhere in between. Please don't do this to yourself. Please."

"So you think I should just accept that he's gone…like I did before."

"I know John. He wouldn't want you to keep torturing yourself like this, thinking he's out there somewhere waiting to be rescued."

"That's easy for you to say. _Your_ father is going to come walking in that door any minute."

"That's got nothing to do with it. Your father died a hero, Kara. You need to accept it. Be proud of his sacrifice."

Kara sipped her beer and looked away from him. Could she do that? Could she accept it? Could she let go of her father? She shook her head. "Not yet. I'm not letting go yet. My father loves me and he loves Brae and Laura…and you. He'd do everything in his power to get back to us."

As the painkiller flooded his body, Lee remembered his dream from the ocean. What had John told him? Already the dream was getting hazy, parts of it slipping away from him. But then it hadn't really been John talking to him. It was his dream, his interpretation of events, but he knew that he was right. He knew his friend. He knew how John would feel about Kara continuing to hold out hope.

"John went back to that basestar _knowing_ what the consequences would be. He did it _because_ he loved you, _because_ he wanted to save you and his son and Laura."

"Then _you_ bury him. I'm not going to do it. Not yet."

Lee dropped his head in defeat just as Bill Adama walked through the door.

"Here comes your father," Kara said. "I'll be back in a minute. I've got to go to the bathroom."

In truth she didn't think she could take the reunion between Lee and his father. She knew she was wrong to feel that way, but she could help it. In the restroom she stood and looked in the mirror. She looked into the reflection of her eyes, her father's eyes. She would see him again one day. As long as she believed that, she could handle anything.

Bill Adama squeezed Lee's shoulder tightly before he sat down.

"Thanks for letting Karl and Sharon take Kara up in that Raptor," Lee said to him.

"She's very persuasive when she wants to be. She told me they would find you. I owe her."

Lee smiled. "You think _you_ do? You don't have any idea how good that Raptor looked."

"How's the leg?"

"My fibula is broken in two places and my tibia in one place. Major Parker says I'll be out of the cockpit for a couple of months…more like three."

"He's right."

"What about Nereid? What about the second Sadie mission?"

"We'll talk about that later. I'm in no rush." Lee looked at his father. Bill's eyes were unreadable.

"How's Zak?" Lee finally asked.

"He's fine. I don't know what's going on with him, though. I spoke to him this morning. He's talking about joining the Marines again. Maybe you can talk to him tomorrow and find out what's up. Maybe I shouldn't be surprised. He's talked about it before."

"That was before he got the PR job with the Buccaneers. I thought he was really happy lately."

"So did I," his father said. "Who knows with Zak? A whim, a sudden burst of patriotism? Maybe he's gotten bored. I'm sure he'll talk to you…tell you what he's thinking. He's never done that with me."

Lee looked up as Kara sat down at the table.

"Hello, Admiral Adama."

"It's good to see you, Kara. Thank you for finding my son."

Kara smiled. "You owe Karl and Sharon, too."

"I'm aware of that. I'm taking her help into consideration."

"Where are they now?"

"We released them to go home. Both volunteered to stay if I needed them."

Kara knew what they had volunteered to stay and do. She glanced at Lee.

Bill picked up his drink and said gently, "You know we'll have to call off the search for John soon."

Kara held his gaze. "I know."

"I've got two Raptors covering the surface of the ice planet. After that there's nowhere left to search."

"I know…sir."

Lee looked at Kara in surprise. In the short time that she been gone from the table, had she accepted her father's death?

Bill reached into his inside tunic pocket. He took out two envelopes and gave one to Lee and one to Kara. Lee looked down. He recognized John's handwriting. Kara pulled the letter toward her and ran her finger over it before she folded it and put it in her pocket.

She smiled at them.

"Let's eat. I'm hungry. Then we can talk about the mission I'm going to fly to Nereid."

o

For a long time after Bill Adama left, Laura sat holding the letter he had given her, a letter from her husband. She had just started to very slowly peel back the flap when she heard the bedroom door open. Her son ran into the room.

"Mama."

She carefully slid the letter into her leather-bound planner and scooped him into her arms. In the last two weeks he had finally mastered the 'm' sound although he still called Maya 'Yaya'.

Braedon squirmed and pointed toward the door. "Out."

Maya walked out of the bedroom. She looked sleepy, her dark hair tousled around her shoulders. She ran her fingers through it and pulled it into a ponytail.

"We had a good nap. How was your meeting?"

"I didn't stay for all of it. Richard will fill me in later."

Braedon pointed toward the door again and said, "Out!" in a louder voice.

Maya walked over and took him. "I'll take him up to the cafeteria and get him a snack. They had some nice looking bananas this morning."

"It's nearly dinner time," Laura said.

"Then we'll eat dinner. Don't you want to come?"

"Maybe a little later. I'm not hungry right now."

They left and Laura sat down on the couch and took the letter out of her planner. She finished peeling back the flap. With trembling fingers she unfolded the single page.

_Dearest Laura,_

_If you are reading this, it means the worst has happened, the thing that is on every pilot's mind each time he or she takes a ship up. There are many times I think it should have happened to me long ago, that I've been living on the clichéd borrowed time for many years, but what years those have been. The gods spared me over and over when others died and I always wondered why until I met Kara's mother and we had our daughter. Even though Socrata kept Kara from me for most of her childhood, I loved Kara and watched over her and prayed always that one day I'd have the chance to be a real father to her. I got that chance, late though it was, and I wouldn't trade the short time I had with her for anything. I've loved her for eighteen years and I will continue to love her no matter where I am in the afterlife._

_I know that in the two years you and I have been together we've occasionally struggled with our relationship and that has been mostly my fault. I've had a hard time accepting the fact that you could love a guy like me, but these last months, busy as they have been for both of us, have been the best in my entire life._

_I've tried to get my thoughts together to put on paper about our happy and precocious son, but I'm not doing too well. If I have one regret, it's that I won't see him grow into the man I know he'll become. I won't worry as much about you and Kara because both of you are strong and tough and you'll carry on. The only thing I ask of you is that you don't let Braedon forget me. Show him my picture from time to time and tell him that his 'dada' loved him more than life._

_I love you, Laura, and if the gods find it in their hearts to grant my last wish, it's that we'll see each other again one day. John_

Carefully Laura folded the letter and put it in her planner. She stood and looked at her watch. Early evening. The stars would just be visible in the twilight sky. Laura went into her bedroom and took a hooded coat she had brought earlier that day from the apartment. She quickly scribbled a note telling Maya that she was going out for a short while and where she was going.

On the top level of the bunker, a Marine stopped her. Even after he recognized her, he still detained her.

"Ma'am, I can't let you go out there alone. I have my orders. No one leaves here unaccompanied."

"Then accompany me, but I will go out."

He stepped away from her and spoke into the radio at his shoulder for a moment before he turned back to her. "I'll call your car, ma'am. Where are you going?"

"No car. It's only a few blocks. It's a temple."

He motioned to another Marine. "You're with me."

Together they left the bunker, one on either side of her. She pulled up the hood of her coat. When they reached the little temple, she asked them to wait outside. One of them carefully checked the interior before he let her go in.

The temple was dimly lit, the lamps burning on the side walls only. There were candles flickering on the altar. Slowly she walked up the aisle. At the altar she used one candle and lit another one. She had no coins to put in the bowls and asked the gods to forgive her this visit.

Carefully she knelt on the cold stones in front of the altar instead of on the cushions located at the bottom of the two steps. She thought of her wedding here and her son's dedication ceremony. She let the pain wash through her and the tears finally came in choking sobs, her only question to the gods repeated over and over. _Why him?_

After a while she felt a hand on her shoulder and heard a soft voice that she recognized. "Let me help you."

Elosha. Her arm supported Laura as she stood and then allowed herself to be led like a child into the room behind the altar. Elosha helped her sit on one of the cushions. Laura pushed back the hood revealing her tear-stained cheeks. She expected to see surprise on Elosha's face. Instead she saw only sympathy.

"You have lost someone very dear to you."

"John." Laura could barely say his name for the pain.

Elosha handed her a goblet of wine, the drink dark red, like blood. Laura drank all of it.

"In the third scroll Pythia speaks of the war between good and evil and the price that will be paid. _And the forces of light will meet the forces of dark many times upon the planes of the heavens and the land. The forces of evil are strong and will prevail before they are overcome by the forces of good, but the battles will not be without their price in blood._"

The drink calmed Laura. She wondered if it contained more than wine.

"There will be a…private memorial service…in several weeks. I'd like for it to be here. I'd like for you to officiate. John would want it, too."

"Of course."

Laura stood. She was under control now. "I need to go. Thank you."

"I have offered you little comfort."

"More than you know. I'll be back."

Elosha walked with her to the entrance. Laura looked up at the night sky, darker now, the stars brighter. She prayed that the soul of her husband was up there among them.

o

Kara unlocked the door of Lee's apartment and turned on the lights. Lee carefully maneuvered through the door. He hopped to the couch and put the crutches on the floor before he gratefully sat.

Kara closed the door. She walked over to the bookcase and took her father's letter from her pocket. Gently she smoothed it out and lifted her Top Gun trophy. She put the letter under it.

"Aren't you going to read it?" Lee asked.

"Not yet. Someday."

How could she explain it to him? Until she opened that letter, her father would be alive for her.

"Aren't you going to read yours?"

"Later."

So maybe he did understand. Kara walked over to him and held out her hand. He took the letter from his pocket and handed it to her. She smoothed it out and put it under his Top Gun trophy. She turned on the CD player. Dreilide's new CD began to play.

She went to the kitchen and got a beer from the refrigerator. She got a second one and opened them. She walked back into the living room and handed one of them to Lee.

"So you're letting me drink now?"

"You've had something to eat."

They sat for a while and listened to the music.

"Are you mad because I told your father I want to fly the next Sadie mission to Nereid?"

He shook his head. "I'm really tired. I want to go to bed."

"Do you want me to stay?"

"What do you think, Kara?"

"I'm going to take a shower. Do you want me to help you get in bed?"

"I can make it."

"What's wrong with you? Why won't you let me help you?"

"Because I don't need somebody to _help_ me."

"Mr. Macho Tough Guy. Can't let a little something like a broken leg stop you, can you?"

Lee turned up the beer. "We're both tired. Let's not say anything else. You saved my life, Kara. I don't want to fight with you."

She turned up the beer and walked into the bathroom. When she got out of the shower, he was already in bed. She threw her towel over a chair and climbed in beside him.

He was on his back, his arm above his head. He slid it down and pulled her against him.

"I thought you were tired," Kara said.

"I'm never that tired."

"Of course not, since I'm going to have to do all the work." She couldn't hide the amusement in her voice.

She heard the answering lightness in his. "Is that a complaint?"

"So you don't mind letting me do _some things_?"

"Anything you want, Kara."

"I'll start here," she said and kissed his mouth. He tasted of beer. She let her tongue gently explore his as she felt his hands slide up her ribcage.

"I keep thinking I'm still in the water and this is all a dream," he said.

"No dream," she said as she kissed his chest, her tongue sliding across his nipple. "It's just the beer and drugs making you feel that way. I'm real."

He had a brief memory of his dream about John…something about real and not real. Kara's hands on him were real. Her mouth was real. She was real.

For a man with a broken leg, he thought they did fine. She was careful as she straddled him. He whispered her name, whispered his love for her, and he let her take her pleasure from him.

For the first time in two days he wasn't aware of his broken leg. He was aware only of the feeling building in him and his love for her.

They were alive. They were both alive and this was no dream. This was real.

o

The next morning Kara fixed coffee and hot cereal, which is all Lee wanted. He asked for another painkiller. She kissed him and left him drowsy on the couch after she promised she would be back in time for lunch. She had to go to the apartment for some more clothes.

Jennet let her in. The minute she saw Kara, she put her hand over her mouth and began to cry.

"I'm fine," Kara said.

She heard little footsteps. Braedon ran into the foyer. Kara knelt and scooped her brother into her arms. Maya appeared in the doorway to the den. Holding Braedon, Kara walked over to her. Maya put her arms around both of them. Braedon squirmed to get down.

"I promised myself I wasn't going to start crying in front of him," Maya said. "He doesn't understand."

"Is Laura here?" Kara asked.

"She's coming later. I came ahead to start packing some of Brae's things. We're moving to Marble House today."

"Is that what you want to do?"

Maya shook her head. "Not really. But it's what Laura wants."

"Have you heard from Sam?"

"His apartment building was damaged. He wasn't there when it happened. He was vague about exactly where he was. He's staying with Zak until he finds a new place." When she saw Kara's look, she said, "It's all right. How's Lee?"

"I left him resting. What is it about guys not admitting they need any help? My dad was the same way after he got shot. I was staying at the hospital with him and he was all, _I can do it myself, _when he couldn't do anything himself_._"

At the mention of her father, Maya turned. "I can't believe he's gone."

"He's not dead," Kara said softly.

Maya whirled and even Kara could see the hope in her eyes. "They've found him?"

Kara shook her head. "No. But he's not dead. I know he's not."

"Laura said…" Maya started.

"Yeah, I know. Laura said I'm crazy. Lee thinks I'm crazy, too. It's all right. Maybe I am."

Braedon was trying to reach the top part of the cabinet. "Dada," he said.

Maya walked over and picked him up. "He's been doing that since we got here. I don't know what he wants."

Braedon squirmed and Maya put him down. He did the same thing. Kara walked over to the cabinet and opened it. Her father's laptop computer was inside. She picked it up.

"Could this be what he wants?"

"Probably. I don't know why I didn't think about that. He's always been fascinated by it. John was always showing him pictures of ships."

Braedon was standing on his toes at Kara's leg. He reached up. "Dada."

"Why don't you finish packing Brae's things?" Kara said. "I'll entertain him."

She went over to the couch, opened the computer and booted it. Braedon climbed up beside her. He looked up proudly and smiled. For a moment Kara saw her father and her vision blurred with tears. Carefully she stroked her brother's soft brown hair.

Her father's password was_ starmapper_. She entered it and took a deep breath. She could do this.

"What do you want to look at, Brae?"

She looked at the icons and then clicked on the pictures. There were dozens of photographs of ships. She started through them. When she got to a Viper, Braedon pointed to the screen. "Kawa."

"Yes, that's my ship. What next?"

She looked at pictures of the island they had taken on their last trip. Braedon began to get restless. He reached over and tried to mash some of the keys. She sensed his frustration.

"Easy, Brae. Don't break it. What do you want to look at?"

"Dada," he said again.

She began to look for pictures of her father. Instead she found the star charts of Nereid he had worked on. Fascinated, she began paging through them. She would go there. Last night Admiral Adama hadn't said yes, but he hadn't said no. She was almost sure that she would fly the next mission to Nereid. She would take the laptop back to Lee's apartment so she could study these charts and maps.

Braedon reached across her lap and put his finger on the screen. "Dada."

She took his finger away. "Yes, your dada did these charts. Now don't touch. Your fingers are sticky. Let Kara look at the pictures."

She paged several more times and each time Braedon put his finger on the screen and said, "Dada."

Kara kept taking his finger off the screen. She could see the little smudges.

"No." He began to fret the next time she reached for his hand.

"When did you learn that word?" She asked him.

Maya walked into the den with several bags. "He learned it a few weeks ago. I'm surprised you haven't heard it yet. He's said it enough times in the last couple of days."

"What does he want?" Kara asked her. "I don't understand what he wants."

Braedon slid off the couch and walked to the terrace door. "Out."

"We can't go out," Maya said. "It's too cold."

"Out. Dada."

"I don't know what he wants either. Maybe he thinks John is out on the terrace. He's probably looking for him."

Braedon was clearly frustrated. He slapped the glass door. "Out!"

Kara put the laptop on the couch and went to the door. She picked Braedon up.

"I'll take him outside and show him. Maybe that will quiet him."

She carried her brother outside. It was cold but the sun was shining. Across the river she could see smoke still drifting from the extinguished fires. She walked around the terrace with Braedon. Memories of sitting out here with her father filled her mind, the times they sat sharing Academy experiences and talking about flying. She took a deep breath as tears filled her eyes.

She managed to say to her brother. "See, Daddy's not out here."

Braedon pointed skyward. "Dada."

Kara wondered how her brother could know that their father had taken a ship up. Surely he was too young to understand an idea that complex. Then she realized why he probably did it. Their father had probably stood out here with him and pointed to the sky and told him that's where he flew. Braedon had come to associate the sky with his father.

"Yes, that's where daddy is."

She took her brother back inside. Being outside for a few minutes seemed to have satisfied him. He went to his toy box and started pulling toys out until he found the Raptor. He held it up to her and said, "Dada."

It was more than Kara could take. She turned and walked from the room, down the hall to her bedroom and sat on her bed. For a few minutes she felt like she was going to suffocate. When she looked up, Maya was at the door. She came and sat down on the bed beside Kara and put her arm around her shoulders.

"I'm going to stay with Lee for a while," Kara finally said. "Laura won't like it, but he needs me. He doesn't like to admit it, but he does."

"That's probably better for you, too. Maybe it's better if all of us are away from here for a while."

"I'll come see Brae…and you…and Laura. How is she doing?"

"Good…most of the time. She went out last night to see the priest, Elosha. When she got back I could tell she'd been crying, but she had it together by then."

"Laura is tough and strong. She'll be fine."

"Just like you," Maya said softly. "Just like John."

Kara looked at her and Maya held her steady gaze. Something passed between them just as it had when Maya had shared her experience in the camp with Kara. It was something they would speak of only once, but Kara suddenly understood why Maya had accepted the relationship with Sam on his terms, why she had never pushed him for a commitment, why it wasn't that important to her.

Kara watched the tears come up in Maya's eyes.

"Does my father know how you feel about him?" Kara asked.

Maya shook her head and finally dropped her eyes. "I'd better get back to Brae." At the door she turned. The tears had spilled over. "He was the kindest man I ever knew."

Kara had finished packing her duffel bag and had carried it to the den when Laura arrived. They shared a brief and awkward hug. Kara could tell that Laura was struggling with her emotions.

"I see you're packed," Laura said.

"I'm going back to Lee's. I'm going to stay with him for a while."

"The President's staff is getting a room ready for you at Marble House."

"Tell them to take their time. I won't need it right away."

"Certainly you understand how it will look for you to move in with Lee…even for a short while."

"Yeah, I guess the press will have a field day with the President-elect's stepdaughter shacking up with the admiral's son. Are you going to tell them?"

"Of course not, but Marble House has a large staff. They'll know you're not there. Someone will certainly talk. Kara, please. I want us to be together. I thought we would be able to comfort each other."

"Yeah, well the problem is that you've already written my dad off and I haven't."

Laura sighed wearily. This was not going the way she had planned. She tried again.

"Because you're my daughter, you warrant protection. I hardly think Lee will want armed guards camping out in his living room."

"I don't need protection. I don't need armed guards. Tell the President I said, _Thanks, but no thanks_."

"John would not appreciate this kind of behavior from you," Laura said, the exasperation finally coming through in her voice. "He would expect you to cooperate."

"Yeah, well, when my dad gets back, he can chew me out for it."

Kara picked up the laptop, closed it and zipped it into her duffel bag. She bent down and kissed her brother before she grabbed the bag. She faced Laura.

"Look, I appreciate what you're trying to do. I'm just not ready for all this right now. Lee needs me. You've got my mobile number. You know where to find me."

After she was gone, Laura sat on the couch and looked at Maya. "Dear gods, what did I do or say wrong?"

"It's not you," Maya answered her. "Kara will think about it and apologize. She's been through a lot in the last couple of days."

"Like the rest of us haven't?"

Laura looked at her son sitting on the floor playing with his ships. She walked over, picked him up and carried him to the picture of her and John taken at their wedding.

"Your father loved you more than life," she said before she kissed him and put him down to go back to his ships.

As she watched him play, she knew that the Oracle had been right.

One day her son would map the stars on the way to Earth.

TBC…


	77. In Memorium

Chapter 77

In Memorium

_As the rumor spread around the internet that the Cylon homeworld had been found, increasing pressure was put upon President Adar to either officially confirm or deny the rumor. In a televised news conference a month before he left office, Adar confirmed that a distance planet outside their solar system was being viewed 'with suspicion'. When asked if the information had come from one of the captive humanoid Cylons, Adar replied with a terse 'no comment' leading most to believe that Cavil or one of the others had revealed the location. When asked if the military had any plans to pursue the destruction of the Cylon homeworld, Adar again refused comment citing security reasons._

_- Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War_

Kara sat in the pilot's ready room on the base with a dozen other Viper pilots. It had been five days since Admiral Adama had called off the search for her father, five days in which she had thanked her fellow pilots for their efforts in searching for him. She had accepted their condolences, but refused to say anything else. A part of her had accepted the fact that logically nothing pointed to his survival. Everyone else now believed that he had never made it out of the basestar. They believed that his Raptor had completely disintegrated in the white heat of the explosion. Her heart, however, would not accept the death of the man she had known for such a short time but with whom she felt such a tight and enduring bond.

Even her brother had felt something, although Kara now believed that Brae's chattering had only been a little boy missing his father and searching for him in the objects and places he associated with the man who loved him so much, the laptop computer and the ships and the time they had spent on the terrace during the summer.

Lee had tried twice to get her to talk about it and twice she had refused. Staying at the apartment with him had been so different than the week they had spent on the island together. He had been grumpy about his leg and she had been…well, she knew she had been difficult. Several times she had almost packed her bag and gone back to Laura and her father's apartment, but each time she had talked herself out of it because she knew he needed her right now as much as she needed him.

Despite Lee's insistence on being able to do everything for himself, Kara knew that she made life easier for him. She helped him. Wasn't that a part of loving someone, too? Helping each other through the rough times as well as the good times? Putting up with each other's bad moods and frustrations? So she had stuck it out.

She had expected for several days to get orders to return to the _Galactica_, but she and the other pilots who were on shore leave when the battle started were finally told they would continue to report to the airbase for duty until further notice. She was glad. She would be able to stay with Lee even if it meant they would bicker, but they had managed so far not to end the day with a fight. They had ended every day in each other's arms, making love, carefully, even gently because of his leg. They had never yet let mood or temper push that out of the way for them. She didn't know when the order might come sending her back to the battlestar, but until it did, she would take each day and each night with Lee as a gift and not waste it. She knew what long nights alone in a bunk felt like and so did he.

All of the battlestars were back over Caprica now. Yesterday in the ready room, the pilots had been told that the _Valkyrie_ was being brought into dry dock on the planet for repairs. She wished that they could have seen the big battlestar brought down through the atmosphere, but the dry dock was nearly five hundred miles northwest of Caprica City, too far for an excursion just to get a look at something that hadn't happened since she had been on Caprica.

The estimate was four months until the ship was space-worthy and ready for battle again. The _Atlas_ would be next although the estimated repair time on it was shorter…two to three months. Both ships had suffered extensive damage before the basestars near them had been destroyed. The repairs on the other battlestars were being done in space as they orbited the planet.

If Admiral Adama wanted all of his battlestars combat ready before he went to Nereid, that meant six to eight months before he would engage the Cylons in the Prolmar Sector, six to eight months in which there would probably be more than one recon mission to the planet.

Now she sat in the ready room on the third row and waited for Colonel Jackson Spencer to come in. They were going to look at some more of the gun camera footage of the fighting.

Noel Allison came in and sat down beside her.

"I thought I was going to be late. There's still problems with the subway running on time. Four of the lines are still closed while they shore up the tunnels."

"I'm riding my motorcycle. Lee told me to take his car, but I'd rather ride my bike. The cold clears my head."

There was another reason she was riding the bike now. In only a few days she'd fallen back into her old habit of riding too fast, losing herself to the sensation of speed as she flew along the I-6 in the outside lane, passing everything on her way to and from the base and the city. She didn't even worry about a speeding ticket. The city's police were still too busy patrolling the damaged and fire-ravaged areas, although Lee had told her that the President was going to ask the military for help as soon as the Marines finished mopping up the last of the Cylon centurions.

Major Parker's estimate of one day to finish the fighting had been overly optimistic. There were still skirmishes going on near some of the Cylon strongholds. Cavil had been smart. He'd placed the centurions among the city in such a way that the military couldn't destroy their enclaves without wreaking more damage on the already battered citizens and property. The Marines were fighting with conventional weapons, street to street, rarely able to use the rockets and grenades and other devices now readily available to them and which would have ended the conflict sooner. They had cordoned off areas to keep the centurions from getting out, but the casualty toll among the soldiers was climbing.

There was even a dark joke that had gone around the base. Someone asked what the centurions did when they started running out of ammunition. The answer. Melt one of themselves down to make more bullets. Kara thought the joke was dark and sick, too, and she had walked away from the group of pilots who had been laughing about it.

"How is Lee doing?" Narcho asked.

His question brought her back to the present. "Grumpy because he can't do much. He talked his doctor into letting him start some limited work next week. He'll come out here for a couple of hours a day. I think he's pushing it, but Lee's going to do it anyway so there's no point in arguing with him."

"How are you doing?"

Kara shrugged. "Okay. What about you?"

He lowered his voice. "I'm not sleeping too well. Neither is Saunders. He prowls around the apartment half the night. Quartararo is doing fine. I can hear him snoring. We're staying at his apartment until we find out what they're going to do with us."

"The base has…somebody you can go to about the sleep problems."

"What'd they give you? Is it any good?"

Kara grinned. "How would I know? I'm sleeping just fine."

That wasn't entirely true. One night this week she had dreamed about flying her Viper between a maze of tall buildings and firing missiles at centurions on the ground. The buildings were old and crumbling and didn't look like Caprica. She finally decided that she had been dreaming about Nereid and the pictures of the ruined city that Lee had taken on his mission.

She dreamed about being in her Viper a lot now. She dreamed about being alone and surrounded by Raiders, knowing she couldn't take them all out, waiting for the kill shot that took her out, knowing she was going to die. Once the dream had been so intense that she'd had to get out of bed and walk to the kitchen before her heart stopped pounding and the sweat dried on her body. Lee hadn't even stirred. Of course he was still taking the painkillers at night. He was sleeping fine.

"Maybe I'll just drink another beer before I go to bed," Narcho said.

"Has Flat Top mentioned Seelix?"

Narcho shook his head. "He hasn't talked about that night at all. None of us have. We went down to The Shark Rider a couple of nights ago. It was just locals. We stayed and drank a beer. I don't think we'll go back for a while. It was depressing."

"Lee and I have been going to Zeno's most nights for dinner. His brother is supposed to meet us there tonight."

"Racetrack's boyfriend?"

"Yeah. I don't know if she'll be with him or not."

"Saunders told me that she and Karl got into it in the hall outside the locker room yesterday over Sharon."

"Got into it?" Kara asked in surprise. "Got into it how?"

"She got in his face. Called him a Cylon lover and a traitor. Told him he was a disgrace to the uniform."

"What happened?"

"Saunders and Skulls pulled her away from him before it got…physical."

"Was Sharon there?"

Narcho shook his head. "Nobody's seen her since the day you found Lee. We don't know if she's laying low or they've told her not to report for duty or she's been taken somewhere. Karl's not talking to any of the rest of the Raptor pilots about it."

"Frak. I need to call him," Kara said. "I talked to him this past Monday night. He didn't say anything was wrong."

"Do you think we'll be going back to the _Galactica_ soon?"

"I don't know. I don't think I'll be…at least not until after the inauguration."

Kara knew that the inauguration wouldn't hold her on Caprica if the rest of the pilots were sent back. But flying the mission to Nereid would. She just couldn't talk about that yet. The inauguration was a good excuse.

As if he were reading her thoughts, Narcho said, "Saunders heard something else yesterday. He heard that we've found the Cylon homeworld. You know, the place they came from when they attacked us five years ago. Now Saunders thinks we'll be going there to take them on again."

Kara shrugged. "You hear all kinds of rumors these days. Lee read on the web that somebody had spotted Cavil and the blond woman up in Sovana. That's a joke. They're both here in prison. The web is full of urban legends now. You can't believe everything you hear or read."

Jackson Spencer walked down the aisle to the front of the ready room. "More home movies," he said as the lights were dimmed.

"This is getting a little depressing," Narcho whispered to Kara.

"Do you have a comment you'd like to share with the group, Lieutenant Allison?" Spencer asked. His voice had an edge today, which was unlike him. Maybe the footage was getting to him, too. He had to do this over and over with small groups of pilots.

"No, sir."

"Then let's have everyone's attention."

They watched the grainy black and white footage for over an hour as Spencer stopped frequently and pointed out mistakes pilots had made along with the good moves. She thought she recognized some footage taken from her cameras but there was a lot about that night she didn't remember so she couldn't be sure.

They watched a Viper explode. She wondered who it was because the tail numbers had been blurred. Watching the sequences was hard enough without knowing which classmate or friend you had just watched die.

When the lights came back up, Spencer asked for questions.

Someone from the back of the room said, "Rumor has it that we might be doing this again someday in the not-too-distant future."

So something had leaked.

"We need to keep our skills sharp," Spencer said. "Now that we don't have to deal with Raider escorts on every training mission, we'll be doing a lot more every time we go up…which will be starting next week. Any more questions?"

He had skillfully deflected the question without answering it. When the room was silent for a few moments, Spencer said, "There will be a memorial service in the base chapel this Sunday afternoon at 15:00 for the pilots we lost. You are all encouraged to attend. Starbuck, stay behind. The rest of you are dismissed."

Kara gave Narcho a look and smiled. "I'm innocent."

He smiled back and stood. "That's what they all say."

When everyone was gone, Kara walked down to the front. "Yes, sir."

"You have an appointment with Admiral Adama tomorrow morning at o ten hundred at his office downtown. Do you know where that is?"

"Yes, sir. I've been there before. Do you know what it's about?"

"All I was told was to have you report to his office. How are you doing, Starbuck?"

"Fine, sir."

How's Lieutenant Adama?"

She managed a smile. "Grumpy, sir."

"Have you talked to anyone about…losing your father?"

"I'm doing fine, sir. He wouldn't want me to…I'm okay."

"That's all I have then."

"Thank you, sir."

There were only two things the admiral would call her to his office to talk about…her father or the mission to Nereid. She hoped it was the latter. As far as she was concerned, she and Bill Adama didn't have anything else to say about her father. She understood why he had called off the search. She didn't blame him for giving up. But she didn't want to talk about it anymore, not to him, not to anyone.

She and Lee had not mentioned Nereid again after the night they got back from the rescue ship. Her father's laptop with its star charts was still in her duffel bag. If the admiral told her tomorrow that she would fly the mission, she would get it out and start studying the maps and charts.

She went to the back of the ready room and took her black leather jacket off a hook and zipped it over her fatigues. She took her helmet from the shelf above. She hadn't been to Marble House all week. She owed Maya and her brother a visit. She hoped that she was early enough that Laura would still be at her office or in a meeting. Right now she didn't have anything to say to her stepmother.

Kara walked out to the parking lot and got on the bike. She would ride fast into the city, the cold numbing her body until it reached her heart.

o

Lee jerked awake. He had dozed and his head had fallen back against the top of the couch. He massaged his neck for a few minutes trying to work out the stiffness. He hated how limited he was by the broken leg, and it had only been a week since he had fallen from the sky into the ocean. A week since Kara and Karl and Sharon had found him in a rescue that Lee knew was nothing short of a miracle. And yet the thought of four or five more weeks in the cast was almost more than he could stand to think about.

He knew he had so much to be thankful for. He had survived and Kara had survived. Zak and his father had survived. Everyone he knew and cared about was still alive…except John.

Lee looked at the bookcase. John's letter to him was still under his Top Gun trophy. He knew Kara hadn't read hers yet, either. He was beginning to wonder now if she ever would. She wouldn't talk to him about it. If he mentioned it, she just clammed up. He couldn't even tell if she had accepted it yet or if she still believed her father was alive, but how she could still believe, Lee didn't know.

Maybe that was the definition of faith although he thought that more likely it was simply denial. He knew that one day she would face it, however, and he wanted to be there for her when she did. He needed to accept it and deal with it himself. He should be ready to help Kara when she needed him. He should read John's letter and start the healing process. He had put off the pain long enough.

Carefully Lee got up. He had learned his lesson earlier in the week about getting up too quickly. He had gotten off balance and nearly fallen. Luckily Kara hadn't been there to see it. Now he moved slowly. The last thing he wanted was another broken bone.

He hobbled over to the bookcase, took John's letter from under the trophy and carried it to the kitchen. Using a knife he very carefully slit the envelope. With an empty feeling in his heart, he sat down at the table and began to read.

_Lee,_

_Before I take the Raptor up in its first test, I'm giving a couple of letters to your dad and asking him to do the honors if something happens to me. If you're reading this, you know what it means. _

_I'll always remember the night I met you, that night I had to leave Kara and Karl at Singer's airfield. All I had on my mind was getting back to my daughter and you still impressed me with your maturity and intelligence. Before that night was over, I figured out that you had some issues with your father, but instead of turning your back on a military career without giving him a chance, you traveled to a battlestar to see what his life was all about. That impressed me, too._

_At the risk of sounding more sentimental than you're used to hearing me, I want you to know that I couldn't be happier that you and Kara are together. That wasn't the case two years ago, but not because I objected to you. I thought she was too young, but we've been over that before and there's no need to go there again. It's very obvious you love each other. When the time is right, I know you and she will marry, and the gods willing will raise a family together. On that day, know you have my blessing. I just hate that I'll miss seeing my little girl on the happiest day of her life._

_I told Kara in her letter, but I want to tell you, too. If anything should ever happen to Laura, I want you and Kara to raise Braedon. I know that might be difficult for you both to do with the military as a career, but Laura has no relatives left alive and I can't stand the thought of my bright and happy son going to a foster home. If that day ever comes, please try to keep Maya in his life. We couldn't have found a better nanny, and I will always thank the gods for her love and care of him. _

_I know you'll be fine. I know you'll go on like you always have because you survived a tough childhood. Kara did, too, but she's my daughter and it's a father's duty to worry about his little girl. She will mourn me in her own way although the gods only know what that way will be. She's been through a lot in her short life. Be patient with her._

_You still owe me for five years of drinks, but take care of my daughter and I'll consider us even. Okay, that's not funny, but writing this letter has been hard for me and I was going for a little humor. I know you don't believe in an afterlife, but at least consider the fact that maybe I'm right about that and you're wrong. I want to think I'll see my best friend again one day. John _

Lee folded the letter and put it back in the envelope. For the first time in a week, he felt the emotional pain like a punch in the gut. He put his head down on his arms. In just a night, just a week, their lives had changed drastically and they had no choice but to move forward. There was no going back, no stopping what had been set in motion by Cavil's insane plan to kidnap a baby, a child he thought knew the way to Earth. Lee had lost a close friend, his best friend, and he knew he would never forgive the Cylons for that loss.

o

Kara sat on the floor playing with her brother. Today he was putting big wooden pieces in the shapes of animals into a puzzle. He hadn't once said 'dada' to her. She wondered about the memory of a one-year-old child. Had he forgotten his father already?

She looked at her watch. "I'd better go. Lee and I are meeting Zak tonight at Zeno's."

"Is he bringing Maggie?" Maya asked.

"I don't know. I hope not. I don't want to get into it with her about Sharon. I heard she confronted Karl and it wasn't pretty."

"Maggie's not a happy person."

Kara smiled sadly. "So you picked up on that, too. I've known Maggs since the camp. I thought she was happy with Karl, but now I wonder. I know one thing. She hates the Cylons."

"Most people do."

Kara knew that Maya was right. Maya had more reason than most to hate the Cylons.

"What do you hear from Sam?"

"He's been working with one of the disaster relief organizations."

"Sam?" Kara asked in surprise.

"I know. That was my reaction, too. But the place where they play their pyramid games is being used to house people who lost their homes and apartments in the fighting. The Buccaneers' home games have been called off until further notice. The team's owner is going nuts over the revenue he's losing. He's already got his staff putting pressure on the government to do something with his uninvited guests. Sam said Adar hadn't bowed to the pressure yet. There's nowhere else to put the people right now. All the homeless shelters are running over. People are sleeping in the subways again."

"So what's Sam doing to help?"

"He said he was helping serve food to them. I'm surprised you haven't seen him on television or seen something on the internet."

Kara shook her head. "I haven't looked at either one lately."

The truth was that she didn't want to see any more about death and suffering. She didn't want to see anything about her father, either.

Maya said, "Sam and I are going out tomorrow night before they go on the road for a week. I'll let you know how it goes. Kara, I'm really okay with whatever Sam and I have. I know he was with another woman when his apartment building was damaged. That's why he wasn't home. I don't know who and I really don't care. That's just Sam. He's a big sports star. I can hardly expect…something like I had with Peter. I'll never have anything like that again."

"Yes, you can. But instead of looking, you're just going to settle for being another one of Sam's…women. I liked Jared a long time ago. I could have settled, too. I could have given up on me and Lee. I didn't."

Maya dropped her eyes. "Sam has been very nice to me."

Whatever else Maya was thinking went unsaid. Kara stood. "That doesn't mean you can't find someone who's nice _and_ faithful, but it's your life. I need to go. I don't want to see Laura. It's not that…it's just better if she and I don't…"

They heard the door open.

"Too late," Maya mouthed.

Laura walked into the room.

"Hi," Kara said.

"This is a surprise," Laura said.

"I came by to see Brae."

"How are you?" Laura asked.

"I'm fine. Lee's leg is giving him more trouble than he counted on." It sounded like an excuse and Kara knew it.

"Would you like to see your room here? It's very nice. It's actually a small suite."

"Some other time. I'm going to be late for dinner."

"Then I'll be brief. During my inauguration in January, I'd like for you to be on the platform with me when I take the oath and am sworn in as the next President. I'd like for you to hold Braedon. Your father would have done that, but…" Laura managed a small smile, and Kara saw tears come into her eyes. "He would want you to do it."

"Okay." Kara nodded. Laura was right. Her father would want her to do it. "If he's not back by then I'll do it."

Laura continued. "A week from Sunday, there will be a private memorial service for John at the temple where we were married. I just finalized plans today. I was going to call you tonight. Can I count on you to attend?"

"What's the big rush?"

"It will have been almost three weeks by then. I hardly call it rushing. A memorial service is about honoring him. It's also about closure for us."

"For you and Admiral Adama."

"For _all_ of us."

"Okay. It's your show."

"It's not a _show_, Kara," Laura snapped. "It's a memorial service. Why are you so angry with me? What have I done?"

"Nothing. You haven't done anything. It's me. I'm the one with the problem. I'm working on it."

"Two o'clock . If you would like to come here and have lunch on Sunday, we can ride together. Lee is invited, of course."

"Let me talk to him. That may be too much for him. He's not getting around much yet. We may have to meet you there."

"Just let me know," Laura said wearily.

At the door Kara turned and saw Laura kneel in front of her son who held a puzzle piece up to her and smiled.

"Hello, my little man. I've missed you today."

Kara knew one thing with certainty. Laura could never forget John because she would see him every time her son smiled at her.

o

Lee sat alone at a table in Zeno's. Kara and Zak were both late. He'd tried Kara's mobile phone. She must have turned it off. He looked at his watch again. Ten minutes later Zak walked through the door alone.

"Hey, big bro," he said as he sat down. He drummed his hands on the table top. He seemed almost euphoric.

"What are you so happy about?"

"I joined the Marines today."

"Joking about something like that will not cheer me up."

"No, joke. I start basic training the first of next month."

"Lords of Kobol, Zak, what possessed you to do that?"

"I couldn't let you have all the fun."

"That is not a good reason and you know it."

Kara came through the door unzipping the black leather jacket. She pulled off her gloves and dropped them on the table.

"Sorry I'm late. I went by to see Brae. Where's Maggs?"

"I didn't invite her," Zak said. "She's been in a seriously bad mood since she found out about the Cylon. I'm going over to see her later. I might be able to take it better after a few beers."

"Maggie got in Karl's face about Sharon yesterday," Kara said. "Flat Top and Skulls had to pull her off him."

"She's a _Cylon_. What did you expect when people found out?" Lee asked.

Kara's reply was quick and sharp. "I didn't notice you complaining when she and Karl found you floating in the middle of the ocean."

"Whoa," Zak looked amused. "I've never heard that tone of voice before. Am I going to get to see you two fight?"

"No." Kara took a deep breath before she went to the bar and got a beer. She came back to the table and sat.

"Zak has some news," Lee said.

"I joined the Marines."

"Thanks for trying to make me laugh. That would have been funny a couple of weeks ago."

"What?" Zak said in a hurt voice. "You don't think I can be patriotic?"

Kara turned up the beer. "I don't know what to think anymore."

"I think what Kara means is that she's been…we've been through a lot in the last week and…"

"If it's true, then I think it was a gutsy thing to do," Kara said. "Your dad will be proud of you."

"I didn't do it for the _admiral_. I did it for me."

"Good for you, then. What are Sam and the C-Bucks going to do without you?"

"Same thing they did before I was hired. Sell tickets and win games. Somebody had a big PR idea. They've got Sam and the rest of the team serving meals to the homeless _guests_ at the arena. The press is eating it up."

"Lords of Kobol," Kara said. "I should have known. That was your idea?"

"Not mine," Zak answered. "Personally I thought it was over the top and phony, but my boss said it was great."

"And Sam went along."

Zak shrugged. "He usually does what he's told to do. I think he's getting a kick out of it, too. Adoration is adoration."

"Let's eat," Lee said. "I'm hungry."

Zak grinned. "Yeah, sitting around an apartment all day must really work up an appetite."

They didn't leave Zeno's until nearly nine o'clock. Kara made sure Lee got safely up the steps of the apartment building and into the elevator.

"Go on up. I'll be there in a minute. I'm going to make a phone call."

Lee stuck one of his crutches against the elevator door to keep it from closing. "Secret boyfriend?"

Kara had drunk three beers at Zeno's. She didn't want to fight. "Karl."

"You don't want to talk to him in front of me?"

"It might upset you since I'll probably ask about Sharon. I might even mention the word _Cylon_."

Lee pulled the crutch back and let the door close. Kara could tell by his look that he was both put out with her and hurt. She would make it up to him later.

She walked outside and sat on the steps. Karl answered on the first ring.

"Sharon?"

"No, sorry," Kara said. "Is Sharon not with you?"

"Some guys in dark suits picked her up Monday morning. They said it was for routine questions. She hasn't come back."

"You don't know who they were?"

"They had badges and guns and said they were with a special task force."

"I'm meeting with Admiral Adama in the morning. I'll ask. I'm sure he knows. Why haven't you called me, Karl? Why didn't you ask me to help you?"

"Because she's a Cylon and I know how everybody feels right now."

"Not me. I don't feel that way…not about her. You know better."

"I didn't want to involve you in mine and Sharon's problem."

"How long have we been friends?"

"A long time."

"That's all you need to remember. I'll find out what's going on. I heard you and Maggs got into it."

"Yeah. I can't blame her for how she feels."

"Do you want to come over for a while? I know Lee won't care."

"Some other time. I want to be here if Sharon comes back."

"We need to get together soon. I've missed talking to you."

"Yeah. Same here."

"Call me or I'll call you."

"Take care of yourself, Kara."

She ended the call and rode the elevator up to the eighth floor. Lee was standing in the doorway of the apartment. Without a word he moved back to let her inside.

"Some guys in dark suits took Sharon…probably your CO's buddies."

"They're questioning all the skinjobs…except Leoben. My dad said Agent Darren was furious that Laura had let him go. They wanted to pick him up again, but Adar said no. They're going to finish with the others first."

"Leoben doesn't know anything and neither does Sharon."

"I know you've always trusted them, but you can't read their minds. _You_ don't know what _they_ know."

"Leoben saved my life. Laura's and Braedon's, too. Sharon helped save yours. You trusted Leoben enough that you went and got him that night."

"It wasn't him I trusted. It was you. Maybe Leoben was straight with you. Maybe Cavil did wipe his memory. But I've always thought Sharon knows a lot more than she ever told you. I think she played you."

"So what could she have known that would be important now? How many Cylons were on the basestar? How many were on the res ship? There aren't any Cylons on them now. They were mostly vaporized along with…" Kara stopped, the words sticking in her throat.

"Kara," Lee said gently. "Have you ever thought that there might be more skinjobs on Caprica. Ones we don't know about?"

"Leoben said there were eight…seven because Cavil destroyed all the copies of one of them."

"And this would be the same Leoben whose memories were wiped and implanted with _false ones_ by Cavil?"

Kara sighed and sat down. Lee was right. She saw where he was going and he was right. She trusted Leoben, but she couldn't trust the implanted memories. Slowly her shoulders sagged and she put her face in her hands.

Lee hobbled over and sat down beside her. He put his hand gently on her back.

"I read John's letter today."

Without lifting her head she nodded.

"I think you should read your letter, too."

"Not yet. I'm not ready yet. Maybe after the memorial service next week."

"You need to accept that he's gone before you can move on."

"I have an appointment with your father tomorrow morning at ten."

Lee took a deep breath. She still wouldn't talk about John's death to him. She still wasn't ready. He didn't think she'd shed a single tear yet. She had everything about that night bottled up inside and he didn't know what to do about it.

"What's the meeting about?" He asked with resignation in his voice.

"I don't know."

"It's probably about Sadie."

Kara lifted her head and snuggled into him. "Do you remember when we used to have fun?"

Lee pushed a strand of hair out of her face and said gently. "Like two weeks ago?"

She sadly looked up at him. "It feels like two hundred years."

He leaned down and kissed her. "Things will get better. You'll see."

Kara wrapped her arms tightly around him. "Is that a promise?"

Lee felt the desire and love for her course through him. "Oh, yeah, that's a promise."

o

As soon as Kara got Admiral Adama's office in the morning, she was told to go right in even though she was fifteen minutes early. She had worn her duty blues today instead of her fatigues. His aide indicated a coat rack where she could put her jacket and helmet.

She stepped into the admiral's office and came to attention.

"Come in, Kara, and shut the door, please." When she had complied, he pointed to a chair near his desk. "Have a seat. How's Lee?"

"Going a little stir crazy."

Bill smiled. "I can imagine. This is probably the most idle he's been in his entire life."

"Yes, sir."

"We're all busy now so I'll get to the point of why I asked you here. You once expressed an interest in taking that Raider to Nereid. Do you still want to do it?"

Kara felt some of the sadness lift. She smiled. "Yes, sir. I do."

"I've given this a lot of thought. I don't want it to cause a problem with you and Lee."

"It won't. He's expecting it."

"I spoke with Dr. Rafferty two days ago. Lee practiced on a simulation of the Raider and then inside the Raider for several weeks. They're expecting you Monday morning. We'll talk about specifics of the mission in a couple of weeks. I'd like for the first recon mission to be flown in a month. I want to know if there's any change in the Cylon's strength, number of basestars, planetary forces, that sort of thing."

"What about the area where Lee photographed the smoke?"

"That's not where the Cylons are so first things first."

"My father said that you had reconsidered allowing a rescue mission."

"All options are still on the table at this point."

Kara didn't like the noncommittal way he made the statement, but she knew now was not the time to push it. He could easily change his mind about letting her fly the mission.

"Sir, a rumor is going around among the pilots that the Cylon homeworld has been found. I don't know how it got started, but it's only a matter of time until it gets to someone in the press."

The look on his face was one of tired frustration. "I'll see what we can do about damage control. Thank you, Kara."

"Sir, do you know what's happened to Sharon Valerii?"

"She's with the other skinjobs. They're being questioned."

"Questioned or tortured?"

"Major Parker and Agent Darren are in charge of the questioning. Neither one of them would allow torture."

"With all due respect, sir, they can't be there twenty-four hours a day."

"That's not your concern right now, Kara. The mission to Nereid is."

She realized she had almost pushed him too far, but she tried one last time.

"Could I be allowed to see her?"

"Not right now."

"She helped save Lee's life…sir. She did _everything_ you asked her to do on the _Galactica_."

"I'm aware of that. So are Parker and Darren. Is that all, Kara?"

Again she realized that she was pushing him. Her relationship with Lee and maybe the admiral's guilt over her father's death would only get her so far.

"Yes, sir."

Before she got to the door, he said, "I'd like for you to consider moving to Marble House soon."

Kara felt a wave of anger wash her. She controlled it before she turned. She managed to keep her voice neutral. "Is that an order, sir?"

"No."

"Did Laura put you up to this?"

"We've discussed it, but no, she didn't put me up to it. I'm asking you to consider it. I think John would have wanted it. That will be all, lieutenant."

Again Kara saw the tired frustration on his face.

In the outer office, Kara grabbed her jacket and helmet. She was too angry to wait for the elevator. She ran the stairs to the ground floor. In the parking lot she put on the helmet and revved the bike. She knew she should get out to the base, but instead she turned west toward the University. She had to park nearly a block away from the bookstore.

She waited impatiently, pacing without even looking at the books while Leoben finished waiting on a customer. There were several others in the store so she kept her voice low.

"You probably need to pack up and leave town. Somebody may be coming to take you back to…wherever they took you before. Just because you saved Laura's life doesn't mean they'll leave you alone forever. Sharon helped save Lee's life and they took her anyway."

"How are you, Kara?"

"Didn't you hear me?"

"I heard you. It really doesn't matter. Where could I go that they wouldn't eventually find me?"

"Caprica is a big place."

"Linked together by a huge electronic network. Once a picture of me goes out, it won't matter where I am."

"You could go to Sovana. Nobody cares about that city or who lives there."

Leoben laughed. "And how do I get to Sovana? Walk? Last time I checked it was over a thousand miles. The minute I buy a ticket for a ship or any other kind of transport, your friends will know about it. In fact I doubt I'd even be allowed to buy a ticket."

"They're not _my_ friends," Kara said stubbornly.

"Lee's friends, then."

"So you're going to do nothing? Just sit here and wait for them to come for you?"

He nodded. "God has a plan for me. I've fulfilled part of it. I can't fulfill the rest by running away."

"Fine. Great. I warned you because I owe you."

"Then consider us even. I'm sorry about your father."

"Yeah, thanks. I've got to get out to the base."

At the door she looked back at him and wondered if she would ever see him again. He smiled and waved. He was probably wondering the same thing.

o

Laura was cleaning out her desk in the Dressler Building in preparation for moving her office to Marble House when Billy came to the door.

"The guard from downstairs just called. There's a woman who insists she's got to see you. Her name is…" Billy looked at a notepad and spelled. "K-e-s-h-i-a. No last name."

Laura shook her head. "That doesn't ring a bell. Did she say what it's about?"

Billy looked down at the notepad again. "Someone named Yolanda Brenn."

Laura's eyes widened. "Oh, dear gods. Keshia is her…companion, her helper. Tell security to send her up right away."

Five minutes later Keshia was in her office. She looked thinner, her bronze face pale and drawn, her blouse and skirt were baggy where they had once shown curves. Her only protection against the cold was a thin shawl.

Laura went to the door and took her hands. "Please come in and sit down. Billy is making tea."

"I did not know how to find Kara. Yolanda has asked for her. I knew you would help me."

"Where is Yolanda?"

"In the hospital. That monster had us at his house locked away in the basement, guarded by his centurions. It was cold and damp and we've had no food for days. Your soldiers freed us yesterday."

"Cavil was holding you prisoner?"

"Yes. For her prophecies. He would question her for hours. He doesn't understand how her gift works. He is cruel and insane."

"And now she is ill?"

"She is dying. The doctors have said…" Keshia's face crumpled and she struggled to gain her composure. "They have said there is nothing they can do. She has been sick for weeks and that monster…he would not get her help. Now the doctors tell me the pneumonia is overwhelming her. She has asked for Kara. She said she must speak to Kara."

"Which hospital?"

"The big one. Kings Bay."

Laura picked up the phone and punched in a number. _Please be there_.

When Bill answered, she said, "How fast can you get Kara to Kings Bay Medical Center?"

"What happened to her?"

"Nothing. There is someone there she needs to see." Laura glanced at Keshia. "Time is _very critical_. Tell her to ask for Yolanda Brenn's room."

"I'll see that she gets there."

Laura hung up. That was one of the things she had always liked about Bill. He didn't waste time quizzing her. He would act and ask questions later.

Keshia stood. "I must get back. One of the doctors told me she would not live through the night. The gods will bless you for this."

Billy walked in with two cups of tea as Keshia hurried past him out the door.

"Sit down," Laura told him, "and have a cup of tea with me. Clearing out my desk doesn't seem so very important right now."

o

Despite the afternoon traffic Kara made it back into the city from the base in one of her fastest times ever. She was grateful for her knowledge of the city's streets, acquired when she rode for Jack Fisk. She avoided the traffic creeping down Sixth Street by cutting through a series of side streets and even a few parking lots, getting yelled at only once by the attendant as she skimmed past one lot's gate with inches to spare.

She pulled into the parking deck at the Medical Center and found the first place large enough to squeeze the bike into. On her way across the deck she called Lee and told him what had happened, told him she might be late getting home. He said he would come down there, but she told him it would involve too much walking. She ended the call as she hurried through the front door.

The receptionist told her that Brenn was in the ICU but that she could not have visitors.

"She's asked for me," Kara said.

The woman shook her head. "Her doctor has said no visitors."

"Fine," Kara said as she glanced past the desk. "I've got to go to the bathroom before I leave. I rode a long way. Where's the nearest one."

"Down the hall on the left past the elevator."

Kara went into the restroom and watched from the doorway until the elevator door opened. She was inside in seconds. She looked at the directory. The ICU was on the fourth floor.

Kara went to the nurses' desk. "Yolanda Brenn?"

"Room 401. Someone is with her right now."

Kara walked down the hall. She didn't know what to expect. She found Keshia sitting by the bed holding Brenn's hand. There was an oxygen mask over Brenn's mouth and nose.

"Hey," Kara said softly.

Keshia stood and embraced her.

"How is she?" Kara said softly.

Keshia shook her head and pulled Kara into the hall. "She will not let the doctor put her on a ventilator. She knows she's dying."

"Dying," Kara whispered. "She can't be dying."

Keshia took her arm. "She's asked for you. She has something to tell you. Talk to her."

Kara went in, sat in the chair by Brenn's bed and took her hand. Softly she called her name. Yolanda's breathing was very labored. At first Kara could see no response and then Yolanda opened her eyes. Through the mask Kara could see a faint smile. Brenn tried and formed a word, her name, _Kara_. Her hand moved weakly toward her mouth but fell back on the bed. On the second try she made it. She pushed the mask aside.

"Hey, don't do that."

"The one…named for a god…is not…dead," Brenn gasped. "I saw…him fall…but he is…not dead."

She closed her eyes, gasping from the effort of speaking that one sentence. Kara quickly pushed the mask back over Brenn's face.

"I know he's not dead. He fell into the ocean, but we found him. He broke his leg, but he's alive. He's fine."

"A good man. He…loves you. The gods…have blessed him…and you."

"I know. Don't try to talk."

Keshia walked over and very gently smoothed Brenn's hair from her forehead.

"Is it true your lover fell into the sea?"

Kara nodded. "His Viper was hit. He had to eject."

"I thought she was dreaming. She has been so confused. This morning she thought we were back in Delphi. She thought she needed to get up and go to the temple where she was a priest. That monster will pay for what he has done to her."

"He's in a secret prison," Kara said softly. "He'll never leave there…alive anyway."

"That is a far better fate than he deserves."

"They have no souls. We destroyed their resurrection ship. Death for them now is eternal darkness."

Brenn struggled to speak again. "He fell…through the…clouds…in a dazzle of light…from a long…way up…and yet he…survives."

"Yes, he did. Eleven miles up, but he's okay."

Brenn's hand clasped Kara's with far more strength than Kara thought she could have.

"The child…must live."

For a moment Kara was confused and then she remembered the prophecy about her brother.

"Braedon is fine. Cavil didn't take him. We saved him just like you said. One of the Cylons helped us. My brother is alive. He's fine."

"The other child. His…other…"

Brenn struggled to take a breath.

"She's very confused," Keshia said. "She has spoken several times about another child. I think she's reliving something that happened in Delphi. There was a crippled child who came every day to the temple to pray for his mother. He was killed in the bombing along with one of our young priests. Yolanda couldn't save them. It has always been a source of great sadness for her."

Kara stood up so Keshia could sit in the chair by the bed and take Brenn's hand. Kara sat on the floor at the foot of the bed and drew her knees up.

"I'll wait with you. You shouldn't be alone."

"I am not alone," Keshia said. "But I thank you."

"How long have you been with her?"

"Twelve years now, nearly thirteen."

"That's a long time."

"It seems like the blink of an eye."

"Where will you go? What will you do?"

"There is much need in the city now. I will find a place to help. A homeless shelter. A soup kitchen. The gods have put me here to help others. It is my destiny. Even she saw it."

Kara looked up. Lee stood at the door.

She got up and went to him shaking her head. He balanced the crutches under his arms and held her.

"She knew you ejected from your Viper and survived. Her gift is real."

Lee's jaw worked. Ever since he had read John's letter his emotions were raw.

"I want to stay," she whispered.

"Then we'll stay together."

He could do this for her.

Carefully he moved into the room. Kara helped him slide down the wall and sit beside her. He put his arm around her and held her, the lover who had fallen from the sky and lived.

Kara sighed. Yolanda Brenn was right. The gods had blessed them both.

o

Monday was a day of cold rain. Kara drove Lee to the base in his car and helped him up the slick steps.

"Be careful on the way out to the boneyard," he told her.

"Be careful hobbling around your office. It's new territory."

He put his hand against her cheek. "Are you going to be okay?"

"You've asked me that three times already this morning. I'm fine, Lee."

The day before they had attended two memorial services…one at the base for the pilots and one for Yolanda Brenn at Elosha's temple.

Lee wasn't sure which one had been more difficult for Kara, but he knew what had gotten to him the most. It was hearing the names of fifty-six Viper pilots, four Raptor pilots and four ECOs and the last name, which had hurt more than any of the others, Major John Gallagher.

Through it all Kara had sat with her face not moving, her eyes dry. She had squeezed Lee's hand when Seelix's name was read and again when Pike's name was read. Kat had starting crying when Chuckles name was read. Even Hot Dog had teared up. Flat Top, Narcho and Crashdown had been sitting in front of them and Lee had seen Saunders twice lift his hand to his face and wipe his eyes. Karl was on the other side of Kara, but he too had sat with dry eyes.

When her father's name was read, Lee saw Karl reach for Kara's hand and squeeze it. He knew they had been friends for so long that it often seemed they communicated without words. Kara had looked straight ahead, not moving.

The base chaplain had spoken of the rewards of Elysium and had read a brief scripture. A Colonial hymn had been played by pipers. Outside there was a twenty-one gun salute, and it was over.

After the ceremony Lee and Kara had walked with Karl out of the chapel into the late afternoon sunshine. Lee had seen Maggie look at them, her face like Kara's, unmarred by tears but unlike Kara, her eyes were dark and cold.

Sharon was still being held somewhere, but his father had assured Lee that she was being treated well. What Bill had not been able tell him was when she would be released or even if she would be released.

Now as Lee prepared to go back to work for half a day, he hoped he would get a chance to talk to Major Parker. Parker, he knew, along with Darren had been questioning the skinjobs.

"I'll be back to pick you up at lunch," Kara said.

She turned the car around and headed back to the I-6 and the ten-mile drive farther north to the boneyard. The rain on the windshield made her think of tears. The gods wept for their dead and especially for their gentle Oracle.

Kara had been able to sit through the ceremony the evening before only by numbing herself even more than she had for the pilot's memorial service. She tried to understand how the gods could have taken such a kind and good woman, how they could have let Cavil, who was evil incarnate as far as Kara was concerned, take her and imprison her. She saw Keshia, bereft and alone now, as she huddled beside them, her sobs of loss heartbreaking. And still Kara had not cried. The ice dam around her heart had not been breached.

She parked outside the boneyard's gate and pulling her hooded jacket around her, she ran through the rain and into the big hangar. It looked much the same as it had the last time except the path through the maze of boxes was clearly marked for her with bright green, sprayed on arrows. She emerged into the whitewashed part, removed her rain gear and shook it.

Kevin Abinell greeted her. "Welcome back. It's been a while."

"Almost a year. Where can I put the jacket?"

He pointed to some hooks on the wall. "Would you like some coffee? It's hot and good."

"Sure," Kara said. She looked around. One of the Raiders was gone. She sucked in her breath and tried not to think about it. It was the Raider her father had taken up to the basestar, the Raider full of explosives that had destroyed the huge Cylon ship. The only kernel of brightness in that whole night for her was that the basestar had been destroyed by one of its own.

Kevin handed her a Styrofoam cup.

"Two spoons of cream and a spoon of sugar, right? Lee told me."

"Right." Kara sipped. The coffee was hot and good just like he had said.

"We're getting another Raider to work on. One was found near Delphi that wasn't in pieces. The military really wants us to reverse engineer that FTL drive. Rick told them to bring us every drive they could find whether it had a ship attached to it or not."

She nodded. "So it looks like you'll have a job for a while."

"No doubt about that."

"Where's your famous Sadie simulator?"

"In the plastic room. It's easier to concentrate in there. Warmer, too. You can't take your coffee with you though. No food or drinks around the computers."

"Did you paint the green arrows?"

He grinned. "Yeah. Green for my C-Bucks."

"You won't see them play at home for a while."

"Yeah, not until somebody finds a place for the homeless people who are living in the arena. Rick said the government is trying to find rooms in the city to move them. I hope they find something soon."

"I'll tell my stepmother to make it a priority," Kara said in a half-joking tone, "as soon as she takes office in January."

Kara finished the coffee and looked around for a trashcan. Abinell took the cup.

"We recycle everything. Some company grinds up these cups and makes insulation for buildings."

"Yeah. We're going to need a lot of that to rebuild parts of Caprica."

He took her into the plastic room and showed her the computer. It was already on.

"Lee said you played a lot of video games. This should be easy for you."

Kara grinned. "Yeah, queen of the arcade. That was me. Sometimes my dad and me…we'd…" the grin faded. "He was good. If I won, I had to work for it."

Quickly Abinell oriented her to the keyboard commands. "You want to show me what you can do? Then I'll leave you alone to practice."

Kara got the Raider off the ground on the first try. She put it into a steep climb and rolled it several times. The joystick was extremely responsive. She put it into a dive, pulling out very close to the ground before she took it back up. Once she glanced at Kevin. He was smiling broadly.

"You and Lee have really different flying styles."

"Yeah. He's not nearly as crazy as I am."

She took the simulated Sadie high into the atmosphere and keyed a jump. The screen switched to the Prolmar Sector. She paused the simulation and turned to Kevin.

"Who did this?"

"We created it from a combination of the footage Lee shot and your father's star charts and notes."

"So you know where I'm going in this thing?"

"Admiral Adama wanted as much realism in this simulation as possible. I've been working on this almost non-stop for a couple of months now."

"Even though you didn't know where it was until recently."

"Lee let something slip one day. He mentioned the _Hyperion_. I looked it up."

"You didn't blab, did you?"

"Frak, no. We've been keeping all kinds of secrets out here for years. I wouldn't be working here if I couldn't keep my mouth shut."

"No offense meant," Kara said and turned back to the screen. When she glanced back, Kevin was gone.

o

Half an hour. That's all Laura had told her the memorial ceremony would last. They sat on the front row of the little temple. Lee was on one side of her and Laura on the other. Beside Laura Maya sat holding Braedon who was fighting sleep, trying to stay awake in these new and strange surroundings. Kara saw Maya rocking him gently back and forth, humming softly to him. Bill Adama sat on the other side of Lee. All three of them had on their dress gray uniforms. Laura wore a new black suit and black scarf draped loosely over her hair. Maya's dress was black but her head was uncovered.

Kara resisted the urge to turn around. She knew the small temple was filling with people. She could tell by the sound.

On the altar her father's picture sat between two candles. The flag of the Twelve Colonies was folded in front of the picture.

Lee was holding her hand, his fingers laced tightly through hers. He'd had a hard time earlier as they'd walked down the aisle to their seats. She'd heard him swallow several times after they sat down, seen him quickly wipe at his eyes. Then he'd taken her hand and seemed to get himself under control.

Kara knew what he was thinking. She knew it. _Be strong for Kara. _That's what was in his mind when all along she was strong enough. As long as she believed she'd see her father again one day, she was strong.

Elosha walked to the front and the soft harp and lyre music ceased. She read from the scriptures of Pythia, a passage about the promise of an afterlife in the Elysian Fields. She spoke of grief that would turn to joy when loved ones were reunited.

Kara barely heard her words. Elosha had said the same thing at Yolanda Brenn's service a week earlier. Right now the words meant nothing to Kara. They were words for the dead.

She was aware that Elosha had sat down and Bill had risen. He began his short eulogy with the words, "Caprica mourns a hero, but I mourn the loss of a friend."

Kara sat waiting for Laura to cry, watching her twist the handkerchief in her lap until finally she began dabbing at her eyes. Braedon was asleep now, but Maya continued to rock him gently back and forth, the tears running unchecked down her cheeks, dropping onto her arms and the blanket that wrapped John's son.

Colonel Winters got up and said a few words. He was followed by Colonel Burgher who choked up twice and had a hard time finishing his speech. Elosha asked if there was anyone else who wanted to speak. Kara was surprised when Buzz Jessups got up.

"John Gallagher was a hero," he said. "There's no doubt about that. But I don't want everyone to go away from here today thinking only about the sadness we're feeling…because John was a man who loved life. He loved life…and he loved to have a good time. He loved flying his Viper and he loved a good glass of whiskey and he loved beautiful women. And believe me, twenty-five years ago, John had his share of beautiful women…and in Laura Roslin, he _finally_ convinced a beautiful woman to marry him."

For the first time, there was a low ripple of laughter among the mourners.

"I knew John on the _Solaria_ during the First War when we both flew Vipers, and I'll have to admit that my first thought when I saw him fly was, _Who put that crazy bastard in a cockpit? _But it wasn't long until I realized that what looked like crazy was really talent and skill and guts. After the war I moved on and it was a lot of years before we saw each other again, but we did manage to get together a couple of times recently for a drink and to raise a cup to those of us Viper pilots who have gone on. The man I saw this past autumn was a different man than the one I knew on the _Solaria_. He was a devoted husband and father who wanted nothing more than to go home to his beautiful wife…and his children, his daughter Kara and his son Braedon.

"I had the pleasure of teaching his daughter in Flight School. She has taken his call sign, Starbuck, and I realized how perfect that was because every time I went up with her, I could see John in the way she flew and I could hear him in the lip she gave me."

Again there was a ripple of laughter and Kara smiled. Lee squeezed her hand.

"I never met his little boy, Braedon, but John showed me a picture. In fact he took out his phone and showed me a dozen of them and my first thought was, _There's a whole lot of little girls on Caprica who are in serious danger of losing their hearts one of these days._ His son was one of the three lights in John's life.

"I've already raised a cup to John on several occasions and I'll continue to do so. We're alive because of his sacrifice. He and I had a minor difference once, but like a lot of us as we grow older, we found a way to put our differences aside and call each other friend. I see by everybody who's here today that a lot of you called him friend, too, and I know that's the way he'd like to be remembered, as a friend and a teacher and a husband and especially as a father."

Kara stood and slipped past Lee and the admiral. As Buzz Jessups stepped down from the podium, Kara saluted him. His eyes were red. He put his hand on her shoulder. "John was so proud of you," he said quietly.

Kara felt the first jagged crack in the ice wall around her heart. She walked up the steps to the altar and touched the flag and then her father's picture before she turned around and looked at the mourners who had gathered.

The small temple was full. People were standing around the walls and at the back. She saw Hugh and Stacey Connelly and Fiona Nagala sitting beside Frogman. She even saw a frail Irina Hoshi seated with her daughter. Most of the Academy faculty was there. Lissa was there and Keshia and a lot of Kara's fellow pilots and friends, most of them John's former students. Many of them were crying.

"He was my father," she said proudly to them.

And then in front of everyone, without moving or saying another word, Kara Thrace began to fall apart, the ice shattering and splintering, the emotions held in check for so long engulfing her.

For the longest moment, no one moved, and then she saw someone get up from near the back and make his way slowly to the end of the row and down the aisle toward the front. Dreilide Thrace. Her other father came forward and took her arm and gently led her down the steps and through the door beside the altar and into the room behind.

They sat on the cushions and leaned back against the wall. Dreilide's breathing was fast and shallow, and she knew the exertion and emotion had been hard on him.

"He's not gone," Kara said softly.

"No, he's not. As long as he's alive in your heart, he'll never be truly gone."

"Will you write a song for him?"

"I'll write a song for him."

"A happy song like Buzz Jessups said. My dad wouldn't have wanted anything sad. Think of him…in his Viper."

The shattered ice melted. Dreilide Thrace gathered her in his arms and let her cry.

"My heart has a thousand melodies inside it," he finally said. "I'll find the right one for him."

"A love song," Kara said through her tears.

He held her tightly. "That's what I write the best."

Kara was ready to give herself over to her grief, ready to tell her father goodbye when she heard Yolanda Brenn's words again, almost as clearly as if she were in the room with them.

_He fell through the clouds in a dazzle of light from a long way up and yet he survives._

The epiphany took Kara's breath. Brenn hadn't been talking about Lee at all. Even in her confusion she'd been trying to tell Kara something about her father. The _dazzle of light_, the signature of an FTL jump. The Oracle had seen it. Kara had been right all along. Her father had jumped the Raptor, but he hadn't been outside the basestar like everyone thought. He'd jumped his ship _inside_, and the spatial displacement of jumping in a confined space had set off the catastrophic explosion. That's what he'd tried to tell them in his transmission.

Kara locked the secret in her heart. She couldn't say it to anyone or they would think she was crazy. Lee would tell her she was continuing to live in denial, that no Raptor could jump thirty light years through space into another solar system. He would look at it only with his logic and not with his imagination. Laura would babble about closure and probably try to get her to see a shrink. The admiral might pull her from the mission and it was more important than ever now for her to jump Sadie to Nereid.

Kara would keep her secret and bide her time. Her father was alive somewhere on that planet and she was going to find him.

TBC…


	78. Looking for Smoke

Chapter 78

Looking for Smoke

_After an amateur photographer took a picture of a Cylon Raider over the ocean weeks after the Cylons were defeated, the military admitted that a captured ship was being used to test advanced technology. Although there was eventually a rumor that the system being tested was the FTL drive, the destination of the flights was a well-guarded secret for almost a year. _

_- Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War_

Lee Adama sat alone on the pew in the little temple. The rest of the mourners had gone, many of them to the small wake that Laura had planned at the nice restaurant across the street. He thought several times about going to the closed door beside the altar and knocking, but he didn't want to intrude on the time Kara was sharing with Dreilide Thrace.

Elosha came over and sat down beside him. "It was a fine service, a fitting farewell for a good man."

Lee nodded.

"I know he was your friend."

Again Lee nodded.

"Something troubles you?"

"I'm worried about Kara. She hasn't accepted John's death."

"I think you'll see a change in her. Often we need the solace of fellow mourners to say our farewells. The man who is with her is also a friend?"

"He was married to her mother. For a long time Kara thought he was her father."

"Ah, I think Laura has mentioned him before…a musician."

"And a composer. A good one."

They both looked up as the door opened and Kara walked out followed by Dreilide.

"I'll leave you now. Please call on me or have her call on me if you feel the need."

"Thank you," Lee said.

Kara and Dreilide waited while Lee stood and maneuvered out of the pew. He knew she had been crying. Her eyes were red, but she seemed to be at peace. He felt a total calmness from her he hadn't felt before.

Lee looked at her, his eyes asking the question. _Are you all right?_

"It's time to move on," she said simply. "It's what my dad would want me to do."

Together the three of them walked slowly out of the temple and into the late afternoon sunshine.

"Do you want to go across the street to the wake?" Lee asked her.

"I need to," Kara answered. She turned to Dreilide. "Come with us."

He held up his hand for a transport. "I'm going home to work on some music. I've got a melody in my head. I want to get it down while I still remember it."

Kara hugged him and whispered, "Thank you."

She and Lee walked across the street. He had mastered the crutches now and could walk almost as fast as she could.

When they got into the restaurant and entered the private room that Laura had reserved, Kara said, "I've got something I've got to do."

Laura was talking to Fiona Nagala. Kara walked up to them.

"I'm so very sorry," Fiona said to her.

Kara nodded.

Fiona touched Laura's arm before she walked away. "I'll call you later."

Kara hugged Laura. Until this afternoon Kara had thought mostly about her own pain. Laura had suffered, too. She felt tears well in her eyes.

"Thank you for doing this for my dad. It was the right thing to do."

"Oh, Kara," Laura said and began to cry again. She dabbed at her eyes with the handkerchief. "I don't want our relationship to be…troubled. I know this has been hard for you. We both love him."

"Next week I'll move a few of my things from the apartment to Marble House. I'll start staying there a few nights a week. Lee's getting along fine now."

"Thank you," Laura said.

Kara walked back to Lee and he handed her a drink.

Kara blotted her eyes with her sleeve. "Laura means well. It's not her fault we don't always get along. I'm in her life because me and my dad were a package deal. We'll work it out. That's what my dad would have wanted. She was right to have the memorial service. We all need closure."

Lee eyed her. "Are you sure you're okay? Elosha offered to…"

"Lee, I'm fine. I know I need to move on. Isn't that what you've been telling me for three weeks? Even the scriptures say it. A time to mourn and a time to stop mourning."

"You know I'm here for you."

She finally smiled. "You've always been here for me. I know I can count on you."

"These last couple of weeks have been…having you with me has been…"

"Fun?" She joked.

"More than that. I know I've been a real grouch some of the time."

She grinned. "How about a lot of the time? But so have I. I told Laura I would move a few things into Marble House, and that I would stay there a few nights a week. It's the right thing to do. It's what my dad would want. I don't want him…wherever he is now…I don't want to disappoint him. I want him to know I…made an effort. He wouldn't want me to turn my back on Laura now. Or my brother…especially not my brother."

"You're not doing this because my dad said something, are you?"

Kara shrugged. "I'm doing it because it's the right thing to do. I don't know any other way to say it. I'll still spend the night at your place on the weekends and maybe other nights. I need to spend time with Braedon while I can. Who knows what the future will bring. Who knows what we'll find on Nereid or what will happen when we go there."

Lee took her hand. "We could always get married. In his letter, John said…"

Kara shook her head. "It's the wrong time and the wrong reason. We'll know when it's right."

Lee managed a smile. "So you're not turning me down?"

"I'm still wearing the ring you gave me. Besides we don't need a ceremony."

"Is that your mother talking? John told me she had an aversion to marriage. I've always hoped you took after him."

"She couldn't marry my father because she never divorced Dreilide so I guess she took her vow seriously…the one that says until death do you part."

How could she tell Lee that her father would be there when they finally said their vows before a priest? Her father would walk her down the aisle, proud and smiling, and not just in spirit either.

She went on, "When Nereid is behind us…when we've freed those prisoners and destroyed the Cylons like my dad wanted us to, then we'll talk about it again."

"Is that a promise?"

She slipped her hand into his. "That's a promise, Lee."

o

Laura walked into her suite's living room at Marble House.

"Your son is asleep?" Bill asked. He had just poured a drink, or another one, and was standing by the sideboard.

"Yes, Maya had just put him to bed. I got to kiss him goodnight, but he was already asleep. I didn't think we would be this late getting back from dinner. Brae exhausted himself running around all afternoon at the wake."

"He reminds me of Zak when he was that age. Lee was more reserved."

"Brae has his quieter moments. Sometimes he looks at me with those green eyes and I swear he looks like a wise little munchkin who is reading my thoughts."

"I helped myself to a drink. Would you like one?"

"Yes," Laura said as she wearily sat on the couch.

Bill handed her the drink and sat down beside her. "I thought the service was very appropriate."

"Thank you for the nice things you said about John."

"Captain Jessups' eulogy is the one everyone will remember."

"Yes. The _minor difference_ that he and John had twenty-five years ago was a woman, naturally. John met him for a drink in September after Kara was aboard the _Galactica_. Both of them were concerned that she would have to once again deal with accusations of favoritism if they did it while Kara was still in Flight School. John told me that the captain had been married to the woman in question for the last twenty-two years. They have a daughter and two sons."

"Life has a way of working out."

"For some, yes it does. Kara told me that she would soon move some of ther things here to Marble House. She seemed…different after the service today, less angry at me, more at peace."

"I don't see why she would be angry at you at all. If she's angry at anyone, it should be me."

"I think her anger was at losing her father and it just spilled over into other areas of her life. I've never known how to be a mother to her. She doesn't want a mother. She's very independent. She and John struggled at first with being father and daughter. And then over that summer before she went to the Academy, I saw the bond between them start to form. I just hope she and I can work out some kind of relationship. She guards her feelings very carefully. She has a hard time letting _anyone_ love her and an even harder time returning that love, but once she lets someone in…like she did Lee and her father…she's fiercely loyal. She's never let me in. She may never be able to. Kara's mother was not…not the most loving and caring of mothers. I feel sure their relationship has colored her other relationships with women who are…authority figures."

"Lee's never talked about their relationship to me, but I know they've had some problems. They seemed to have worked through them, though. Don't give up on her."

"John was the glue that held Kara and me together. Now that he's gone, I hope…I just hope _she_ doesn't give up on me. I've had so little time for even my own son…Kara once took me to task for that as well."

Laura felt tears forming again. She hastily wiped at them and took a sip of her drink. Straight whiskey. Bill knew what she needed. She took another sip.

He closed his hand over hers and squeezed. "I should probably go and let you get some rest."

"No, please, not yet. I don't want to be alone right now. Stay and talk to me."

"You know I've asked Kara to fly the next mission to Nereid."

"She didn't mention that to me, but I'm not surprised. I'm sure she accepted."

"I talked to Dr. Rafferty on Friday. She's doing very well...better than Lee did at first. They're going to get her into Sadie tomorrow. Rick's assistant Abinell said she had already done everything with the sims he could offer. I think she's getting bored. She's young, but she's one of the best pilots we've got. Before I offered her the mission to Nereid, I watched the film taken from her gun cameras during the fighting. Jessups said it about John. I can say it about Kara…talent and skill and guts."

"Could that not be said of your son, too?"

"Yes, but Lee is more…careful. It's his nature. Even as a child he was cautious."

"So you think Kara's piloting is reckless?"

He smiled. "Not reckless. Just less cautious."

"When do you want Kara to fly the first mission to Nereid?"

"In a few weeks. There may be other missions depending on what she finds. At some point I'll make my final decision about what we'll do to the planet."

"You're still leaning toward destroying it, aren't you?"

"Yes. I think the risk to Caprica…to all of us will be less if we do. We lost over four hundred Marines taking out those nests of centurions here in the city. We'd lose many more than that fighting on the ground on Nereid trying to rescue prisoners. I know John was opposed to destroying the planet, but…well, you and I have already talked about it. You haven't changed your mind, have you?"

"If your intention is to destroy the planet, why do you need a mission beforehand? Why risk Kara's life?"

"Because I want to know what we'll be facing. I don't want to go into battle blind. Her mission will be dangerous, but it won't be as bad as when Lee did it. She won't have to jump Sadie in the middle of a storm. She can do it from the base here on Caprica, too."

"But the mission itself will be dangerous, will it not?"

"That depends on what's waiting for her on the other end."

"You have reason to believe it will be more than Lee found?"

"Not necessarily. But it's been several months since Lee was there. We thought we might get something from the skinjobs during the questioning, but so far they've denied the existence of a homeworld. We know they're lying, but…." He shrugged.

"President Adar and I have agreed there's to be no torture in involved in their interrogation. Do _you_ think that's a mistake?"

"I've never believed torture got the truth from anyone."

"Have Darren and Parker's agents found out _anything_ useful, yet?"

"Not that I'm aware of. Parker wants to let Lee question Sharon. He's told me several times that Lee relates well to…younger subjects. Normally the fact that he knows her would keep him out of the loop, but these aren't normal circumstances and Parker has a lot of faith in him."

"He should. Lee's your son," Laura said.

"He should have been ours."

At first Laura was shocked at his remark and then she smiled. "Have you had too much to drink, Bill?"

He stared at his empty glass. "I've had more than I should have. I'm leaving before I say anything else I shouldn't."

At the door she looked into the dark blue eyes. She saw the sadness so very clearly tonight. They had both suffered from his proud and hasty decision made over twenty years earlier. This was the closest he had ever come to admitting his mistake. The closest he had ever come to apologizing to her for it.

"We can't change the past," she said softly.

"No. I'll be in touch."

After she closed the door, Laura walked over to the sideboard and poured another drink. Maybe this would be the one that let her sleep for a few hours. Maybe this one would help her blot out the pain…past and present…and fall into the oblivion she craved.

o

Kara took the letter from under the trophy. Using her finger she tore open the flap, leaving a ragged edge.

"I'll be back in a minute," she said to Lee before she carried the letter to the bedroom. She settled cross-legged on the bed and opened the two folds.

_My beautiful little girl,_

_This is the third letter I've written and it's going to be the hardest. I had all these plans that won't happen now, but I don't want you to spend too much time mourning me or thinking about what could have been. Okay, mourn a little, but not too much because hopefully I'm kicked back somewhere with a drink in my hand keeping an eye on you and Brae. How's that for the ultimate chaperone?_

_I've told Lee to take care of you, but I didn't mean that in a physical sense because I know how strong you are. I meant for him to take care of your spirit and your heart because you're like me in that way, tough on the outside, but we're marshmallows inside when it comes to the ones we love. Be patient with Lee. He might crowd you. He might not always understand you, but just remember how much he loves you. That's not the kind of love you find every day. Cherish it-and him._

_I also told Lee I'd like for the two of you to raise Brae if something happens to Laura. My son should stay with family. If there's some reason you and Lee can't keep him all the time, then please let Maya share his care with you. She loves him as much as if he were hers and he loves her. _

_I told you five years ago that you own the biggest piece of my heart, and even though Laura and our son are in there, too, you'll always have that special place. All I have to do is close my eyes and I can see you the day your mother brought you over to my apartment for the first time. I can still see that big toothless smile and your beautiful green eyes and those chubby little arms reaching for me. What better picture could a father have for a first memory of his daughter?_

_I love you, Kara, and that will never end. Lee doesn't believe in an afterlife, but I know you do. We'll see each other again one day. I just hope you live a long and happy life before that happens and that you get a chance to love your own child the way I love you. Dad_

Slowly she folded the letter. They would see each other again…and not in the afterlife. She took the letter back into the living room and put it under her trophy before she sat down beside Lee. He muted the television.

"So how do you feel about being a father?" She asked.

He gave her a look. "Is that a theoretical question…like in the future…or…are you…? Because if you are, I will drag you to a temple whether you want to go or not."

Kara smiled. "Braedon. If something happens to Laura."

He put his arm around her. "You know I would. Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I know what happened to my dad and I've accepted it. He and I will see each other again one day. I know we will." She snuggled into Lee and lifted her face for his kiss.

He leaned down. "I can't wait to get this stupid cast off."

She wrapped her arms around him. "Me either. I'm getting tired of doing all the work."

"Really?"

She grinned before she kissed him again. "Not really. I like you a little bit helpless."

o

Kara emerged from the maze into the whitewashed part of the hangar. She had arrived early on purpose. She looked around. Kevin Abinell was not at his worktable. She skirted the new Raider that now hung beside Sadie and walked to the doorway of Rick Rafferty's small office. He was staring intently at his computer monitor.

Kara knocked lightly on the doorframe. "Have you got a minute, Dr. Rafferty?"

He looked up. "Sure. Come in, Kara. Have a seat. There's a chair under those books."

Kara put the books on the floor and perched on the edge of the seat. "I have a question about jump technology."

"Shoot," he said.

"How does it work?"

Rafferty chuckled. "Did you take physics at the Academy?"

She shook her head and smiled. "Maybe you can explain it in layman's terms."

"You're at point A, you want to go to point B. There's two ways to get there."

"Fly from one point to the other or jump," Kara said. "I understand flying. It's the jumping part I need some help with."

"In layman's terms, the FTL drive bends space. Instead of a straight line, you have a curved line." He took his hand and bent it into the shape of a C. "Point A is now closer to point B. That's a real oversimplification, but it's the best I can do without getting into advanced physics."

"Okay," Kara said. "So what makes the Cylon FTL drives so much better than ours?"

"It's not the drive itself although they have found a way to miniaturize some of the parts. It's the computer that's built into it. In order to execute a successful jump, you're got to know not only where you are and where you want to go, but what's in between you and your destination…things like planets and stars and black holes. When the drive bends space, everything in between you and your destination doesn't vanish. It's still there. The Cylon computers that control the jump are far superior to ours. Now that we've got more of their FTL drives coming our way, we'll find a way to reverse engineer them, get at those computers."

"So you're saying that under the right circumstances, one of our Raptor FTL drives could jump farther than…say the ice planet?"

"In theory, yes. A little farther, but not much."

Kara felt a rush of excitement. "What would those circumstances be? You mean like knowing the right coordinates?"

"It's much more involved than that, especially in a Raptor. The main problem is that a Raptor's FTL drive was designed specifically for what we call _short hops_. That means inside our own solar system."

"What's the outside limit of a Raptor drive…under normal circumstances?"

"A light year…and that's pushing it."

Kara pondered his explanation. There had to be something she had missed. Nereid was thirty light years away. She tried a different approach.

"What happens when a ship jumps?"

"There's a temporary displacement of space. It pulls inward and then there's a rebound effect when the jump is complete. The…wormhole that was created by the jump fills in very quickly."

"Like a shock wave?"

"Something like that, yes."

"What would happen if someone jumped a Raptor, say, inside another ship? Would it damage the other ship?"

"Most certainly. The smaller or more confined the space, the worse the damage."

"What if there were explosives nearby?"

Rafferty studied her. She realized that he now knew why she was asking the questions. She waited, unaware at first that she was holding her breath, aware only that her pulse had quickened. If Rafferty went to Admiral Adama with her thoughts, she might lose the opportunity to fly the mission to Nereid.

Finally he said, "If the Raptor was within twenty or thirty meters of certain type of explosives when it jumped, the concussive wave would almost certainly set them off."

"What would happen to the Raptor? Would it complete the jump?"

"It might. But it would probably sustain damage. It might even be destroyed. You're asking me about something that's never been studied, even theoretically that I'm aware of. No pilot in his…or her…right mind would ever initiate a Raptor jump inside a battlestar."

Undeterred Kara continued. "But if someone did jump a Raptor inside a larger ship and they were near a lot of explosives…say a whole Raider full…could the resulting explosion affect the…end point of the jump…theoretically speaking, of course?"

Rafferty picked up a pen from his desk and turned it in his hand, rolling it over his knuckles. "You've given this _theory_ a great deal of thought, haven't you?"

Kara nodded. "I've just got to know if there's any way he could have jumped somewhere…farther than a Raptor would normally be able to jump...farther than the coordinates programmed into that ship."

"Let me work on a few equations. Run a few simulations through some software I wrote. Come back to see me before you leave today."

"I'd appreciate if it you wouldn't…say anything to anybody about this."

He smiled. "We're talking _theory_, aren't we?"

"Just theory," Kara confirmed. "Who would be insane enough to think it was more than theory?"

"I don't believe I'm under any obligation to report theoretical discussions to the admiral. If we should find…proof that something like you've asked about had happened, then that would be another matter."

Smiling, Kara exited Rafferty's office. If there had been any proof, someone would have found it by now. Of course she wasn't aware that anyone had even looked. They'd all been too busy telling her that her father had never made it out of the basestar. Even Lee would tell her she was crazy now if she said something. He would be kind. He would be gentle, but she'd get another Dr. Lee lecture about being in denial. And she knew that if she somehow managed to convince him, he would go straight to his father and the admiral would pull her from the mission.

Kevin Abinell was waiting for her. He pointed to Sadie. "Ready to leave the simulator behind?"

"You bet," Kara said.

She walked over to the Raider and gently ran her hand over the wing. Once again she felt something akin to a bond with the ship. _Hello, Sadie, _she thought, _I knew we'd get together one day._ She went to the hatch and climbed inside. It didn't smell nearly as bad as she remembered. In fact it now smelled mostly of electronic gear. It looked very different than it had the day she had crawled up inside it nearly a year previously. There was less room than there had been then. Computers were stacked and secured against the walls.

Kara stretched out and flexed her fingers. The monitor screen was smaller than the one at the simulator PC. It was hard for her to get used to looking at the screen to guide the ship. She wanted to look out the eye slot of the Raider.

Kevin stuck his head through the hatch. "We learned a lot from Lee's mission. We've made some improvements."

Kara wiggled slightly trying to get comfortable. She could feel the hard floor underneath her hipbones.

"Where's the padded seat?" She joked. "My Viper is more comfortable than this."

He grinned. "We don't want you to get too comfortable. You might go to sleep." He leaned over and pointed. "That's the camera computer and monitor."

Kara looked. "Where's the pinup? The naked babe with the centurion's head?"

Kevin blushed a bright pink. "I didn't think you'd appreciate it."

Kara grinned. "I need something to test the cameras on besides the floor. Use your imagination."

"I've got a picture of the C-Bucks…autographed."

Kara thought about looking at Sam Anders. "I'll pass. Just chalk an _X_ on the floor."

"You're not a fan?" Kevin asked in a shocked voice.

"Not _that much _of one."

She turned back to the joystick and positioned her feet on the rudder pedals. She was ready to see how it felt to run the simulations in the Raider.

Nearly two hours later, Kara dropped through the hatch, crouched and walked out from under the wing. She stretched, leaning forward and sideways. She tried to imagine how Lee had felt after over twelve hours in the ship. When she straightened up, she saw Rick Rafferty standing in the doorway to his office. He turned around and went back inside.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Kara called to Kevin before she walked to Rafferty's office. When she got inside, he asked her to shut the door and have a seat.

"You've proposed an interesting theory," he said.

"And?"

"I'll need to study this a lot more, but theoretically jumping a Raptor in a confined space that coincided with or caused an explosion could substantially affect the jump. The end coordinates would probably be exaggerated, maybe profoundly. There are too many unknowns to say with any certainty how much the effect would be."

"I know there was a set of coordinates already programmed into the Raptor. If it jumped past those, where would it have gone?"

Rafferty nodded. "I knew you would get to that eventually…theoretically speaking, of course."

He motioned to her. She walked behind his desk and looked at the screen. There was a star chart of their solar system. He pointed.

"The position of the basestar was here. The programmed coordinates of the jump should have taken the Raptor here, just past Thyone, but projecting what could have happened… again, theoretically…"

He moved the pointer until it went past the ice planet and out of their solar system. It went exactly where Kara had known it would go.

"How far into the Prolmar Sector could the Raptor have gone?"

Rafferty shook his head. "I don't have enough data to project. The Raptor might not have gone anywhere. It could have disintegrated in the explosion. Timing would have been everything. I don't want you to think this is what happened. Of all the possibilities, it's the least probable."

"I know. It's theory," Kara said. "That's how I want to keep it. But it's possible that Raptor could have made it all the way to Nereid?"

"It's possible. You realize how slim the chances are of the Raptor making it in one piece, though, don't you? I can't say that enough times."

Kara nodded. "I know. Thank you for listening to my _theory_."

"You've given me a lot to think about."

She smiled. "You've given me more…a lot more."

He'd given her hope…hope to go along with her belief in what the Oracle had said. Added to what she had found when she'd started looking at the star charts on her father's laptop, it was all she needed to allow her to nurture her dream of finding her father alive.

On the first five star charts Braedon had placed a sticky little fingerprint directly over the planet of Nereid. Kara had started to show it to Lee and had changed her mind. She hadn't been in the mood to have him laugh at her.

o

Lee sat in an interrogation room one level above the prison in the bunker. He had spent the last four days reading transcripts of the Cylon prisoner interrogations. He knew little more than he had known before he had started reading. The one thing new he had learned was why during the first two years of Cylon occupation that Cavil had sent all the multiple copies of the skinjobs back to the basestar. Cavil had grown tired of sharing power. Many times he had made vague and unexplained references to his _ultimate plan_.

Major Parker had read each of the interrogations many times and by putting bits and pieces together, he had come up with something that sounded plausibly Cylon in nature. Cavil knew that given their physiology, the skinjobs would live a long, long time and that resurrection allowed them to extend their lives almost indefinitely. He believed that by infecting a number of women with the sterility virus, many of whom he believed were drains on society because of poverty and addictions, that the Cylons would ultimately be able to control reproduction on the planet, picking only the most desirable females as hosts. Over many generations, the Cylons would eventually populate the planet with their offspring and replace the genetically pure humans whom they considered flawed creatures abandoned by God.

Parker's theory made as much sense to Lee as any of the others he had heard.

The door opened. A handcuffed Sharon was led in. The Marine started to fasten the handcuffs to a ring on the table.

"Take those off her," Lee said, furious to see her shackled.

"I have my orders, sir."

"Then give me the damned key."

The Marine hesitated and then took a key from his combat vest pocket and unlocked the cuffs before he went out and shut the door.

Sharon rubbed her wrists.

"How are you being treated?" Lee asked her.

"Is Karl all right? He hasn't been arrested, has he?"

"Karl's fine. Kara has stayed in touch with him. He misses you."

"I miss him. Is there any way I could see him?"

"I don't think so. Not right now. I couldn't even get permission for Kara to come see you. I'm sorry."

"They're going to kill us, aren't they?"

"I don't think so."

Sharon studied him. "I've already told Kara everything I know."

"I think you told Kara what she wanted to hear."

"Everything I told Kara was the truth. I never lied to her."

"But you didn't tell her everything. What about Karl? Did you tell him everything?"

"Karl and I don't talk about…what I am. It's easier that way. I did everything your father asked me to do. If Cavil could get to me, he'd kill me. So would the others. They call me traitor now, me and Leoben. And yeah, I know what _he_ did, and I know Laura Roslin let him go."

"It must be hard, being caught between two worlds…physically one of them, spiritually one of us, distrusted and despised by both."

"What would a golden boy know about that?" Sharon asked derisively.

Lee pondered her question. "You're right. What would I know about that? So who's it going to be, Sharon? Us or them? It can't be both. You either answer the questions and show me you're with us or you go back to the others."

"It doesn't matter what I say. You'll leave me in that stinking little cell forever."

"Maybe not. Maybe I can work something out for you. What do you want?"

"I just want to be with Karl. I _need_ to be with Karl."

"Then tell me what you know about Cylon history. How do you learn about the past?"

"We're created with the knowledge. Unlike humans, we know our own history. I probably know more about human history than you do. The first copy of each model is downloaded with everything ever written about history. Those memories are passed to all subsequent copies."

"Tell me about the Cylon homeworld. Tell me about where you came from five years ago."

"Cavil severed all ties with them? We're forbidden to speak about them."

"When?"

"When our group decided not to destroy Caprica. It was a democratic decision."

"To do what?"

"The group on our homeworld disagreed with us about what should be done with humanity. Our Cavil thought we should destroy humanity and replace it with a civilization of pure Cylons. Those on the homeworld believed it should be done through integration."

"Integration…meaning?"

"The blending of our races through the creating of hybrid children with a group of pure Cylon masters."

"Isn't that what you were trying to do here?"

"After eleven of the Colonies were destroyed, Cavil changed his mind about destroying all of humanity. He told us that those on our homeworld had been correct. We should exterminate humanity in a different way. We could create a race of hybrids, part human, part Cylon. They would become our slaves…like the centurions."

"After the…split with the other Cylons, what happened?"

"They stayed on our homeworld. They had already begun a search of the galaxy for other worlds that were home to humans. They thought they could find Kobol and Kobol would lead them to Earth."

"Earth is a myth."

"Earth is the homeworld of humanity. If they find Earth, they'll know where to find the rest of the humans. That was the deal. They went their way and we went ours."

"And Cavil believes this…integration is the way to go?"

"Yes."

"Then why did your Cavil want to find Earth?"

"To get there first and bring some of the original humans back to Caprica. He wanted all humans represented in his race of hybrid slaves. After that he didn't care if the other Cylons reached Earth."

"Where is the Cylon homeworld?"

"You're going to destroy it, aren't you?"

"That won't be my decision."

"There are humans there…a lot of humans. They were taken five years ago from ships and some of the planets."

"Why would the Cylons on your homeworld want humans?"

"The creators wanted them."

"Why? More experiments? Pets? To create more of you?"

"That's all I know, Lee."

"You won't tell me where your homeworld is?"

Sharon looked at him, sadly he thought. "I don't need to. You already know where it is. Humans have been there before."

Lee studied her for a long time before he stood. He believed that she had now told him everything she knew. Sharon also stood. The door opened and a Marine trained his assault rifle on her.

Lee held up his hand. "Put that down."

The Marine kept the rifle pointed at Sharon. Lee defiantly stepped between them.

"I have something I want you to tell Karl," Sharon said. She beckoned for him to come closer.

"Sir, step back!" the Marine said.

Lee leaned forward.

"I'm pregnant," she whispered.

o

Laura Roslin sat in a small conference room with Bill Adama, President Adar, Agent Darren and Major Parker.

"Dear Gods," she said. "Is Sharon telling the truth?"

Bill Adama nodded. "A doctor has confirmed it. We've removed her from the cell near the other Cylons and moved her to one of the small suites several floors up. She's still under heavy guard but her living conditions are better."

"She cooperated," Major Parker said. "Lee was able to get a lot of information from her. We believe she's told the truth."

Bill said, "She confirmed the Major's theory that Cavil's eventual goal was the destruction of humanity by using us to create a race of hybrids."

"They were going to destroy humanity," Adar said, "but they were going to do it without the use of nukes."

"Lee thinks we should set her free," Bill said. "He said she loves Karl and needs to be with him. We'd like your thoughts, Laura. Yours, too, Mr. President."

Adar said, "I'll defer this one to our next President. I favor terminating the pregnancy, but that's probably because I've dealt with Cavil on a daily basis for five years. The thought of bringing even half a Cylon into this world makes me sick."

Laura was aware that all eyes in the room were on her. The elected official in her was at war with the mother. The woman who despised Cavil as deeply as Adar did weighed her option carefully. She was surprised at how long it took her to come to a decision and what finally pushed her to make it. She took a deep breath.

"Before she died several weeks ago, Yolanda Brenn made a statement to my daughter. She said, '_The child must live._' At first Kara thought she meant my son, but Brenn later said '_the other child_.' I now believe that she was talking about Sharon Valerii's unborn baby."

There was silence in the room. The men looked at her.

"You're basing your decision on the words of a dead so-called prophet?" Bill asked in amazement.

"And a mother. There are many who would look at this child as a miracle instead of a monster, something neither the Cylons nor Dr. Baltar and Simon were ever able to achieve outside of a lab. Who are _we_ to make a decision to end its life?"

"And after the child is born, what do you intend to do with it…let the Cylon woman raise it?" Adar asked.

"We have over seven months to make that decision. She may not be able to carry the child to term. Baltar's and Simon's first experiments were dismal failures. All of the women miscarried. In a month or two it may be a non-issue. But ending its life should not be our decision. We can't forget that child is half-human."

The men all stared at her. Laura felt their disapproval.

"We assumed the role of the gods once and created artificial life that eventually turned on us. We had the hubris to defy our own scriptures because it was convenient and _profitable_. Do you really think we should play god again and force this woman to kill her unborn child? What does that make us?"

"What do we do with the father?" Parker finally asked.

"Release her and let them be together," Laura said. "Put them back on the _Galactica_ if you want to watch them. Let them marry if they want. At this point what difference does it make?"

"Sharon might not be safe on the _Galactica_. Everyone knows what she is now," Bill said.

"Then leave them here on Caprica. They're both in the military. You decide what to do with them, but I _will not_ force her to undergo an abortion. The gods will deal with this child as they have planned. Now do we have any other business to discuss?"

Adar stood. "I think that's it for today."

When the others had left the room, Laura looked at Bill. "You don't agree with my decision."

"No, but you're the boss."

She smiled. "Not yet."

"Close enough. Do you have your Solstice speech ready?"

"I'm letting Adar handle it this year. My first public appearance will be the inauguration in a month. Kara has agreed to stand on the platform with me and hold Braedon while I take the oath of office. I still need an escort for the inaugural dinner and dance that night."

"Was that a statement or are you asking me?"

"It's a free meal and free drinks. But if you've already made plans, I think Chuck Winters is still single."

"Is that an attempt at bribery, Madame President?"

"It was actually an attempt at a joke, a very lame one it seems."

Bill finally smiled. "I don't need to be bribed."

"Not like twenty years ago?"

"I'm not as dumb as I was then."

Laura smiled, too. "I hope I'm not either."

o

Kara looked down at the silver ring on her left thumb, the Viper pilot's ring, the ring that had once represented her father to her. Two weeks earlier as she had packed some clothes at the apartment, she had found the ring along with her mother's dog tags in the corner of a dresser drawer. She couldn't wear the dog tags because she had her own now, but she had stuck the ring on her thumb. It fit perfectly.

Now she and Lee stood on the tarmac outside the hangar at the boneyard on a cold Wednesday morning two days before the Solstice. Sadie had just been towed out and was awaiting her with the hatch open. Kevin Abinell paced nearby. Rick Rafferty stood in the doorway of the hangar.

Lee recognized Lou, the mechanic who had been with him on Heliops Island. He sat on the seat of the tow, ready to pull the Raider out onto the runway once Kara was inside. Lee waved at him and Lou waved back.

"Watch your oxygen," Lee said to Kara.

Despite her familiarity with Sadie, Kara was nervous about flying the mission. Her jitters added an extra bite to her voice when she said, "You need to tell me that one more time, Lee, make it an even dozen."

Lee sighed and leaned on the cane he now used with the walking cast on his leg.

They looked at each other and her face softened. "I'll be fine. I'll be back in a couple of hours."

"Two," Lee said emphatically. "Two hours."

She grinned. "You going to stand out here the whole two hours?"

"Probably."

"And you call me crazy?"

"That's what worries me," Lee answered her. He took a step toward her.

"I guess you expect me to kiss you in front of everybody."

"Everybody being Kevin and Lou and Rick."

She put her arms around him. "Watch the tongue."

"Why?"

"Your buddy Kevin won't be able to stand it."

"He can get his own girlfriend."

Lee kissed her hard.

"Now that I'm completely distracted, I guess I can try to get Sadie into the air," Kara said.

"Be careful. Gods, be careful."

"_Careful_ is my middle name."

"I wish."

She squeezed his hand before she crouched and duck-walked under the Raider. Boosting herself up, she climbed inside and got into position. She ran down a quick check of the computers. She heard Kevin say, _Good luck, _before he closed the hatch. She turned the wheel, sealed it and switched on the oxygen. The Raider jerked slightly as Lou began to tow it. She watched the monitor. When it showed the runway straight ahead, the tow disengaged.

Kara waited a few minutes and then lifted off. She made a wide circle of the hangar, rolled the Raider once because she knew it would thrill Kevin and make Lee crazier than he already was, and then she began her climb to twenty thousand feet. She was high over the ocean when she keyed the jump.

One second she saw blue sky on the monitor and the next she felt like she was being pulled forward. Despite the fact that Lee had told her to breathe through the jump, she held her breath. A second later the jump was over. She was in the Prolmar Sector, closer to the planet than Lee had been during his first jump, but still a long distance from Nereid.

She studied the long-range sensors. Three basestars were over the planet. There had been only two when Lee had flown his mission. Either the Cylons had manufactured another basestar or one had come in from somewhere outside the sector during the last two months. Lee hadn't photographed any shipyards, so the third basestar must have been out of the solar system when Lee was there. Kara wondered if it had been over Kobol.

She studied her sensors carefully. She wasn't picking up any Raider signals. Sadie might attract attention by flying alone over the planet, but she had no choice unless she wanted to scrub the mission.

The computer records from Lee's mission had allowed Kevin to compute a number of coordinates over the surface of Nereid. She picked one over the snowfield, but much closer to the mountains so she wouldn't have to traverse thousands of miles of nothing but white. She switched on the homing beacon and the cameras and jumped. She was less than a mile above the planet.

She thought briefly of the dream she had about the _Hyperion_. One day when the Cylons were destroyed, Kara hoped they would get to explore the planet. She was sure they would be able to find the remains of the ship. She thought about her father. Where had his Raptor come down and where was he now? With luck he was with the group of humans who had escaped from the Cylons. She didn't want to think of the alternative.

Kara maintained just enough altitude to make it over the mountains. She had no idea if she was on the Cylons' dradis or not. She flew a zigzag pattern over the ruined city and then headed for the plateau where Lee had found the new construction. There were a lot of silvery specs on the ground. She flew the pattern in reverse. The close-up cameras would show it, but she was almost certain the specs were centurions, hundreds of them, maybe a thousand. It looked like there were some new buildings under construction.

She flew back over them, the cameras recording everything. She wondered if the centurions on the ground even noticed her.

Twenty minutes later she had flown another pattern over the city, picking up new construction there as well as demolition. She headed toward the northeast. She was just about to give up and turn around when she saw a huge facility. Getting closer she could again see the silvery specs on the ground. Lee hadn't made it this far on his trip. With a sinking feeling she circled the area. It was a shipyard. There was a nearly complete basestar under construction. So Nereid was more than the Cylon homeworld, it was a basestar incubator as well. She wondered how many it had birthed in the last five years. How many did the Colonials now have to deal with? Four or a dozen or even more?

She flew to the mountains and back again but saw no more signs of construction. She looked at her clock. She had been gone an hour and forty minutes. She turned northwest toward the forest. It wasn't on her agenda, but she had to see it for herself. Maybe she would get lucky and find a campfire. Maybe she would be the one to get positive proof of humans living free on Nereid. Maybe her father was with them.

She said a silent prayer and dropped lower. She had forgotten to ask Kevin if he knew anything about the seasons on Nereid or if Nereid even had seasons. Leafless trees would have made ground reconnaissance easier.

Kara wasn't too far over the forest when she saw that the season wouldn't have mattered much. Many of the trees looked like evergreens. Seeing the ground in a lot of places wouldn't have been possible any time of the year. She flew as low over the treetops as she dared and then decided that her range was too narrow at such a low altitude. She turned at the mountains and climbed higher before she repeated the pass. Nothing. No smoke. Nothing. She turned north, flew to the mountains and then turned south again.

She looked at her clock. Two hours twenty minutes. An alarm sounded in Sadie, a soft, insistent and high-pitched whine. There was nothing on her dradis. Her oxygen was okay. Still the alarm persisted. She couldn't see anything wrong. It sounded like the alarm in her Viper when the Cylon Raider had gotten a missile lock on her. It spooked her.

She checked her dradis again. She thumped the screen even though she knew that was a silly thing to do. Nothing. Absolutely nothing and yet…yet. Frak. She knew what it might be. She had forgotten that to any humans in the forest, she looked like the enemy. Something on the ground was tracking her. Something on the ground was locked on her. Something hidden by the trees. The coordinates for Caprica were already keyed into the computer. There was a bright flash on the camera monitor at the same time she jumped.

o

Lee paced just outside the boneyard's hangar as well as he could with the cane and cast. Kevin was trying to act cool, but Lee knew he was worried as well.

"Two and a half hours," Lee said. "Two and a half frakking hours."

Kevin said, "You were gone over twelve hours."

"I had a good excuse."

"She'll be fine. Kara is way cool. Did you see the way she rolled Sadie?"

"I saw it," Lee said trying to control the annoyance in his voice. "Rolling a ship is not that hard."

"They why didn't you do it?" Kevin asked with a grin.

"Because I don't have anything to prove," Lee said.

"And she does?"

"No. She did it to impress you and because she likes to screw with my head."

Rick Rafferty walked to the hangar door. "She's back."

Lee whirled. "How do you know?"

"I have a friend who works at the base. She jumped back into the atmosphere a hundred miles out at sea. They picked her up on dradis. She'll be here shortly."

Lee took a deep breath.

"What did I tell you?" Kevin asked. "I knew she would make it back all right."

They watched the sky.

"I bet you twenty cubits she buzzes us and rolls Sadie again before she lands," Kevin said.

Lee grinned. "Why don't I just hand you twenty cubits right now because that's what would happen if I took that bet?"

"I wonder if Kara found anything new on the planet," Kevin said as they finally saw the Raider approaching in the distance.

Lee thought of John's idea about the human encampment in the forest. "I don't know, but I bet I know why she was gone so long. I bet we'll be looking at a lot of footage of trees."

"You think she was looking for smoke?"

"Yeah, Kev, I think she was looking for smoke."

TBC…


	79. The Beginning of a Plan

Chapter 79

The Beginning of a Plan

_On a cold, windy Tuesday in mid-January, Laura Roslin was sworn in as the ninety-third President of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol. With her on the platform as she took her oath of office was her stepdaughter, Lieutenant Kara Thrace, who was holding Roslin's son Braedon by her late husband, Major John Gallagher, who is missing and presumed killed during the destruction of the Cylon basestar. _

_- Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War_

The traffic on the way to the boneyard was light at 7:00 Saturday morning. Although Kara normally drove Lee's car much the way she rode her motorcycle, today she kept to the inside lane and did the speed limit. Admiral Adama was in the back seat.

Lee had the car's wireless turned up listening to the early morning news. The night before, the Solstice celebration that had started in the big park near the heart of the city had gotten out of hand after midnight when the revelers, most of them intoxicated on booze, which had been provided by several breweries and distilleries, began clamoring for the fireworks that were late getting started.

For the five years that the Cylons had controlled the planet, the fireworks show had not been allowed. In fact, no large outdoor gatherings had been allowed anywhere for any holidays, even Colonial Day, and the ever-present centurions had been visible in force to discourage drunken antics even at gatherings that were smaller and more private. There had been no Solstice or Equinox parades either. Cavil did not believe in public revelry of any kind and would tolerate no religious festivals for the many gods worshipped by the Capricans.

"I'm not sure the Cylons didn't have the right idea about one thing," Bill grumbled. "It will cost the city a small fortune to clean up the mess those drunks caused."

Lee added. "Not to mention the hospital emergency rooms and trauma centers being overrun with people who got into fights and fell out of trees and overdosed on whatever they could get their hands on."

Kara didn't say anything.

"I take it you don't agree," Lee finally said.

"Give them a pass this once. We're free of the Cylons for the first time in five years. You've got to expect people to go a _little_ crazy."

Bill made a sound. "Hmmmph. I told Laura not to go visit her doorman today like she's done the last few Saturdays. I told her the President-elect didn't need to get in all that mess at the medical center. It's always a nightmare for her security."

"I'll go with her tomorrow to see Doug," Kara said. "The _drunks_ should be gone from the hospital by then."

She realized that her tone of voice was sarcastic and wished she had kept her mouth shut, not ever an easy task for her when she disagreed with someone.

"Laura feels guilty," Bill said, obviously ignoring her tone. "Doug was doing his job. Cavil is responsible for what happened to him, not Laura."

"Yeah, but Doug will be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life," Kara shot back.

"That's _not_ Laura's fault. He's lucky to be alive."

"I didn't say it was Laura's _fault_," Kara's voice rose slightly. "I'm just saying I understand why she feels the way she does. Doug was her doorman for years. You barely knew him. I guess he's just like some wounded soldier to you…sir."

"Kara," Lee said under his breath as he turned off the wireless.

She rolled her eyes, but she didn't say anything else. Neither did his father.

"Look," Lee finally said. "I know we're all uptight this morning over what Kara discovered on Nereid. Maybe we need to take a deep breath and relax."

Bill snorted. "Spoken like a true diplomat. I see a future for you in politics if you ever want to go that route, son."

Lee made a face. "Right now that has zero appeal for me. I just want to get back in my Viper."

Kara smiled. "The cast comes off for good next week. Then the work begins. I'll bet you have a tiny little calf muscle now. It's going to take lots of work to get that leg Viper-worthy again."

Lee glanced at his father in the back seat as if to say, _See? I have to put up with her smart mouth all the time._

"You let me worry about my leg," he shot back. "You just worry about getting us to the boneyard in one piece."

"Hey, I'm doing the speed limit."

"And it's killing you, isn't it?"

She grinned and rolled her eyes again. There was no fooling Lee about something like that. He'd ridden with her often enough by now to know.

"Just be glad we're not on the motorcycle," she said under her breath.

o

They met in another one of the rooms with plastic walls off the boneyard's main hangar. The seats at least were comfortable. They reminded Kara of the pilot's ready room. There was a large flat screen monitor on one wall. Sealed 8x10 envelopes lay on each seat. Major Parker was the last one to arrive.

"Sorry, sir," he said to the admiral as he entered the room. "My eight-year-old had a total meltdown when I told him I wouldn't make it to his soccer game this morning. I've missed so many of them."

"Understandable," Bill said. "Come in and have a seat. I've asked you to be here today because I know you spent to first part of your career analyzing reconnaissance photos during the last inter-colonial war between Leonis and Scorpia. I'd like to call on that expertise again."

Parker quickly took a seat. Kevin Abinell brought him a cup of coffee.

Bill continued. "Outside of this room, the only ones who know what we're going to discuss today are President Adar and President-elect Roslin. I plan to brief them both later since they're less concerned about the military details than they are the overall impact. Otherwise nothing we discuss today is to leave this room."

Parker nodded.

"You know my son, of course, and Lieutenant Thrace. The other two with us are Dr. Rick Rafferty who has been in charge of part of this program for the last four years and his very computer-savvy assistant Kevin Abinell."

"I saw the Cylon Raiders out in the hangar," Parker said. "I assume they're part of the project."

"One of them has played a big part," Bill said. "Inside the envelope are two detailed reports from my son and Kara, the two pilots who flew the missions we're going to discuss."

Parker smiled. "So that's where one of my best analysts and interrogators was when you said he was working on a special project."

Bill nodded. "Let's look at some pictures first. Kevin has put together footage taken from both missions to a planet we call Nereid. We don't know what the Cylons call it other than their homeworld."

"Then we've known where it was all along?"

"Until Lee flew the first mission a couple of months ago, it was just a theory."

Kevin dimmed the lights and showed the first image, one of John's drawings of the surface of the planet.

Bill said, "Kara's father drew that based on a journal by a woman named Irina Hoshi who was on a scientific expedition there…sixty-two years ago. Major Gallagher was very instrumental in getting us where we are today."

The next screen showed the high-altitude shot Lee had taken on his mission. They two versions were remarkably similar.

Bill added, "Mrs. Hoshi's journal has proven very accurate. This is what we started with and this is what Lee and Kara found. Now let's look at some movies."

For over two hours they looked at footage that Kevin had blended from both missions. Lee could tell Parker was impressed, but he said little as Lee and Kara kept up a running commentary of what they were viewing, the ruined city that was being rebuilt in places, the temple complex, the intact damn and reservoir behind it and many miles away, the new sand-colored buildings on a high and arid plateau.

They looked at what was there on Lee's mission and the new construction Kara had filmed.

"We think this is a prison and lab complex," Bill said. "The new construction is part of the same."

"Probably anxious to get some humans from Earth to dissect and see if they're different from us," Kara said.

"They work fast, don't they?" Parker commented. "In two months they've started and nearly finished another building."

"Those centurions can work day and night without stopping," Lee said.

"That's why what's coming up next worries the hell out of me," Bill said. "Lee didn't make it this far north on his mission. Kara just filmed it two days ago."

They looked at her complete footage of the shipyard where the basestar was under construction.

"Interesting that most of it is below the surface of the terrain," Parker said. "Looking at it from ground level and from a distance, you'd never know anything was there."

"From above it's like looking into a mile-wide mine shaft," Kara remarked. "My estimate is that it's over a thousand feet deep."

"This is one of the things we'd like for you to take a look at," Bill said. "We'd like to know if this is a natural formation or if they excavated it or maybe started with something natural and enhanced it."

"Could it be part of a mining and ore-smelting complex? They'd need some sort of metal to make those basestars. Then again, do we even know what basestars are made of?" Parker asked.

"We assume the same thing they use to make their Raiders," Lee said. "Part metal, part organic."

"The organic component is still mostly a mystery to us," Rick Rafferty said. "It's part mineral, but there's something else that breaks down too rapidly for analysis when we try to isolate it. Now that we've got more Raiders, we might be able to identify it, maybe even duplicate it."

"Might I assume, sir," Parker said, "that you plan to destroy this facility?"

"I plan to destroy the whole planet," Bill said.

"What about the humans?" Kara asked in shock. "Sharon confirmed that there are humans being held on the planet. Based on something Lee photographed, my father theorized that there are humans living free, probably in the mountains with hunting expeditions to the forest. I totally agree with him."

"I concur that there are probably a few prisoners. As for free humans, I haven't seen anything to convince me. Lee shot a few frames of an image that _could_ be smoke from a campfire," Bill said in explanation to Parker.

"Can we at least look at them?" Kara asked.

Bill finally motioned to Kevin. He played the shots for them in slow motion. Even at the slowest speed, there were only eight images, several of them blurry.

The room was silent until Parker said, "Without another plausible explanation, I'll go with campfire smoke. Is that all the proof we have of humans on the planet…besides the word of a Cylon?"

"Why would she lie about that?" Kara asked.

"Oh, come on," Lee said. "You know why. She knows we're going to destroy the Cylon homeworld. What better way to stop that from happening than by telling us there are humans living there? _Lots of humans_ is the way she put it. I don't care how you look at her, I don't care where her loyalties lie, she's still a Cylon."

"The idea of humans on the planet didn't originate with Sharon," Kara said stubbornly. "Admiral Adama came up with it first."

Bill took a deep breath. "Yes, I believe there are some prisoners on the planet. How many we have no idea. I don't know that we can let that influence the decision as to how to deal with the Cylons, though."

"We're not just dealing with prisoners," Kara said, her voice getting stronger, edged with anger, which got her a look and a slight headshake from Lee.

It didn't deter her.

"I spent some time flying over the forest," Kara said. "I didn't see any smoke, but _somebody_ was down there. I forgot that I was in a Raider. Something on the ground got some kind of lock on me. I think someone fired an RPG at me. Lee doesn't agree. Show them, Kevin. Show them what happened just before I jumped back to Caprica."

Kevin waited until he got a nod from the admiral before he showed the last twenty seconds of images recorded before her jump. They saw the forest and then the bright flash a second before the screen went dark. The next images were the clouds below her as she completed her jump back into Caprica's atmosphere.

"I don't think the flash looks like it came from any shoulder-held launcher," Lee said. "I think it's too big. I think it's a reflection of sunlight off the top of something metal."

"Play it again," Bill said to Kevin.

They watched the footage several more times. Even though at first Kara disagreed with Lee, she could see why he said what he did. The flash was big, maybe too big for a shoulder-launched grenade. Maybe Lee was right. Maybe it _was_ the reflection of sunlight off metal.

"How high were you?" Parker asked.

Kara said, "Kevin can tell us exactly, but about two miles."

"Definitely within the range of a laser-guided RPG," Bill said.

"Something did cause an alarm in Sadie to go off," Kevin said. "The problem is, I'm just not sure how. I've been over all the instrument recordings a dozen times or more. Absolutely nothing was picked up on her dradis."

"Hey," Kara said with a grin, "Sadie knew somebody was pointing something lethal at me and her. She let me know."

Lee gave her a look.

"What?" She asked him. "I guess you think I should have stuck around to see if it hit me or not."

She got another look.

"Something did hit you," Kevin said. "Before you left, I photographed every square inch of Sadie. I did the same thing before Lee flew his mission. It's nothing to do with how you fly. I repeated the pictures when you got back. We do it to make sure the hull still looks good. Look at these before and after pictures of the right wing. This was taken near the right wingtip about an hour after you got back."

They all looked. The hull looked relatively smooth in the picture taken before her flight. The after picture showed two round and deep indentations.

"What are we looking at?" Bill Adama asked.

"It looks like bullet holes," Kara said. "Not exactly holes, but where bullets hit. Let's go look."

"We can't," Kevin said.

"Sadie's right outside this room. Why can't we go look?" Kara asked.

"It's already _healed_," Kevin answered her.

"Explain," Bill said.

Rick Rafferty spoke up. "We took out Sadie's brain, but the partially organic material she's made of can still heal small wounds…if that's what you want to call them."

"You think the flash I saw was from gunshots?" Kara asked incredulously. "I was over two miles high. No way. There's just no way. The muzzle flash from a rifle wouldn't even show under the trees."

Kevin shrugged. "My personal feeling is the flash and these _wounds_ to Sadie didn't occur at the same time."

"So what are you saying?" Bill asked.

Rick said, "Kev and I have talked about this quite a bit since he discovered the indentations on the underside of Sadie's wing. Kara, we noticed that when you flew over the forest for the first time, you were substantially lower in altitude."

"Yeah," Kara said.

"How low?" Lee asked.

Kara shrugged. She knew she was probably in trouble. "I'm sure Kevin can tell you exactly how low."

"I'd…have to…look it up," Kevin almost stammered. Kara knew he didn't want to put her on the hot seat.

"Ballpark it," Bill snapped.

"Approximately six hundred feet above the treetops," Kara said quickly.

"Holy Hera," Lee said, unable to control the fury in his voice. "You went over that forest at six hundred feet?"

"A short distance. Yeah. Then I realized I couldn't get the big picture being that low, so I…adjusted my altitude."

Rick Rafferty said, "We think somebody on the ground took a couple of shots at Sadie. They knew they couldn't bring a Raider down with rifle or small arms fire. It was probably one of those, _Screw you _moments of frustration."

Bill said, "So you think somebody, a human on the ground, tried to put a couple of rounds of rifle fire into a Cylon Raider because they were frustrated?"

They could all hear the doubt in his voice.

"I'd do it," Kara said. "If I were on the ground in that forest and saw a Raider coming toward me at a low altitude, I'd take a couple of shots at it."

"You're sure the indentations couldn't have been caused by space debris?" Bill asked. "Something that occurred just prior to the jump or during the jump?"

"The angle is wrong," Rick said. "The wounds, if that's what you want to call them, were on the underneath side of the wing. They came from directly below it. Another reason we think they occurred before the jump is that by the time Sadie got back here, the wounds were already beginning to heal."

"Why are we just dancing around this?" Kara asked, her voice registering frustration and impatience again. "_All_ the humans living on Nereid aren't prisoners. Some of them are free. They thought I was a Cylon. They shot at me. They tried to bring me down with an RPG or maybe even some other kind of artillery, maybe something bigger than a shoulder-launched grenade."

Her remarks were met by silence until Bill Adama looked at Kevin. "Using a map of the surface, would you be able to tell me exactly where something locked onto the Raider?"

"Yes, sir," Kevin said.

"What about the _bullet wounds_?"

"I can give you a general idea of where she was low enough that a high-powered rifle could have hit her."

"Do it," Bill said. "I want to know if we could be talking about one group of humans or two."

"You're overlooking another possibility," Lee said.

"What?" Kara snickered. "One of the bears in the forest decided to pop off a couple of rounds at me?"

"The Cylons themselves. Centuruions."

"Living in the forest?"

"Maybe a hunting party looking for the escaped humans."

"And why would they shoot at one of their own?"

"Sadie's homing beacon belongs to the Cylons that split from them five years ago. Maybe they didn't recognize the signal."

"Then why didn't that signal bring more Raiders from one of the basestars to check it out?"

"Good question," Parker said.

"Lee's idea is farfetched, but I can't totally disallow it," Bill said. "At this point I can't disallow anything. But that's not our most important issue here. Our most important concern is that shipyard. I want to know how long it takes to crank out a basestar. I want some idea of how many they might have produced in the last five years. That's a hell of a lot more important than a few humans that _may or may not_ be living in the forest on Nereid."

Parker said, "Should we try asking the skinjobs about the basestar production?"

"It can't hurt. I'm sure you and Darren aren't through talking to them yet."

"No, sir."

"If you want me to, I'll ask Sharon," Lee said.

Bill nodded. "I think we're through today. Study the photographs. We'll get together again next week. If you leave now, Major Parker, you just might make your son's soccer game."

Parker stood and smiled, "Yes, sir."

When he was gone, Kara turned to the admiral. "Are you still determined to destroy the planet?"

"I haven't taken the other option off the table yet."

"Good. Because I think humans have been on that planet a long time. I think the second _Hyperion_ mission had survivors. I think you've had a lot of scientific brainpower living there for a long time. And yeah, I know they'd be old by now, but I'm sure they had kids and even grandkids. Maybe they're the ones who shot at me. Maybe it wasn't escaped prisoners at all."

Bill gave her an indulgent smile. "Maybe you'd like to get the roster from that mission and see who they were, see what you can find out about them."

"The first expedition had mercenary-type guards. Irina Hoshi said they were really the ones in charge. They had weapons. There's no reason to think the second expedition would have been different. They had robots with them, too. Older models, but still robots with a level of artificial intelligence."

"Then see what you can find," the admiral said.

When they left the boneyard, he had them drop him at his office back in the city.

When Bill was out of the car, Lee said, "What we've got are just more questions that need to be answered. For everything we find, we get more questions."

Kara waited to speak until she had pulled back into traffic. "I need to take Sadie back to the planet, set it down in a clearing in the forest and take a look around."

"You're not serious, are you?" Lee asked.

"How else are we ever going to know what's down there?"

"It might be better if we don't know."

"Meaning?"

"If my father decides to destroy the planet…"

"Yeah, well he said it was still open to discussion."

Lee shook his head. "That's not how he put it, Kara. He said he hadn't taken the other option off the table yet. I didn't hear anything in there about discussing it again. Even if he does discuss it, believe me, it won't be with us. It will be with Laura. She'll be President by then."

"And I know how she feels about it. So the admiral is going to destroy the planet? Just jump right in there and nuke the basestars around the planet and then the planet itself. Kill humans who might have been there for sixty years. Kill the prisoners the Cylons took during the last war. Blow the whole frakking planet to kingdom come and with it any chance of finding Kobol and Earth?"

"Please don't get started on _that_ again."

Kara didn't say anything.

"I know you don't agree," Lee said.

"Frak no, I don't agree. How would you feel if you'd survived five years of hell only to have a Colonial nuke dropped in your lap? Those humans on Nereid deserve to be rescued."

"I'm not disagreeing with you on that. It's just that we need to destroy the Cylons no matter what the cost…otherwise a lot more humans in the galaxy might die. Just think about what would happen if they reach Earth."

"I thought you didn't want to talk about Earth."

Lee couldn't keep the exasperation out of his voice. "You're the one who keeps bringing it up. You're the one who's convinced a baby is going to find it."

"I never said Brae was going to find it while he was a baby. And don't you dare try to use _that_ as a reason for justifying killing innocent humans. You don't even believe in Earth," Kara said angrily. "You don't believe in the gods. You don't frakking believe in anything."

"Why are you taking this out on me? Is it because I won't just come out and say I think my dad is wrong to consider destroying that planet? Because if that's what you want, it's not going to happen."

Kara didn't answer him and they rode in silence for a while.

After three blocks, Lee said, "This has something to do with your father, doesn't it?"

For a moment Kara thought he was on to her. She had to be careful or she would give away her belief that her father was alive and on Nereid, maybe with the free humans or maybe a prisoner of the Cylons, but he was there. She would never believe otherwise. The Oracle had seen it and she had never been wrong. She had even sent Keshia to find her so she could tell her.

"My father believed those prisoners should be saved. So do I. Now let's not talk about it anymore," Kara finally said. "We're just going to fight and I don't want to fight with you about this."

"It's not that I don't know how you feel," Lee said gently. "It makes me sick to think hundreds, maybe even thousands of innocent humans will die on Nereid, but if that's the only way to insure that the millions on Caprica will be free from the threat of Cylon attack, then that's what we've got to do."

"If you were in a Viper over the planet and your father ordered you to send a nuke to that prison complex, would you do it? Would you, Lee? Would you do it and then sit back and say, _I was just following orders?_"

"If the President of the Colonies and her top military advisor had made the decision, then I…" He stopped and took a deep breath.

"Then what, Lee? Would you do it or wouldn't you?"

"If I'm not willing to carry out orders based on a decision of what's right for saving humanity, then I should probably resign my commission right now. So should you if that's how you feel."

"There's _right_ and there's _wrong_."

"And in a perfect world those are always very clear cut. But we don't live in a perfect world. We didn't start this war. We're fighting for the survival of the human race."

Kara gave up. She knew she would never win this argument with him. It wasn't even about winning anymore. It was far more complex than that. Kara just knew she had to do something. She didn't know what, but she would think of something. Before Bill Adama took his battlestars to Nereid to destroy it, she would think of something.

o

Laura Roslin stood in her closet at Marble House on the morning of her inauguration. Her pantsuit and heavy coat were already laid out on her bed. Her hairdresser would be there soon to help her put up her hair. The prediction for the weather that day was cold and sunny, but windy. The last thing Laura wanted was her hair whipping in her face as she stood on the platform in front of the Capitol Building and repeated her oath of office.

She reached out and touched the sleeve of John's bomber jacket, the one piece of his clothing that she had brought from the apartment with her, the jacket he had kept since he had been a young Viper pilot on the _Solaria_. She lifted the soft leather sleeve against her cheek as she had done many times and momentarily put her face against the collar. It still smelled of him and the faint scent of his aftershave. For a few moments taking a breath was painful.

She sighed and turned around. If she lingered any longer in here she knew she would start to cry and she did not want to be sworn in as President with red and swollen eyes. She looked down at her wedding ring, the beautiful circle of diamonds that she had not taken off. She knew that eventually she probably would, but not yet. She would keep him with her a little longer.

She missed him the most in the late evening and in the early morning. She missed the way he always had a smile for her and a kiss no matter when she came in at night during the campaign. And she missed him early in the morning when she would snuggle into his lean body and feel his mouth against her as he gathered her to him. She missed his whisper of love that belonged to only her.

She did better during the day when she was busy, when there were so many other things on her mind, but she missed him so terribly much at night and in the quiet hour of dawn, especially on those cruel mornings when she was not quite awake, when she still reached for him and thought he would be there. She missed him then. Gods, how she missed him.

She missed him when she looked at their son, especially when Brae smiled at her. She saw John so clearly in Braedon at those moments. John had asked her in his letter not to let their son forget him, but Laura also knew that as long as she looked at their son, she would never forget his father. Captain Jessups had been right. One day their handsome son would probably break a lot of hearts…just like his father had surely done.

She walked out of her closet, quickly put on her blouse and slacks and began absently applying her makeup. Several times she stopped and simply stared at her reflection in the mirror of the dresser. It hardly seemed like in a few hours she would be sworn in as President of the Colonies. So much had changed in her life since she had made that fateful decision to run for the highest office in the land.

Twice since the memorial service Bill had joined her for dinner. Both times the dinner had simply been an extension of a late afternoon meeting…or at least she had told herself that's what it was. Since Bill's comment on the night of John's memorial service, a comment that she attributed to the amount he had drunk, their conversations had been circumspect almost to the point of being impersonal. Yet what he didn't say in words, he conveyed with his eyes. He still loved her and she knew it.

What her feelings were for him were far more ambiguous, and where their relationship went in the future was not something she could think about right now. She had never tried to purge him from her heart. He was her first love, the only man besides John that she had ever really loved. Laura had done what Elosha had suggested all those months ago. She had put her feelings for Bill Adama in a special place and used them to build a bond of friendship and trust, a relationship that had honored their past as they had worked together for Caprica's future.

With John's death she knew that relationship would inevitably change but where it would go, she had no idea at the moment. It was too soon, far too soon to think about what the future held for them.

There was a light tap on the bedroom door. "Come in," she called.

Maya pushed the door open and Braedon ran in.

"I think I should have waited to dress him until a few minutes before we're supposed to leave," Maya moaned. "He won't leave the suspenders on. I even tried crossing them in the back and he wiggles right out of them."

Laura smiled at her son. The red suspenders hung down in loops on both sides of his dark pants. His little white shirt was partially untucked.

"He'll be fine once we get his sweater and coat on. Have you seen Kara this morning?"

"She was in her room talking to Lee on her phone when I checked. She's going to wear her dress uniform."

Laura sighed. "It's too cold for that uniform. I bought her some very nice wool slacks and a winter coat. The salesgirl in the boutique assured me that they were appropriate for a young woman Kara's age. I didn't want her to think I was trying to make her into a carbon copy of me."

"She has a heavy gray overcoat that goes with her uniform. She'll be warm enough."

Laura sighed. "Fine," she said and tried not to let her hurt feelings bleed through.

"Don't be angry at her. She's honoring her father," Maya said.

Braedon reached up to Laura's dresser and got her lipstick. Maya picked him up and removed it from his hand.

"No," he said and squirmed to get down.

"Has he started the _terrible twos_ already?" Laura asked. "_No_ has become his favorite word lately."

"We'll go back to his toys until you're ready to go," Maya said. "I think he senses that today is special. He's been hyper since he got up this morning."

Maya handed Laura the lipstick case and left with Braedon squirming to get down. Laura stared into the mirror again, still thinking of John. He should have been with her today. She would not have been here without his support.

There was another knock. Kara stood at the door. She was wearing her dress grays.

"I just wanted you to know…it's not that I don't like the slacks and coat. It was nice of you to think about me, but…you know why I'm wearing my uniform."

"It's fine, Kara." Laura struggled a few moments as tears flooded her eyes and then she grabbed a tissue. "Please come in. You don't need to stand at the door like that."

Kara walked into the room and sat on the edge of the bed. "Braedon's kind of wild this morning. I hope he doesn't start saying _no_ and trying to get down while you're saying the oath."

"If he does, then motion to Maya. She'll come up and get him. I want you to stay with me."

Kara nodded. "Can I help you do anything?"

"I think everything is done. I'm just waiting for my hairdresser. I'm wearing my hair up because of the wind."

"Yeah, that's why I put mine in a ponytail."

"You look very nice this morning. The uniform does become you just like it did your father."

"Thanks. Do you remember that book you sent to Hugh Connelly to give me when I was in the camp? The third volume of _The Caprican Prince_?"

Laura smiled. "Of course I do. What made you think of that?"

"When I was packing some things to bring over here, I found it in a drawer. That was your personal copy, wasn't it?"

"Yes, it was. I must have written my name in it."

"I found a dried flower between two pages. I always wondered if you put it there."

"I'm sure I must have. That was so many years ago. I was a young girl dreaming of a prince when I read that book."

"Did you ever find him?"

Laura smiled and the tears came into her eyes again. "Yes, I found him."

"So did I. I'll let you finish getting ready."

"Kara…thank you."

As Kara went out, Laura's hairdresser came in. "I brought some extra hairpins," he said. "That wind is strong this morning."

Laura sighed again. Some would take it as an omen. Adar's regime was ending and hers was beginning. She was almost tempted to take it as such herself…the winds of change.

o

The swearing-in ceremony was short. Kara stood beside Laura with her brother in her arms. She had his pacifier in her coat pocket, but so far Braedon was too busy looking around to need it. Caprica's Chief Justice stood in front of them. Elosha held the leather-bound book that contained the complete scrolls of Pythia. Laura placed her hand on the book and repeated the oath to guide and protect the Colonies and to uphold the Articles of Colonization.

At the end of the ceremony, Vipers flew overhead in the classic V. Only this morning, at Laura's request, they flew the missing-man formation in honor of her husband. As the four ships reached a point directly overhead, one of them pulled away while the other three continued in level flight.

"Look," Kara said to her brother whose eyes were on the sky.

He raised a small hand. Kara knew inside his mitten, he was pointing.

"Dada," he said for the first time in nearly two months without being shown John's picture. So he hadn't forgotten.

Kara smiled and put her mouth against the earflap of his cap. She whispered to him. "I'm going to bring your dada home to you. I promise."

Her brother's eyes followed the three ships across the sky. He squirmed, but instead of trying to get down, he was trying to get higher. Both little hands reached for the sky.

"Go," he said.

Laura heard him. She reached out for her son and took him in her arms. She was nearly overcome with emotion. She kissed his cheek.

"One day you'll go, my little man. You'll go all the way to the stars."

The swell of applause from the mass of citizens gathered on the mall in front of the Capitol Building began. Laura smiled and waved at them. Her son mimicked her.

Billy was standing with the members of the press who were waiting to take pictures and interview the new President.

Kara walked over to him. "Look at Braedon waving. What a little ham. You'd think he was just sworn in."

Billy had a huge smile on his face. "You're looking at a million credits worth of publicity. The people of Caprica will eat this up. You should be standing with them."

"Not my thing. If I'd had my choice, I'd have been in one of those Vipers that just flew over."

"It's not over yet," Billy said. "You get to hang around for a photo-shoot. I'm sure there will be a few questions for you."

"I'm not going to talk about my father," Kara said. "That is totally off limits."

"I've already made that clear to the press per Laura's instructions."

Kara smiled. Laura understood her better than she thought.

"The rest of the day won't be so bad," Billy said. "After the dinner and dance tonight, it will be over for you."

_And just starting for Laura_.

o

Kara and Lee stood with several hundred people on the edge of the grand ballroom at Marble House. Lee held out his hand.

"Shall we?"

"Your cast has been off exactly six days. We don't have to dance. I don't care if it is the inauguration. Laura will understand."

"Humor me," Lee said as he took Kara in his arms. "Unless you're ashamed to be seen dancing with me."

"Oh, yeah, right. I'm ashamed to be seen dancing with you. You can lean on me if you want to."

He grinned. "Why, so I won't limp?"

"So you won't hurt your leg putting weight on it. You've been on your feet most of today. I can tell you're in pain."

"What gave me away? The expression on my face or the limp?"

"Probably the way you've been gritting your teeth with every step. Why haven't you taken a painkiller?"

"I can manage." They danced in silence for a few moments until he said, "I like the blue dress."

"You liked it when I wore it to the Academy's winter dance last year, too."

"Oh," Lee said, still grinning. "I'm supposed to remember that, am I not?"

She smiled and shrugged. "Laura wanted to get me a new dress, but I told her there was nothing wrong with this one. I've got three dresses. That's enough."

Lee glanced down at the gentle swell of her breasts at the neckline. "I remember the dress now and why I like it so much. Are you going home with me tonight?"

"You want me to?"

"Not really. I mean you were just there, what, twenty-five nights ago?"

Kara snickered. "Two."

"Oh. I guess it just seems like twenty-five."

"You know why I stayed at Marble House. Maya needed a break. I've been taking care of Brae."

"I know. And you're the only other person on the planet who can take care of your brother."

He got a look. "Laura's had something going on every night for the last week."

"Kara, I'm okay with you taking care of your brother. I'm kidding you."

"I know," she said softly. "Next time I do it, you'll have to come over. You need to spend some time with him. I want him to get to know you."

"Okay."

They danced in silence for a while.

"Your leg's really hurting, isn't it?"

"I'll tell you when I need to sit down. Laura looks good tonight. That dress is…nice."

Kara glanced over at Laura dancing with Scott Mickleson. She had danced with a lot of men tonight, but Kara knew it was just political. Even if John had been here, Laura would have danced with her political supporters. But she would have danced the first dance, the important one, with her husband. Tonight she had danced it with Bill Adama. She would probably dance the last dance with him as well.

"Yeah, she does look good," Kara finally said. "I thought she'd wear a black dress. That's all she's worn for two months…black. I thought she was still officially in mourning for my dad. Guess I was wrong."

"White is a color of mourning, too, in some of the Colonies," Lee said.

"It's okay, Lee. You don't need to make excuses for her. I'd be tired of black by now, too."

The song ended and they walked to the side of the dance floor. Kara noticed that Lee was deliberately trying not to limp and almost pulling it off.

"Let's sit the next one out," she said. "I'm ready for a drink. Go ahead and sit down. I'll get us something."

She walked over to one of the bars that had been set up in the huge ballroom. Bill Adama walked up beside her.

"You look very nice tonight, Kara."

"Thank you, sir."

"I appreciate the help you've given Laura lately."

"My dad would want me to help out."

"Laura cares a great deal about you."

"I know."

"She's trying very hard to be…she's just been busy lately. She's not ignoring you."

"I didn't say she was. Meaning no disrespect, sir, but Laura and I are working on our relationship. We're doing better. My father…never mind."

He turned and leaned on the bar with his elbow as he looked out over the crowd. "If there's something you want to say to me about your father, forget my rank. Just say it."

"I feel the same way he does…did about destroying Nereid. Killing those humans is wrong."

Bill sipped his drink.

"I've got to get back to Lee…sir."

Bill nodded.

Laura walked over to him. "Oh, my feet are killing me. I haven't danced this much since…forever." When he didn't say anything, she said, "Problems with Kara?"

"I don't think I'm one of her favorite people right now."

"She misses her father, Bill. If there's one thing I've learned about Kara, it's that you can't push her. It appears she's accepted the loss, but she's still grieving even if she doesn't wear her feelings for everyone to see. I'm trying to give her room…let her come to terms with it in her own way. She doesn't want to talk about it."

"She's adamant about wanting to rescue the prisoners on Nereid."

"Must we talk about that tonight? That's still months away. Forget about the future for a few hours. I'm trying to."

"You're right. For the last five years I've done nothing but make plans to destroy the Cylons and now I've got to continue making those plans. They're still out there, still bent on destroying humanity. If they find out their counterparts are no longer controlling Caprica, they may decide to come back and finish what they started. We've got to be ready. We can't afford to let down our guard."

"And we won't. I know you. But please try to enjoy tonight, Bill. Let the soldier, the warrior rest and have a little fun. You deserve it."

"Always the humanitarian, always thinking of others even when my plan cost you so much."

"It's who I am. It's who I've always been."

He sipped his drink without looking at her. "The night we met I knew two things were going to happen. I knew that one day you'd be President of the Colonies."

When he didn't continue, she asked, "And the other?"

He finally smiled slightly. "I haven't had enough to drink yet to say something else I probably shouldn't."

She gently squeezed his arm. "I need to circulate, but don't forget you owe me the last dance."

He nodded again and she walked away, aware that temporarily and very uncharacteristically, Bill Adama, a man who had spent the last five years thinking about the future, was lost somewhere in the past.

o

Lee made it as far as the couch back at his apartment before he sat and began to massage his leg. Without a word Kara walked into the kitchen, got the prescription container off the counter and a bottle of water from the refrigerator.

"Take it," she said and put a pill in Lee's hand before she held out the water to him.

"I don't know. I've been drinking."

She sighed and kicked off her shoes before she put the water on the end table. She walked over to the CD player and flipped through the stack of CDs.

"What do you want to listen to?"

"I don't care."

"Is something wrong?"

"I'm tired. Let's go to bed."

"How romantic," she teased still flipping through the CDs. "That really gets me in the mood."

He swallowed the painkiller and stood. "I love you."

"That's better. Keep going."

He walked over, unzipped her dress and slid it off her shoulders.

"I didn't get to do this the night of the winter dance. All I got to do was walk you back to the dorm."

"What a difference a year makes."

"Oh, yeah. What a difference." He turned her to him and kissed her. "Are we okay, Kara?"

"Why wouldn't we be okay?" She asked while she was unbuttoning his tunic.

"No reason."

"Then why did you ask?"

"You seem different somehow?"

"I am different, Lee. So are you. The last two months have changed both of us."

"Yeah, I don't walk as well as I used to."

"You will. The doctor told you it was a bad break. He said it might take three months or more before you'd fly again. It's going to happen. Long before your dad goes to Nereid, you'll be in your Viper again. You're just pushing yourself too hard right now and expecting too much."

He wrapped his arms around her and held her against him.

"Sometimes I ask myself why I'm still here, why I didn't die up there during the fighting or in the ocean."

"Don't," Kara said. "Don't start questioning it. We could both have died. Don't ask yourself why we didn't. It'll make you crazy. Just accept it."

"Make love to me."

Kara sensed a need from him, stronger than normal. She touched his face.

He turned his mouth to her hand and kissed her palm.

"That's better," she whispered. "Really romantic."

He took the hand he had just kissed and pulled her into the bedroom. She stepped out of the dress and threw it over his desk chair.

His hunger when she touched him was so strong she felt it.

"I love you," she said softly. "No matter what happens to us, that's not going to change."

After that they didn't talk for a long time. The act at once so familiar was hotter and more sensual. The two days since they had last made love seemed much longer, his hands tender and at the same time urgent, her desire stronger than she had felt in a long time.

He rolled over on her and she welcomed him, urging him, helping him. She sucked in her breath at the pleasure of feeling him inside her. All both of them wanted tonight was the release they could give each other.

Afterward was better, too, as they lay in each other's arms, breathing hard, letting the feelings carry them.

"I love you," he said, and she could hear the effect of the painkiller in his voice.

"Can I believe a guy on drugs?" She teased him gently.

"Umm, it's like truth serum. I can't lie."

"That's good because I'd hate to hurt your other leg."

"That's all right. I've got a refill on the painkillers."

She snuggled into him and got comfortable. "Go to sleep, druggie."

"You'll be here in the morning?"

"I'll be here in the morning."

Long after Lee had gone to sleep, she lay awake and thought about Nereid. She kept coming back to the same thing. She had to get to the planet and that meant doing something that would probably get her court-martialed if she survived. But she knew that she could never sit back and do nothing. Her father was on the planet along with a lot of humans. She had to do something to save them all and the only way to do that was to stop Admiral Adama from jumping in and nuking the basestars and then the surface. And that meant only one thing.

She was going to have to take Sadie back to the planet. She was going to have to figure out a way to steal a ship that the government had invested a million cubits in and land it on Nereid without getting caught by either the military before she left Caprica or by the Cylons after she landed on Nereid. And she was going to have to depend on someone back here on Caprica to stop the admiral from carrying out his plan.

That person had to be Lee. If Lee couldn't stop his father, then she would die with the rest of the humans on the planet. If Lee did succeed in convincing the admiral to mount a rescue mission, then she would probably go to a military prison if she survived. But it would be worth it to save her father and the rest of the humans. Five years earlier when her father had taken Tom Zarek and his men away from Singer's airfield to keep them from hurting her, and two months ago when he had gone back to that basestar knowing it would probably mean his death, he had taught her the true meaning of sacrifice. She could take going to prison on Caprica if it meant she had saved innocent lives. She could take anything if it meant bringing her father back to his son.

Kara gently caressed Lee's shoulder. She had promised him that she would be there in the morning, but one morning before the admiral went to Nereid, she wouldn't be.

TBC…


	80. Faith

Chapter 80

Faith

_Two months after Laura Roslin took office as President, two Viper pilots disappeared during what was rumored to be the secret test flight of a Cylon-designed ship. Both pilots, one of whom was later identified as the daughter of Roslin's late husband, were listed as missing instead of killed. President Roslin steadfastly refused to comment, deferring all questions to the military. A spokesman for Admiral William Adama's office said that an explanation of the pilots' current status would compromise an ongoing military operation. _

_- Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War_

On Friday afternoon three days after the inauguration, Kara sat with Karl on the front pew of Elosha's temple.

"I think I'd better go check on Sharon," Kara finally said. "She's been in the bathroom a long time."

"Yeah, that might be a good idea. She's been sick so much. She was hoping she could make it through today. Who wants to be sick on her wedding day?"

"Is anybody else coming?"

"I mentioned it to Flat Top since I've been flying as his ECO the last six weeks. I didn't say anything to anybody else. I doubt he'll show up."

Kara stood. "Lee said he would get here if he could. He has physical therapy this afternoon. They always run late. But you've got me. All you need is one witness. It'll be okay if nobody else shows. How are the rest of the pilots treating you now?"

He shrugged. "About like you'd expect. Some avoid me, some are all business. Nobody's kicked my butt…yet."

"Not even Maggie?"

"She's in the group that avoids me when she can."

"Maybe it won't be that way forever, especially since Sharon's out on leave."

"It doesn't matter. They know I'm still with her. That's not something everybody will just forget."

"Yeah. I heard somebody wrote _Cylon Lover _on your locker in permanent marker."

"Colonel Spencer almost blew a gasket, but I asked him not to go off on everybody about it. It's not exactly like he's sympathetic to me. He saw it as a discipline issue."

"It is a discipline issue. Any idea who did it?"

He shook his head. "I don't really want to know. I've got to be around these pilots every day."

"If I find out, I'll kick his butt for you…or hers. Now I'd better go see how Sharon's doing."

Karl reached up and squeezed her hand tightly. "We really appreciate what Laura did to get Sharon set free and her help getting us the marriage license."

"Sure. She was glad to help."

"You talked to her about it, didn't you?"

"You're my best friend, Karl. I'm not crazy about you being hitched to a Cylon, but you love each other and she's going to have your kid. You need to be together."

"I never thought this would happen, not in a million years. She's the first Cylon ever to get pregnant. She said it couldn't happen."

"Yeah, that's what Laura told my dad…right before they made Braedon."

"At first I was in shock. Now I want Sharon to have the baby. I want to be a father."

"You know something could still happen, don't you? Laura said the first experiments with the hybrids were failures. The women miscarried."

"Yeah. The doctor was honest with us. He said she'd be lucky to carry it to term. I never thought I'd want something this much. Sharon does, too."

"You're going through a lot for her."

"I know. I love her."

"I just want you to know I'll always be your friend, no matter what."

He squeezed her hand again, a look of gratitude in his eyes.

She grinned. "We've come a long way since we almost beat each other up over a rabbit, huh?"

"A long way."

"I'd better go check on Sharon."

As Kara walked toward the back of the temple and the short corridor to the restroom, she knew that without Laura's intervention, Karl and Sharon would not be getting married today. One of the Quorum's first acts as soon as the fighting was over and control of Caprica was again in the hands of the Colonials had been to rescind Cavil's legislation granting citizenship to the humanoid Cylons.

Without proof of Colonial citizenship, Sharon and Karl could not obtain a marriage license. On Wednesday morning, her first full day in office, Laura had granted a special exception to Sharon. Kara knew that Laura had not been absolutely certain that she was doing the right thing, but she had told Kara that the child was important and its rights must be protected. It should be raised by parents who were not only committed to each other but were married under Caprican law. Laura had not been able to override the vote and give Sharon citizenship, but she had been able to get them a marriage license.

Kara also knew that Laura's had been the one dissenting vote on rescinding Cylon citizenship, not because she thought that the Cylons should be considered citizens but because she was afraid the move had been made so that the Cylon prisoners could be treated cruelly, even tortured. As much as she despised Cavil and Doral and Simon, as much as she felt betrayed by D'Anna Biers, she could not sanction their torture. She knew that few on Caprica agreed with her.

Laura believed that stooping to the abuse of helpless prisoners lessened them as humans. Kara hadn't agreed with her. She knew that years earlier the Cylons had conducted horrible experiments on their human prisoners on the ice planet. Kara was sure they had tortured some of the humans who had disappeared during the last five years.

Since realizing that her father was on Nereid, Kara's biggest fear had been that he had fallen into Cylon hands. It was one of the things that she knew was causing her nightmares.

On Wednesday night over dinner, Laura had told Kara of her decision to help Karl and Sharon get married.

"I had a document sent to the marriage bureau. Karl and Sharon can get a marriage license tomorrow. There's another life to think about now, an innocent child who is not responsible for the acts of its mother's…people."

"That decision probably made the Quorum mad."

"I didn't see the need to inform them," Laura had said. "I did it because of the baby. The rest of them died on that basestar and there won't be any more. We've already stopped funding for the lab and shut it down."

"Cavil and Natasi were stupid to take all of the hybrids to the basestar."

"I agree. They wanted to raise them away from human influence. They think their way is the only way. Their arrogance knows no bounds."

"What about the women who were already pregnant with hybrids?"

"There are none. According to Lissa, Simon hadn't implanted a hybrid in almost a year. She said that Simon had them working on combining the DNA of humans, skinjobs _and_ centurions. He wanted to create some sort of super being. Half-human, half-Cylon wasn't good enough. It sounds absolutely crazy so it was probably Cavil's idea. They've refused to discuss the issue with Major Parker or Agent Darren. Major Parker said Cavil gets a superior look on his face when they ask him about it. He said the work on human-Cylon integration would continue."

"I'll bet that's what they're doing on Nereid. One of the things anyway."

Laura had sighed. "You're probably right."

"We've got to stop them, but I don't think destroying the planet and killing all those humans is the way to do it. There's got to be another way."

"You sound like your father."

"My father would never have stood by and let Admiral Adama kill all those humans," Kara had said stubbornly.

She had been able to tell the idea bothered Laura. Still, Laura had said, "We can't afford to have Cylons come back to Caprica. There would be no treaty for us if that ever happened. They would not spare a single human. Think of your brother's life. Think of all the innocent children on this planet who would die along with the rest of us."

"But if we could destroy the Cylons and still save the humans?"

"If we could do that, then that would be my first choice, but it doesn't sound like we can do it without the loss of a great many of our pilots and Marines and possibly our battlestars as well. It all comes back to protecting the humans on Caprica. That is and always will be my primary concern."

"Would you be willing to talk to Admiral Adama about it? My father would have."

"When the time comes Bill and I will talk about it again, but I don't know that I'll be able to change his mind. I can understand why he doesn't want to risk our battlestars and personnel when he doesn't know how many lives we could save on the planet. Do we risk all of humanity to save a few humans?"

"Maybe we're not the only humans in the universe."

"I'm aware of Pythian scripture that speaks of Kobol. I'm also aware of the myths concerning Earth, but without proof, we've got to protect the humans here."

Kara's thoughts came back to the present as she knocked on the door of the restroom. She heard the lock click and Sharon opened the door. There were tears in her eyes. Kara stepped inside and closed the door. Sharon went to the sink where she ran cold water and rinsed her mouth. Except for being pale, Sharon looked good in a pair of dark slacks and a soft, off-white sweater. She didn't look pregnant at all.

Kara handed her some paper towels.

"Thanks."

"Are you all right?"

"Is it like this for everyone?"

"I don't know. Laura was sick. It went away after a couple of months."

"So I've got another month of this at least."

"I don't know. There was a woman in the camp who was sick the whole nine months."

Sharon moaned.

"I probably shouldn't have told you that. Are you ready to go out and try to say your vows?"

"Give me a couple more minutes. I don't want to puke on Karl's feet."

Kara walked back into the temple. Dwight Saunders and Noel Allison were sitting on the opposite pew from Karl. Both were wearing their duty blue uniforms.

"Flat Top, Narcho," Kara said.

Saunders grinned. "I came to laugh at my ECO for getting caught like this. Helo, I thought I taught you better."

Karl smiled. "What's Narcho's excuse? Why is he here?"

"We took a transport together." Allison said. "I didn't want to wait outside in the cold."

"You break my heart," Karl said, still smiling. "For a minute I thought you were here because you're my friends."

"Naw," they both said in unison.

Two minutes later Sharon walked down the aisle. Karl stood. Elosha motioned them to the altar. They said their vows in the brief ceremony. When they turned around, they were husband and wife.

"Let's go to Zeno's and celebrate," Kara said. "You're the first pair of pilots in our graduating class to get hitched."

Karl looked at Sharon who was still ghostly pale. She shook her head.

Flat Top grinned and shook Karl's hand. "We'll go celebrate for you. How's that?"

"Yeah, okay. I'm going to take Sharon home. Thanks for coming today. It means a lot."

Narcho turned to Kara. "You want to ride with us to Zeno's?"

"I can't. I'm on the motorcycle. I'll meet you there."

When they were gone, Kara walked up to the altar and put coins in all the bowls. She thanked Elosha for performing the ceremony.

"Laura spoke with me. I did it for the child. If the gods have allowed its creation, then who am I to deny the sacrament of marriage to its parents."

Kara smiled. "One day, when the time is right, I want you to marry me and Lee."

Elosha also smiled. "That is a ceremony I will look forward to performing. You look better than when I saw you last."

"I've accepted…what happened to my father. I know I'll see him again one day."

"So it is written in Pythia."

"I talked to Keshia. She's working at a shelter for abused women and their children. She has a room there. She said it's all she needs. She really misses Yolanda."

"Her heart will heal in time as will yours. I will say a prayer for her and for you, too."

"And Laura. Don't forget Laura and my brother…and my dad."

"Laura is in my prayers daily. She has such responsibility."

Before Kara left, she knelt at the small altar rail and said a prayer for her father, for his safety on Nereid, and then she said a prayer that she would have the courage to do what she had to do to save his life and the lives of the other humans there...or for the courage to die with them.

o

Narcho was sitting by himself in a booth at Zeno's when Kara got there. Flat Top was throwing darts at the newly installed board. Kara waved at him and went to the bar for a beer before she sat down in the booth.

"It was nice of you and Saunders to show up today," Kara said. "I know Karl really appreciated it."

"It could happen to any of us, I guess. Karl's a nice guy. I don't see how he can be with a Cylon, but that's him, not me."

"He'll make a good father."

"I can't even imagine that kind of responsibility right now."

"It's a big step."

Narcho grinned. "When are you and Lee going to take it?"

"Marriage or a baby?"

"Either one."

Kara looked down at the gold braided ring on her right hand. "Not anytime soon, but someday, yeah someday."

"How's he doing? I keep looking for him to show up at the base and hop in his Viper. It's been a couple of months."

"The doctor hasn't released him to fly, yet. The bone has healed, but there was other damage to some tendons or something. They heal slower. Lee's about to go nuts."

"Yeah, I'll bet, especially with you flying almost every day. No more secret projects right now, huh?"

Kara looked at him. Was he guessing? "You know I can't talk about some of the things I've been asked to do."

"I know."

"You believe in the gods, don't you?"

Narcho turned up his beer. "I like how you change the subject."

"Do you?"

"It's hard to believe after everything that's happened, but yeah, I still believe in the gods. Why?"

Kara sipped from her beer. "You remember me telling you about an Oracle who used to be a priest in Delphi? She probably knew your sister."

"Yeah, sort of."

"She died. Cavil was holding her prisoner questioning her about the future. She got sick. By the time our soldiers rescued her, it was too late."

"Son of a bitch," Narcho said.

"My thoughts exactly. Do you believe that Oracles can…see things…know things that others can't?"

"Yeah. I believe Oracles have powers the rest of us don't. What's this all about, Kara?"

"Lee doesn't believe, not in the gods, not in anything…spiritual. Karl believes in the gods, but he used to give me grief for going to the Oracle and listening to what she said. He thought she was after my cubits. I'm just glad to know that I'm not the only one who believes in them. Everything Yolanda ever told me turned out to be true….except one thing and I'm still waiting to find out about that one. I believe her, though. She was never wrong."

"I never went to an Oracle, but I know my sister did. She believed. Something's bugging you. Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not right now. Soon."

"What does Lee say about this Oracle thing?"

"I haven't talked to him about it."

"Why not?"

"He feels like Karl does. He thinks Oracles are just after your cubits. If I told him what she'd said to me, Lee would just tell me I'm crazy...as in lock-me-up crazy."

Narcho grinned. "You mean you're not?"

"Funny, Narch. My wingman is funny."

They sipped their beer, the easy camaraderie evident between them. Kara knew that when the time came he would help her with her plan. He believed, not only in the gods, but in the words of an Oracle as well. He might think she was crazy, but if she asked him, he would help her.

o

Lee sat in his underwear in the doctor's examining room and waited. That's all he seemed to do when he had an appointment. Wait. He was walking a lot better now. The limp was gone. He was driving his car again, but the doctor still wouldn't release him to fly.

The doctor finally came in, greeted him briefly, and scanned quickly down his chart before he began examining his leg.

"How's the physical therapy going?"

"Fine. It's going fine. I want to get back in my Viper."

"That's what we're working toward."

"No, that's what _I'm_ working toward," Lee said irritably.

"How long have you been off the painkillers?" The doctor asked, pressing on a spot that caused Lee to wince.

"Two, almost three weeks."

"How are you sleeping?"

"I'm sleeping fine. What's that got to do with my leg?"

"Lack of sleep can lead to impatience and irritability."

"So can being kept out of the cockpit when I should be cleared to fly."

The doctor said evenly. "I'll decide when you're ready to fly, lieutenant. How's your appetite?"

"Fine? Why?"

The doctor glanced at his chart again. "You've lost some weight."

"I thought I'd gained weight."

"No. Any nightmares?"

"None," he lied. "I said I'm sleeping fine. What are you asking me? Just spit it out."

"You had a very traumatic experience. I just want to make sure we don't have something else going on here."

"The only thing we've got going on here is you keeping me out of the cockpit when my leg is fine."

The doctor wrote something on his chart. "Let's give the physical therapy one more week. Come back then and we'll see about releasing you to flight ready status."

"Does this have anything to do with my father?" Lee asked, the irritability again creeping into his voice. "Is he the one who wants to keep me out of the cockpit?"

"I can assure you I haven't spoken with your father about your leg or anything else." He smiled briefly. "This is the one circumstance where I outrank the admiral. Your medical records are private without a court order. I'll see you in a week."

When the doctor left the examining room, Lee slipped on his uniform trousers and tunic. He was still angry when he went to the check-out window.

The young ensign looked up and smiled brightly. "I've got you down for next Wednesday, same time."

Lee didn't answer her. He didn't even take the appointment card she slid across the counter to him. He'd been doing this every Wednesday now for four weeks expecting each time to be released to fly again. He wasn't going to forget.

Out in his car he sat and tried to calm down. He _was_ irritable and impatient. He knew it. Even Kara had commented on it, on how quick he was to snap back a reply, how quick with a stinging comment or criticism. For the last month he'd felt like something was gnawing in his gut and he didn't know what to do about it. He believed it would go away as soon as he was back in the cockpit, as soon as he got a chance to prove to himself that he could take a ship up _and_ bring it back down in one piece.

A week ago Kara had finally gotten fed up with his moodiness. She had shoved her father's laptop into her backpack and gone to Marble House for a few nights. It had all started when he'd said something about what he had dubbed her _Nereid obsession_. Several nights a week now she spent hours sitting at the kitchen table pouring over images of the planet's surface, images which Lee wished Kevin had never given her. She'd loaded them onto John's laptop and was making notes in a journal that she was also keeping on the laptop.

A few days before the fight, he'd gotten home early and had decided to look at what she poured over on a nightly basis. He hadn't seen anything remarkable, nothing that they hadn't seen during the initial reviews. It was when he had tried to open her notes that he had found she had password protected them. Even though he had known he was snooping and that he had no business doing it, he had still been angry and hurt.

He had shut down the laptop and gotten a beer. What the hell could she be writing in those notes that was so damned secret? He hadn't mentioned it to her, though. He hadn't confessed what he'd done and asked her to share with him. Instead he had started brooding about it.

Matters hadn't gotten any better when his physical therapy session had run late on Friday afternoon. He'd missed Karl and Sharon's wedding, and when he'd finally gotten to Zeno's, he'd found Kara talking to Narcho about something that she'd immediately shut up about as soon as he had walked up to the booth.

It wasn't that he didn't trust Kara around other men. He never once thought she had anything going on with Narcho even though Lee knew she liked him. Maybe it had gotten to him so much because he knew Narcho was flying Kara's wing in their training sessions now. Lee wanted Kara flying with _him_, not with Noel Allison. Still, Lee knew that all the banter and kidding between them was just part of the bond that existed between pilots who had fought and trained and gone to the Academy together.

But something _was_ going on with Kara, something she wouldn't share with him and it was getting to him. Especially now that he began to wonder if she had shared it with Narcho. He had even thought she'd looked guilty when she'd smiled up at him Friday night, but that was probably part of his newly-minted paranoia, too.

As he now sat in his car, Lee took several deep breaths. Maybe the doctor was right, maybe something else was going on with him. Lee had lied about the nightmares. Since he had stopped taking the painkillers, the nightmares had started. Maybe he'd had them before and was just too drugged to remember them, but he was definitely having them now. Most of them involved being in the water in the dark. A lot of times the unseen hand grabbed his ankle and began pulling him under, down into the darkness where he knew he was going to die.

Several times he'd awakened with his heart pounding and found Kara's side of the bed empty. Once he found her in the kitchen. Her explanation was that she'd gotten thirsty. He told her he had, too. Another time he'd found her standing at his bedroom window looking at the stars. He'd gotten up and gone to the bathroom. When he'd returned, she was back in bed. She'd mumbled something about a leg cramp. They hadn't talked about it.

Now he realized they should have. They should have been talking all along. Kara was probably having nightmares, too. He wondered what shape her dark dreams took.

Lee started the car, but instead of driving out to the base, he pulled out of the parking lot and headed toward the University. He parked in a commercial lot four blocks from the bookstore. He needed to walk. He needed to clear his head.

Lee waited for Leoben to finish ringing a sale. When he glanced over, Lee saw that Leoben had a black eye that had almost healed.

"Lee Adama. Are you looking for a book or do you need some help with an unruly Cylon?"

"That's good, Leoben. I didn't know you had a sense of humor."

"Was something I said funny?"

Lee shook his head.

Leoben continued. "I told your friends I couldn't help them. I'll tell you, too. Save you the trouble of asking."

"My friends?" Lee asked.

"Parker and Darren. They've called on me a few times with a couple of Darren's thugs. Parker's okay. Darren's another story. He told Parker to watch the store while he and his boys took me to the back for a chat. If it was up to him, I'd be keeping Cavil and the others company in that prison…or I'd be at the bottom of the bay."

"Is that what happened to your eye?"

"I'm surprised you didn't know. But maybe you do. Maybe you're just trying to get closer to me and gain my trust. That's how you guys work, isn't it? Are you the good cop of the routine?"

"No. And I didn't know they had been here. Parker doesn't discuss everything with me. I work for him, not the other way around."

"I don't know the answers to their questions. I don't know if there are other baseships out there somewhere. I don't know how many there are. I don't know what they're planning. I just don't know. Even if there's something in this brain, I don't know if it's the truth or something Cavil planted there."

"That's not why I'm here. Have you seen Kara lately?"

"Not since a couple of days after Laura Roslin let me go."

"That was almost three months ago."

"That's right. Why? Has something happened to her?"

"No. She's fine. I just thought maybe she'd dropped by."

Leoben almost smirked. "For a chat and a cup of tea?"

"Something like that."

"I haven't seen her. Something must be bugging _you, _though, or _you_ wouldn't be here."

"You wouldn't know how long it takes to make a basestar, would you?"

Leoben snorted. "I'm sure I've got a manual somewhere in the back. _Basestar Construction for Dummies._"

His attitude angered Lee. The impatience and irritability returned with a rush. He could see why Darren had punched Leoben. He felt like doing the same thing. He turned to go.

"Forget it."

"Wait. Are you sure Kara's all right?"

Lee whirled. "No, I'm not sure. She lost her father. She lost some classmates and friends from the Academy and the _Galactica_ and she lost Yolanda Brenn."

"Yolanda Brenn is dead? How?"

"Your buddy Cavil had her locked up in his basement. She died of pneumonia. Kara and I were with her in the hospital the night she died. Kara took it hard. She still won't talk about it. She won't talk about her father either."

"And you thought she'd come and talked to me."

"Something like that."

"Sorry. I can't help you. I haven't seen her."

"Then tell me about your basestars."

Leoben was silent for a minute and then he said, "I don't know if I can trust what's in my head."

"Tell me anyway."

"With all the right…building materials, a new basestar can be created every eight to ten months. Creating the Hybrid might take longer…unless they've perfected the process."

"What are you talking about…the hybrid? Do you mean the half-human, half-Cylon babies?"

"You humans are the ones who call the babies _hybrids_. We call them _miracles_. The Hybrid is the one who controls a basestar. It looks partly human. Its origin was part of a human, but it's so much more than that. The Hybrid can see the face of God. The Hybrid is our interface to the Divine."

Lee had forgotten that Leoben was a monotheist. He ignored the last remark.

"How do you make these…Hybrids?"

"The creators make them."

"On your homeworld?"

"If that's where they are now. My copy of the model has been gone from there for a long time."

"Are you saying there are no copies of you on the homeworld?"

"There are multiple copies of every model on the homeworld. There just won't be one exactly like me. My particular copy evolved on the basestar and then on Caprica. We are all molded by our experiences…just like humans."

Lee didn't feel like discussing the evolution of _machines_. Cavil had obviously put some strange ideas into Leoben's memory. Lee just hoped the one about the basestars was correct.

"Thanks. I guess I'd better go. I need to get to the base."

"Tell Kara I said _hello _and that I'm sorry about Yolanda_._ Tell her to stop by sometime for a chat and a cup of tea."

"Sure."

Walking at a fast pace Lee left the bookstore. His next stop was not the base. His next stop was his father's office. If the Cylons on Nereid had managed to produce a basestar every eight months, then in the last five years they could have produced as many as eight basestars. If it took ten months, then they could have produced six new basestars. Three had been over Nereid when Kara had been there. That meant that somewhere out in space there were three to five more basestars, maybe searching for Kobol, maybe searching for Earth, maybe waiting to jump into Caprica's atmosphere.

All of them would be armed. All of them would have a contingent of seven to eight hundred Raiders. All would be deadly foes.

Bill Adama needed to know that right away.

o

Kara stood in the hall outside of Hugh Connelly's office. She hadn't seen him since her father's wake almost two months earlier. She could tell when she called the day before that he was surprised to hear from her. And he had sounded happy.

She only had to wait ten minutes before he rounded the corner and started up the hall.

"You look good," he said.

"So do you. How's this year's crop of students?"

"Not as good as last year's."

She grinned. "I knew we'd be a hard act to follow."

"You know there's not a day that goes by that I don't miss seeing your father and talking to him at lunch. Poor Colonel Burgher still can't talk about him without choking up. Your dad was almost like a son to him."

"I miss my dad, too."

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought it up."

"No, it's okay. I'm doing a lot better now."

"I was surprised to hear from you."

"I need your help with something."

"You know I'll always do what I can to help you."

"I need to get into wherever the things from my father's office were taken."

"Why?"

"You know what he was working on."

Connelly nodded.

"I've been there," she said softly. "I've been to Nereid. I'll probably be going back soon."

"Are there Cylons on the planet?"

"It's crawling with them."

"How…were you able to…"

"I was in a Raider. It's a long story. They thought I was one of them."

"What does this have to do with the things in your father's office?"

"I need to find out if he discovered anything about the second _Hyperion_ mission. I've been through every single bit of information on his laptop and couldn't find anything."

"I still don't understand what you're looking for."

"There are humans on the planet. Some are prisoners, but there's a group living free. We don't have positive proof about the free ones, but we're almost sure."

Connelly made the connection immediately. "You think the second expedition wasn't lost. You think they made it to the planet. You think the free humans are from the expedition. But they'd be…"

"Old. Yeah I know. But I'll bet since they realized they couldn't get back to Libran, they…you know…made babies."

"Is this a new theory, or did your father know about it?"

"I wrote him about a month before I came home on leave. I don't know if he did anything about it or not. I forgot to ask him. None of us knew…what was about to happen."

"Colonel Burgher hasn't done anything with your father's office yet. It's still like it was the day he left. Burgher would probably let you in to get his personal things."

Kara stood. "Okay, I'll go see Burgher."

"How is Laura?" Hugh asked.

"She's doing okay. She's so busy now I hardly ever see her anymore, even when I stay at Marble House. Of course that's nothing new. I didn't see her much at the apartment, either."

"When you see her, tell her Stacey and I have some good news. We're having another baby. We just found out for sure last week."

Kara grinned. "Congratulations. My dad will be glad…would have been glad. Boy or girl?"

"We don't know yet."

"Maybe you'll get a little boy this time."

"I'll be happy no matter what."

"I went back to the camp with my dad and Karl and Lee last summer. I saw…on the wall…I saw your little boy's name."

He nodded. "Stacey and I made the pilgrimage, too, not long after the memorial park opened."

"It was the right thing to do," Kara said softly, "going back. I didn't want to at first, but now I'm glad I did."

"I know what you mean."

"I'd better go if I want to catch Colonel Burgher between classes."

"Take care of yourself, Kara. Let me know if you don't find what you need in your father's office."

"I will." At the door she turned. "Have you ever made a decision to do something because it was the right thing to do…maybe not the easy choice, but the _right one_?"

Their eyes locked. His were still as blue as the sky at twilight.

"Yes," he said softly.

"Then you'll understand."

"Understand what?"

She smiled. "Me."

o

Connelly followed her into the parking garage at Lee's apartment and waited while she parked the motorcycle. She opened the door of his car and got the big cardboard box from the back seat.

"Are you sure you don't need any help with that?" He asked.

"I'm good. An elevator ride and I'm there."

"Call me if you need any more help."

"Thanks."

She carried the box to the elevator and rode up to the eighth floor. She had to put it down to unlock the door. As it swung open, she heard voices. Lee's and Zak's. She picked up the box and pushed the door shut with her boot.

"Hi, guys," she said as she carried the box to the kitchen.

Shedding her jacket, she walked back into the living room. Zak was on his feet. His hair was cut short, he had bulked up. He stood straighter, too. He was wearing a long-sleeved black t-shirt and black cargo pants.

"Wow," she said, "look at you, all soldiered up on us."

"I just finished basic training. My unit is being sent to Sovana."

Kara glanced at Lee. She could see the concern on his face.

She grinned. "Leave it to you to get an easy assignment."

"That's just what I was telling Lee. He's gone all mother-hen on me."

"So what are you going to be doing? PR? I guess that means we can't believe everything we hear about Sovana anymore."

"No PR this time. I'm just a grunt."

"When do you leave?"

"Day after tomorrow."

"Who do you go after first? Drug dealers?"

"Whoever they tell me to."

She snickered. "At least you won't have to worry about Cylons. Even the centurions were afraid to go to Sovana."

"If you want my opinion," Lee said, "there are more important issues facing the government than Sovana right now."

"Like?" Kara asked.

"Rebuilding what was destroyed in Caprica City for one thing. There's thousands of homeless, not just here, but in Delphi, too. I can go on."

"I'm sure Laura will get around to it. She can't do everything at once."

"I've got to go," Zak said. "Maggie and I are going out tonight."

Kara noticed that Zak didn't ask them to go.

Lee stood. He and Zak hugged. "You'll keep in touch, little bro."

"I've got your number programmed into my phone. I know your email address."

Kara hugged Zak, too. "Keep your head down."

"And my flak jacket buckled tight. Yeah, I know."

She and Lee walked with him to the door.

"Good luck with getting back in the air next week," Zak said to Lee.

"I'll believe it when I'm sitting in the cockpit."

After he shut the door, Lee turned to Kara. "What's in the box?"

"Some personal stuff from my dad's office at the Academy."

"Whew. For a minute I thought you were going to say more stuff on Nereid."

"It's mostly stuff he had started working on for the second _Hyperion_ mission."

"Great. I guess that means more hours spent at the kitchen table."

"I'll be glad to take everything back to Marble House," she said quickly. "Of course I go with it."

Lee sat down on the couch and picked up his beer. He patted the couch beside him. Kara walked into the kitchen and got a beer before she sat down.

"I'm just concerned…" he started.

"Yeah, that I'm obsessed. Maybe this keeps me occupied, keeps my mind off other things."

"I went to see Leoben today. He gave me his thoughts on how long it takes to create a basestar. I went straight to my dad with it. If Leo is right, there might be five basestars somewhere out there."

"Besides the three over Nereid?"

"Yeah."

Kara felt a cold lump begin to grow in her stomach. Her immediate fear was that the admiral would want to go to Nereid right away and destroy it. She sipped the beer and tried to keep her voice even.

"What's your father going to do?"

"Nothing right now. The repairs were just completed on the _Valkyrie_. The _Atlas_ will be out of commission for two months. He'll probably do whatever he's going to do after that. Right now he's keeping all his battlestars around Caprica just in case any of those basestars show up here."

"And we keep doing our drills. Keeping sharp for the day we go to Nereid."

"He needs more nukes and conventional missiles, too. The munitions factory is running twenty-four seven now."

"Why conventional weapons?" Kara asked sarcastically. "I thought he was just going to nuke the rest of the known universe. That will take care of the Cylons, won't it?"

Lee got up and walked into the kitchen. He opened the refrigerator and then closed it. He knew exactly where their conversation was headed and he didn't want to go there. He walked to the kitchen door and managed to control his voice.

"What do you want for dinner?"

"I'm not hungry."

"I'm going to order a pizza."

"Fine."

Kara wanted nothing more than to go into the kitchen and start going through the information that was on the USB drive she had tucked under the pictures and other personal items she had taken from her father's office, but she knew that she would have to explain too much to Lee. She knew that it would probably start another fight and the gods knew they'd had enough of those lately. They'd almost had one just now but for some reason Lee had backed down. His temper had been in ample evidence for weeks, brought on by his doctor's refusal to return him to flight ready status. She knew the amount of time she had spent studying the images of Nereid's surface hadn't helped either.

He'd told her she had become obsessed. He was probably right. But she had started making a plan. For the first time ever, she had some sympathy for Admiral Adama. In fact she had a lot of sympathy for Admiral Adama. And a lot of admiration, too. To pull off everything he had done in the amount of time he'd had to accomplish it had been nothing short of military genius. If Cavil hadn't forced his hand, they would be free of the Cylons right now and she wouldn't be obsessing about Nereid because her father would still be on Caprica. But as much as she admired the admiral's planning skills, she disagreed with his position on Nereid.

Lee came back into the living room and sat down beside her on the couch. He put his arm around her.

"How long have you been having nightmares?"

"I'm not…" she started and took a breath.

"I'm having them."

"Off and on since that night. We're not the only ones. Narch told me he's having them, too. He said Saunders prowls around the apartment half the night."

"I've been in a bad mood lately."

Kara looked at him, searching those blue eyes she loved so much. "You think?"

"I'll feel better when I can fly again. I've got to know I can get back up there in a Viper."

"Like getting back in the water after you almost drowned."

"Maybe next week."

She put her head on his shoulder, afraid that if she continued to look at him, he would see the truth in her eyes.

"While I'm confessing," he went on, "I looked at your laptop a week ago."

"I know."

"How?"

"My dad put a program on there that logs every time somebody is on the laptop."

"You didn't say anything."

"I was waiting for you to mention it. I was waiting for you to ask me about the journal."

"I was wrong to do it, Kara."

"Yeah, you were. What were you trying to find out?"

"Why you're so obsessed with that damned planet."

"_Obsessed_ is your opinion. What if I'm doing homework for the next Nereid mission?"

"You're assuming you're going to fly it."

"Why wouldn't I? Has the admiral already told you that it's yours?"

Lee looked away. "No."

"Does he have a problem with the way I flew the last one?"

"Not that I'm aware of."

"Then it sounds like the problem is yours, Lee."

He took a deep breath. "I guess it is."

"What can we do about that?"

"Wait another week for the doctor to release me."

She kissed him softly. He pulled her to him. He knew they would always have this, the quick and deep passion that existed between them. He began to unbutton the jacket of her duty blues.

Kara smiled. "You'd better wait until the delivery guy gets here with the pizza."

"And then we'll let it get cold."

"It won't be the first time."

o

The call about Kara's next Sadie mission came two weeks later, two days after Lee's doctor cleared him to fly again, a day after he took a Viper up and they flew together for the first time since the night of the fighting. Lee did fine. She joked with him when he got back, making a big deal of inspecting his Viper, finally declaring that it was in one piece. They left the hangar with their arms around each other, the feeling between them the best it had been in a long time. Back at the apartment, they ordered a pizza. It got cold just like the last one had.

She was to take Sadie back to Nereid on Saturday morning. She had Friday afternoon for the briefing and to familiarize herself once again with the Raider's controls. Bill Adama met her after lunch out at the hangar. They sat with Rick and Kevin in the plastic-walled room.

The admiral was brief.

"You have one goal on this mission. I want to know how many basestars are still over the planet and I want to know if it looks like they're still working on the same basestar at that shipyard."

"Yes, sir."

Kara didn't ask about going anywhere else on the planet. If she asked and he told her _no, _then she would be disobeying an order.

"Stay away from the forest, Kara. We can't risk having anything happen to the Raider."

She smiled. "Or me, sir?"

He smiled, too. "Or you."

"Then I guess you believe me now about getting shot at?"

He didn't agree or disagree. All he said was, "We take no chances. No recon over the forest."

Kara waited. He had no other warnings for her. They went on to discuss the specifics of the mission, the time and duration. After the admiral was gone, she went over to Sadie and climbed inside. She noticed that Kevin had put a thin layer of padding where she had to lay. It was much more comfortable.

When she finished the sim run and climbed down, Kara looked at the underneath of the right wing. She ran her hand carefully over the spot where the bullets had hit. The places were barely visible, mere dents of the organic metal.

It couldn't have hurt. Sadie had no brain now to register the sensation of pain. Or was that how it worked in a Raider?

Kevin was standing behind Sadie when Kara walked out from under the wing. "You heard what Admiral Adama said."

"Yeah, I heard him."

"You're not going to do it anyway, are you?"

"No. The forest if off limits."

She started to tell Kevin where she did plan to go on this mission, but she had grown so accustomed to keeping secrets that she kept her mouth shut. There was always the chance that Kevin would mention it to Rick and Rick would say something to the admiral. She didn't want him adding any more locations that were off limits to her.

"Thanks for getting me something softer to lie on."

"I finally found an organic glue that would work on Sadie that didn't have toxic fumes. Rick said we had to make sure any kind of padding wouldn't slide around. It has to be fire-proof, too."

Kara briefly thought about an oxygen-fueled fire inside Sadie and quickly put the thought out of her head. That would be a bad way to die.

"Is Lee going to bring you out here tomorrow?" Kevin asked.

"I'm sure he will. Are the two of you going to pace around outside the hangar the whole time I'm gone?"

He blushed and looked down. "Probably."

"Hey, Kev, in case I forget to mention it later, I really appreciate everything you've done."

"Just doing my job."

"Are you and Rick still working nights?"

He shook his head.

"So what happens to this place when nobody's here?"

"It's locked up tight."

"Alarm?"

"Oh, yeah."

"Security?"

"MPs from the base patrol it as part of their route."

"How often?"

Kevin laughed. "What are you thinking about doing? Stealing Sadie?"

Kara laughed, too. Gods, was she that easy to read?

"Yeah," she joked. "I figured I'd chop her up, sell her parts on the black market, get rich and move to an island somewhere."

"Good luck."

"You know I'd never hurt Sadie. She saved my life on the last mission when she let me know something was wrong. I was just curious. I'm glad to know she's being kept safe. See you in the morning."

As Kara got on her motorcycle to leave, she had another bit of information vital to her plan.

o

"Tell me again why we had to be here at five o'clock in the morning?" Lee asked grumpily. "Nobody else is here. Your mission isn't until seven."

"I couldn't sleep," Kara said. "And _you _didn't have to come with me."

Lee started to reply, but in light of his recent promise to himself not to argue with her, he kept quiet. He slid down in the seat, got comfortable, and shut his eyes.

Fifteen minutes later Kara saw headlights. Rick Rafferty pulled into the parking lot. She got out of the car and was waiting at the door for him.

"You're here early," he said as he keyed in the alarm code.

"Nerves," Kara said.

He smiled. "You're an old pro at this now."

"This is only my second mission." She heard the car door slam behind her. They waited on Lee. Kara watched how Rafferty turned on the lights and deactivated the interior alarm. They walked through the maze of boxes.

When they reached Sadie, Kara walked around swinging her arms, trying to calm her nerves. Rick went to one of the tables and started coffee before he went to his office. Kara followed him.

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't mention my crazy theory to anybody today."

"You haven't mentioned it?" Rafferty asked in surprise.

She shook her head. "Lee already thinks I'm obsessed. I don't want to make it worse."

Rafferty smiled. "What crazy theory was that anyway?"

"Thanks."

She heard Kevin's voice out in the hangar talking to Lee. "I thought I'd be the first one here."

She heard Lee's short reply. "Kara couldn't sleep."

At seven o'clock she was on the runway. Ten minutes later she was over the ocean and jumped.

The three basestars were still over Nereid. She watched her long-range sensor sweep several times. It never picked up more than three. She keyed the coordinates for an area close to the shipyard. The basestar was still under construction, but there were stubs of the long starfish arms now visible. They were making progress.

She turned the Raider due north and crossed a plain that looked patchy in the early morning light, possibly some kind of farming or agricultural area. She saw green and ochre. The land became hilly and covered with trees and then rocky before tall mountains rose steeply in front of her. She kept the cameras recording as she climbed to thirty thousand feet. The mountains went on for a hundred miles. She saw what had to be a huge glacier cleaving two massive peaks and then she was over a snowfield, a thousand miles of white.

She knew that Lee and Kevin and Rick would be expecting her back by now. She had plenty of oxygen, but very little time left before they would think something had happened to her. She had another idea and she knew this would be her only chance to prove she was right. She knew that during the fighting five years earlier, a number of Colonial ships had disappeared. She and her father had talked about them on several occasions. They had wondered what had happened to the ships. Her father had felt like the Cylons would not destroy them. He had felt like they would take them somewhere that the ships couldn't be reached except by air. That meant the north or south polar regions.

Kara had chosen to go north because based on the surface maps, it was the longest distance from any inhabited regions. If she were wrong, she wouldn't have a chance to check out the southern polar region. She would not be out of oxygen but she would be out of time.

The sunlight was at a steeper angle here. The land underneath her sparkled. The smallest rise in the snow cast a shadow. She thought of her dream about the _Hyperion_. _Please be here. Please let me find you._

She began to fly a grid pattern, looking for anomalies in the mostly flat snow-covered terrain. Five minutes before she was ready to give up, she spotted the first big mound in the snow. There were others, so many others, far too big to be bodies. They were the size of ships.

Carefully she eased Sadie lower. She couldn't put the Raider down. She didn't trust the crusted snow. It could be filled with crevasses, but she still had to know. She picked the largest mound and flew several low passes over it, letting the backwash of Sadie's propulsion system hit it. Enough was uncovered to show her that it was definitely a ship, definitely Colonial in design.

An alarm sounded in Sadie. She glanced at her dradis. Five blips were approaching fast from the south. Raiders. She hoped the cameras had recorded enough. Her coordinates for Caprica were already in the computer. Before the Raiders had cleared the horizon, she jumped.

o

Sunday morning at the meeting in the plastic-walled room, Admiral Adama looked at her. She could tell he was trying to control his temper.

"I thought you understood the parameters of your mission, Starbuck?"

_Not Kara. Starbuck. Less personal. _

"I performed my mission, sir. I got the information on the basestars around the planet. I got the information on the shipyard. I didn't fly over the forest."

"You may very well have given us away to the Cylons on that planet."

"They never saw me. I was still too far away from them when I jumped."

"That's not the point," Lee said. "They know something was there. They didn't have to see you."

"Even if they had seen me, I was just another one of them."

The admiral's temper finally bled into his words. "Like Lee said, that's not the point! Something triggered them to come check you out. Now they know that someone else has access to the planet."

"No necessarily. By the time they got there I was long gone. The probably wrote it off as a malfunction in their sensors."

Bill said, "I wouldn't bet my next paycheck on that."

"Is that what's bugging you, sir, or is it the fact that I brought you proof that there's about fifty Colonial ships under the snow at Nereid's north pole. Fifty ships would have meant a lot of human prisoners for them."

Kevin said tentatively, "We're almost certain the ship that Kara partially uncovered is the _Bellicose, _a transport ship with a crew of thirty-eight."

Bill was staring at the image on the screen in front of them. "Transporting what?"

"A lot of things. She was a container transport. Mostly furniture and dry goods, clothing, shoes, that sort of thing. She was bound for Picon from Aerilon and was reported lost during the fighting five years ago."

"We've got no proof the Cylons ever took prisoners from those ships. They could have executed all the humans on board."

"You're wrong, sir," Kara said passionately. "Why would they go to the trouble of taking these ships if they didn't want the passengers and crew? They obviously don't want the ships. Otherwise why would they have flown them to the north pole and parked them?"

"Kara is right," Lee said. "They were after the humans…and possibly the cargos as well. Why else would they have gone to the trouble of taking ships they then dumped at the north pole?"

"The humans aboard those ships may or may not still be alive," his father retorted. "That's my point. The Cylons took the ships. We have absolutely _no proof_ that they kept the humans alive."

"What about the lab-prison complex on the plateau? The photographs clearly show a building with a wall and a razor-wire fence around it."

"But no humans," Bill answered her. "We've never seen a single human on the surface of the planet. Not one."

Kara couldn't argue with him. He was right. She gave up trying to further convince the admiral. She had known all along that he had made up his mind to destroy the planet. Even this last bit of proof she had brought him was not going to sway him. The two things he was interested in, the only two things, were the three basestars above Nereid and the status of that basestar under construction at the shipyard.

There was nothing else to be said. They studied the images of the shipyard again, listened to Rick's predictions on when the basestar might be completed…three to four months. She knew that the admiral would make his move before then. He could really make it any time now.

Kara was silent on their way back into the city.

After they dropped Bill at his office, Lee said, "I'm sorry. You did your best."

"Does that mean you agree with me?"

"I think there were once prisoners on Nereid. I think that's what the wall and fence are all about. I don't know if there are any still there. There's no proof and without it, my father is right to…pursue his plan."

"Killing innocent humans."

"If either one of us had been able to get some proof…" Lee's voice trailed off.

"It wouldn't have mattered. I know how he feels. He thinks you have to sacrifice the few to save the many."

Lee didn't say anything. There was really nothing left to say. Kara was right.

She took a deep breath. "Okay. I'm through talking about it. Let's go to Channing's and eat lunch and then go see Dreilide and then go to Marble House and spend the rest of the afternoon with Braedon and Maya and Laura, too, if she's there. Maybe we can all go to the park and take a walk. It's a beautiful day. Then we'll go back to your place and order a pizza for dinner."

Lee reached over and gently took her hand. "I'm sorry."

She curled her fingers through his. "Not nearly as sorry as I am. But I'm putting it behind me. I'm not going to talk about it again."

o

On Monday morning Kara entered the ready room, spotted Noel Allison and went to sit beside him.

"Hey, Narch. How was your weekend?"

He shrugged. "Nothing memorable. What about you?"

"Busy. I need your help with something."

"All you've got to do is ask."

"You think Crash would let you borrow his car?"

"Probably. Why?"

"I need a ride somewhere?"

He grinned. "I thought you were married to that motorcycle."

"I've got something to carry that won't fit on the motorcycle."

"Should I ask why you aren't asking Lee?"

"No."

"Am I going to get my butt kicked?"

"He'll never know. This will always be our secret."

"When?"

"Tonight." She took a small piece of paper out of the pocket of her flight suit. "Be there at 22:00. I'll be waiting."

"Where are we going?"

"About twenty miles north of the city. I need you to help me do one thing after we get there and then you can leave."

Jackson Spencer walked down the aisle.

"What's this about?" Narcho whispered.

"I'll tell you on the way. Can I count on you?"

Spencer eyed both of them.

Narcho nodded.

o

It was almost too easy. After they ate dinner at Zeno's, she told Lee that she was spending the night at Marble House. Laura, of course, thought she was with Lee. Instead of going to Marble House, though, Kara rode her motorcycle to the old apartment and parked in the garage beside her father's car. She rode the elevator up to the fifth floor.

She took the new backpack out of her closet. She had been collecting supplies for weeks now. She put her mother's pistol in the bottom and began packing. She finished long before it was time to go downstairs. She walked around the apartment and thought of the two years she had lived there. She went back into her bedroom, took the picture of her father and Braedon off the dresser and took the photograph out of the frame. She slid it into a side compartment of the backpack just behind the new slingshot she had bought. She checked the pocket on the other side. The small handheld computer that had cost her a month's salary was wrapped in several layers of bubble wrap. It easily held everything on her father's laptop about Nereid.

She went back into the living room and eyed the cabinet where her father kept the liquor. She debated and decided against it. She couldn't afford to have any of her senses dulled tonight.

She tried looking at television but found she couldn't sit still long enough. She walked out onto the terrace. The late winter night was cold and crystal clear. She looked at the stars and knew that what she was doing was the right thing. If she survived she knew she would pay a price. She would probably pay with her freedom, possibly lose the heart of the man she would love for the rest of her life, but she also knew she couldn't sit by and do nothing. She couldn't wait for the admiral to take his battlestars to Nereid and give her an order that she wouldn't be able to obey. She had made her choice and there was no turning back.

Noel Allison was right on time. Kara threw the pack into the back seat and got into the front.

"Take me by the base, first. I've got to get my flight suit."

"It looks like you're getting ready to take a trip."

"Yeah."

"I think I deserve an explanation."

"Will you just let me talk for a couple of minutes and not ask any questions?"

He pulled away from the curb. "Okay."

"Will you swear you'll never tell anyone what I'm going to tell you?"

"Kara, I…"

"Swear it on your honor or I don't say another word."

"Okay."

"We found the Cylon homeworld. It's a planet in the Prolmar Sector thirty light years from here. We call it Nereid."

"I knew it. So much for urban legend, huh?"

"Let me finish. We won't have time later."

"Okay."

"I've been there twice in a Raider. Long story. The details aren't important. There are humans on that planet, some prisoners, some living free. There are three Cylon basestars above the planet. There's another one under construction on the planet. In two months or less, Admiral Adama is going to jump some of our battlestars into the atmosphere and nuke the basestars and the planet. He's not going to try to rescue the humans. This is the only way I can think of to stop him. It might work. It might not."

Narcho took a deep breath. "That's…an incredible story."

"There's more. My father is on the planet. The Oracle saw it. Before she died she told me. One of the geniuses who worked on the Raider told me it was possible."

Narcho stopped at a red light and looked over at her. "Are you on something, Kara?"

"You mean drugs?"

"Anything?"

"No."

The light turned green. He accelerated and got in the lane leading to the freeway. He didn't speak again until they were on the I-6.

"You're willing to bet your career on what you've just told me?"

Kara snickered. "My career? I'm probably not going to survive, but yeah. My father is there and I'm going to get him, and I'm willing to bet my career _and_ my life on it."

"I guess Lee doesn't agree."

"Lee's the admiral's son. And he agrees in part, but Lee would never do what I'm getting ready to do. If I'd told him, he would have had me locked in some psycho ward."

"What exactly are you getting ready to do?"

"I'm stealing the Raider and going to Nereid."

"Holy Hera! Holy frakking Hera! You are crazy!"

"The Raider's FTL drive is a lot better than ours. It will do it in one jump. I know. I did it twice. Lee did it once."

They drove the rest of the way to the base in silence. She knew he had questions he wanted to ask, but he didn't ask them.

Finally he said, "So the admiral is going to nuke the planet and kill a bunch of innocent humans just to make sure he gets the Cylons."

"Yeah."

At the gate to the hangars Narcho put his ID into the reader, pulled through and parked outside the Viper hangar.

"I won't be long," Kara said.

There was no one in the women's locker room. She quickly undressed and pulled on her flight suit. She thought of the night they had faced the Cylons. Her heart hadn't been pounding nearly as hard that night. She put everything in her locker except her mobile phone. She had one last call that she would have to make.

When she got back to the car, Narcho was sitting behind the wheel wearing his flight suit.

"What the hell?"

"How long do you think it will take them to figure out I helped you. I'm going to get court-martialed anyway. I might as well go all the way with it."

"No you're not. You're…"

"Kara, do you think _I_ could nuke a planet knowing there are humans there?" He backed the car out of the parking place. "Which way?"

"North on the I-6. I'll tell you where to exit."

They reached the boneyard fifteen minutes later. They sat in the car and waited until the MPs had driven by twice. They had roughly twenty minutes between rounds.

Narcho carried the backpack. Kara was almost certain she could keep him from getting into the Raider. As soon as she was gone, he would come to his senses and go back to the city. It was one thing to risk her own life. She wasn't going to risk the life of a friend.

She keyed the security code into the front door and the second code into the pad just inside the door. The blinking light on the panel switched from red to green. She let out the breath she was holding. So far, so good.

She no longer needed the spray-painted arrows to navigate the maze of boxes. They emerged into the whitewashed section. The only lights were two low-level florescent lights high in the ceiling. She went over to Sadie with Narcho following her and opened the hatch. Carefully she stowed her pack out of the way. She had measured carefully. It just fit.

She turned to Narcho. "There's a tow outside. We're going to have to get the ship out to the runway."

She walked to the huge double doors and pressed the big red button that opened and closed them. The doors began sliding back.

"It's still not too late to change your mind," Narcho said.

"Not a chance. I hope you know how to drive a tow."

He grinned. "I'll figure it out."

She saw the tiny red beam a foot off the concrete between the door frames a second before she walked through it.

"Stop," she shouted at Narcho.

"What?"

She pointed down. "I don't know what this is. I've never noticed it before."

"It's probably to keep the doors from shutting on anyone."

She walked to the side and studied the metal box that projected the beam. She didn't see any way to turn it off. "I hope so."

Nevertheless Narcho stepped over the beam. Kara knew there was no way to get the tow inside or the Raider outside without interrupting it, but hopefully it was not an alarm. If it was, she had to be long gone before anyone got there.

She walked to the door and stepped over the beam. Narcho was on the tow. He started it. She stepped back inside and watched the beam as he drove the tow through the door. Nothing happened. No alarm went off. She breathed deeply in relief.

She showed him how to hook it to the Raider. What Lou did in half a minute took them almost five. Narcho carefully pulled the Raider outside. Kara pressed the button to shut the big doors and jumped over the beam of light.

The Raider was at the runway. Narcho disengaged the tow and backed it out of the way.

"Go," she said to him. "Get out of here."

"No."

She was running out of time. "I've got to make a phone call."

She walked away from him a few steps and turned her back. She took out her mobile phone and called Lee. It was nearly midnight. She knew he would be in bed.

"Hi," he said, the sleep evident in his voice. "Is something wrong?"

"I'm at the boneyard, Lee." It was all she needed to say.

"Oh, frak no! No Kara, no!"

"I just want you to know how much I love you. I'll always love you."

"Kara, please don't!"

"I'm counting on you to stop your father from nuking the planet. You and Laura."

"Kara, I'm coming out there. We'll talk about it. There's another way."

"No, there's not. I left you a letter. It's under your trophy. I'm counting on you to stop your father. It's up to you, Lee."

Narcho's voice interrupted her. "We've got company."

Kara turned. She heard sirens in the distance and then saw the reflection of flashing red and blue lights on the old ships around them.

"I've got to go," she said to Lee. "I love you, but I can't compromise on this."

She closed her phone, slid under the Raider and boosted herself up. She started the computers booting. The red beam must have set off a silent alarm.

"Move over," Narcho said. "I'm dead if I stay here. I'm dead or I'll spend the rest of my life in a military prison. I'd rather take my chances with you."

He was right, and she was responsible for him being in that position. Kara slid over as far as she could. He boosted himself up beside her.

"Close the hatch. Spin the wheel until it seals. You'll hear it."

"Damn, it's crowded in here."

"Yeah. Watch where you put your hands and feet."

There were no lights on the runway. She was going to have to do this by feel and the glow from the security lights positioned around the perimeter of the boneyard. She switched on the cameras and watched the ground. It took longer to get the Raider into the air with the extra weight, but she did it. She banked sharply and began to climb. She had no doubt that the MPs were calling the base for support. A Raider meant only one thing to them…Cylons. Someone was probably scrambling Vipers right now. Still climbing she headed toward the ocean.

She was right about the Vipers. They showed up on her dradis a minute later.

The coordinates were in the computer. She pressed the Ctrl and Backspace keys and vanished from the sky over the bay in a diamond-bright wink of light.

o

Lee sat sideways on the seat of one of the MP's jeeps out at the boneyard. Bill Adama paced in front of him. Lee didn't think he had ever seen his father so furious.

"I'll ask you again. Did you know about this?"

"For the third time…No!"

"You've been living with this girl for _months_ and you didn't have a clue?"

Lee rubbed his hand across his face. "I should have seen it, but I didn't. For a while she was obsessed with the planet, but that leveled off. The last couple of weeks she hasn't mentioned it. I thought it was just something to occupy her while she dealt with losing her father."

"Well you were wrong."

Lee almost choked. "Yeah, I was wrong."

"What the hell is she trying to accomplish?"

"She's trying to stop you from nuking the planet and killing the humans. She's willing to put her life on the line to do it."

"Well, she's sure done that!" Bill said before he stalked away. He talked to the MPs for a long time.

Lee sat with his face in his hands, fighting nausea, fighting tears. He should have seen it. He should know Kara well enough by now to know she hadn't accepted Nereid's fate. He should have known that she would have pulled a crazy stunt like this.

His father walked back to him.

"She's not alone. The car out front belongs to a Lieutenant Alex Quartararo. One of the MP's just spoke with him. He said he loaned his car to a roommate tonight, a Lieutenant Noel Allison. Would he have helped her do this?"

"Probably. They went to the Academy together. He's been flying her wing for months."

"Come on," Bill said. "You and I are going to have to go see the President and tell her what has happened to her daughter. I'll ride with you."

In the car Lee said, "Kara thinks John is still alive. She thinks he's on Nereid. She's basing it on something Yolanda Brenn told her before she died. That's another reason she did what she did tonight. She's got this insane idea that she's going to find him and rescue him."

"Lords of Kobol! How long have you known that?"

"I just found out tonight."

It was in the letter, but there was no way he would ever let his father read Kara's letter.

Bill took out his mobile phone. "Hello, Laura. I apologize for calling so late, but I need to see you about something right away. It's important."

o

Two hours later Lee walked back into his apartment and threw his keys on the kitchen table. The box from John's office still sat on the floor. The laptop sat beside the box. Lee got a bottle of ambrosia from the cabinet above the refrigerator. He didn't bother with a glass. He sat and thought of what had happened when they'd told Laura. It hadn't been as bad as he'd thought it would be, but it hadn't been good. Lee had seen it in her eyes. She was reliving Bill telling her about John's death.

Lee took another drink. Bill had not mentioned Kara's belief that her father was still alive. He had warned Lee not to mention it. They both knew it wasn't possible. Bill hadn't wanted to put Laura through even hearing something that far-fetched.

Telling her that Kara had stolen the Raider and jumped back to Nereid had been bad enough.

"Oh dear gods, this is my fault," Laura had said, the anguish clear in her voice.

"How is it your fault?" Bill had asked.

"She talked to me about it over a month ago. I should have done more to assure her that…that we were going to…look at all the options before you went to Nereid."

Lee had said. "I think Kara had made up her mind to do this a long time ago. I think she planned it very carefully. I just hate she dragged somebody else into it with her."

"I'm glad. I'm glad she's not alone," Laura had said.

Lee took another drink and sat for a long time, his thoughts still a jumble.

Kara had won. Her act, born in desperation and courage that Lee could barely comprehend or insanity…maybe both…had done what no amount of talking had been able to do. The President of the Colonies had spoken. They would not nuke the planet of Nereid. Bill Adama would plan a mission that would make an attempt to rescue the humans even as he destroyed the Cylons.

"I will not condemn my daughter to death," Laura had said to both of them, tears in her eyes, her voice edged with steel. "I will not tell my son one day that I could have saved his sister and did nothing. There has to be another way."

"The price will be high," Bill had said.

"Then we'll pay it." Laura had replied, the determination clear in her voice.

Now Lee stood and walked into the living room, the bottle still in his hand. He took Kara's letter from underneath the trophy and read it again.

_Dear Lee,_

_I've tried all the ways I know and none of them worked. I tried talking to your father and Laura. I went looking for the Hyperion and I found proof that Colonial ships are on Nereid. Still your father wouldn't listen so I'm going there. It's not just all the humans who are on Nereid. It's my father, too. He survived because he jumped the Raptor inside that basestar. Yolanda Brenn saw it and told me. I've explained everything in the journal on my father's laptop. The password is _karaluvslee.

_I don't want Braedon to grow up without a father. You of all people should understand why. I can't spend the rest of my life knowing there was something I could have done and didn't do it. And I would never be able to sit in my Viper and send a nuke to that planet knowing I was killing innocent people including my father. So if that's what is going to happen, it's better for me to die with them._

_I knew the day I met you that I would never love anybody but you. We've argued lately. We've fought over silly things. We've had bad dreams. None of that changes the fact that I love you and I always will. I have the strongest faith that we'll see each other again one day. Kara _

Lee sat on the couch, the letter still in his hand and closed his eyes. He knew that he would read it again and again until he had memorized it. He knew he would study the maps of Nereid as much as she had done. He would read her journal. He would decipher her plan. The fleet would go to Nereid one day and he would find her. They would be together again. He had to believe that. He had to.

At the boneyard tonight he had felt only a dark and sick despair. Now he felt the smallest flame of hope flicker and begin to burn inside of him. Finding Kara on another world would take determination and courage. He knew he had both. Maybe he didn't believe in the gods like she did, but he believed in their love. It was the deepest and most meaningful thing in his life. He would find her. He would touch her face and look into her eyes and he would kiss her again. He would tell her of his love for her and his faith in her. They would be together again.

He knew that they would.

THE END

.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is obviously not the end of Lee and Kara's story. _Siren's Kiss_ has taken over twice as long to tell and twice as many chapters, but it is ending exactly where I originally planned. A sequel, _The Torches of Other Worlds_, will continue their story. I hope to start writing it very soon after a short break to recharge my creative batteries.

I cannot say _Thank You_ enough times to my faithful readers and reviewers. Your comments and encouragement have helped keep me writing the sometimes seemingly impossible weekly chapters since I began this story in April of 2008. I must lift a quote from Number Six who told Gaius Baltar at the beginning of the series, "_All of this has happened before and will happen again._" Perhaps the Alternate Universe created in _Siren's Kiss_ is simply one more telling of the Human-Cylon story…one in which we _are not_ bound by series canon or series outcomes. The story will continue for all of our characters...for those who stay on Caprica and those who journey to other worlds.

I look forward to writing for all of you again soon. Jane. October 28, 2009.


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